News & Notes 24/06/20

Money for nonprofits

According to a press release, more than $3.28 million was raised for a record-breaking 649 participating New Hampshire nonprofits through NH Gives, an online giving event created by the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, which involved around 13,500 people contributing to the drive between 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, and 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12.

NH Gives is an annual event that has raised more than $18 million for nearly 1,200 New Hampshire nonprofits since it was created in 2016, according to a press release.

In a statement, Kathleen Reardon, CEO of the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, said, “A record number of nonprofits participated in this year’s event, and we’re grateful for the outpouring of support they experienced.”

NHGives.org remained open for donations until midnight on Friday, June 14, and the giving total wound up to be more than $3.5 million, with more than 14,700 donors.

Granite Staters contributed more than $1.3 million in matching funds for individual organizations to help spur donations this year.

The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, which has been a lead sponsor of NH Gives since 2016, contributed $40,000 in prizes to the organizations that garnered the highest number of unique online donors over the 24 hours. Our Place Housing Solutions for Adults with Developmental Disabilities, based in Dover, raised the most funds in the 24-hour period, with more than $51,852 in donations, the press release said, and The Cornucopia Project in Peterborough, which provides hands-on nutrition education to children in partnership with elementary schools, attracted the most individual donors, with 360 people contributing to support its mission. Visit NHGIVES.org.

Excellent nursing

Concord Hospital announced that Erin Maltais, RN, BSN, received the Excellence in Nursing Award in Emergency Nursing by the New Hampshire Nurses Association. The award was given at the Excellence in Nursing Awards reception on May 22 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

Nominees were selected by an independent panel of nursing leaders from Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts, according to the press release.

“This is such a wonderful honor for Erin,” said Director of Nurse Operations Melissa Golightly, Concord Hospital – Laconia and Franklin. “I am honored to work alongside Erin, and we are truly fortunate to have her on our team, providing exceptional care to the patients in our community.”

Maltais is a staff nurse and clinical lead in the emergency department at Concord Hospital – Laconia who began her career at the hospital in 2006 as a licensed nursing assistant in the geriatric psychiatric unit and later transitioned to the telemetry unit, where she served for nearly a decade, then spent a brief time in the intensive care unit. Her passion for emergency medicine eventually led her to the emergency department, where she humorously refers to herself as a “lifer,” the press release said.

In a statement, Maltais said, “it is an honor to receive this award, and I am deeply humbled. As I reflect on my career, I remember why I chose nursing as my profession. It’s the compassion, the care, and the difference we make in people’s lives every day that drives me.”

Moose hunt permits

According to a press release, the winners and alternates of the 2024 New Hampshire Moose Hunt Lottery will be published on the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s website at wildnh.com/hunting/moose.html by noon on Friday, June 21, on the Department’s Facebook page.

The large increase in web traffic on lottery day often causes downloading delays, according to the same release.

A total of 33 moose hunting permits will be issued through the lottery in 2024, and as in previous years, winners will be selected through a computerized and random drawing, according to the release. New Hampshire’s 2024 moose hunt runs from Saturday, Oct. 19, to Sunday, Oct. 27. Visit huntnh.com/hunting/moose.html.

Summer bike ride

As they do every summer Wednesday, Queen City Bike Collective (qcbike.org) hosts a community trail ride from the start of the Rockingham Recreation Trail at 271 Mammoth Road in Manchester at 5:45 p.m. The ride is 10 to 15 miles of rail trail, fire roads, biking trails and dirt roads, according to the website, which said any hybrid or mountain bike will work. The ride is open to all abilities, with an option to grab food and drinks near the end. See the website or contact Elyza at [email protected] for details about the ride.

Every two weeks the Collective also hosts a longer group ride ranging from 15 to 50 miles, with stops at local coffee shops according to the website. The next ride is slated for Sunday, July 7, starting at 10 a.m

Get ready for this year’s New Hampshire Senior Games! The first local event, a candlepin bowling tournament, is happening at Boutwell’s Bowling Center in Concord (152 N. State St.) on Friday, June 21, at 1 p.m. More events are scheduled to take place in July and August, covering disc golf, archery, basketball, swimming, racquetball, table tennis, badminton, pickleball and more. See nhseniorgames.org.

The Brown Bag Book Club at Manchester City Library (405 Pine St.) will be discussing The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann on Tuesday, June 25, at 12:15 p.m. The book describes a group of shipwrecked British sailors in the late 1700s returning to England with tales of heroism and survival until a month later another group of men from the same ship returns claiming the first group were murderous mutineers. Call 624-6550, ext. 7620, or visit manchester.lib.nh.us.

Breeze Airways celebrated its inaugural flight from Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on May 14. The airline will offer non-stop flights to Charleston, S.C., and Orlando, Florida, with Tampa International Airport and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers in the fall, according to a post on MHT’s Facebook page.

Kids’ Guide to Summer — 6/20/2024

Woo-hoo, school’s out! So how are you going to fill those days until the kids head back to class? We present our annual Kids’ Guide to Summer, with a look at fairs, concerts, theater, sports, library happenings and more goings-on to entertain kids this summer.

Also on the cover Concord holds its annual downtown celebration Market Days this Thursday, June 20, through Saturday, June 22, featuring kid fun as well as live music, food, brews and more (page 22). Hollis celebrates one of the sweetest parts of June with its annual Strawberry Festival on Saturday (page 28). And get live music tonight, whichever night you’re reading this, at an area restaurant or brewery — see the Music This Week listings on page 37.

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Lager love — 6/13/2024

It’s lager season! This week’s cover story takes a look at this popular beer variety and local breweries that make them.

Also on the cover, Zach Umperovitch talks about his Rube Goldberg machines ahead of a stint at the SEE Science Center (page 6). It’s a big weekend for concerts including Collective Soul and Hootie and the Blowfish at BankNH Pavilion (see page 31) and the Northfields Festival in Swanzey (page 32) and many more shows (find Concert listings on page 28). It’s another delicious weekend for fans of traditional Greek food festival fare (see page 22).

Read the e-edition

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On The Job – Griffin Hansen

Film director

Griffin Hansen is an award-winning director of animated films from New Hampshire who recently released the animated short film Within the Crystal Hills, an imaginative fable about the origins of the famed Old Man of the Mountain. His work can be viewed on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter under the handle @GruppetStudios.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I am an animated film director, which more than anything means I am not an animator … I own and operate my own studio called Gruppet Studios…. I work with very talented artists, not just from New Hampshire but from all over the world to put together some films.

How long have you had this job?

I literally have directed animated films for the better part of three years now, but in terms of making films, working in films and directing … it started in my bedroom in Goffstown when I was 12 years old…

What kind of education or training did you need?

First of all, proud graduate of Goffstown High School, go Grizzlies! As for my job I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in animation with a concentration in story and concept development, that’s from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and I graduated a year ago last Monday…. You just need the passion to want to work in film. …

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

It’s usually going to be my Pitchfork Records T-shirt from Concord, my Alley Cat hat from right down the street from you folks in Manchester or maybe even my Mount Washington Ice Fest hat … and a nice pair of khakis….

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

I would feel that a lot of filmmakers would agree [it’s] making yourself feel like what you’re making is worth making…. To be able to have that passion that I and hopefully many others have for filmmaking, and to keep it lit every day is not as easy as just throwing another log on the fire.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I think that there is a prevailing notion, which is slowly dissipating, about animation being … a genre…. Animation is a medium. It can tell all sorts of stories….

What was your first job?

A camp counselor at Camp Mi-Te-Na in Alton, New Hampshire. I worked there when I was 17 and by that point I’d gone to camp there for 11 years.

What is the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Everybody has 10 bad films in them, and the sooner you get them out the better. I’m not saying that it’s literally 10, you don’t make your 10th film and now you’re like, ‘Oh great, now I’m perfect.’ But the idea, of course, is everybody has that gunk in their system … the sooner you get out there and get them out, the sooner you can start making stuff you’re really going to be proud of. —Zachary Lewis

Five favorites
Favorite book: Watchmen by David Gibbons and Alan Moore
Favorite movie: Might just be Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson
Favorite music: I’m a huge fan of the Pixies.
Favorite food: Anything from Bova’s Bakery in Boston
Favorite thing about NH: New Hampshire gives you everything you need to grow as a person. It is the perfect soil.

Featured photo: Griffin Hansen. Courtesy Photo.

Kiddie Pool 24/06/13

Family fun for whenever

Bees!

• Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center (928 White Oaks Road, Laconia, prescottfarm.org) will host a workshop called “Inside the Beehive” on Saturday, June 15, at 1 p.m. The workshop is open to youth and adults, will involve a local raw honey tasting, and costs $15 for nonmembers, according to their website.

Get out, get artsy

• Manchester City Library will hold an Escape Room on Tuesday, June 17, at 9:30 a.m. for children between grades 3 and 12, according to their website. There is a different style of escape room every week and registration is required, according to their website. Visit manchester.lib.nh.us.

• Studio 550 (550 Elm St., Manchester) is offering week-long art and clay camps that run Monday through Friday from 2:30 to 5 p.m. this summer and are taught by studio staff who have over 30 cumulative years of experience working with kids, according to a press release. Teen/Tween Clay Camps are open to kids 10 or older focusing on pottery wheel skills. There are three sessions: Session 1 from June 24 to June 28; Session 2 from July 22 to July 26; Session 3 from Aug. 12 to Aug. 16. Teen Illustration Camp explores character design through drawing and watercolors and is also open to kids 10 or older; there is only one session and that runs from July 29 to Aug. 2. And Art Explorer Camps are open to kids 8 or older and will include drawing/painting projects, clay sculpting and a chance to try the pottery wheel. There are two sessions: Arts Explorer Camp Session 1 from July 8 to July 12, and Arts Explorer Camp Session 2 runs from Aug. 5 to Aug. 9, according to the release. Visit 550arts.com.

Movie day

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, chunkys.com) has some special screenings on the schedule. Trolls Band Together(PG, 2023) will screen at Chunky’s on Tuesday, June 18, at 11:30 a.m. Reserve a seat with a $5 food voucher (plus fees).

On Wednesday, June 19, at 12:30 p.m. Chunky’s will hold a sensory-friendly screening of Inside Out 2 (PG, 2024), the newest Pixar movie which is opening in theaters this Friday, June 14.

• The Park Theatre (19 Main St., Jaffrey, theparktheatre.org) kicks off its summer kids movie series, which will run through the end of July, with Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (PG, 2022) on Tuesday, June 18, at 1:30 p.m..

A day of celebration

Music, a party and more at the Manchester Pride Parade and Festival

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Manchester True Collaborative, in partnership with fiscal sponsor YWCA New Hampshire and community partner Queerlective, will present the 2024 Manchester Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday, June 15, in Manchester.

James Dzindolet, Director of Development and Co-Chair of the Pride Festival and Parade from Manchester True Collaborative, said, “This year we’re bringing the parade back down Elm Street and we’re very excited. We have 135 artists and vendors participating at the festival [and] a full day’s worth of entertainment, including some exciting drag queens, some musical performers.” This is the second year of the festival for them; last year’s parade was canceled due to inclement weather.

The Pride Parade and Festival falls under the organization’s mission statement: “Manchester True Collaborative strives to maintain a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for the LGBT community in greater Manchester. We accomplish this through collaborative community partnerships, fundraising, and events.” These partnerships help put on the Pride Parade and Festival. “We invited Queerlective in to partner on it,” Dzindolet said.

Many businesses and community members are joining the festivities.

“We have over 20 local area, small and large, business sponsors that will be joining us and currently we have over 1,000 participants that are either driving or walking in the parade,” Dzindolet said.

The parade starts at the parking lot of Brady Sullivan Tower (723 Elm St.) at 11:15 a.m. and journeys along Elm Street to arrive at Veterans Memorial Park at noon for the start of the Manchester Pride Festival. The outdoor party will run until 6 p.m. in Veterans Park, where there will be musicians, drag performers and more.

“We are doing face painting again this year. That’s always in our youth area. So we have a youth tent area for LGBT youth that’s going to have face painting and arts and crafts,” Dzindolet said.

DJ REKLSS is opening the festival, and then, “We have about 10 local queens that are going to be performing,” Dzindolet said. “The drag queen hour is being put on by Big Gay Events, which is another local LGBT-owned promotion company that we’re working with….”

Later in the afternoon, there are more musical acts slated to perform with half-hour sets. A dunk tank will be on site too.

“The Hooksett Area Rotary Club is going to have a drag queen dunk tank, so you get to go donate money toward their great Gear Up for School backpack drive they run annually and you can try to dunk a local drag queen in the dunk tank,” Dzindolet said.

Several other nonprofits, such as 603 Equality and the Human Rights Campaign, will have tables at the festival as well.

Afterward, with a two-hour intermission from the Festival, the Official Pride After Party starts. This year the party is circus-themed and will be held at Jewel Music Venue ( 61 Canal St., Manchester). VIP admission begins at 8 p.m., general admission starts at 9 p.m., and the whole soiree will last until 1 a.m. It is only for those 21 or older. Ticket prices range from $25 to $50 for VIP admission.

“We’re taking the 2024 edition to the next level! Call it queer fusion, we’re weaving some of our favorite elements of Cirque with the beautiful color of the NH Queer community! Join us for NH’s very first, Queer Circus!” said Chloé LaCasse, Director of Community Outreach for Manchester True Collaborative.

Other Pride events will be going on throughout the month; see manchestertrue.org for details.

As for Saturday’s big event, “Last year we had a couple thousand people in the pouring rain; this year we are hoping the weather is going to be on our side,” Dzindolet said, with hopes to double last year’s numbers. “It’s going to be a huge event.”

“For me personally,” Dzindolet said, “I get involved because I really enjoy connecting with people in the community and utilizing my professional skills to further the community and make sure that everyone gets equal representation.”

2024 Manchester Pride Parade and Festival
Saturday, June 15, from 11:15 to 6 p.m.
Parade starts at 11:15 a.m. at Brady Sullivan Tower (732 Elm St.) and ends at noon at Veterans Memorial Park. Festival begins at noon and ends at 6 p.m.
Official Pride After Party, 21+, admission $25, at Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St.) 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. (VIP admission at 8 p.m., $50)
Visit manchestertrue.org.

Nashua Pride Parade and Festival
Saturday, June 22, from 2 to 6 p.m. in downtown Nashua
Visit nashuanh.gov/1217/Nashua-Pride-Festival.

The Capital City Pride Festival
The Capital City Pride in Concord has events including (according to its Facebook page):
– Art in the Park Celebrating Pride on Saturday, July 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Concord Arts Market, Queerlective, and Capital City Pride in Rollins Park in —Concord featuring more than 60 artists, food, music and more.
– Pride After Party on Friday, July 19, from 6 to 11 p.m. at BNH Stage featuring drag performances, a vogue ball, local vendors, refreshments and more.
– A Pride Picnic at Eagle Square on Saturday, July 27, from noon to 5 p.m. featuring live music, performance art, food, vendors and more.

Featured Photo: Previous Manchester Pride Festival. Courtesy of Manchester True Collaborative.

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