Author: The Hippo Press

Comics, Turtles and a Power Ranger

Fans of all stripes will find fun at the Granite State Comicon

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Granite State Comicon is here with most of its action on Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, at the DoubleTree Downton Manchester and SNHU Arena across the street.

“When we started Granite State Comicon in 2003, we just used a small room at the hotel, and then over the number of years we’ve been growing, [we had] to take on a larger room and larger space. And then we went for two days. And then for the past couple years, we’ve kind of noticed, ‘hey, we’re getting really tight on space.’” said Chris Proulx, owner of Double Midnight Comics and con organizer.

“There’s things we want to fit in that we can’t fit in. The attendance was getting a little tighter, and we knew if we wanted to bring in more comic artists, more celebrities, and especially if we’re getting from bigger franchises, we would need more space,” Proulx said.

Which venue should be chosen for this quest?

“If you’re looking for more of the comic-centric things, you would kind of hang out on the hotel side, because that’s where all of our guest artists are,” Proulx said. Meanwhile, at the other venue: “And then if you’re looking for more of the celebrity and pop culture stuff, you’re looking at the arena. Both of them have vendors and lots of stuff to see. So there’s unique stuff at both venues. It’s definitely worth crossing Elm Street.”

Like with Gotham or Metropolis, the city itself is integral. “What we’ve been kind of talking about is referring to the third venue [as] downtown Manchester, trying to get some of the restaurants and bars involved, you know, whether it’s if they offer some kind of special drink or, you know, some kind of special menu or get dressed up,” Proulx said.

It’ll be a day for the arts on Saturday. “We’ll be promoting the [Manchester Citywide Arts Festival], so that way people can kind of cross-pollinate and just see the more positive sides of Manchester,” he said.

“We talked to the Rex because we wanted to do a screening of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s a beautiful venue and they agreed to partner with us on that and it’s going to be a fun night. We decided to go all in on it and celebrate it, or ‘shell-a-brate it,’ as they say. So we’ve got actors from the 1990 movie, the ‘87 cartoon, tons of artists and writers who have worked on the Ninja Turtles over the years, including Kevin Eastman,” he said. See palacetheatre.org for tickets to the screening, which starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.

But those aren’t the only stars at the con.

”John Rhys Davies, you’ll be able to find him at the hotel. He’ll be doing signatures, professional photo ops, he might have some props with him for photo ops, like Gimli’s ax from The Lord of the Rings. My business partner has met him a bunch of times and he’s the sweetest, nicest guy, so we’re very excited to have him join us,” Proulx said.

“Amy Jo Johnson, she’s the original Pink Power Ranger. There’s been many many iterations of the Power Rangers over the years but she’s one of the the original cast members so we’re very excited to have her joining us. She recently wrote a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book mini-series. She had a couple of the artist guests that we have that had done covers for it, so it’s a pretty cool thing,” Proulx said.

“Then we have Kevin Nash, who was a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. He’s also been in a bunch of movie and TV projects, like The Punisher, and he was Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. He was a nice crossover there.“

“We’ve got Nolan North, who is the video game voice of Deadpool, and Cal Dodd, who is the voice of Wolverine in X-Men, the animated series. There’s a lot of cool guests, plus we have the original four voices of the Ninja Turtles from the ’87 cartoon. It’s a big Turtle-centric thing this year because it’s the 40th anniversary of the Turtles. They’re created by Eastman and Laird in New Hampshire,” he said.

Be sure to check out the website for more information. “The full program is up there, so you can see all of our panels and workshops. There’s information on KidsCon, movie cars, all of the various features.”

The event even attracts fans from all over the world. “We never thought people would be coming from multiple countries to Manchester, New Hampshire,” Proulx said.

“We want to make sure people are having a good time…. Our show’s very family-friendly and entry-level so you’re not like, ‘oh man, if I want to go to Comicon I gotta go to New York, I gotta travel four hours, I gotta pay for a hotel, I gotta pay for this, everything’s more expensive,’” he said.

Patrons do not need to have read a single comic book to have fun at Granite State Comicon.“We always say everybody’s a geek over something. The people that play fantasy football, that’s geeky. We’re all geeks. So there’s literally something there for everybody. So whether you’re into anime or board games or comic books or costuming, there’s literally something for everybody and it’s a great time. We’re very affordable for a family trip. There’s lots of stuff for kids to do. So it’s a really good fun time and we feel like it’s a great fun event for Manchester,” he said.

Even as the convention grows, what makes Granite State Comicon special stays the same.

“A lot of people like our vibe. It’s not hyper stressful, it’s fun, we have that focus on the fans so people really dig that. We have a really good team and we want to continue to grow at a good pace without breaking who we are,” Proulx said.

Granite State Comicon
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree, 700 Elm St., Manchester, and SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $20 to $125 (various packages)
More: Visit granitecon.com and doublemidnight.com. Email [email protected] or call 669-9636.

Featured image: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Telescopes and caterpillars

AerospaceFest 2024 brings all kinds of STEM

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Hippo recently spoke with Katie Marinoff-Silk, the Director of Development at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, about this year’s AerospaceFest, the center’s yearly family festival, which blasts off on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“AerospaceFest is our annual celebration of all things STEM,” Marinoff-Silk said. “So we bring various science and education organizations from around the state. We invite them to come set up booths at our museum, both inside and outside, just to share what they do with our community.”
Granite Staters will not need to spend a penny to get inside. “It’s the third Saturday in September every year. And admission is free. We do have a suggested donation of five to 10 dollars,” she said.
There is typically a good turnout. “Last year we had about 630 people come and that was during a hurricane. So we’re hoping that the weather will be nicer this year and that we’ll see even more people,” Marinoff-Silk said.
The New Hampshire Astronomical Society will be setting up telescopes, for those who want to look up at the sky. If you’d rather keep your gaze earth-bound, you can look at bugs: the Caterpillar Lab from Marlborough will be bringing some of their caterpillars.
“So we just have a bunch of different organizations doing all kinds of science coming,” Marinoff-Silk said. The Caterpillar Lab aims “to raise awareness about the animals you can find in your local ecosystem, particularly caterpillars, and how important they are to our local ecosystems,” she said.
An activity called Mad Science will introduce children to the principles of air and pressure as they watch a hovercraft in action, according to the event page.
A special guest yet to be announced will be in attendance as well. “That guest speaker will also present the winners of the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship,” Marinoff-Silk said. The scholarship was founded in 2000 in Memory of Alex Higgins of Bedford. Since 2001 it has helped more than than 50 New Hampshire children and teens attend the U.S. Space Camp & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for a week of simulated astronaut or pilot training, according to the website.
The planetarium will also be in full use, with a premiere of a new planetarium show. For that, you need tickets, which are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Show times will be at 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. The show, We Are Guardians, looks at how the world, its people and its ecosystems are connected and how satellite monitoring helps us see the effects of human activities and climate change, according to Marinoff-Silk

AerospaceFest
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive, Concord
Tickets: Free, suggested donation $5-$10
Info: starhop.com

Kiddie Pool 24/09/19

Family fun for whenever

Special events

• Manchester Proud and the Manchester School District will present CelebratED! On Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester to celebrate the new school year, according to a press release. This free event offers entertainment, food, presentations from schools, music performances from schools, an art gallery in the park, nearly 60 organizations with booths and activities, food (including Kona Ice for kids, pizza and foods including Caribbean, Nepalese, Mexican, African, Thai and Mediterranean), the Bookmobile and more, the release said.

• Unitarian Universalist Church of Manchester (669 Union St. in Manchester) will hold a Fall Equinox Celebration on Sunday, Sept. 22, with a service at 10 a.m. followed by a free family concert and activities on the lawn from 11:30 a.m. through 2 p.m., according to a press release. Amy Conley will play the guitar and banjo from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; there will be pumpkin painting and a chili luncheon from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with a suggested donation of $5); there will be raffles and a free recital in the sanctuary from 3 to 4 p.m. featuring violin and piano performances by Elliott Markow, the release said.

On the pitch

• This weekend at Southern New Hampshire University, see the Penmen Men’s Soccer team take on Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 4 p.m. at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium (Victory Lane in Hooksett). The next home game for the Women’s Soccer team is next Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1 p.m. See snhupenmen.com.

• At Saint Anselm College, the Hawks Men’s Soccer teamwill take on Adelphi University on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon at Melucci Field at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The next Women’s Soccer home games will be Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. versus Saint Michael’s College and Saturday, Sept. 28, at noon versus Adelphi University. See saintanselmhawks.com.

• At Rivier College, the Raiders Women’s Soccer team will play their next home game on Saturday, Sept. 21, at noon against Simmons University at Joanne Merrill Field, 438 S. Main St. in Nashua. The Men’s Soccer home game this weekend is Saturday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m. at Merrill Field, versus Thomas College. See rivierathletics.com.

Town celebrations

• Hollis Old Home Days take place Friday, Sept. 20, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Nichols Field and Lawrence Barn on Depot Road in Hollis. The schedule includes midway and rides both days, kids’ art activities and scavenger hunt (Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), a pony pageant (Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m.), Granite State Disc Dogs (Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m.), dance and cheer performances, a DJ on Friday, live music on Saturday, a petting zoo, and fireworks on Saturday at 8 p.m., according to hollisoldhomedays.org.

• Derryfest will run Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MacGregor Park in downtown Derry. The day will feature food, crafts, games, a line-up of vendors and a schedule of music and performances that runs throughout the day, according to derryfest.org, where you can find a map of the event.

• Hooksett Old Home Day is Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with fireworks scheduled after dusk. The day starts with a parade from Lamberts Park to Donati Park (behind Town Hall, 35 Main St., Hooksett) at 10 a.m. Check out the Heritage Trolley Tour from noon to 3 p.m. Free amusements including a rock wall and bungee jump, photo booth, module rainbow house, a dry slide and more will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A petting farm will run from noon to 4 p.m. A magic show with BJ Hickman is slated to start at 11:05 a.m. and 2 p.m. Music and performances will run throughout the afternoon and fireworks are slated for 7:30 p.m., all according to hooksettoldhomeday.org. The event will also feature eating competitions — watermelon at 12:15 p.m., pizza at 1:30 p.m. and pie at 3 p.m., the website said.

• And for something a little more low-key and eats-focused, the East Kingston Summer Market will be held Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the East Kingston Public Library (47 Maplevale Road, East Kingston, 642-8333, eastkingstonlibrary.org). Find produce, crafts and live music, according to the library website.

Fun with wings

• Wheels & Wings 2024 will feature fire trucks, police vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, DPW vehicles, electric cars and other things that go ready for exploration on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Nashua Airport (93 Perimeter Road in Nashua), according to the Nashua Parks and Recreation Facebook page. This event is free.

• Portsmouth Fairy House Tours take place Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Portsmouth at the Strawbery Banke Museum, John Langdon House, Prescott Park and Gundalow waterfront, where you can find hundreds of fairy houses on display, according to fairyhousetour.com. Saturday will kick off with an opening day fairy parade at 9:30 a.m. Through the weekend, see “fairy-inspired performances” by the Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater, The Players’ Ring and the New Hampshire Theatre Project, the website said. The weekend will also feature a fairy book and photo display and a live creation of a fairy house sculpture for permanent display in downtown Portsmouth, the website said. Tickets cost $12 for adults in advance ($15 at the gate), $8 for 65+ ($10 at the gate), $5 for children ages 3 to 12 ($7 at the gate) and $30 for a family pack of four tickets ($35 at the gate). Children under 3 get in for free, the website said. See the website for information about joining the parade.

Celebrate pie

• The Great New Hampshire Pie Festival will take place at the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Highway, Milton, nhfarmmuseum.org) on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $15 ($5 for kids 12 and under, and free for pie-bakers). Local bakeries will have pies for sampling while local pie makers will compete in a pie contest (kids 12 and under can enter a pie in their own category). The day will also feature a pie crust rolling demonstration, a raffle, a silent auction, tractor rides, visits with the animals, tours of historic buildings and live music from Lance Maclean and the Moose Mountain String Band, according to the website. Lunch will be available for purchase, the website said.

Pick for your own pie

Looking to pick apples for pie or other fall treats? Check out the story in last week’s paper, the issue of Sept. 12, which includes listings for some area pick-your-own orchards. The story starts on page 10; find the issue in our digital library at hippopress.com. Some locations with special offerings this weekend include:

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 926-3721, applecrest. com) Open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The orchard also features a corn maze and weekend festivals, such as this weekend’s Autumn Equinox Festival, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. featuring live music including Back Woods Road on Saturday and Unsung Heroes Band on Sunday. Fall festivals may also include a traditional corn roast, fresh press apple cider and lawn games, the website said.

• Appleview Orchard (1266 Upper City Road, Pittsfield, applevieworchard.com, 435- 3553) is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Find a playground, farm animals, picnic areas and more, the website said.

• Gould Hill Farm (656 Gould Hill Road, Contoocook, 746-3811, gouldhillfarm.com) Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and this Saturday, Sept. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. catch internationally touring folk rock singer-songwriter Justin Cohn, according to the website.

• Mack’s Apples/Moose Hill Orchard (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 434- 7619, macksapples.com) has opened its pumpkin patch. Find more about the weekend’s happenings on their Facebook page, such as last weekend’s Bee Train ride for kids.

On stage

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland will be presented by the Powerhouse Theatre Collaboration (powerhousenh.org) at Prescott Farm in Laconia Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, with performances beginning every 20 minutes from 1 to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Book a time slot online.

• Camp Rock The Musical is presented by the Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 to 12, on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Save the date

• The Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org) will present Lindsey and Her Puppet Pals on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. “Lindsay’s funny, fast-paced, and highly interactive variety show delights the young and the young at heart!” according to the website. “This program is a great fit for ages 3-8 and families.” Tickets cost $18 general admission, $15 for ages 12 and under.

The Art Roundup 24/09/19

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Series wrap-up: Twiggs Gallery (254 King St. in Boscawen; 975-0015, twiggsgallery.org) will host “Building Creative Communities,” the final discussion in a series with Concord Makerspace, on Thursday, Sept. 19, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event is free and will “highlight leaders and volunteers from Concord Makerspace and Twiggs Gallery, focusing on their efforts to build creative communities and the valuable lessons they’ve learned along the way,” according to a press release from Twiggs.

• Color in the garden: The Manchester Garden Club will meet at St. Hedwig Church Hall in Manchester on Thursday, Sept. 19, at noon. Willa Coroka, a UNH Master Gardener known as “The Magpie’s Apprentice,” will speak about “Container Gardening for Color and Cuisine” and will share her joy of knowledge of herbs, ecology, gardening and sustainable practices, according to an email from the club.

• Start the season with Paris: The Majestic Theatre kicks off its season on Friday Sept. 20, and Saturday, Sept. 21, at 6:30 p.m. with “Paris! City of Lights,” its fundraiser featuring music and theatrical performances at the Majestic Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester). The event will also feature raffles, refreshments and silent auctions, according to majestictheatre.net. Tickets for the performances cost $20. The Majestic is selling season tickets for its 2024-2025 season, which will include mainstage performances of Murder’s in the Heir(Nov. 22 through Nov. 24), SH-BOOM:A Christmas Miracle (Dec. 6 through Dec. 8), Last of the Red Hot Lovers(Feb. 14 through Feb. 16), Jack of Diamonds (April 25 through April 27), George Washington Slept Here (June 20 through June 22), Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(July 11 through July 13 at the Derry Opera House) and Living Together (Aug. 8 through Aug. 10). Season ticket holders also can pick from a selection of other performances and two planned 2025 movie matinees, according to the website.

• On display now: You have about another month to catch “Lou Breininger & Erin M. Riley: Understory” on display now through Saturday, Oct. 19, at Outer Space Art Gallery (35 Pleasant St. in Concord; outerspacearts.xyz). “Riley’s intimate tapestries depicting specific childhood memories are intertwined with Breininger’s abstracted stained glass works, complemented by her floral works on paper and carpet throughout this exhibition,” according to a description of the exhibit on the gallery’s website. The gallery is open Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• On display now in Dover: The Art Center (1 Washington St., Suite 1177, in Dover; theartcenteronlinegallery.com) will display “Beneath the Colonial Sky,” a new art series by Rebecca Klementovich, featuring “evocative depictions of historical landmarks in southern Maine and the seacoast of New Hampshire” through Thursday, Oct. 31, at Center, according to a press release. An artist reception will be held Saturday, Oct. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. “Drawing from natural subjects such as flowers, mountains, and seascapes, Klementovich infuses her work with a sharp, contemporary edge that transcends time. Her unique approach creates a dynamic tension between abstraction and semi-realism, evoking nostalgia while pushing the boundaries of traditional landscape painting,” the release said.

Also on display now at The Art Center is the exhibition “Across America,” its first photography exhibition, according to a release about the exhibit, which will run through October. “This visually captivating show features the work of 28 photographers from Maine to California, offering a unique collection that captures the diverse beauty and stories of America,” the release said. The reception on Oct. 5 will also showcase this exhibit, which is sponsored by Photosmith — the Complete Imaging Center, Dover, and guests can meet the photographers, the release said.

From “Beneath the Colonial Sky” at the Art Center.

• September exhibit: The Lakes Region Art Gallery (Suite 300, 120 Laconia Road in Tilton; 998-0029, lakesregionartgallery.org) will present “Fur & Feather Fine Art Exhibit,” a show featuring “an array of artworks that celebrate the beauty and intricacy of wildlife,” according to a press release. The show is on display through Sunday, Sept. 29; on Saturday, Sept. 21, the gallery will hold an artists reception from 2 to 4 p.m. with local chainsaw artist Jim Luckern, light refreshments and more, the release said. The gallery opens Thursday through Sunday at 10 a.m., according to the website.

• Button art: Artist Patty Frasier will present a class called “Intro to Dorset Buttons” at the League of NH Craftsmen Meredith Fine Craft Gallery (279 DW Highway in Meredith; 279-7920, meredith.nhcrafts.org/classes) on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dorset buttons were introduced in the 1600s and were “used to add decor to clothing and to cover small damages and imperfections in clothing,” according to a press release. “Weaving around a small ring with multiple fibers you create buttons that are used for clothing accents, upholstery accents, jewelry, hair accessories, magnets, Christmas ornaments and even framed art,” the release said. Tuition for the class costs $40 plus a $15 materials fee paid to the instructor. Pre-registration is required; call to sign up.

• Notes to the homefront: The Wright Museum of World War II (77 Center St. in Wolfeboro; wrightmuseum.org) will host a lecture and book signing by David Chrisinger about his book The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of WWII on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. Admission costs $10; reserve spots online at wrightmuseum.org/lecture-series or by calling 569-1212.

• Observations from fair Verona: Nurse!, described as “a closer look into Romeo and Juliet’s love story,” will come to The Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org) Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Sept. 29, according to a press release. Shows on Friday and Saturday start at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by an informal meet and greet; the show on Sunday is at 2:30 p.m. and will be followed by a talk-back with the artist, the release said. “Written and performed by Ayun Halliday and directed by Spencer Kayden, Nurse!is delivered in a bawdy mix of modern English and Fauxlizabethan. It is a mostly comic meditation on love, death, aging and teenagers,” the release said. Tickets cost $18.

• Save the date for artisans and crafters: Henniker Handmade & Homegrown will take place Saturday, Sept. 28, and Sunday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in downtown Henniker. The event will feature 88 local artisans, crafters, farms and food makers as well as food trucks (including Colombian street food from Cali Arepa, Somali-inspired food from Batulo’s Kitchen, Taco Beyondo, DeadProof Pizza and a Chicago-style hot dog cart) and live music, according to a press release. The musical line-up will include Peabody’s Coal Trail, the Danny Savage Band, Free Range Musicians, Walker Smith and Collin Nevins, the release said. The event will take place at the Henniker Community Center and Park at 57 Main St. and will feature vendors indoors and outdoors with parking at the Henniker Community School and a shuttle bus, the release said.

• Master public speaking: New Hampshire Theatre Project will present a “Public Speaking Master Class with Artist Laureate Genevieve Aichele” on Saturday, Sept. 28, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 959 Islington St. in Portsmouth. The class is “for all those interested in polishing their public speaking and communication skills, overcoming anxiety and nerves, presenting their best self with confidence, practicing public speaking in an encouraging environment, and engaging their audiences,” according to a press release. “Participants must be prepared to present a memorized three-minute speech or story on the topic of their choice,” the release said. The cost is $60; register at nhtheatreproject.org.

• Art of flowers: The Atkinson Garden Club will feature floral designer Maureen Christmas at the club meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 1 p.m. at the Atkinson Community Center, 4 Main St. in Atkinson. Admission costs $10 and the event will feature light refreshments.

• Spooky season begins: A Haunting in Venice(PG-13, 2023), arguably the best of the Kenneth Branagh Hercule Poirot movies, will screen at the Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway in Derry; derrypl.org) on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m. Register online.

• Write your song: Center for the Arts (centerfortheartsnh.org) will hold a songwriting workshop with Tom Pirozzoli on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 6, from 1 to 5 p.m. at 428 Main St. in New London. Tuition costs $95 for both days, according to a Center For the Arts newsletter. Go online to register.

• Wicked celebration: Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 annual celebration of the New Hampshire Humanities, which has its 50th anniversary this year. The celebration will be Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry) and feature keynote speaker Gregory Maguire, author of the novel Wicked. Tickets start at $35.

• 100 Years of “Rhapsody in Blue”: Tickets are on sale for the kickoff to the New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2024-2025 season. The first show will feature the New Hampshire premiere of “Rhapsody in Red, White and Blue,” a new composition by Peter Boyer, on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m. (when livestreaming is available) at the Seifert Performing Arts Center (44 Geremonty Drive in Salem), according to a press release. Steinway artist Jeffrey Biegel will be the guest soloist, the release said. Tickets cost $35 for adults, $30 for seniors, $10 for students and $5 for Salem students, the release said. See nhphil.org.

Jeffrey Biegel.

• Get loud in 2025: Recycled Percussion will return to the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) for 15 shows between Tuesday, Dec. 31, and Sunday, Jan. 12. Tickets cost $39 to $49 and are on sale now.

—Zachary Lewis

Discover the Corn Maze Craze

Where to have fun on farms with a live action puzzle

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

In addition to filling totes with apples and picking out a pumpkin or two, at many farms you can extend your visit with a corn maze. These live-action puzzles offer an all-ages fall activity and another way for the farms to benefit from visitors during the harvest season.

At the Coppal House Farm in Lee, you’ll find a different design each year. “Every year our corn maze theme encompasses something that you would see in your own back yard, be it animal, plant, reptile, amphibian, or avian,” according to the farm’s website. “Our crops are rotated around the farm for the health of the soil, so our corn maze is a different experience every year. Depending on the weather, the corn maze has been planted by our Belgian Draft Horses and it is almost always harvested by them. Our corn is not of the human eating variety, instead it is a feed corn used for the nourishment of our sheep flock and our horses.”

At Elwood Orchards in Derry, they posted photos of green corn stalks in early July: “Corn maze construction is underway!” the post read, highlighting the multi-step process and long journey of turning corn to maze.

At Moulton Farm in Meredith, a post from fall 2023 also talks about starting the maze in the summer: “Our corn maze is planted every year in mid to late June, depending on the weather. The field is planted in both directions to create a grid. The maze is then designed by hand. ​An outline of the field is drawn on about 20 pieces of graph paper taped together. Each line on the graph paper represents 1 row of corn. Wes Thomas, who has worked at our farm since he was in high school, starts translating his design idea onto graph paper. This process alone takes one or two days and several erasers.”

At Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn in Hopkinton, the farm creates two unique corn mazes every fall. This 200-acre farm, under conservation and going back to 1771, is open every day until Thursday, Oct. 31, for corn maze fun until dusk. An admission price of $7 covers both mazes, and children 3 and under get in free.

Holly Kimball, one of the owners of the farm, is a former educator whose love of her family’s farm is apparent.

“This is a multigenerational farm, so we have the seventh, eighth and ninth generations running the farm,” Kimball said. Much of the farm is run and maintained by Holly as well as her son, Nate Kimball-Barr, and his wife, Hannah Kimball-Barr.

Besides corn mazes they have around 500 trees tapped for maple syrup, they raise pork, and there’s a menagerie of farm animals that include baby goats, sheep, lambs, peacocks, Shetland ponies and more.

“We have a wide array of farm animals that people love to visit,” Holly Kimball said. “Over 100 animals here, actually.” Beef cattle are a mainstay as well.

“We have a nice mixture of Black and Red Angus and then we have some Simmental blood mixed in there…. We were a dairy farm for 225 years, and the dairy cattle were sold in 1996. That’s when my parents decided to sell ice cream to keep the farm going,” she said.

Ice cream is as big a draw as the animals at Beech Hill, she noted. “So many times when I’m outside taking care of the plants I’ll hear people come and they’ll say, ‘Do you want to see the animals first or get the ice cream first?’”

As the weather begins to get cooler, fall becomes apparent. “We also grow acres of pumpkins so it won’t be long before we’ll start picking pumpkins and gourds … the barnyard is just a sea of orange once the pumpkins get ripe.”

The mazes opened on Aug. 1 this year, and although they start in the summer the mazes lead the farm into the new seasons.

Kimball’s background in teaching fuels each new maze theme.

“I want one that’s good for school-aged [visitors] and one that’s for everyone,” she said. “We come up with two fresh new themes each year and we come up with designs that complement the themes. I vary it each year so that the format is different. People can make it competitive or a team-building activity.”

These are not your typical mazes.

“I work on some kind of a scavenger hunt-style activity for each one,” she said. “That is hugely popular with people because they are not just walking through a maze. They actually have a piece of paper in their hand and they’re trying to solve a giant crossword puzzle or sometimes it’s a Jeopardy! game. I always try to have at least one that’s a game style.”

One of the themes this year is Museum Mixup.

“It’s based on the Smithsonian Museums that my family actually went and saw last January. I chose a lot of the artifacts that we saw from five different museums and then I turned that into a scavenger hunt where people need to find all of the items listed and match them to the museum that they are displayed in,” she said. These include the National Zoo, the American History museum and the Air and Space Museum. “It’s a lot of pop culture, things that are multi-generational and people will kind of get a kick out of.”

The concept is easy to follow, Kimball said. “What we do is we hide the signs in the maze, all throughout it, and if people can find all the items on the scavenger hunt list they know they’ve been through the entire maze.”

In honor of Hawaii’s 65 years as a state, the second maze is The Amazing Aloha State Maze. “That one’s a giant crossword puzzle. People really love the crossword puzzle. They’re finding signs in the maze that say one-across or 13-down, whatnot, and they fill in the puzzle as they go,” Kimball said.

Mazes have a little something for everyone.

“It appeals to all ages. The kids like to go in because they can spy all the signs and the older children that are reading, that becomes another level, and then the ones that want to do the crossword and check the answers as they go through, and some do it as a team, some as a family, it really makes for a fun fall outing for people,” she said.

Kimball is always figuring out new ways to maze.

“It’s always in the back of my mind. I do research. I look at every different angle…. It gets very tricky not to repeat,” she said.

How do Holly’s designs come to life? First is the planting.

“My son grows the fields, the acres of corn. He plants the corn very close together. It’s almost cross planted so it’s very dense, very close-growing stalks of corn in the field. We’re also using a hybrid corn that grows quickly and it grows tall,” she said. It has reached 10 feet.

The corn is not just for the mazes.

“First and foremost, we’re planting this corn anyway because we have 50 head of beef cattle here on the farm. That corn is 100-day corn that gets planted and it has nutritional value for our cows,” she said. “We have a lot of signs up that say, ‘Please don’t pick the corn,’ because that’s a food crop that is really essential for our farm.”

After agriculture comes the technology.

“Nate and his wife, Hannah, actually use Google Earth and a lot of math and figure out how to put that design and make it fit in the shape of that field,” Kimball said.

“The first step after that is the design. They draw out on graph paper, then they’re looking at Google Earth and they’re deciding which design is going to fit better on one piece rather than the other,” she said.

The shape of each plot is a deciding factor: “One is a little longer and thinner. The other one is a little more boxy, the acreage.”

The growth of the corn helps dictate when the structure gets crafted.

“There’s the old farmer’s saying, ‘knee high by the fourth of July’ — that’s when we start thinking about wanting to cut the corn because if you wait until the corn is eye level, it’s really, really hard to see where your next point is that you’re trying to go to,” Kimball said.

Farm engineering lends a hand as the maze is sculpted out of corn.

“They have to scale the dimensions of the design to the 4-acre plot. They use a GPS point finder and Nate is able to mow the path while his wife is standing and holding a surveyor stick,” she said. “He does an amazing job because his designs come out with a lot of symmetry and that is not easy to do. He’s done an octopus, he’s done a cow, a beehive, some Olympic medals, and it’s remarkable how precise he can be just using your own basic tools like an old beater lawn mower. You have to go over all the paths in the maze several times until it’s just dirt…. It’s very labor-intensive.”

How long is this path? “We do know that it takes 30 to 40 minutes to do each maze. That’s finding the signs, stopping, writing in the answer. People like that too because they don’t want to go in there and get really lost. You still can’t see over your head but the size is very doable.”

After Halloween the corn is siloed. “It will feed our cows all the way through the winter up until April. Not many people that have corn mazes actually do something with the corn, and ours go to the cows.”

How did the maze craze start? Kimball was with her father around 25 years ago in Vermont and saw either a brochure or bumper sticker that sparked the interest. “There’s a maze they call the Great Vermont Maze, and I said to my dad, ‘I think we can do that,’ and over the winter we tried to think of everything that would be involved and what we would have to do…. That’s what started it, a maze in Vermont.”

The belief in themselves has sparked a new tradition at this old farm, Kimball said: “We get a little better each year, I think.”

Where to corn maze

Here are some of the area corn mazes. Call before you go to make sure the maze is open that day as availability can change based on weather and other factors. Know of a maze not mentioned here? Let us know at [email protected].

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 926-3721, applecrest.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost: $9 per person and free for ages 5 and under. This 8-acre corn field features a maze of twists and turns that typically remains open through Halloween or early November depending on weather conditions. Applecrest, which features pick your own apples, also hosts a fall festival every weekend through the end of October with live music, tractor rides and food for sale, according to the website. On Sunday, Oct. 20, it’s the annual Great Pumpkin Carve from noon to 4 p.m. when the master carver creates a many-hundred-pound jack-o’-lantern, the website said.

• Beans & Greens Farm (245 Intervale Road, Gilford, 293-2853, beansandgreensfarm.com) Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; a night maze is offered Friday and Saturday from 7:30 to 10 p.m. with last entry at 9:15 p.m. Cost: $14 for adults and $10 for kids 9 and younger Monday through Friday. $16 for adults and $12 for kids 9 and under for Saturday and Sunday. The cost for the night maze is $24 according to their website; it is anticipated to open Friday, Sept. 20. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Notch Biergarten by Beans & Greens Farm will hold its second annual Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (with activities such as a sausage toss at 1 p.m., chicken dance-off at 2 p.m., a beer stein holding contest at 3 p.m., a kids’ fun park and more) and a Harvest Festival on Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with live music, a kids’ fun park, candy cannon, craft fair, hayrides and more, according to the website.

• Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn (107 Beech Hill Road, Hopkinton, 223-0828, beechhillfarm.com) Hours: Daily, noon to dusk. Cost: $7 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn has two 4-acre corn mazes, and $7 gives you access to both. This year’s themes are “Museum Mixup” and “The Amazing Aloha State Maze,” and maze-goers search for signs with clues in a scavenger hunt style. Complete the puzzles to navigate through. The mazes are open daily through Oct. 31. In addition to the ice cream and homemade waffle cones, Beech Hill offers pumpkins, mums and more in its Gardner’s Barn. On Sunday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m., author Matt Forrest Ensenwine will sign copies of his picture books; his new book Tractor Dance is for sale at the ice cream barn, according to the farm’s Facebook page.

• Brookdale Fruit Farm (41 Broad St., Hollis, 465-2240, brookdalefruitfarm.com) Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $4 per person. The corn maze is among several family-friendly activities that will be available at Brookdale Fruit Farm this fall, along with hayrides and apple picking. The farm also features an ice cream stand and a wide variety of local products in its farm stand, including the farm’s own honey, canned vegetables and jellies and more, according to the website.

• Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, brookfordfarm.com, 742-4084) Corn maze hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $8 for everyone 3 and over; free for kids 2 and under. This coming weekend, the farm’s pick-your-own offerings include raspberries and pumpkins, according to the website, where you can find the picking schedule through the end of October and purchase corn maze tickets. The weekend of Saturday, Oct. 12, through Monday, Oct. 14, is Pumpkins and Puppets, which will feature pumpkin picking, Wicked Witches of the Lakes Region (on Oct. 12 at 11 a.m.), marionettes (Oct. 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m), feed the pigs, cow parades, farm basketball, hayrides, puppet show, build your own scarecrow and more, according to the website, where you can purchase tickets for a day’s admission.

• Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, 659-3572, nhcornmaze.com) Hours: Monday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entrance is at 4:30 p.m.). Columbus Day hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for kids ages 5 to 12 and for students, seniors and active military service members, and free for kids ages 4 and under. This year’s theme is the 2024 Anniversary Moose Corn Maze to celebrate 20 years of Coppal House Farm. There are also three nighttime maze dates that are open to the public, scheduled for Sept. 28, Oct. 12 and Oct. 26 (general admission is $15 per person; online ticketing only) — bring your own flashlight. The farm’s farm stand is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers meats, local maple syrup and more, according to the website. A Harvest Weekend celebration will be held Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, with events including horse-drawn wagon rides, fairy house building (Sept. 21 from 1 to 3 p.m.), acorn scarecrow building (Sept. 22 from 1 to 3 p.m.), wildlife encounters (Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and farm animals, according to the website. Catch live music both days and food will be for sale from Crescent City Kitchen, Refuge BBQ and Ken’s Corn, the website said.

• Elwood Orchards (54 Elwood Road, Londonderry, 434-6017, elwoodorchards.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entrance is at 5 p.m.) Cost: $12 per person and free for kids ages 5 and under. The 15-acre corn maze at this family-owned and -operated farm and orchard is open now and typically through the first weekend of November. In addition to pick-your-own apples, the orchard offers “delicious treats at the farm stand” and fall decorations, according to the website.

• J & F Farms (124 Chester Road, Derry, 437-0535, jandffarmsnh.com) Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $10 per person. The corn maze is Fall-themed in September and Halloween-themed in October at this longtime family-run farm and is open to the public now through the end of October. Also at the farm, you can visit and feed the animals at the petting farm and buy some fresh produce and honey, according to the website.

• Lavoie’s Farm (172 Nartoff Road, Hollis, 882-0072, lavoiesfarm.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cost: Free. At the family-owned and -operated Lavoie’s Farm, visitors can traverse the 3-acre corn maze. Visitors in the fall “can … enjoy hay rides, a corn maze, a corn boil, and apple cider — all free with any produce purchase,” according to the website. Pinky’s Traveling Smokestack is expected to be selling barbecue at the farm on weekends in September and October, according to a Facebook post from the Farm.

• Mack’s Apples (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, macksapples.com, 432-3456) Corn maze is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays Mack’s also has weekend Bee Train rides from noon to 5 p.m. and hayrides around the orchard from 1 to 5 p.m.

• Moulton Farm (18 Quarry Road, Meredith, moultonfarm.com, 279-3915) Corn maze hours: 8 a.m to 4 p.m. daily. The cost is $10 per person, $6 for ages 3 to 6, free for under 3, the website said. The corn maze opens for the season on Saturday, Sept. 21, which will also see the opening of pumpkin picking (which will run through Oct. 14), according to the website. Other events include a view of the baby goats (called “New ‘Kids’ On the Block”), horse drawn carriages and live music some weekends (starting Saturday, Sept. 28) and face painting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, through Monday, Oct. 14. The farm also features Sal’s Fresh Seafood Thursdays through Sundays; baked goods, salads, meals, soups, sandwiches and more for sale at the farm market; Cider Bellies cider doughnuts Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Moutlon’s Hay Wagon food truck Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and fresh produce from Moulton’s and other farms in the market, according to the website.

• Riverview Farm (141 River Road, Plainfield, 298-8519, riverviewnh.com) Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cost: $8 per person and free for kids ages 4 and under. Artist and illustrator Emily Zea comes up with new themes each year for Riverview Farm’s corn maze, and visitors this year will see monsters and folklore, a similar theme to last year but with a whole new path. The Farm Store is open through October, offering doughnuts, cider, jams, honey and more; visitors can bring a packed lunch to eat at the picnic tables on the lawn.

• Trombly Gardens (150 N. River Road, Milford, 673-0647, tromblygardens.net) Hours: Daily, from 9 a.m. to dusk. Cost: $9 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. Bringing in a canned good will result in $1 off entry (one can per person) and the item will be donated to a local food bank. Visitors can also “grab an ice cream and visit the animals while you are here,” according to a recent Facebook post from the Gardens. Starting in October on Friday and Saturday there will be a night maze whose times vary based on the schedule of The Dark Woods (thedarkwoodsnh.com), which is a haunted trail on the other side of the farm, through Halloween.

• Washburn’s Windy Hill (orchard 66 Mason Road, Greenville, 878-2101, washburnswindyhillorchard.com) Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost: $5 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. The 5-acre corn maze at Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard is open daily, rain or shine, through the end of October. Visitors can visit farm animals and browse the gift shop; there are picnic tables and a play area for children.

Featured Photos : A previous maze at Beech Hill Farm. Photo by Jody Reynolds.

Quality of Life 24/09/19

Good year for falcons

In a Sept. 1 blog post New Hampshire Audubon released the figures for New Hampshire’s peregrine falcon population’s 2024 breeding season: Statewide there were 28 territorial pairs, a new state-record high; there were 23 incubating pairs, down one from 2022’s record high, and 21 of those pairs successfully raised chicks, up 16 percent over 2023’s record high “This season also saw a record-high 50 young falcons fledge,” the post reported, “a conservation milestone that comes nearly 50 years after wildlife managers first started releasing captive-raised peregrine chicks at Owls Head and several other northern New England cliffs beginning in the mid-1970s.”

QOL Score: +1

Comment: NH Audubon reports that the weatherproof nest box near the top of the Brady Sullivan Tower in Manchester was successful for the 24th consecutive year: “It has produced 76 fledglings since 2001.”

Unbeleafably good year for foliage

In a Sept. 6 radio story and online article, New Hampshire Public Radio quoted Dave Anderson, Senior Director of Education at the Forest Society and co-host of Something Wild on NHPR: “I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say that this year’s fall foliage display could be the best that we’ve seen in the past decade,” Anderson said. In contrast to 2023, the weather in New Hampshire has been excellent for healthy trees and bright foliage. The NHPR story explained that leaves on different species of trees change color at different times throughout the fall, so we can expect waves of color over the next month or so.

QOL Score: +1

Comment: According to Anderson, “Orange and yellow have been there all along, you just didn’t see it. It was masked beneath the green chlorophyll in the leaves all summer.”

Leaf sleeping bears alone

WMUR aired footage on Thursday, Sept. 12, sent in by a viewer of a family of bears asleep in the limbs of a tree in Merrimack. The mother bear and two cubs spent the morning in the tree, from “at least 7 a.m. to just after noon,” according to the accompanying online article.

QOL Score: +1, for the peaceful nap

Comment: In a telephone interview with the Hippo, Daniel Bailey of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said that regardless of how appealing animals like these bears are, people should leave them alone. “With bears, or any wildlife, it’s best to appreciate them from a distance,” he said. “They aren’t inherently dangerous, but they are always unpredictable.”

Three NH veterans take an “Honor Flight” to Washington

WMUR reported in a Sept. 16 online story that three World War II veterans from New Hampshire were flown to Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Sept. 15. “The three veterans are all between the ages of 100 and 101,” the story read. According to its website, Honor Flight New England (193 Londonderry Turnpike, Unit 4, Hooksett, 518-5368, honorflightnewengland.org), the organization responsible for this trip, “is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring America’s most senior veterans.” This week’s Honor Flight honorees will stay in Washington for eight days.

QOL Score: +1

Comment: According to WMUR, this was Honor Flight New England’s 67th flight.

QOL score last week: 81

Net change: +4

QOL this week: 85

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