Author: The Hippo Press

Kiddie Pool 24/08/01

Family fun for whenever

Fairs

• The Belknap County Fair is set to return on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sunday, Aug. 4, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 174 Mile Hill Road in Belmont. The fair features live entertainment, food, exhibits and animal shows. Admission at the gate is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 65 and older, police, fire and EMS personnel, and free for kids under 10 and for military service members. Visit bcfairnh.org.

• The 2024 Sunflower Festival at Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, nhsunflower.com) runs daily through Sunday, Aug. 4, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. See the website for admission prices. See the blooming fields and then enjoy live music, an artisan craft fair, food and more.

Theater

• The Palace Youth Theatre Summer Camp presents Jungle Book, Kids, on Friday, Aug. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org). The student actors are in grades 2 through 12. Tickets start at $12.

• Camp Encore! presents Descendants, the Musical, on Saturday, Aug. 3, and Sunday, Aug. 4, at 1 p.m. at the Wilcox Main Stage in Prescott Park (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth). Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, Disney’s Descendants: The Musical is a brand-new musical with comedy, adventure, Disney characters and hit songs from the films. Tickets start at $5; reservations can be made at portsmouthnhtickets.com.

• High in a tower, surprises await as a fair maiden longs for a friend, an old crone longs for an understanding daughter, and a seagull longs for some crackers in the Impact Touring Children’s Theatre’s performance of Rapunzel on Tuesday, Aug. 6, at 10 a.m. at the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com). This is a free performance. Seating for this show is mostly on the open floor. Patrons are encouraged to bring blankets.

Treats

• Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center (928 White Oaks Road, Laconia, prescottfarm.org) presents a tasty and educational program, “Homemade Dairy and Non-Dairy Ice Cream,” on Saturday, Aug. 3, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Learn about how to make ice cream. This program is open to youth and adults. The cost is $15 for members and $30 for nonmembers.

Movies

• The Nashua Summer Fun program has a “Pic in the Park” scheduled for Friday, Aug. 2, at dusk when The Marvels (PG-13, 2023) will screen at the Greeley Park Bandshell (100 Concord St., Nashua). See nashuanh.gov.

• The Milford Drive-In Theater (531 Elm St., Milford) has two screens for movie screenings Wednesday through Sunday. Movies start at 8:45 p.m. with the box office opening at 7:15 p.m. but opening at 6:45 p.m.on Friday and Saturday nights, according to their website. Each screen shows two movies. Starting Friday, Aug. 2,Despicable Me 4(PG, 2024) is the opening film on Screen 2, followed by Twisters (PG-13, 2024). Tickets are $33 per car (up to six people) and $6 for each additional person. Visit milforddrivein.com or call 660-6711.

Waltz of the balloons

See crafts take to the sky — and the river — at the Hot Air Balloon Rally

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Get ready for the 42nd Annual Hot Air Balloon Rally in Pittsfield, which will showcase 10 hot air balloons for the festivities from Friday, Aug. 2, all the way through Sunday, Aug. 4.

“The money that we raise through our vendors, donors, and buying things from the Rotary food tent and T-shirts, all that money goes back into the communities that we serve,” said Fallon Reed, President of the Suncook Valley Rotary Club and Chair of the Balloon Rally. These communities include Barnstead, Chichester and Pittsfield.

The shindig launches on Friday at 3 p.m. and there will be carnival rides and live music. Dusty Gray and The Bulkheads are two different bands slated to perform on Friday.

Hot air balloons will be launched.

“Certainly all of our launches are weather-dependent, so if the winds and everything cooperate we’ll have our first launch. The balloons will be on the field about 5:30. They do their pilots’ meetings to look at weather conditions and make a determination if they are able to launch,” Reed said.

Smaller and chiller balloons will be available through Mr. Joe and his Silly Solutions Balloon Entertainment. “The gentleman coming down to do that does these things down at Fenway so we’re excited to have him. He came a couple years ago.”

The night sky is the perfect backdrop for the hot air balloons.

“At dusk, we’ll have what we call our Night Glow and so that’s where the balloons inflate on the field and they change the … combination of oxygen to propane or however they make it work … the balloons essentially light up. They look like fireflies on the field. Big ol’ fireflies. It’s a great thing and they do a little show there.”

Saturday starts early with the Rotary Pancake and Egg Breakfast at 6 a.m. and a possible launch of hot air balloons, depending on the weather.

“We also have a free sunrise yoga that our local yoga business Powerful You Yoga puts on … so you can see the balloons and be a part of all that.”

A giant touch-a-truck event occurs later that Saturday morning involving the Home of the Brave RC Balloon, a smaller hot air balloon controlled by hand.

“This year, this is a new activity for us, but during touch-a-truck, if folks want to bring a teddy bear or a stuffie, we’re doing teddy bear tethering so they can put their stuffie in the basket and it can go up on a little tethered flight, maybe 30 or so feet in the air, so we’re excited to have that,” she said. Another fun kid event is the Brushes and Balloons paint event at the Rotary Tent.

That’s not all.

“We have our annual Craft Fair which is sponsored by the Pittsfield Historical Society. They are full of crafters and vendors to sell various things. That’s always a good time.”

Anything that Floats River Raft Regatta Race is another rally favorite.

“Folks can make their own raft or vessel out of anything they can find around their house, it just can’t be a regular boat or have an engine and then they race in the river to a certain point and then come back to the shore and the first three teams that win, win a cash prize and bragging rights for the next year.”

There are also helicopter rides and performances by the Granite State Disc Dogs as well as a hot air balloon pilot meet and greet.

“Folks will be able to meet them. They have trading cards they’ll be handing out so they can collect those, check out the baskets, meet the pilots … get an opportunity to ask them all kinds of questions about hot air balloons, which is great.”

Remember to bring your spare change to the Hot Air Balloon Rally.

“And my favorite thing for this year … we got a penny press machine with balloon images and we partnered with the library in town, the Josiah Carpenter Library. During the Balloon Rally the penny press machine will be at the field, but the other days of the year it will be at the library so folks can bring their quarters and a penny and pick your design and get some pressed pennies…. My daughter loves them so we’re very excited about that this year,” Reed said.

There is also the possibility of doing ‘tethering’ in the Re/Max balloon in the evening hours, where brave participants can experience the hot air balloon in action.

“They only go up a set amount…. I actually went up for the second time last weekend with my daughter, so it was her first time going up, she’s 8 and she loved it…. It’s an amazing experience. You truly feel like, ‘if I could float on a cloud, that’s how I would describe it.’”

If the ground is closer to comfort, there’s even the Victory Workers 4-H Cow Chip Bingo, which is exactly how it sounds.

“Folks can buy tickets with random numbers on it. We have a couple cows that come down onto a gridded area and where the cow drops their patty is whoever wins. There’s a $500 cash prize.”

Float on over to this spectacular event.

“Hot air balloons are not necessarily something you see every day…. It’s a great kind of low-key, fun fair. Hang out, lots of great things to do for kids and families, and spend time together. Everyone enjoys it.”

Hot Air Balloon Rally
Where: Drake Field in Pittsfield
When: Friday, Aug. 2, to Sunday, Aug. 4
Admission: free
More: nhballoonrally.org

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 24/08/01

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

• Teen drama: Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musicalis presented by Hatbox Theatre (715-2315, hatboxnh.com) and Manchester Community Theatre Players from Aug. 2 through Aug. 11 with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the North End Montessori School’s MCTP Theatre (698 Beech St., Manchester). Tickets are $28 for adults, $25 for students/seniors/members, $22 for senior members. See hatboxnh.com for content details.

• Care with art: The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) will host The Memory Café on Wednesday, Aug. 7, from 1 to 2 p.m., as it will on the first Wednesday every month up until December, according to their website. The Memory Café is a joyful and creative social experience designed for people in the early stages of memory loss along with their care partners and loved ones and is an opportunity to connect while viewing and discussing art, facilitated by an Art and Wellness Specialist who will provide prompts that encourage a fun and social dialogue, according to their website. This event is free and open to the public, no registration is required.

• New exhibit: PILLAR Gallery + Projects (205 N. State St., Concord) has announced their fifth exhibition, “CONSTRUCTS,” which will run until Sunday, Sept. 15, and explores distinct visual languages in geometric abstraction and sculptural form, according to their press release. Artists in the exhibition include Eric Katzman, Trevor Toney, Jenny McGee Dougherty, Damion Silver and Don Williams. The exhibition focuses on composition and design and includes functional ceramics, sculpture, shape-driven abstract paintings and collage. Each artist has a unique vocabulary and grammar centered around defined shape and form, and this is true from precisely crafted minimalism to exploratory expression, according to the press release. PILLAR Gallery + Projects is open Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. Visit pillargalleryprojects.com or call 657-8111.

—Zachary Lewis

Community art in the Common — and on Main Street

Goffstown holds its annual Uncommon Art on the Common

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The 15th Annual Uncommon Art on the Common in Goffsotwn takes place Saturday, Aug. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nina Duval, Main Street Art Team representative to the Goffstown Main Street Program, is excited for this yearly community artistic event.

“It’s basically an open air thing, it’s free to the public … a lot of people on Main Street really get into it, which is a cool thing.”

The event features the works of more than 50 area artists and artisans with booths along Main Street and the local shops and restaurants will also be open for attendees to grab a drink or a bite to eat while scoping out all the local art.

Duval is an artist as well and will be showcasing upcycled plastics. “I’ve made rugs and totes and stuff from upcycled plastic shopping bags,” she said, but every year is a different medium for her.

She is not the only recurring artist.

“A lot of people come back year after year. We have some people who have been here almost since the beginning.”

Art is the name of the game so everything will be “strictly art, fine craft. We have a few local authors…. It’s just high-quality work. We have a lot of really good, wonderful artists and artisans. It’s definitely worth the trip.”

What types of artists? These include painters, illustrators, photographers, woodworkers, jewelry artisans, metalworkers, home décor crafters, writers, ceramic makers, potters and more, according to their press release.

“Everything going up in any of these tents is for sale. Seventy-five percent of the purpose is for local artists to show their work and sell, make some connections with people … we try to bring new things in every year,” Duval said.

She was not able to narrow down a favorite artist.

“To me, they’re all good. I have personal favorites but they’re all good so I’m not going to say, ‘go to this one or go to that one.’ Go to all of them because maybe something I think is really cool, some other person may be like, “well, that’s nice, but,” and then they’ll find someone else that’s like, ‘oh, this is great!’”

A couple of popular events will be returning to the Commons, and one of those is the Uncommon Bling project.

“This will be about the seventh or eighth year and it’s become pretty popular, especially amongst kids. They like to bop around and get their little bling…. People go to the Main Street table and they can get their ‘bling bag’ as we call it.”

Participating artists are given the choice to participate.

“If they choose to. It’s strictly voluntary. I think this year about half of the participants are doing this. They make a little bauble in whatever medium they work with so let’s say someone does pottery. They might craft like a little ceramic bauble to put on the cord.”

According to the press release, visitors can collect beads and handcrafted items at participating booths throughout the event to be strung on a necklace obtained from the Goffstown Main Street booth and that their kids craft tent will return again this year so remember to “have your kids swing by the craft tent to create a neat memento.”

It was a hit last year.

“This is the second year we’re going to have a kids’ craft area for kids to come in. We’re doing little lanterns, like a little hanging ornament…. It’s paper tubes that they decorate and they can do whatever they want with it,” Duval said.

The possibilities are limitless, but Duval offers a fine suggestion. “They could put it on the Christmas tree, it could probably be a cool Christmas tree ornament depending on how they decorate it.”

Attendees will be able to sign up for a raffle of collected goods at the Uncommon Art tent. “We have a number of artists who are donating work for that.” These also contain donations from local businesses. The donations will be raffled off by Uncommon Art on the Common to benefit the Goffstown Main Street Program, which puts on the fantastic art event. Raffle tickets sell at $1 a ticket or $5 for six tickets.

Duval and Goffstown are excited to show off its art. “Come on over, have fun, check it all out. Hopefully buy some art from someone.”

15th Uncommon Art on the Common
Main Street, Goffstown
Saturday, Aug. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Free admission
goffstownuncommonarts.org

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

This Week 24/08/01

Thursday, Aug. 1

UNH Extension Master Gardeners will answer your gardening questions to Ask a Master Gardener Day, at New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way, Auburn, 224-9909, nhaudubon.org) today, from 9 to 11 a.m. This event is free to attend.

Thursday, Aug. 1

The 7th Annual Rotary Trails 2 Ales 5K race (rotarytrails2ales.com) will take place today, starting at 6 p.m. in Legacy Park (200-224 New Boston Road, Bedford); runners can sign in starting at 5:30 p.m. Everyone attending can enjoy a burger and a drink and play cornhole. Adults 21+ are invited to taste a variety of craft beers and wines. Kids 12 and under are admitted free and can run the trails without registering. They will not receive a bib or be timed. The race will be capped at 500 runners. Registration is $30 on the race website.

Friday, Aug. 2

Celebrate the Dog Days of Summer tonight at Intown Concord’s First Friday in the city’s downtown. The evening will feature live music, food trucks, an outdoor screening of Jaws, a dog agility contest and more. See intownconcord.org.

Saturday, Aug. 3

The Merrimack Garden Club will hold its annual plant sale today starting at 8 a.m. at St. James Methodist Church, 646 DW Highway in Merrimack. See merrimackgardenclub.org.

Saturday, Aug. 3

Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, 783-9511, shakers.org) will begin a weeklong celebration today of the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the Shaker faith. Today, there will be a special dedication ceremony at 10 a.m. for the Postal Service’s 2024 series of first-class stamps honoring Shaker design. Other activities this week will include lectures, tours and the opening of a new museum exhibition “Keeping Faith.” All events are free of charge.

Sunday, Aug. 4

Merrimack High School’s FIRST Robotics team, Chop Shop 166 (ChopShop166.com), will host “Cars, Robots, and Coffee,” a combination car show and robotics demonstration, this morning from 8 a.m. to noon. Automobiles of all types are welcome to register or show up to participate in the Car Show portion of the event. Admission is free for spectators.

Sunday, Aug. 4

Heavy metal bands Lamb of God and Mastodon will perform at the SNHU Arena as part of their Ashes of Leviathan Tour (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) today at 6 p.m., celebrating 20 years of Ashes of the Wake and Leviathan. Tickets start at $20.

Save the Date! Friday, Aug. 9
The 2024 Manchester International Film Festival is set for Friday, Aug. 9, and Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Rex Theatre (823 Amherst St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org). Films will include animation, New England short films, LGBTQ+ films, international short films and more. Friday registration and check-in will begin at 6 p.m.; the doors to the theater will open at 6:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the doors will open at 6 p.m., and the program will begin at 6:30 p.m. Passes for each night will be sold separately for $20 each at palacetheatre.org.

Featured photo: Ashes of the Leviathan Tour.

Quality of Life 24/08/01

Shopping for sparrows?

As reported in an online story by WMUR Saturday, July 27, a police officer rescued a hawk after it flew into the Hudson Market Basket at 212 Lowell Road last Friday. “Hudson police officer Matthew Horton happened to be inside the store and the manager came up to tell him that a hawk had followed a customer inside,” WMUR reported. After attempting to call local animal control, Horton, wearing a pair of mechanic gloves, was able to capture the hawk. The Hudson Police Department confirmed in a telephone interview that Officer Horton turned the juvenile broad winged hawk over to the Millstone Wildlife Center in Windham. “We are a mammal facility,” said Frannie Greenberg, a representative of the Center, “but we were happy to hold the hawk temporarily.” The Millstone Center quickly turned the hawk over to a bird specialist, and confirmed that it has been released back into the wild.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Raw video footage of Officer Horton capturing the hawk is available on WMUR’s website.

Outstanding teachers

The New Hampshire Department of Education announced in a press release on Tuesday, July 23, that the selection committee for New Hampshire’s Teacher of the Year has announced the four finalists for the state’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. The teachers are Chelsea Barrett Viera, who teaches grades 2-5 in a self-contained autism classroom at Highland-Goffe’s Falls Elementary School in Manchester; Kristen Dacey, a first-grade teacher at Dr. Lewis F. Soule School in Salem, Candice DeAngelis, a Spanish teacher at Bedford High School, and Brian Gray, who has been a Business Technology and Social Studies teacher at Sanborn Regional High School. “These four teachers are leaders in the field of education, with each of them understanding the need for school improvement, student engagement, bold visions and collective experience,” said Christine Brennan, deputy commissioner and member of the Teacher of the Year Selection Committee. Visit education.nh.gov/news-and-media.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The Teacher of the Year Selection Committee will now schedule visits to observe each of the finalists in their classroom environment. An award winner will be announced in October.

More ways to fly in and out of Manchester

In a recent press release, JetBlue announced that as part of a strategy to add 20 percent more seats to its service to New England, it will “launch service for the first time from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in Manchester,” adding, “JetBlue flights from Manchester are set to launch in January with service to Florida, including year-round daily flights to Orlando, and winter seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers.” In addition, Avelo Airlines (aveloair.com) announced in a July 24 press release that it will add service to Manchester from Central Florida’s Lakeland International Airport (LAL) on Oct. 25, and twice-weekly service to Charlotte, North Carolina’s Concord-Padgett Regional Airport (KJQF) on Nov. 7.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the Airport’s website (flymanchester.com), eight airlines fly in and out of Manchester, with service to more than 250 cities.

Last week’s QOL score: 73

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 76

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

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