Category: Cover Stories

The time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is pie season.

“That is true,” Alison Ladman confirmed. She is the owner of and head baker at the Crust and Crumb Baking Co. in Concord. “We make a lot of pies this time of year. A whole lot of pies.” She said her feelings on pies get complicated toward the end of the year.

“Yeah. Um, my feelings on pie…,” Ladman said. “Look, it’s the month of November. We eat, drink and breathe pie and rolls for the whole month. By the end of the month we’re all very sick of pie. But they are so good! There are lots of different flavors of pie. There are so many different ways that you can make a pie. [Pie is] one of those ‘there’s something for everybody’ kind of dishes.”

To put some perspective on Ladman’s “eat, drink and breathe pies” experience: Her bakery bakes 1,100 pies in two days during Thanksgiving week, all of which are rolled out by hand.

“We do use a sheeter for some of our smaller things, but for the bigger pies it’s just better to hand roll them,” she said.

So much experience has honed Ladman’s crust technique.

“We have a variety of rolling pins here, because everybody likes something different,” she said. “We have the kind that are a straight dowel, we have the kind that are a tapered dowel, and we have the kind with handles. I personally prefer a tapered dowel. I feel like I have better control over [the dough with] it. If you have a part on the edge that needs to be rounded out a little bit more, you can kind of turn it a little bit better with the taper.”

She likes to roll the dough out on a floured wooden table. “We do crumb toppings on almost all of our pies versus a double-crusted pie,” she said. “Crumb toppings are a different method of production than doing a double-crust, so we need to kind of pick one way or the other.”

And then there are cream pies, with a crumb crust. “We make them all completely from scratch here,” Ladman said, “And that includes making the graham crackers, because we’re gluttons for punishment.”

Most bakeries with a reputation for pies find themselves similarly snowed under with orders at this time of the year. Jakie O’Dowd, the owner of The Sweet Spot in Weare, thinks that there is a huge demand for pies during the holidays but that many home bakers lack confidence.

“I think what mainly holds people back from doing pies is that working with the pie dough can be tricky,” she said. “I feel like Thanksgiving is our biggest holiday, and I think it’s because people are intimidated. But I actually find it very fun and rewarding. At Thanksgiving time, we literally do hundreds of pies, and in the midst of it I’ll think, ‘Oh, let me do pie again.’”

O’Dowd had a very traditional introduction to pie-making.

“I worked at a farm down in Littleton, Mass., called Springbrook Farm,” she said. “They’re one of the oldest farms in Massachusetts — in fact, the land was deeded to the owners by King George, and it’s still in the same family. All their baking that I learned there was very traditional, very old-school. So I make pies in an old-fashioned way; the crust I use is the crust that I learned at the farm. It’s partial butter, partial shortening, so you’ve got the flavor from the butter and the flakiness from the shortening. It’s a really nice pie dough to work with.”

The Sweet Spot bakes traditional holiday pies for its customers, but O’Dowd said it has been an education to learn what that means in different families.

“I didn’t even put chocolate cream pie on the menu our first year,” she said, “and everyone was calling and asking for it, and I was losing orders. So it’s on there now because people want to take one apple pie, one chocolate, and they’ll take one of each, and then they’ll order rolls. I feel like apple and chocolate cream are our biggest pie orders, but you get a lot of pumpkin too. Apple is our No. 1, then chocolate cream and pumpkin might be tied for second.”

Lauren Collins-Cline, the owner of Slightly Crooked Pies in Bedford, sympathizes with home bakers who find pie crusts intimidating.

“Interestingly, we don’t have a strong pie tradition in my family,” she said. “We had pies for Thanksgiving, but we would buy them. My pie story started when I hosted my first Thanksgiving and I wanted to make a pie and I wanted to make it from ‘scratch.’ I use air quotes around that because I used a store-bought crust that year. I looked up a recipe online and I made the pie and people loved it. It was the highlight of the meal and that gratification was so strong for me that I just kept making and working on and perfecting pies. Pies are a total confidence-builder. I want to quote Tommy Lasorda and say, if I can do it, you can do it. Because, again, like when I started out, I was just — I was dangerous in the kitchen. It was a big risk for me to be in the kitchen. So my encouragement is to start to find a simple recipe and just give it a try.”

Another problem, she said, was the pressure from food media to make fancier and fancier recipes each year.

“Content is king,” she said. “[Food writers] have to constantly be reinventing their content. And bless the people who get paid to do that — that sounds like a dream job. But how many times in a day do you see people sharing a recipe that they saw that takes this new spin on an old classic? Don’t limit yourself because you’re intimidated by that high level of expertise. Just baby steps, you gotta start somewhere.”

Collins-Cline said she thinks pies are tied in with our image of tradition and of ourselves as Americans. “It is a nostalgic dessert,” she said. “A pie often has a recipe that gets carried down through families. It’s something that may not be as awe-striking in appearance as cake can be, but when you look at it it’s like the tea kettle on the stove. It just evokes this image of grandma in an apron serving it at the table.”

Or buy your pie
If you’d prefer to order a pie this holiday season, check out our listing of Thanksgiving take-out offerings, which includes quite a lot of pie, in the Nov. 14 issue of the Hippo. Find the issue in the digital library at hippopress.com; the story is on page 22.

Pie recipes

Most families have their own traditional pie recipes. Here are nine recipes from area pie enthusiasts that have proven track records.

Cranberry Pie

Debbie Bouvier, New Boston

This recipe from my wife is a holiday crowd-pleaser:

• 1 cup (198 g) sugar
• 1 lb. fresh cranberries (454 g or 1⅓ 12-ounce bags)
• Zest of 1 medium orange
• Juice of 1 medium orange
• Premade pie dough
• 2 Tablespoons milk

Place one of the pre-made crusts in a pie pan and crimp the edges. Use a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the crust [what bakers call “docking”]. Par-bake the bottom crust for about 15 minutes at 375°F.

Wash the cranberries. Place in a pot with the orange juice, orange zest and sugar. Cook on medium heat until a third to half of the cranberries have popped and the mixture is thick. Stir frequently.

Once cooked, pour the mixture into the par-baked crust. The pie looks best when topped with either a lattice top or some cutouts. Cutouts can be easily done with cookie cutters. Once satisfied with the top, brush it with milk.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes at 400°F.

While many holiday foods are heavy and serious, this is tart and citrussy. It makes an excellent holiday dessert, especially with vanilla ice cream.

Butterscotch Pie

John Fladd, Hippo Food and Drink Guy

I’m a huge fan of butterscotch, and I like the flavor that comes from using real butter and real scotch.

• 4½ Tablespoons butter
• ¾ cup (160 g) brown sugar
• ¾ cup (170 g) boiling water
• 2¼ Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1½ Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ⅓ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt
• 1¼ cups (284 g) milk
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon scotch – I find I get the best, most butterscotch flavor from Glenlivet

The key instruction for this recipe is “whisk.”

Melt butter over low heat, and cook to a golden brown. Whisk in the brown sugar. It will seem really stiff at first, but the sugar will melt within a couple of minutes and become liquidy. Whisk it continuously until it comes to a boil, then whisk in the boiling water. Be careful; it will spit a bit at first. Whisk the mixture together, then remove from the heat.

Separately, whisk the cornstarch, flour, salt and milk until they are completely combined, then whisk them into the brown sugar mixture, return it to the heat, and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for a minute or so, whisking constantly, then remove it from the heat again.

Very carefully, temper in the egg yolks. This means stir a spoonful of the hot mixture into the yolks at a time, until you have gradually brought them up to temperature and diluted them enough that they won’t scramble when you add them to the hot pudding mixture.

Whisk them into the hot pudding mixture, then whisk in the scotch. Adjust the amount of whiskey to your taste.

Let the mixture cool for 20 minutes, then transfer it to a pre-baked (what bakers call “blind baked”) pie shell, then chill for several hours. Serve with whipped cream. If you wanted to add scotch to the whipped cream instead of vanilla, who could blame you?

This is an adult’s butterscotch. The real butter, the caramelized brown sugar, and the scotch combine for a deep, mature butterscotch that is about as far from a butterscotch candy as a pinot noir is from a grape soda.

Maple Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Streusel

Denise Nickerson, owner of the Bakeshop on Kelley Street

• 9-inch pie crust of your choice
• 1 15-ounce can puree of pumpkin
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 eggs
• ⅔ cup (206 g) maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and add topping in a ring around the top edge of the pie. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Topping

• 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (213 g) brown sugar or maple sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) melted butter (less if using maple sugar)
• ½ cup (57 g) chopped pecans

Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl with a fork.

Peanut Butter Pie

Evelyn Redmond, organizer of Goffstown’s Annual Pie Competition and Auction: “I won my first blue ribbon with this pie recipe.”

• 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp (300 g) creamy peanut butter, divided
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese
• ½ cup (99 g) sugar
• 1 12-ounce container (4½ cups) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
• 1 prepared chocolate pie crust
• 1 11.75-ounce jar Smucker’s^® Hot Fudge Spoonable Ice Cream Topping, divided

Beat together 1 cup of peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, until well-combined. Gently mix in 3 cups of whipped topping until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture into the pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth and spread mixture to the edges of the pie.

Set aside 2 tablespoons hot fudge in a resealable bag. Warm the remaining hot fudge and spread it over the pie. Refrigerate until fully set, then spread remaining whipped topping on top.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping into the corner of a resealable food storage bag and set it aside. Microwave the remaining topping on high for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering the entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until fully set. Spread the remaining whipped topping (1½ cups) over the hot fudge layer, trying not to mix the two layers.

Cut a small corner from the bag containing the hot fudge topping. Squeeze the bag to drizzle topping over the pie. Place remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag; cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in the opposite direction of the topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

Leah Borla, owner of Sweet Love Bakery in Goffstown

• 6 Tablespoons (¾ of a stick) butter
• 1 cup packed (198 g) light brown sugar
• 1 cup (312 g) real maple syrup
• 3 Tablespoons maple bourbon (regular bourbon works too)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1½ (170 g) cups pecans
• A 9-inch pie crust (store-bought is OK!)

Heat oven to 350°F. Place pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 3-4 minutes until brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. You can also pan-roast them on medium-low heat until they are fragrant.

In a medium-size saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter. Add brown sugar and maple syrup and stir until the brown sugar is fully dissolved. Bring the mixture up to a simmer, then remove from heat. Place in a bowl to cool for about 10 minutes.

Whisk eggs and add to the butter-sugar mixture. Add in bourbon, cinnamon, vanilla and salt, whisking together until well blended. Pour mixture into uncooked pie shell.

Place toasted pecans on top of the sugar filling. Place pie on a baking sheet. Lightly spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and place over the pie. Bake pie in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the edges of the pie are set. The center will be slightly jiggly but will set.

Place on rack until cool. Serve with fresh cinnamon maple whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Potato and Pecan Pie

Addie Leader-Zavos, Eden’s Table Farm: “This double-layered pie has a pecan pie baked on top of the sweet potato filling. It is a favorite in my family for Hanukkah.”

• 1 partially baked 10-inch pie crust (baked for 15 minutes at 375°F)
• For the pecan topping:
• 1 large egg
• ⅗ cup (119 g) light brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (115 g) coarsely chopped pecans (I use halves on top — chop half of the bag to mix in the topping. Use the rest to make a design on top.)

For the sweet potato filling:

• 4 large egg yolks
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup (160 g) dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons orange juice
• 2 cups (450 g) cooked sweet potatoes, pureed in a blender, then cooled
• ¼ cup (57 g) creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Have your pie crust ready.

For the pecan topping: In a small bowl, whisk the egg, light brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and salt until blended to a smooth mixture. Stir in the pecans. Set aside.

For the sweet potato filling: Beat the egg yolks, salt, and dark brown sugar in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Mix in the cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and lemon juice. Add the sweet potatoes and mix until smooth, about 1 minute. Mix in the creme fraiche until well-combined.

Pour the filling into the partially baked crust, discarding any fiber from the sweet potatoes that clings to the beaters. Bake for 20 minutes, then gently pour the pecan mixture over the partially baked pie. Bake until the pecan topping is set, about 30 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature.

Paper Bag Apple Pie

Rhoda Hooper, from Favorite Recipes from the Joe English Grange #56, New Boston, N.H., 1996

• 1 uncooked pie shell
• 3 or 4 large apples
• ½ cup (107 g) sugar
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Topping

• ½ cup (107 g) sugar
• ½ cup (60 g) flour
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter

Make an unbaked pie shell. Pare, core, and quarter apples, then halve each piece crossways to make chunks.

Make the filling: Combine ½ cup sugar, nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons flour, and sprinkle the mixture over the apples; toss to coat. Place the mixture in the crust.

Combine the remaining sugar and flour for the topping; cut in the butter. Sprinkle over the top of the apples. Slip the pie into a heavy brown paper bag large enough to cover the pie, then fold the end over. Fasten with paper clips. Bake at 425°F for 1 hour. Split the bag to open.

Loon Chocolate Pie

Rachel Mack, Co-owner of Loon Chocolate (195 McGregor St., No. 121, Manchester, 932-8887, loonchocolate.com)

• 3 ounces Loon Chocolate Maine Sea Salt Chocolate Bar (about 1½ bars), broken into pieces
• 1 cup (213 g) sugar
• 5 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 egg yolks (save egg whites for meringue)
• 1½ cups (340 g) whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
• Ingredients for meringue:
• 2 egg whites
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 350°F.

Place pie crust in pie dish and poke holes in pie crust with fork. Bake until brown, about 20 minutes.

While pie crust bakes, in a saucepan, whisk together chocolate, sugar, flour, egg yolks, and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring until it bubbles and thickens, about 5 to 10 minutes. The mixture should be thick.

Remove the chocolate mixture from heat and add the vanilla and butter.

To make the meringue, beat the egg whites and salt until fluffy. Add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Add chocolate custard to the baked pie crust, then top with meringue. Bake until the meringue peaks are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Just chill

Experts offer their pie crust advice

Pies, in the big picture, are not that difficult to make. Lay down some pie dough, scoop in some fillings, top it with another sheet of dough, put it in the oven and walk away for an hour. It’s an operation of elegant simplicity.

The monkey wrench in that optimistic view of pie-making, of course, is the pie crust.

There are dozens of recipes for even a simple pie crust, and passions can run high among home bakers. It can all be a bit intimidating. But at their core, most delicious pie crusts are made with some sort of fat (shortening, butter, lard, coconut oil, etc.), some sort of starch (flour, ground almonds, cookie crumbs, etc.) and a little liquid (usually water) to bring everything together.

According to Lynne Donnelly, the owner of Bittersweet Bake Shoppe in Litchfield, overthinking and overworking are two common ways home bakers mess up their pie crusts. She likes to weigh her ingredients to make certain that her fat-to-flour-to-water ratio is right.

She demonstrated:

“We’re starting with a big bowl,” she said, placing a large, stainless steel bowl on her scale and zeroing its weight out. (This is called “taring.”) “And we’re weighing out our flour. We want five and a half pounds.”

(This recipe is for a small batch of pie dough at a bakery. It will make 18 to 20 rounds of pie dough. See below for the amounts a home baker would use.)

“OK, now,” she said, eying the gauge on her scale, “we’re going to add two pounds and 12 ounces of shortening on top of that.” She said a baker could use butter instead of shortening, but it would have to have the same consistency. “You want the temperature to give it the same softness as shortening,” she said, scooping shortening into the bowl of flour. “But we get a really nice crust with this.” She stressed the importance of using unflavored shortening. “The butter-flavored stuff tastes nasty.”

Next, Donnelly added salt. “Normally, I eyeball the salt,” she said, “but since I have a tablespoon right here, I’m going to do this officially, and add five [tablespoons]. Now, you are going to get in there and start squishing. You’re going to just keep breaking your shortening with the flour with your hands until it looks like cornmeal. You want to mix it all together. Just keep going through it with your hands, until it’s nice and fine and crumbly and everything’s well-blended and there’s no big pieces at all.” She explained this while scooping the crumbs of dough from the sides of the bowl, into the center, as if she were folding egg whites into a batter.

“Now you can pour your water in,” Donnelly said, making a well in the crumbs. “Dump the whole thing right in the middle, and then just bring it all together. Just keep pulling it together; no kneading. You don’t want it to be too gooey. Just pull it together, until the water is absorbed.”

The next step is to chill the dough. Unlike some pie doughs, Bittersweet’s does not have streaks of shortening running through it, but Donnelly said it is still vitally important to keep the dough as cold as possible. “There’s no tricks or gimmicks with this crust — no vinegars, or people with their little magic potions. It comes out the same every time. The thing is keeping it cold.”

After the dough has chilled, the next step is to form it into six-ounce disks.

“A lot of my life has been spent weighing out crusts,” Donnelly said. Each slab of dough gets formed into 3- to 4-inch disks, with care taken not to overwork it.

The last important step, Donnelly said, is to chill the dough again before rolling it out. This will give the tiny flecks of shortening time to firm up, and for the dough itself to relax and finish integrating the water. This is a basic, use-for-everything pie dough recipe. “You could also make crackers with this,” she said, “but you would have to add cheese and butter and things like that.”

Just one pie crust
For a smaller number of pie crusts, Donnelly suggested using the following proportions for each.

1¼ cup (136 g) flour
⅓ cup (75 g) shortening or butter
½ teaspoons salt
3½ Tablespoons ice water

Double this for a two-crust pie.

“Extra pie crusts can be frozen, either laid out flat between sheets of waxed paper, or rolled up,” Donnelly said.

Get close to the action with local college basketball

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Welcome to hoops season!

Basketball fans don’t have to drive far to find games nearly every weekend through the end of February. Local colleges offer women’s and men’s games to cheer at — often with admission that is either free or in line with movie ticket prices.

Southern New Hampshire University

Eric Coplin, the Director of Athletic Communication at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, spoke to the Hippo about Penmen Basketball at the school.

“So both teams play in the Northeast 10, which is part of NCAA Division II. The A-10 is usually kind of looked at as one of the stronger conferences in Division II. So we play in a really strong league. And I think anyone coming to watch is going to see a really strong brand of basketball,” Coplin said.

“I love this level. … I think it’s a legitimate student-athlete experience. They’re here to be students, but they’re also here to be high-level athletes,” he said.

There is a good possibility of reaching the playoffs. “If we have an NCAA tournament, it’s obviously not as highly publicized as the Division I NCAA tournament, but it’s the same thing. It’s a bunch of teams fighting for a national championship,” Coplin said.

One of the biggest games is against nearby Saint Anselm College.

“We play them twice a year. We play them at home and then play them at their place. That’s definitely our biggest rival in basketball for sure. So [we] definitely draw the biggest crowd, best atmosphere for that game, for sure,” he said.

In the age of Caitlin Clark, both men’s and women’s teams draw a crowd.

“I think our women’s basketball crowds have really improved over the last few years to kind of match the men. In some games I think they even outdraw our men. But I think that has a lot to do with how we’ve been super successful the last three years. The team hadn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 1990 and now they’ve made it three straight seasons. They were in the conference championship game two years ago, so I think a lot of that is just in the increased talent level. I think winning helps that,” Coplin said.

Kids’ teams can get involved too. “We have a lot of cool youth involvement, like Hooksett Youth Basketball League, always happy to work with the youth programs in the greater Manchester area for sure,” he said The Hooksett Youth Basketball League is part of the Hooksett Youth Athletic Association (HYAA).

“Admission is free for all of our regular season games,” he said. Championship rounds are a slightly different story. “Once we get into playoffs, the NEC 10 as a conference charges. And then if we were to host regionals, the NCAA charges.”

All of the home games are at the Stan Spirou Field House on campus. Many of the games are double-headers, with a women’s game followed by the men’s. “We have a concession stand that’s usually open … [with] hot dog, pretzel, drinks, candy, stuff like that,” he said.

“We’re hoping for a good year, another fun time, fun atmosphere with the crowd, getting into it. Like I said, the women have been to three straight NCAA tournaments. The men last year won the conference championship and the NCAA regional tournament. The men went to the Elite Eight last year for the first time since 2015,” Coplin said.

Saint Anselm College

Zach Elliot, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications for the Hawks at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, is looking forward to the school’s upcoming basketball season.

The Saint Anselm Hawks are in what he called “the highly competitive Northeast-10 Conference” within NCAA Division II.

“The men’s side is a historic program coming off a trip to the Conference Semifinals last year,” Elliot said. “They also won the Conference title two years ago and have won 10 NE10 Championships. They are returning an All-Conference Third Team selection from last year in Josh Morissette, an Exeter native who finished in the top 10 in the league in scoring with 17.9 points per game. He also made the 16th most three-pointers last year as just a sophomore.”

The team has a new head coach this year in Chris Santo, replacing Keith Dickson, who retired during the offseason after 39 years in charge, Elliot said. Santo is a former NE10 Player of the Year and served as an Assistant Coach for both Saint Anselm and the University of Vermont (NCAA Division I).

“The women’s side looks to improve this year after two straight first-round playoff exits,” Elliot said. “They return their top scorer from a season ago in Tatum Forbes, who put up 14.7 points per game as a sophomore. She finished in the top 20 in the NE10 in scoring, assists, rebounding and steals.”

Games to especially look forward to, Elliot said, will be the game on Wednesday, Nov. 20, against Saint Michael’s College from Colchester, Vermont, the defending champions for men’s, and the Wednesday, Feb. 19, game against in-city rival Southern New Hampshire University.

“Our basketball teams are always hosting youth programs to come and spend time at our games. The teams get a chance to play on the court at halftime or during an intermission. Our teams stay after the game to sign autographs and take photos as well,” Elliot said. “Our women’s team also volunteers at a local middle school and takes part in numerous activities with local youth.

And at the game, there are snacks. Elliot said the concession stand, located outside the gymnasium, offered items such as popcorn, candy, hot dogs and bottled beverages.

NHTI

Annie Mattarazzo, the new athletic director at NHTI in Concord, cannot wait for the upcoming season of Lynx basketball.

“Our conference is really competitive and our men’s program and women’s program have a history of great success. So I think every game is kind of fun. We play in the YSCC conference, which is within the USCAA,” she said.

The Yankee Small College Conference is within the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, which is composed of junior, community and small colleges, totalling 72 schools. Mattarazzo cited Great Bay Community College as a big match for the school “because we’re both in the state of New Hampshire.”

NHTI teams play inside the Dr. Goldie Crocker Wellness Center on a court named for a former coach, the Paul Hogan Basketball Court.

“It’s really energetic. It’s college basketball here, so it’s up-tempo, it’s fast,” she said. “We play teams from New York to Maine and kind of in the middle, Massachusetts, Connecticut. It’s just really a great atmosphere of up-tempo play locally in central New Hampshire.”

Mattarazzo hopes to preserve the old while ushering in the new. “I’m trying to maintain the traditions that are here and bring some new ideas to the table as well. So yeah, we’re definitely going to work to really continue those game initiatives. Some of my vision is to work with the parks and rec in town in Concord and have, you know, first responders nights with the local fire and EMT and have youth nights and invite teams to play or meet our team. Be able to provide that atmosphere for the Concord area. We do define ourselves as the Concord Community School. In such a prime location, there’s a lot of great connections here to build.”

“Our events are all free unless it gets to the tournament for our conference,” she said. The games be watched online too. “We do stream games, yep. And that would be found on our website under the specific team’s game schedule.”

Mattarazzo is no stranger to the Granite State or basketball. “I’ve been around New Hampshire my entire life. I grew up here. I was a college basketball coach pre my high school administration days on the women’s basketball side, so I’m a big fan of women’s games.”

She’s aware of Caitlin Clark’s impact on the sport. “Clark has been such an instrumental contributor to the growth of college basketball. She plays such a unique style of play and has such a unique mental toughness that it is a beautiful thing to watch. And I think it attracts so many different levels of players in the game of basketball. Her contributions of being a head-down, hard-nosed, competitive athlete really does continue to advance the game of basketball on both sides, men’s and women’s, as she really just plays. She’s not afraid, and I think that’s a great role model for youth in the game of basketball as well.”

The school is a good place to watch the game and to play it too, Mattarazzo said. “Here at NHTI I think we understand, we support the values of being a student-athlete and I think with that and the support in the community, our programs are really going to continue to be competitive and develop.”

Rivier University

Nick Perenick, Director of Athletic Communications, spoke about the upcoming Raiders basketball season at Rivier University in Nashua.

“We’re Division 3 and we’re in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference,” Perenick said. “So we have a couple of other New Hampshire teams in our conference as well as Massachusetts and all over New England really.”

The women’s team is in a good spot this year, he said. “We made it to the playoffs for, I believe, the third straight year last year. And our coach is actually an alum, Deanna Purcell from the class of 2015. She is the leading scorer in program history as well.”

“We currently have a fifth-year senior going after her record,” Perenick said. “She’s sitting just behind her record for all-time scoring. Her name’s Lyric Grumblatt. She was recently named by the New England Basketball Journal to the top 10 watch list for Division III basketball athletes for New England for this upcoming season. Between the coach and our player going after the record, it’s pretty cool.”

The men’s team has bright prospects.

“Two seasons ago we were really down. We finished with two wins and 23 losses. Then last year we had the biggest win turnaround from season to season. Last season we went 15 and 12 overall. We went from two wins to 15 wins. So plus 13 was, I believe, the largest in the country in terms of win differential from year to year,” he said. The Raiders finished seventh last year.

A couple games to especially look out for are on the horizon.

“I think for the men’s side it’s playing a conference opponent named Albertus Magnus College. They’re from Connecticut. They’ve won the conference the last few years or are fed right up at the top — if they’re not winning they’re in second, coming in second place losing the championship. They play at our place on Jan. 25 this year for the men’s side. So Albertus is one of the teams we kind of circle on the calendar as a team to get ready for as the season goes on,” Perenick said.

The women’s team has the same rival along with other teams. “I would say our biggest game in conference this year is actually an away game. I would also say Alberta is one of the top teams that we play at home this year. Most of our bigger games with real rivals are on the road. Those are Emmanuel and St. Joseph’s College of Maine, but I would say that Albertus is probably the toughest team we’ll play at home in conference this year.”

Certain game days have themes. “For the women, on Feb. 8 they’re going to host a game in dedication of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Last year we invited a bunch of youth basketball teams and a bunch of youth girl athletes to campus for a game to celebrate that. It’s a day, the National Girls and Women in Sports Day, but we can’t celebrate it if we don’t have a game on that day so we honor that day on the weekend and we have a nice event with a bunch of youths from the area.” The men’s team will have a Youth Sports Day on Saturday, Jan. 11, against New England College.

Asked about the Caitlin Clark effect, he agrees she has had an undeniable impact in basketball. “Any time there’s a generational talent in any sport, there’s going to be more eyes on that sport. I think that Caitlin Clark has helped at a lot of different levels. I would say that for our women’s team and for the youth in the area, I think it’s a lot easier for us to have that National Girls and Women in Sports Day event with the headway that she’s made in the realm of women’s sports. But I would say that most of our fans and supporters are students or parents,” he said.

Concessions are available at some games, and a good number of the matches have teams play back to back. “We do a lot of double-headers with the men’s and women’s. In conference, almost every game is a double-header for men’s and women’s basketball.”

A multi-camera setup is used to capture all of the shots. “You can view our website and then under there you can scroll to the schedule pages and then find the video link,” he said. “You can watch all of our archived games for all sports that are broadcast. We have four cameras for the stream along with live commentary for all home games in the gym.”

New England College

Erica Ledy, the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at New England College in Henniker, is excited about the upcoming season for the Division III Pilgrims.

“I think we might be pretty good this year. We have, it looks like, a completely new team, so if you’re a spectator that came last year and is coming this year, you’re probably going to see a lot of new faces,” Ledy said.

“We’re going to play an up-tempo style of game so it’s like a fast-paced game, a lot of shots, pressing, like, pressuring the ball all the way up. So it should be more fun than a slower-paced game,” she said.

The team is in a whole new conference this year, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).

“So we don’t really have a lot of rivals yet, because it’s new. But Colby Sawyer is in our conference and we used to be in a conference with them before and they’re close to us, so I would probably say Colby Sawyer and maybe Plymouth and Keene would be our rivals, maybe Rivier, because they’re all New Hampshire schools,” Ledy said.

The team has worked with Henneker Elementary School over the last few years. “They will come and we’ll put on a mini clinic and the girls will stay and then we have a game where they’ll come when we [are] warming up, they’ll come out and talk to the girls. If other schools wanted to we’d be glad to do it. We like when teams want to be part of it.”

How about the Caitlin Clark effect? “I think a lot more people that didn’t really pay attention to basketball pay attention to it more now. She’s a great player. She is a really good offensive player. Defensively, she’s not the greatest. … but I think a lot more people are watching women’s basketball, girls basketball because of it. I think a lot of people can relate to somebody shooting a three-pointer and making it. It’s fun to watch.”

A smaller venue enhances the immediacy of the sport. “Our gym is very small, holds about 300 people, and usually it’s pretty full. It’s loud, it’s a great atmosphere, it’s really fun. We played a lot of schools where the gym is a lot bigger but it seems like nobody’s there because it’s so big, so it’s pretty neat,” Ledy said. She also noted concessions are a draw. “Our volleyball team runs concession stands usually when we have double-headers, so when we play and the men play after us or the men play first and we play second, there will be concession stands.”

The ability to watch the game from everywhere is definitely beneficial for those far away. “You can click Watch and you can watch it on your computer or livestream it up onto your TV.” Both men’s and women’s games offer the same feature for home games.

Ledy hopes to see you in the stands. “It will be exciting this year and they’re just a really nice group of girls that play hard, so it would be fun to watch. And we’d love for people to come out and watch us.”

What is a Division? A Conference?

The NCAA has Division I, Division II and Division III basketball for both men’s and women’s teams. Each Division consists of around 64 teams; Men’s Division I is an exception with 68 teams currently.

A Conference is a selection of schools in a given Division.

“So every game that we play this year will be against a Division III school, but only 13 of those teams are in our Conference,” said Erica Ledy, the Head Women’s Basketball Coach for New England College.

New England College is in Division III’s Great Northeast Athletic Conference.

“We play 25 games and we have 13 Conference games,” Ledy said.

“So 12 of the games, they count toward your record, and if you make the NCAA tournament they will help you if you win. But to make the NCAA tournament you have to win your Conference games.”

Conference games are the main deciding factor to make the tournament. “Our Conference games are more important than the out-of-conference games. We won’t be playing Conference games until January and February,” she said.

The same process occurs throughout the country.

“So what happens is the NCAA all across the nation is made up of different Conferences. Every Conference gets an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. There are probably, I would say, somewhere close to 50 Conferences in Division III across the United States. So there’ll be 50 teams that automatically make the NCAA tournament. That’s the tournament at the end of the season,” she said. These 50 are the teams that win their Conference.

Every Division has its own tournament layout, but each one follows some sort of bracket structure.

There are other ways to make it into the tournament too.

”There will probably be like 14 at-large bids. The Conference games matter because it’s the NCAA tournament,” she said.

Winning the Conference is the more straightforward path to the glory of the NCAA tournament. —Zachary Lewis

Local fields, bogs and other natural spots for autumn stroll

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Looking to spend a few hours in some place calm and full of nature, not screens? Here are a few places to take a refreshing walk in the great outdoors.

New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center trails

Where: 26 Audubon Way in Auburn

More info: nhaudubon.org/lands/sanctuaries/massabesic-wildlife-sanctuary

Kimberly Whiteman, Massabesic Center Director for New Hampshire Audubon, spoke to the Hippo about the trails at Lake Massabesic as well as other Audubon locations and a couple of other areas around Manchester.

“I am primarily based here in Auburn,” Whiteman said. “I also work out in Concord occasionally with the management team and staff. We’re a big family here at New Hampshire Audubon.”

What are the Massabesic trails like? “We have a network of trails that connect to Manchester Waterworks trails. So on our peninsula there are about 7 miles of walking trails depending on which route you take. New Hampshire Audubon really only stewards directly about a mile of those trails primarily through our field. Our fields and our sanctuary are not dog-friendly and we don’t permit bicycles or motorized vehicles, to help protect the integrity of the wildlife sanctuary, but Manchester Water Works trails do allow bicycles, horses and leash dogs and we let folks use our parking lot to access those trails as long as they hit them from the main road and not through our sanctuary.”

The 49-acre sanctuary was acquired in 1993 and features trail access to Lake Massabesic, as well as a variety of upland habitats including mixed forests and open fields, according to the organization. The fields are managed for grassland nesting birds, while nest boxes are actively managed for tree swallows and eastern bluebirds

It is a common practice to name trails after colors.“We currently have two trails that we really have named, the Yellow Trail and the Red Trail, which you can connect to from the field trails,” she said.

The Massabesic Center is creating a new trail with wheelchair accessibility that should be finished by May 2025. “That’s going to be great because it’s going to provide wheelchair access and stroller access through the field,” Whiteman said. “We’re calling it ‘all persons’ because things that are accessible for folks in a wheelchair are also accessible for folks with strollers or [those who] just need an easy, flat surface for whatever reason. It’s so important to have access to nature.”

There are interesting sights around Massabesic.

“The Red Trail goes through our field here to the lake to a point called Blueberry Point. And it gives you great views over the water,” she said. “You’ll pass an old osprey blind on the way, which is a really cool building that has fun facts about ospreys. It used to overlook an osprey nest that was blown down in a storm several years ago, but it still gives you great views of wildlife on the water.” The whole loop is a manageable size at “about a mile and a half round trip,” according to Whiteman.

“The Yellow Trail goes out to Battery Point, which culminates in a view of the lake, of course, but also there’s an old historical structure … there’s old ruins out there. We have found a few artifacts related to farming. An old horse bit, stuff like that. There’s an eagle nest on Lake Massabesic, so we’ll see them flying over periodically. We have had bobcat sightings here over the past few months,” she said.

Lots of animals, such as otters, are at Massabesic. “We had babies in our pond about two years ago and we had a family of weasels that were living around this building vicinity last summer that our camp kids got to see. So that was really cool,” she said.

Birds are plentiful at the Audubon among the mammals. “We do see a Baltimore oriole nest in this elm tree almost every year. This year there was a really cool tree that had obvious signs of porcupine. Porcupines will eat wood just like beavers do. When you’re hiking the trails and you keep your eyes open you start noticing those little hints of wildlife activity which are really cool to see,” Whiteman said.

It’s a spot for hawk lovers too. “There is a pair of red-shouldered hawks that nest here every year and they tend to stick around in the winter, which is unusual. So we’ll get folks that see the e-bird records and notice there’s red-shouldered hawk sightings and they’ll come in and question us about it because they don’t believe it. I wouldn’t classify it as a rarity, but it’s not common,” she said. Visitors can catch them if they take the Red Trail.

McLane Center

Where: 84 Silk Farm Road, Concord, 224-9909

More info: nhaudubon.org/lands/sanctuaries/silk-farm-wildlife-sanctuary

The Audubon at the McLane Center has trails at its Silk Farm Wildlife Sanctuary.

“I want to say like three loops, including Wendy’s Loop, their all-persons trail, which was completed about a year ago. They’ve got a good network too, and their trails also connect to trails that aren’t owned by New Hampshire Audubon. You can probably hit up 6 or 7 miles of trails out there as well,” Whiteman said.

In addition to Wendy’s Loop there are the Great Turkey Pond Loop and Field Loop as well as Old Orchard Trail and West End Farm Trail, which is more than 7 miles long. “These trails follow the same kind of stipulation of only foot traffic,” Whiteman said.

“Their all-persons trail was completed a year ago, so they have a mile-long loop that is completely wheelchair-accessible and is also great because it takes you through so many different habitats,” Whiteman said.

One trail of particular interest is the Great Turkey Pond Loop. “That takes you out to the lake [and] is beautiful. So you start in the pollinator meadow and there’s just a smorgasbord of bees and butterflies and meadow birds and great plants out there. You can see the milkweed and sunflowers and then you’ll start going into the understory where you get a mix of forest birds like warblers and not a birder. I know we’ve had wood thrushes out there,” she said.

The extraordinary wildlife sightings continue. “Then you’ll go under an American Chestnut Reforestation Area, which is really neat to see. And then if you hang a right and go off the All Persons Trail, that’ll take you down to Turkey Pond, where you can see wildlife like beavers. We get eagle sightings there,” Whiteman said.

Charismatic megafauna drop by too. “McLane has had a bobcat sighting almost daily for the past week and we actually had a moose, a young bull moose, go through McLane Center about a month ago,” she said.

Ponemah Bog

Where: Rhodora Drive, Amherst

More info: nhaudubon.org/lands/sanctuaries/ponemah-bog

According to NH Audubon, the name “Ponemah” is derived from the Ojibwe language and refers to the “land of the hereafter.” The 75-acre Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary came under the protection of New Hampshire Audubon in 1979 through Dr. and Mrs. Homer McMurray and local friends of the Sanctuary.

The Ponemah Bog Wildlife Sanctuary features a 3-acre pond surrounded by a floating sphagnum moss mat and encircled by upland oak-pine woods, according to The Nature Conservancy.

“It is a prime example of a bog,” Whiteman said. “Your typical New Hampshire bog. So the boardwalk is not wheelchair-friendly but it is flat. It’s just two boards that are next to each other across the bog mat. But they’ve got wonderful examples of carnivorous sundews, and we do have the same stipulation there that we have at all of our sanctuaries. We ask folks to just use their eyes and leave no trace … when they’re visiting and not disturb wildlife, which is also why we don’t permit dogs.”

Evidence of critters is easily found. “You can probably see, you know, fox scat on that boardwalk, especially in the wintertime when the tracks are really visible, the scat’s visible, you’ll get raccoons and foxes up on the boardwalk at Ponemah,” she said.

Nature is never closed.

“The McLane and Massabesic are open year-round. Our buildings have hours Wednesday through Saturday from 11 to five.The trails of all of our sanctuaries are open every single day of the year from sunrise to sunset. We’re all free to visit,” Whitemand said. “We have another center in Hebron, the Newfound Center, which is seasonal from about Memorial Day to Labor Day.”

Manchester Cedar Swamp

Where: Hackett Hill section of Manchester, on the west side of the Merrimack River; the public parking lot is on Countryside Boulevard.

More info: nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/manchester-cedar-swamp-preserve

The Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve is 640 acres and is the largest conservation area in the city, according to The Nature Conservancy.

There are 1.8 miles of trails. That includes the universally accessible Cedar Swamp All Persons Trail. Visitors can encounter shady hemlock groves, giant rhododendron patches and “the globally rare Atlantic white cedar swamps that are the preserve’s namesake,” with some trees that are more than 450 years old.

“[The Nature Conservancy] installed that trail,” Whiteman said. “We have taken field trips out there with our staff because it’s a beautiful trail. It was done with a big budget and as much as we can learn from that trail and implement those ideas into our trail, we’re all meeting the same goal with providing access to nature.”

The trail contains tidbits of historical information along the way. “So they’ve got some really great signage, interpretive signage about the history of the land and how it relates to indigenous features and the wildlife. Their trail’s a lot longer than ours are. They’ve got great bridges and benches.”

Other little but practical touches make the Manchester Cedar Swamp Preserve a nifty adventure. “One of the things I really love about the Nature Conservancy’s trail at Cedar Swamp is that they have a boot scrubber as you’re entering their trail and some signage about protecting the property from invasive plant species, seeds that can travel in on your shoes. They encourage people to scrub their shoes before they hit the trails, which is really neat.”

Livingston Park

Where: 244 Hooksett Road, Manchester

More info: manchesternh.gov/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks-Facilities/Parks/Livingston-Park

Livingston Park comprises 131 acres in Manchester’s North End and is a great option for those with furry friends or all-person access. “That’s something that I like to tell people,” Whiteman said. “When they’re looking for all-persons access in the area, and they have dogs.”

The park includes a playground and athletic fields, as well as Dorrs Pond, which is where the walking trail is. The trail loops around Dorrs Pond and offers a small sampling of wildlife.

“The unpaved walking and running trail loops around Dorrs Pond [are] approximately 10 feet wide and 0.9 miles long. The trail includes elevated boardwalks through wetlands and access to fishing and boating,” according to the City website.

“It’s really busy with people there. My observations have primarily been like waterfowl and small rodents like squirrels, chipmunks, things like that that are really well-adapted to people,” Whiteman said.

Whiteman hopes Granite Staters go to as many trails as possible. “If somebody hasn’t come out to hike them, come on out and hike all of those trails, you know, not just New Hampshire Audubon’s, but it’s good to get a feel of different wildlife in your community. What you’re going to see at Livingston is going to be different from what you’re going to see here [at Massabesic] and what you’re going to see in Concord.”

“It’s crazy just how much wildlife you can see in the heart of Manchester. You don’t expect to think that there’s otters or beavers right in your backyard,” she said.

Beaver Brook Association

Where: 117 Ridge Road, Hollis

More info: 465-7787, beaverbrook.org

Brandon Rackliffe has been the Natural Resource Manager at Beaver Brook for about 11 years.

“We’re a nonprofit and privately run,” Rackliffe said. “It’s just all open for the general public to come and hike. We do have classes here as well, so you can join and take part in classes as well as summer camp and home-school programs”

He estimates the trail mileage there at “roughly, we’ve always said about 35 miles.”

Rackliffe oversees trail maintenance at Beaver Brook. “Everything is well-defined and easily accessible,” he noted. “Nothing is too bad that you have to be an expert to hike it.”

You can pick your starting point. “We have seven or eight parking lots that you can park at, different trailheads. I highly recommend picking up a map before you come or before you start a hike and definitely planning ahead. That way you don’t take the wrong turn or anything like that. Everything is well-marked.”

Depending on the trail, visitors could bring a bike or even their horse.

“We do have hiking-only trails as well as multi-use trails, which entail biking and horses as well, but we don’t allow anything motorized, including e-bikes,” Rackliffe said. “Every trail has a name. They’re marked in either yellow triangles or blue rectangles that indicate either multi-use or hiking only, and everything also has trail plaques.”

With all the trail options, plenty of maintenance work is called for. “We have a wonderful group of volunteers that take over and take ownership of certain trails to maintain and monitor. And those volunteers are the heart and soul of Beaver Brook. They really put in their time and effort to help maintain some of the trails to an extent,” he said.

“Quite a few of our trails are popular, our parking lots pretty much always have somebody in them any time of day. … our main campus, where our office is, the Cow Lane is probably one of the premier trails that we have here.” Portions of Cow Lane, Wildflower Trail and Lower Meadow Trail allow for wheelchair access.

Visitors are offered a glimpse into the state’s past. “A lot of our trails are old wood roads, you know, historical wood roads back in the day when Hollis was a much smaller town. So you can see evidence of old cellar holes and things like that, old bridge crossings or anything of that nature.”

Wildlife is varied here, Rackliffe said, “anything from deer to bear to moose, along with the small mammals and birds and things like that. We have all kinds of frogs, blue herons. I’ve seen all kinds of ducks. I’ve seen rare ducks in some of our ponds, plenty of bobcat. I’ve seen those plenty of times kicking around.”

According to Rackliffe, every trail offers something of interest, “which would be why we made the trail there in the first place. There’s a Jeff Smith trail that runs nine miles from Pepperell all the way up to Beaverbrook. We own the last third or half of the trail. And that runs through many other organizations. Everything is protected under easement.”

Gardens are also open at Beaver Brook. The Maple Hill Gardens are at the main campus, and tours and presentations are available with a reservation. These are 13 themed gardens, a natural play area, a demonstration compost court, picnic areas and a wildflower trail, according to the organization.

Mine Falls Park

Where: There are multiple parking lots at and near the park, with one entry at Whipple Street

More info: nashuanh.gov/491/Mine-Falls-Park 589-3370

According to the City of Nashua, the park’s name came from an island underneath the waterfalls that allegedly contained a lead mine in the 18th century.

The park trails were added to the New Hampshire Heritage Trail system, which is 130 miles and follows the Merrimack River from Massachusetts to Canada.

There are six color-coded trails that vary in length around the park. The longest is the Blue Trail at 2.94 miles and the shortest is the Orange, which comes in at 0.38 miles. The Green is 1.96 miles long and the Red Trail is 1.40 miles. The Purple and Yellow Trails are both under a mile.

Patty Bernard and her husband Alan are frequent visitors to the trails at Mine Falls Park. “We like coming here because they have a lot of paved trails. It’s great because he has his motor scooter now,” she said. “So it gets him out and about. This is nice scenery. You’ve got the river, and then sometimes we go to the dam, the picnic table’s there, and we’ll pack a lunch, sit by and watch people kayak, canoe, boating, just to change the scenery.”

Wildlife is a part of that scenery. “We see turtles, beavers, nothing major now,” she said.

The paths take you straight through Nashua. “They put the first high school up and that’s what started everything and made it all connected. One in North Nashua, so you can actually walk from one to the other if you had to,” Alan said. “It’s a good distance.”

Multiple entrances add ease of access as well. “There’s different entrances to the park, which is nice. You can get access from downtown Nashua; over by the high school, Nashua South; over by Hannaford — that’s where we pulled in, over by Hannaford,” Patty said.

Mine Falls Park has many options for getting outside. “Great for dog walkers.We used to bike the trails, which was pretty cool,” she said.

“It’s a fun place to go. I mean, we’re still doing it,” Alan said.

“Every chance we get,” Patty added.

Rail Trail in Derry

Where: Hood Park, 4 Rollins St., Derry

The Rail Trail criss-crosses all across New Hampshire, and Derry contains a 3.6-mile paved chunk of it that crosses through trees and wetlands, according to Trail Link at traillink.com.

The trail quickly enters into a wooded area and eventually crosses Beaver Brook over a stone arch bridge. The middle of the bridge is known as Lover’s Leap, although the origin for that name is unknown.

The paved section of trail ends in Hood Park and its pond contains multiple species of fish and is stocked annually with brook trout and rainbow trout. The trail along the west side of Hood Pond continues on a dirt path for another 0.3 mile until the path ends.

The Derry Rail Trail connects to the Windham Rail Trail on its south side and in the future will connect with the Londonderry Rail Trail, according to the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission.

Hikers can park at Hood Park or at the Merchants Row lot in Derry, which has two-hour free parking and is more accessible for those using mobility aids or strollers.

Douglas Lowney, a resident of Methuen, is a big fan of the Derry Rail Trail. “Look at the beauty,” he said in reference to the lake and woodland covered path around him. “It’s like this the whole time. It doesn’t matter what time of year you’re here. It’s lovely. … I try to come three or four days a week. It’s like heaven.”

Lowney rides what he calls “a stand-up bike. I ride this about 20 miles I guess. It’s paved all the way. It goes all the way to Salem. And then it goes all the way down [Route] 28 past Walmart.”

Wildlife abounds as well. “See the beaver down there?” he asked.

The trail is perfect for those looking for the tranquility as well as the awesomeness of nature. “There’s all sorts of beautiful things here. In the fall, this is spectacular. It’s like it’s on fire,” Lowney said. The leaves “come tumbling down into the waters like it’s snowing. It’s beautiful. And the folks that take care of this trail do a good job,” he said.

No matter how Lowney is feeling, the Derry Rail Trail is restorative for him. “Even when I don’t feel good, I’m actually good when I come here. It’s very therapeutic.”

White Park

Where: 1 White St., Concord

More info: concordnh.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/White-Park-21

According to the the City of Concord, White Park came to life in 1884 when the land it sits on was conveyed to the city by Armenia White for her late husband Nathaniel, who was a founder of The American Express Co., and the park itself was designed by architect Charles Elliott in 1888.

The Park extends from Eastman Baseball Field to the Monkey Around Playground, with various walking paths and a big loop around White Park Pond, which is filled with lots of ducks, koi fish, and frogs. The Pond becomes an outdoor skating rink during the winter months.

The Monkey Around Playground is the largest in Concord. It’s a giant wooden castle structure that is a lot of fun for little Granite Staters.

A couple of Franklin Pierce School of Law employees, Rachael Lefurge and Alexa Bobinski, were enjoying the park on a gray November weekday.

“I really enjoy walking around. It’s a nice break from my work day. There’s always a lot of people walking around. It’s really nice to work with the pond on a beautiful day,” Lefurge said.

“Yeah, I feel like it’s very beautiful no matter what season it is. It’s always very pretty. There’s always a lot of people here and wildlife,” Bobinski added.

“I usually see ducks,” Lefurge said. Even when the ducks eventually leave the Pond, the trails will still be filled with dogs and squirrels.

“It’s nice to get up and walk around a little bit and have some nice scenery just in the middle of Concord,” Bobinksi said.

A look at this piney, crisp spirit

Plus a preview of the Distiller’s Showcase

Dan Haggerty, co-owner of craft cocktail bar Industry East in Manchester, is a huge fan of gin.

“Gin is awesome,” he said. “Vodka’s main use is becoming gin.” He explained that gin begins its life as a neutral spirit — essentially vodka — before being flavored with botanical flavors: juniper berries, spices like coriander, or other, more exotic roots, stems or seeds.

“Every gin is different,” he said, ”and there are so many, so they’re fun to play with. If you’re looking for something a little bit more on the floral side, you can do that. If you want something more on the vegetal side, you can go with a gin like that. A lot of people say, ‘I don’t like gin.’ We actually had a drink on our menu that was called But I Don’t Like Gin. And it was always our goal to convince people. We’d say, ‘Hey, try this,’” Haggerty said that was a quick way to make gin skeptics into converts.

“Cocktail bartenders love gin,” said Jillian Bernat, the Bar Manager of Greenleaf in Milford. “I don’t know if I can pinpoint [why]. I just know that vodka has never done it for me. And they say that gin is the original flavored vodka. So it’s just got a little bit more substance to it and more depth. And it’s just easy. It mixes well with a ton of things.”

Bernat said that while gin has a reputation as an older person’s drink, her experience has been that gin people can be surprising: “It ranges from freshly 21-year-olds to the older crowd that just likes a basic gin martini or gin and tonic.”

Brian Ferguson makes gin. He is the owner and head distiller at Flag Hill Distillery in Lee. He has seen a sea change in the gin world that has attracted new gin drinkers.

“[Maybe 20 years ago] most gin was what was … what is referred to as London Dry,” Ferguson said. “And London Dry gin is to gin as double IPA is to beer. It’s like the most intense, over-the-top version of the category. So up until somewhat recently if you had gin it was this really, really intense version. The way I describe it is, imagine if your first beer was a 90 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head and that was your first introduction to beer. You’d probably think that beer was gross, right? Most people don’t get to where they like 90 Minute Dogfish Head by just having that as their first drink of beer. So that’s kind of what most people’s experience has been with gin up until recently. And then … I don’t know exactly when, but around maybe somewhere between 2000 and 2010, a lot of craft distilleries started producing this kind of like new age style gin. And they’re very botanical focused.”

Unlike most distillers, Flag Hill doesn’t start with a grain spirit. “We start with a base of apples,” Ferguson said. “It’s made from apples from Apple Hill Farm [in Concord], and those apples wind up getting distilled to almost neutral, not quite neutral.” While the apple spirit doesn’t actually taste of apples, it retains a high percentage of malic acid, a natural chemical in apples that gives them a crisp, dry quality. That malic acid gets partially converted into a compound that is responsible for the flavor of butter. “So we’re able to make this kind of buttery finish,” Ferguson said, “I [describe it] like candy butter on the back of the tongue, that’s so different from normal gin.”

Christopher Burk, the owner of Cathedral Ledge Distillery in North Conway, relies on a grain spirit to build his gin from. “We are a true grain-to-glass distillery,” Burk said. “One hundred percent of our products start with us milling grain and fermenting, distilling, working it all the way through the process. Our vodka, which becomes the base for our gin, is 45 percent wheat, 45 percent corn, 10 percent malted barley. All of our products, I should say, are certified USDA organic. They’re also all certified as gluten-free.”

For Burk, one of the attractions of making gin is the latitude it gives him for creativity.

“Gin is basically a blank palette,” he said.

“When my wife [Cathedral Ledge co-owner Tracy Burk] and I wanted to develop our gin recipe, we gathered scores of botanicals from around the world,” he recalled. “We started with store-bought vodka and jelly jars with botanicals and carefully measured proportions. When we wanted a cocktail at dinnertime, we would get out our pipettes and our notebook, and it was ‘three drops of this’ and ‘two of that’ and ‘one of those’ and ‘Oh, God, that’s wretched! Write it down, never do that again!’”

Burk is especially proud of their barrel-rested gin. “It’s entirely different from our other gin,” he said. “There’s overlapping ingredients, but in different proportions. So it [has] juniper, coriander and citrus peel, like all London Dries. It has hawthorn berry in there as a mid-palate focus — it’s a wonderful botanical, a neat plant to work with. It’s the real secret sauce to Barrel Rested. When the gin comes off the still, it’s an incomplete product — kind of flabby, like an unseasoned piece of protein coming out of the oven. We put it into a recently emptied rye whiskey barrel.It gets some spice from the rye, it gets caramel and vanilla from the wood, and it just makes a wonderful, wonderful gin. I consider it a sipping gin. I’ve had it in a gin and tonic, and it’s wonderful, but it’s a gin you can make a martini out of.”

Flag Hill owner Brian Ferguson summed up the state of gin today. “If you are somebody who has tried gin in the past and didn’t love it, try gin from a craft distillery,” he suggested. “Hopefully it’s ours, but even if it’s any other craft distillery, they’re all making these really exciting new gins. “There’s just so much more complexity and depth to craft distilled gins than there are to a lot of the big brand gins.”

Mentioned here
Industry East Bar 28 Hanover St., Manchester, 232-6940, industryeastbar.com
Cathedral Ledge Distillery 3340 White Mountain Highway, North Conway, 730-5696, cathedralledgedistillery.com
Apple Hill Farm 580 Mountain Road, Concord, 224-8862, applehillfarmnh.com
Flag Hill Distillery 297 N. River Road, Lee, 659-2949, flaghill.com
Greenleaf 54 Nashua St., Milford, 213-5447, greenleafmilford.com

Types of Gin

All gin starts as a neutral spirit — think vodka — that is usually made from grain but sometimes made from other ingredients. Barr Hill, for instance, distills its base alcohol from honey. After that, botanical flavors are added. One of them is always juniper, which gives gin its distinctive piney flavor, but other herbs, spices and roots can range from rhubarb to lavender to coriander. The finished product might be aged or treated in other ways before making its way into your glass. There is a great variety of gins, but they generally break down into three broad categories that you are likely to find in New Hampshire liquor stores:

London Dry Gin: This is the type of gin that most people think of when they hear the term “gin.” It is crisp and piney, with some citrus back-notes and an alcoholic kick. Your first gin and tonic was probably made with it. It is also perfect for a classic martini. Varieties include Gordon’s, Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray.

Old Tom Gin: This gin has been played with a bit. It might be slightly sweetened, or barrel-aged. These are often sipped neat or on the rocks, or substituted for whiskey in alcohol-forward drinks like old-fashioneds. Barr Hill’s Tom Cat, Cathedral Ledge’s Barrel-Aged Gin, and Hayman’s of London are good examples of this type.

Botanical Gins: Sometimes referred to as American-style gins, these put their botanical flavors in the driver’s seat. There will still be notes of juniper and the base alcohol, but floral or spicy or herby flavors will be prominent. Hendrick’s is especially well known for its botanical gins, but Uncle Val’s, Creative Arts, and Grey Whale are examples of botanicals. They also make extremely good gin and tonics, where their flavors can shine through cleanly but are also strong team players in creative craft bar cocktails.

Gin Cocktails

A Classic Dry Martini

• 2 to 3 ounces London Dry gin
• An ounce or so of dry vermouth

Before starting, wet a stemmed martini glass, and either fill it with crushed ice, or put it in the freezer to chill.

Fill a mixing glass with ice, and pour the vermouth over it. Stir it with a cocktail spoon for 10 or 20 seconds, completely coating the ice with vermouth, then strain the ice to remove any vermouth left in the mixing glass. There will still be a fine, almost imperceptible coating of vermouth on the ice and the sides of the mixing glass.

Add the gin to the mixing glass and stir it gently, until it is thoroughly chilled.

Retrieve your martini glass from the freezer, or dump out the crushed ice, and strain your cold martini into it.

The classic garnish for a martini is a large olive, speared with a cocktail toothpick. A martini garnished with a cocktail onion is called a Gibson. One with a splash of olive brine is called a dirty martini. And, somewhat surprisingly, a “perfect” martini is made with equal parts gin and vermouth.

The attraction of a properly made martini is its simplicity. It is blisteringly cold and has a clean, pure flavor that makes the drinker pay very close attention to the gin.

Aviation

Recommended by Eric Avard, Bartender at Stashbox (866 Elm St., Manchester, 606-8109, stashboxnh.com)

This classic from the very early 1900s has been making a resurgence in recent years.

• 2 ounces gin – traditionally, this would be a London Dry gin, but many craft bartenders swear by something more botanical; Uncle Val’s would be delightful
• ½ ounce maraschino liqueur
• ¼ ounce creme de violette – a floral, purple liqueur that adds color and sophistication; use this sparingly
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker, and shake until thoroughly chilled; your fingers should hurt from the cold, and you should hear the ice starting to break up inside the shaker.

Strain into a stemmed glass — a coupe, perhaps, or a “Nick and Nora.” Garnish with a brandied cherry.

This is one of the prettiest cocktails you are likely to order in a bar. The maraschino brings a bitter-sweet quality that plays off the acidity of the lemon juice and the flowery hints of the creme de violette. The gin provides the backbone.

Bee’s Knees

Recommended by Jeff Cole of Barr Hill Distillery

This Prohibition-era cocktail comes from a time when gin, legal or not, was the most abundant liquor available in the U.S.

• 2 ounces gin – made with honey, Barr Hill’s Tom Cat might be perfect for this
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• ¾ ounce honey syrup – 2 parts honey to one part hot water; let it cool before using

Combine the gin, lemon juice and honey syrup with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake ruthlessly, then strain into a chilled, stemmed glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

This is one of those cocktails where there is nowhere to hide. Use a honey you like, because it will shine through. Use a gin you like, because it will be in your face. Squeeze your own lemon juice; the stuff in the plastic bottle is fine for some recipes — cupcake frosting, for instance — but if you use it in a cocktail, you might as well be adding powdered lemonade mix.

French 75

Recommended by Christopher Burk, co-owner of Cathedral Ledge Distillery (3340 White Mountain Highway, North Conway, 730-5696, cathedralledgedistillery.com)

• 1 ounce gin – not surprisingly, Chris Burk recommends Cathedral Ledge Barrel-Rested Gin
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• 3 ounces Champagne

Combine the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake thoroughly.

Strain it into a Champagne flute and top it with Champagne.

Without the sparkling wine, this is called a Gin Sour and is also delicious. The Champagne adds a dryness and subtlety to the finished drink.

Negroni

Recommended by Brian Ferguson, owner of Flag Hill Winery and Distillery (297 N. River Road, Lee, 659-2949, flaghill.com)

This is a classic cocktail for gin lovers who like something a little less sweet.

• 1 ounce gin
• 1 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1 ounce Campari – a bright red, bitter Italian liqueur

Fill a rocks glass with ice, then add the gin, vermouth and Campari. Stir gently until combined. Garnish with an orange twist.

This classic is alcohol-forward, bright red, and bittersweet, perhaps a little more bitter than sweet.

Queen Bee

Invented and recommended by bartender Sian Quinn at 815 Cocktails & Provisions (815 Elm St., Manchester, 782-8086, 815nh.com)

• 2 ounces gin, fat-washed with brown butter – OK, we’re already going down a rabbit hole. When alcohol is exposed to a flavorful fat, like bacon fat, or brown butter, the flavor elements in the fat can get confused and leave the fat for a new home in the alcohol. In this case, the recommended method of “fat-washing” the butter is to brown it, then mix it with an equal amount of gin. Cover it and let it rest for five or six hours, then freeze it, and remove the plug of butter from the top of the container. Strain the gin into a new container, and keep it refrigerated until use. Alternatively, use 2 ounces of barrel-rested gin.
• half of a peach, fresh if possible, canned if necessary
• 1 ounce cinnamon-infused honey syrup – bring equal parts honey and water and several cinnamon sticks to a boil, remove from heat, and steep for half an hour
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice.
• A Biscoff cookie

Muddle the peach in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. This is bartender speak for smooshing it up with a stick. Add the gin, then dry-shake the mixture; this means “without ice.” The alcohol in the gin will help strip peach flavors from the fruit before it is diluted with other ingredients.

Add the lemon juice and cinnamon-honey syrup, with ice, to the shaker, and shake thoroughly. Set it aside briefly.

Crush the cookie until it is mostly dust. Spread it out on a small plate. Wet the rim of a cocktail glass, then dip it into the cookie dust. Flip the glass right-side-up, and strain your cocktail into it.

As you might expect, this is a complex drinking experience. The honey and gin play the starring roles, but with a warm-tasting-cold-drinking, buttery, cinnamony flavor.

I Should Call Her

Invented and recommended by Tristan George, bar manager at Industry East (28 Hanover St., Manchester, 232-6940, industryeastbar.com)

This is a very, very delicious cocktail with a name that hints at the kind of bad decisions you might make after too many of these.

• 2 ounces floral gin – Hendrick’s would be a good choice
• 1/2 ounce creme de violette
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
• ¾ ounce orgeat – a red, almondy syrup
• An egg white
• 5 to 10 drops habanero tincture – blend 4 or 5 habanero peppers with a cup of high-proof vodka, until thoroughly pulverized. Let it sit overnight to let the alcohol pick up the flavor and heat from the peppers, then strain twice, once through the finest-mesh strainer you have, then again through a coffee filter. Be patient; this will probably take longer than you think.
• 5 to 10 drops Peychaud bitters

Add all the ingredients except the bitters to a cocktail shaker, and dry shake it, without ice, for at least 30 seconds. This will give the egg white long enough to fluff up and add texture to the drink. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, add ice, and shake again to chill it.

Strain the cocktail into a coupe glass, then dot the foamy surface with bitters.

This is a stunningly good cocktail where the individual ingredients do NOT present themselves. It is a sweet, floral, juicy drink, with a little heat on the back end. Not for nothing, it is also a beautiful, pale lavender color.

Pink Gin

Reformulated and recommended by Tom Lloyd, bartender at What The Pho! (836 Elm St., Manchester, 606-8769, whatthephorestaurant.com)

For decades Pink Gin was a classic staple in British India and other hot colonial outposts. It was almost always gin over ice, with bitters. This grapefruit-forward conception is less colonial and much more refreshing. It does, however, have gin, and it is pink.

• 1½ ounces gin
• ¼ ounce elderberry liqueur
• ¼ ounce pamplemousse, a grapefruit-flavored liqueur
• 2 ounces ruby red grapefruit juice
• The juice of half a lime
• One dash of orange bitters
• 1 ounce seltzer

Combine all ingredients except the seltzer with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake thoroughly, then strain into a rocks glass. Top with seltzer and stir gently.

This is the juiciest-tasting cocktail that you are ever likely to drink. The sourness of the grapefruit and lime juices have a mouth-watering quality, the elderflower liqueur provides a floral note, and the gin sits in the back, arms proudly folded over its chest, saying, “I told you so.”

Elderflower Cosmopolitan

Recommended by Nikki Miller, head bartender at the Barley House Restaurant and Tavern (132 N. Main St., Concord, 228-6363, thebarleyhouse.com)

Cosmopolitans have traditionally been made with vodka, but in this version, the gin stands out and gives depth to the cocktail. Miller said, “Gin is a very botanical liquor, with juniper berries and few roots. Sometimes it tastes like nutmeg or lemon. This drink is just a chef’s kiss of a cocktail. It’s a really good one.”

• 2 ounces botanical gin – Hendrick’s would be good for this
• ½ ounce elderflower liqueur
• ½ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ounce cranberry juice cocktail
• Champagne to top – about one ounce

Combine the gin, elderflower liqueur and lemon juice with ice in a cocktail shaker, and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass, and top with Champagne.

This is a slightly less sweet, more American take on a French 75. It is slightly sweet from the elderflower liqueur, slightly sour from the lemon juice, and just a bit effervescent from the champagne. It is super-refreshing.

Tea and Lemons

Developed and recommended by Jillian Bernat, bar manager at Greenleaf (54 Nashua St., Milford, 213-5447, greenleafmilford.com)

• 2 ounces tea-infused botanical gin – Bernat suggests steeping a spoonful of high-quality loose-leaf black tea for 10 minutes or so, then straining it
• ¾ ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 ounce simple syrup
• ½ ounce Benedictine

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker, shake soundly, and strain into a chilled martini glass.

This has all the basic flavors of an Arnold Palmer, but condensed into a classier, more adult beverage.

Olives
According to Bartender Jeremy Weatherby of Piccola Italia Ristorante (815 Elm St, Manchester, 606-5100, piccolarestaurant.com), how many olives you get in your martini is significant.
“Olives in a martini should always come in odd numbers,” he said. “Serving one with an even number is considered disrespectful; it’s a sign that the bartender doesn’t like you.”

New Hampshire Distiller’s Showcase

New Hampshire’s 11th Annual Distiller’s Showcase will be held Thursday, Nov. 7.

Distillers and distributors will show off more than 600 premium and ultra-premium alcohols from around the world. Mark Roy, the Director of Marketing, Merchandising, and Warehousing for the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, has been part of the yearly Showcase since the beginning. He said it is the climax of a week of events.

“We’ll have some in-store bottle signings and tastings with some of the VIPs and distillers and brand ambassadors coming in,” he said. “We’ll also be hosting a Wednesday evening event at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford. It’s a showcase where people can come in to a more intimate venue and they can go around and … talk to brand ambassadors or people from the [liquor] companies directly.”

Roy said the focus this year will be on premium ready-to-drink cocktails, “which is one of the fastest-growing categories in the country right now.”

“[I]t’s an evening where people can come together. We have our high-end Penn Stock room, which is the old restaurant located within the hotel where we have some select products and people in there showcasing their wares. Inside the main expo itself we have over 600 different spirits from every category that you can name, again with some VIP distillers and brand ambassadors coming in. We also partner with some of the best restaurants throughout New Hampshire. There are 25 different restaurants that will be there offering out samples throughout the evening,” Roy said.

In spite of the liquor bigwigs on site, Roy said, the Showcase is designed so ordinary drinkers can learn more about the choices of alcohol available in the state and introduce themselves to new drinks.

“The target audience is our consumer,” he said. “We have every category represented from vodkas to cream liqueurs to tequilas to high-end scotches and everything in between.”

Jillian Anderson is the Director of Tamworth Distilling (15 Cleveland Hill Road, Tamworth, 323-7196, tamworthdistilling.com).

“The Distiller’s Showcase is one of our favorite events to attend every year,” Anderson said. “We find it really brings a focus on all the different people who are really into spirits, who have been kind of following trends, and also people who are very new to the world of spirits and are excited to try a bunch of new things.”

Two of those new things are Tamworth products that focus on local ingredients.

“At one of our tables,” she said, “we will be representing our eight-year-old Chocorua straight rye whiskey, which is [made from] 100 percent rye that’s all grown on a local farm in Maine. We have a black trumpet mushroom and blueberry cordial, which showcases black trumpet mushrooms that are locally foraged right in Tamworth by the New Hampshire Mushroom Co. (153 Gardner Hill Road, Tamworth, 323-0097, nhmushrooms.com). I actually learned something very interesting recently, which is black trumpet mushrooms are one of the only mushrooms that can’t be grown. They have to be foraged. So it’s something about the way that they grow in a tree that you can’t actually try and farm them.”

Anderson is excited to introduce people at the Showcase to Tamworth Distilling’s products, and part of that is the packaging.

“The labels are quite creative,” she said. “We pride ourselves on creating interesting, fun, boundary-pushing spirits, but the packaging always has a story to tell about any of the Tamworth distilling products also.” She used her company’s Siege of Wolves rum as an example. “The Siege of Wolves Is actually an event that happened in Tamworth in the 1800s,” she said. “The story goes that the farmers went out and took on the wolves in the middle of the night because they were eating all of their livestock. And when they succeeded in scaring the wolves off, they celebrated with a barrel of rum.”

For Chris Burk, owner of Cathedral Ledge Distillery (3340 White Mountain Hwy., North Conway, 730-5696, cathedralledgedistillery.com), the Distiller’s Showcase is an opportunity to meet customers and shift his perspective. “It’s a great chance for me to get away from the still,” he said, “and get out, meet customers and answer their questions.Their questions are all over the place. It’s a pretty savvy group, generally speaking. They know quite a bit about spirits, and some of them want to get really into some details about the grains in our whiskeys or our aging procedures. It could be the botanicals in our gins. They are there to learn, which is why it’s such a great event. It’s a great way for customers to explore and be able to learn and try a bunch of things without having to make a full-bottle commitment.”

The proceeds from the Distiller’s Showcase will benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank.

“This is their biggest fundraiser throughout the year,” Mark Roy said. “They provide critical service to many of the local soup kitchens and food banks throughout the state for people that have food insufficiencies. We also have the Crown Royal Bags for Our Troops program, so when people are waiting in line queuing up to go into the event they can help pack some of the bags and these bags get sent over to our troops.” —John Fladd

NH Distiller’s Showcase
When: Thursday, Nov. 7, from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Doubletree Expo Center, 700 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $75 through distillersshowcase.com. Food and nonalcoholic beverages will be available. The Showcase has partnered with Brown Forman and Grace Limousine to offer free rides home to guests who live within 20 miles of the event. The event’s organizers encourage guests to drink responsibly.

Nick Lavallee talks chicken tenders, action figures, music and joy

For someone who’s never held office and does not aspire to, Nick Lavallee knew what to do when he got up to speak at the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting in early December 2022. He was a man on a mission to foster pride in his home city via its signature dish, the chicken tender.

If the Island of Misfit Toys ever were to produce a food item, it would be the culinary masterpiece invented in the Puritan Backroom 50 years ago. Before Charlie Pappas decided to marinade, lightly bread and deep fry his first tenderloin, it was a castoff piece of the bird. Now, it’s the Backroom’s biggest seller.

The “tendie” is also a staple at restaurants throughout the city — and beyond. That’s why Lavallee implored the board to make it official. “Chicago is home to deep dish pizza; Detroit is known for its Mom’s Spaghetti. Manchester should be synonymous with the chicken tender,” he told them.

A little over seven months later, he stood on the pitcher’s mound at Delta Dental Stadium as the Fisher Cats were renamed the Chicken Tenders for one game. Beside him was a signed proclamation from Mayor Joyce Craig declaring Manchester the Chicken Tender Capital of the World.

Lavallee’s successful crusade was just one of his many efforts to build up his home city’s self-esteem, and boosterism has driven him for almost as long as he’s lived here. To hear him tell it, relentless positivity is a form of personal self-repair as well.

“I wanted to give Manchester a reason to believe in itself,” he said of what motivated him to speak that chilly December night, an act initially greeted with chuckles by city leaders. “I’ve learned to believe in myself along the way.”

It wouldn’t be his last trip to a municipal meeting.

In early October, Lavallee spoke in support of Eighty Eight Coffee Co., a Manchester business facing eminent domain and seeking a better deal from the city. “It’s more than a craft coffee shop,” he said, wearing a Stay Joyful ballcap. “It’s a community gathering space, one that is unfortunately rare to find in the largest city in New Hampshire.”

A few days before the meeting, the city had increased its offer to align with an independent appraisal done by Eighty Eight’s owners, but he hoped that his input would compel a closer look at the other costs of forcing the shop from its Queen City Avenue location.

The list of Lavallee’s successes in promoting his hometown continues to grow. A recent New York Times story that was teased on the front page and filled the cover of the Food Section was the result of Lavallee’s chicken championing.

Of course, the Paper of Record strove for fairness and balance in the story. “An icon of simple, straightforward, unpretentious American taste,” Pete Wells wrote of the tender, “it can also be an expression of dull, unadventurous food engineered for the lowest common denominator.”
Whatever. Wells gave Nick Lavallee, man of the people, the final word on whether his home city deserves its self-declared title. “It’s a silly idea … but you ask yourself: Is it true? Yes. Is it important? Sure. Manchester has had an identity problem. Why not point out the things worth celebrating?”

It’s fair to call him the Mayor of Tender Town, but Nick’s no politician. He’s a cheerleader, and beyond that, he’s walking the walk. Lavallee’s latest endeavor is a Wicked Joyful retail space located in Queen City Center, a mixed-use facility that’s under construction at 21 Canal St. It is due to open next May.

It’s been a long journey for the creative polymath, who has at various points of his life performed in punk rock bands, toured the country doing comedy, and promoted shows in downtown Manchester along with running his pop culture business — all while holding down a day job in community media.

Lavallee’s toughest road, though, was the one to happiness. Like a lot of artists, he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, especially in his standup days. Maybe a better way to describe it is fierce ambition that more than a few mistook for something darker.

“The folks who own Vermont Comedy Club once told me, ‘When we met you, you appeared kind of mean’ — and I was in a good mood!” he recalled. “I feel like what was in my head was not what I could translate to people, whereas I’d like to think when people meet me now, it’s significantly different.”

It is, and most agree that the line of demarcation was Lavallee’s giving up alcohol in 2015.

Jenny Zigrino knew him when both were starting out in the comedy world in the late 2000s, when she recalls him being competitive and intense. “A Townie feel … it was Nick against the world,” she said by phone from New York City. “We were comedy friends … later, we became friend friends.”

The friendship, Zigrino continued, “really blossomed around like 2017, after he’d gotten sober and had a new-lease-on -life kind of vibe. I think he was just taking care of himself more. I think that being sober really was the key to him changing.”

Lavallee also lost a lot of weight, and he shifted his outlook from ruminating to radiating happy energy. On his socials, he urged followers to “stay joyful.” Much of his attention went to writing songs for Donaher, the pop punk band he formed with Tristan Omand, Lee Sevigny and Adam Wood in 2017.

It’s said that great art requires suffering, but Lavallee took a novel approach to coming up with material for his band’s first album, I Swear My Love Is True. Six months sober, he began a relationship one June knowing it would end in August, when the object of his affection moved across the country.

“It was a one-summer stand,” he said. “When I met her I was like, ‘Oh my God, I want to write pop songs for you all summer, and she said, ‘What about when I move?’ I said, ‘Then the songs will get better’ and she said, ‘Deal.’ And they did!”

There was, he continued, another reason for the exercise. “It was true heartbreak, but it was wild because as much pain as I was in, I was so happy to feel that hurt because I was sober,” he said. “It was a weird test, and it may not have been emotionally responsible. But, at the same time, I never turned to alcohol. I was thankful for the relationship because she enabled my continued sobriety.”

In 2019, Nick began augmenting action figures picked up at tag sales and secondhand stores to reflect pop culture moments. He’d repaint a discarded GI Joe as Rivers Cuomo of Weezer or Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child, create humorous packaging, stick an ersatz price tag on the finished work of art, and post a photo of it to Instagram.

He called the venture Wicked Joyful, the name a triple entendre that found its way into his brain and wouldn’t leave. “It represents yin and yang, the salty and sweet of being a New England guy,” he said, “and, I think, my sense of humor. That’s me. I’m wicked joyful.”

The effort began as a way to build an online community.

“It was just going to be a means of sharing photos of vintage toys and developing a following, connecting with people.” Beyond that, he continued, “I was also at a crossroads with stand-up. I was sick of it.”

Along with co-producer Dave Carter, he’d built the Shaskeen Pub into a midweek hub for alt comedy. With national headliners like W. Kamau Bell, Dan Soder, Emma Willmen and Kyle Kinane appearing, they two did more than 400 shows over seven years. Lavallee, however, now saw a different path for his humor. (Lavallee and Carter handed off organizing duties when weekly shows returned mid-2021. Wednesday comedy nights are now run by Sam Mangano – see rubyroom.com for upcoming shows.)

“I loved building the community we had at Shaskeen, but I realized I could do essentially the same thing through this medium of custom action figures,” he said. “I have creative license. This is my thing. I can insert myself in these pieces.”

Early works included Chris D’Elia with an Eminem cultural reference, and John Cusack holding a boom box over his head in Say Anything. People really started to take notice when a piece depicting Bill Burr in his Star Wars spinoff Mandalorian role, with a New England twist, blew up online.

Accessorized with a Dunkin’ cup and a galactic weapon, with consequential Rs lined out and replaced by an H, i.e. “Stah Wahs: Mayfield The Shahp Shootah,” the piece was retweeted by the comic and covered by the Boston Globe. Similarly, John Stamos responded to an action figure of his Full House Uncle Jesse character.

“How was my 2019?” Lavallee wrote on then-Twitter. “John frickin’ Stamos retweeted me.”

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, it was a blessing for Lavallee, as it provided him with an excuse to pivot from comedy to his newly growing venture, which he called “a medium that I can communicate my most authentic self with that stand-up could never do for me.”

He was successful at telling jokes and creating hilarious multimedia content. With sobriety, his routine was kinder, gentler and more reflective of his hometown and upbringing. Crowds were warming to him in a new way, but the bits required more self-deprecation than he liked.

“I was getting really burnt out on Nick Lavallee’s name, face, body … my words,” he said, his voice trailing off. “Now I know why so many comedians deal with mental health issues and everything else, because I was dealing with a lot of them myself.”

“It does things to you,” Jenny Zigrino agreed. “You’re only as good as your last set … it can make you toxic. It’s also just a lonely job and Nick thrives on community.”

In January 2020 Lavallee sat on an MSNBC panel during primary season and told a national cable audience, in response to an Ari Melber question, that anyone visiting Manchester should try the chicken tenders. With a second wing added, his high-flying bird took flight.

Over time, he added apparel to the Wicked Joyful product line, beginning with a bright yellow Chicken Tender Capital of the World T-shirt featuring an anthropomorphic tendie perched in a sauce cup that’sa replica of one from the Puritan Backroom. Along with that were fun packs filled with pins and stickers, and more than a few Manchester inside jokes like a Cadillac Motel key fob.

There’s a Tender Town banner, logoed water bottles, holiday ornaments and a flood of action figures, all one of a kind, like the one marking Exeter as New England’s UFO Capital, a tribute to one of his favorite bands The Get Up Kids, and Chappell Roan in her Midwest Princess Lollapalooza suit.

His wares are available online and at street fairs; he did brisk business at this year’s Taco Tour. He’s also at events like the recent Granite State Comicon, where his booth was a few yards away from one run by Dave’s Hot Chicken, a new addition to Manchester.

Wicked Joyful pop-up shops
Sunday, Oct. 27, 5 to 7 p.m., at Bookery, 844 Elm St., Manchester
Saturday, Nov. 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Garrison City Mini Con, City Hall, Dover
Sunday, Dec. 8, noon to 3 p.m. at Merrymaking on West Merrimack, Manchester

Lavallee is amused that both Dave’s and fellow chicken restaurant Raising Cane’s are opening franchises in the city.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” he said. “Why all of a sudden did these two national chains decide to come to Manchester? I mean, the Chicken Tender Initiative got a lot of press.”

He wasn’t telling the whole story. Lavallee was invited to the Dave’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, where he noticed their signature graffiti decor included a nod to his initiative. Later, he chatted with the local franchise owner and learned he was also a fan of Goldenrod Restaurant, the city’s second pillar of tenders, and the Puritan.

“Chicken tenders are deliciously non-divisive and truly bring the people of Manchester together,” Lavallee wrote on Facebook.

Another person who noticed Lavallee’s enterprising civic activism was Travis York, the entrepreneur behind Queen City Center. Early on, he wanted Nick to be a part of it, both for his art and his skill at putting together events, something he still does for Shaskeen rock shows and other venues.

“I’ve admired how multifaceted he is but perhaps most importantly how joyful he seems pursuing and doing those types of things,” York said by phone from his office at GYK Antler, a creative agency located across the parking long from the new development. “I’ve always liked to surround myself with people like that and when Queen City Center as a development project came up … Nick was one of the first guys that came to mind to … be a thought partner to me and the team as we consider how to bring that vision to reality.”

Nick’s experience as a promoter will be valuable at Queen City.

“There’s a multitude of options for where we could host different types of events,” York said. “We have the desire to bring comedy, music and other types of entertainment that might be a bit different than what the city’s drawn in the past.”

In the early 2010s, York and his wife hosted concerts at their home in the North End, many by acts that went on to greater fame. He hopes to bring similar talent to the new venue. “The good thing about Manchester is there are places where people can play and do stuff,” he said. “The challenge is they all kind of serve multi-purposes and are not consistently bringing in talent…. That’s a gap in the market we think we can fill.”

One belief York shares with Lavallee is that the state, “and specifically southern New Hampshire [has] always had a bit of a poor self-esteem, at least in my era. Growing up, I went to West High School in the ’90s [and] like a lot of people I grew up with, I moved away … I didn’t imagine I would be back. I’m certainly glad that I am.”

These days, the narrative is shifting, and more young people are choosing Manchester. Leadership is needed for that to continue.

“People are moving to this area because they want to; they see something better than we believe we have,” York said. “If we can better align the potential of our city with the desires of those coming here, then everybody should win as a result of that.”

He’s happy to have Lavallee as an ally. “Nick has clearly found lanes of his creativity that are very authentic to him,” he said, recalling a conversation when the New York Times story came out. “I said, this is now etched in your obituary. If something, God forbid, happens to you, being behind the chicken tender capital-of-the-world thing is going to be in there.’ He couldn’t have been prouder, and I kind of love that … it’s a positive way of bringing his talents to the world, getting people to engage and be joyful.”

The self-described “compulsive creative” has a newfound ability to prioritize his packed life into something more well-rounded. If he’s behind a microphone, it’s probably a conference on community media, or another municipal meeting. The only time he’s on stage is with Donaher, and he keeps that in perspective.

When they play, it’s usually at a show he organized, and Donaher is down the bill. That’s so he can wrap up early and enjoy watching his friends play — he’s usually near the front of the stage, dancing like a fan. Another reason is it gives him an early bedtime if he needs one.

Music is more a pastime than a profession. “The band’s a bowling league. I’m comfortable saying that, and I think the guys would say the same. Tristan’s a dad, we’ve got jobs, we’ve got significant others. There are no illusions of grandeur there.”

Like everything else in Lavallee’s life, the main goal is to stay joyful.

“It’s nice to know that once a week or a few times a month, I have three friends I get to hang out with,” he said. “It’s four dudes who love playing music that are fighting having to be in a cover band, because that’s where a lot of people end up as they get older…. We’re still playing original music.”

Crucially, his head and heart are finally aligned with his hopeful love songs. “I wrote a lot of them years ago, but they’ve found new meaning,” he said. Joyfully, there’s a reason for this rediscovery.

Nearly a decade beyond the self-induced emotional shock treatment of his first sober summer, Nick is in a healthy relationship. Before his band roared into their third song on a recent Friday evening at the Shaskeen, he took a moment to acknowledge the woman he’s been with for the past three years.

Over an order of Puritan tenders the previous week, he’d shared that they met when she was working at a restaurant across the street from the Shaskeen. After setting up the weekly comedy show, he’d go there for dinner. He’d flirt and she’d defer, but he eventually got her number.

This began a two-year friendship that, coincidentally or not, bridged his time in and out of comedy. Then one night she strolled into the Shaskeen back room as his band was packing up. That’s the memory he recalled to introduce his song “Let Me Know” that Friday night.

“Three years ago, to the day, my best friend came to a Donaher show and asked, ‘Is it too late to say I’m in love with you?’ and I said, ‘definitely not.’ Then we made out, right over there.” He pointed to a spot near the merch table. “So I’d like to dedicate this song to Gina.”

In conversation, he’s giddy. “I’m the luckiest guy on the planet, I love her. It’s true I had to go through all that, but this relationship I have with Gina is super healthy and we’re evolving together … she’s helping me grow in so many ways.”

One thing that won’t change for Nick Lavallee is his commitment to his hometown, and to making sure that everyone’s a winner. To that end, he’ll never name a favorite tender and won’t endorse any effort that aims to crown a champion, making the case that a healthy argument helps everyone.

“If someone’s proclaimed the best in any official capacity, we lose a core part of our identity … the discussion is over,” he said, summoning the clam pie pizza capital of the world in Connecticut. “No one in New Haven is going to say Frank Pepe’s or Sally’s is definitively the best. You have to keep that conversation going.”

Finality, he concluded, contradicts “the spirit of everyone who’s ever lived here; when people come in, you want them trying everybody’s chicken tender. It’s an economic boost to tourism. As long as I’m carrying the torch of Tendertown, USA, I hope there’s never a competition.”

Donaher shows
Friday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m., Auspicious Brew, Dover, with 5Ever and Lovewell; all ages
Sunday, Nov. 10, 4 p.m., Taffetta Music Hall, Lowell, Mass., with Keep Flying, Don’t Panic, Eternal Boy; 18+
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m., Penuches, Concord, Donaher New Years Eve Show, 21+

Your guide to festivals, parties, haunted attractions and more Halloween excitement for all ages

It’s a spooky world filled with dark woods!

Behind the scenes at haunted attractions

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The weather gets colder and New Hampshire becomes spookier as Halloween fast approaches. One way to revel in the season is to traverse a haunted attraction, and there are several in the area. We take a look at two of them here.

Spooky World: big scares and a big party

“Spooky World is absolutely the place to be in the fall,” said Michael Accomando, co-owner of Spooky World Presents Nightmare New England and the Haunted Hayride in Litchfield along with Wayne Caulfield.

“We’ve put together a place that’s not only just one of the top horror theme parks in the country, but you also can have just as much fun while you’re here, while you’re screaming,” Accomando said.

“There’s multiple DJs set up throughout the entire night, so you can go listen to music, you can dance,” he said. “There’s … different food areas that you can go to … courtyards, there’s multiple bars throughout where you can get alcoholic, non-alcoholic drinks. There’s fun photo ops throughout the entire park that you can stop and go to, and while you’re doing that and you’re going through all the fun parts and enjoying and laughing, you’re also going through haunts in between that where you’re screaming at the same time. So it’s like the perfect blend of fun and fear all at one location.”

As for the scary part, Accomando said there are four main haunted attractions. One of those is the mile-long haunted hayride. Next up is “Asylum 47, which is an absolute state-of-the-art medical scene that has actors, props, animatronics, smells, sounds. We attack you on all of your senses.”

“And then from there,” he said, “you can head on into the Colony…. It’s your outside wooded walk. And that’s approximately two to three acres. You go in and out of multiple buildings. The cool part about that is you freak yourself out because you’re in the dark, you’re hearing the sounds around you, so it gives our actors an opportunity to get on top of you even quicker because you’re spending so much time just looking around. Is it an animal in the woods? Is it a person in the woods?”

And finally, Nightmare in 3D has something scary for everyone.

“That was our latest,” Accomando said, recalling how it went from idea to reality. “We’re going to do a spider room here. And then we’re like, geez, the spider room is so great. What if we did like an egg sac room here? … Like what’s something that people might think is cool? Well, how about an alien scene? How about 3D aliens? Spaceships? … So somebody might go through, and they might be terrified of spiders, but somebody might not care about spiders, but then they get in the next room and it could be bees, or then you get out and then you have a clown room, or then you get out and you have a dance party room. So we try to make everybody have a little of something for every single haunting show that we have.”

Nightmare in 3D adds optical illusions for effect. “As you’re going through it, you’re wearing your 3D glasses, so … the scenes that we’ve built are popping, and on top of it you’ve got all of our actors in there with 3D paint, so they’re popping twice as much as they normally would as a regular actor with their makeup and their costumes on.”

And then there’s zombie paintball.

“Outside we’ve got our paintball,” Accomando said. “I mean where else do you go you get to shoot at somebody where they can’t shoot back at you, where your zombies are looking throughout the fields? … You take them out. They don’t take you out. They hide behind tombstones. They’ll hide behind this or that.”

Then, unwind with some food or hang out by the fire pit.

“After you go through the other remaining haunts, then it pops you out into the big back courtyard area … where you have your main food areas, the zombie paintball, your ax throwing, you have another DJ,” Accomando said. “That’s more of like your dance party, where some of our characters get out there, they get people fired up. The next thing you know, you’ve got 50 to 100 people out on the dance floor having a great time.”

It takes a ghoulish army to pull off a Spooky World. “We normally employ, during the Halloween season, we’ll run about 200 employees,” Accomando said, “ … from car parkers to actors to ticket takers. So you could see anywhere between 100 to 150 actors.”

A boo-tique haunt

Chad Zingales and his wife, Hillary, own and operate The Dark Woods at Trombly Gardens in Milford.

“The Dark Woods is what we consider a boutique haunt,” Zingales said. “That’s a little play on words there, B-O-O-tique haunt. We are a smaller-scale haunted attraction outdoors walk through the woods. Our haunted attraction sells a limited amount of tickets. We do not have tens of thousands of people a year. We have a very specific number of people that we offer tickets to, and once we sell out, we sell out. And our haunted attraction is best-known for our characters, so we are very improvisational, comedic, creepy, very interactive, because here at The Dark Woods it’s all about the acting and the actors.”

The process of characterization goes deep. “They have to have a backstory — why are they out in the woods?” he said. “[A]ll of our characters have props, all of them have original costuming, we do all the makeup here, and they’re all original characters that are kind of the brainchild of the actors themselves. And through the years we’ve had a bunch of really creative characters, but our show is in the realm of farmer, backwoods, zombie, woods people.”

The human element is the essence of the scares. “Two of our best-known characters are Pork Ryan Patterson and Cousin Samuel,” Zingales said. “They … put on a customized puppet show for all of our guests, but they also serenade our guests, come up with a song right as they’re walking through the event.”

And the experience can be a little bit customized, he noted.

“All of our groups are tailored to a certain way. So if a young family that has maybe children that are already petrified when they first walk in, we can tone down the show. We can make the show more kind of funny and more towards kids or the younger populace.” He said the walk will typically take about 15 or 20 minutes.

“If it’s … mostly adults and they want to get really scared, then we can ramp it up a little bit,” Zingales said, noting that The Dark Woods introduced a new and scarier show last year called The Darker Woods — “the same walk through the woodlands, but … a lot of the house lights are just dimmed down; groups are given a very small flashlight.” It was “wildly popular,” he said.

They also host a calmer version earlier in the season: Trauma-Free Sunday Nights. “That’s for people with really young families who just want to stroll through the woods,” Zingales said. “There’s no characters jumping out of you. There’s no intense music. It’s just a great way to kind of look at all the lights and look at the props and see the scenery.”

Trombly Gardens also hosts a corn maze that visitors can get lost in. “We have a lot of people that will do that, either before, while they’re waiting in The Dark Woods, or after,” he said.

The Dark Woods got started in 2020, so this is its fifth season, Zingales noted. The attraction raises funds for mental health awareness in the area.

“We are once again partnering with the Greater Nashua Mental Health Center … so we do take some donations,” Zingales said. Part of the proceeds from the photo booth goes to Greater Nashua Mental Health.

Zingales is passionate about Halloween.

“I love being able to entertain and watching people have a good time … seeing them just laughing and, you know, getting a little bit creeped out in the spirit of … having a unique experience during Halloween,” he said.

The whole family is involved. “… my wife included, and my stepson. My two daughters are out here. My dad is out here. He’s 84 years old. So it’s just fun to have this kind of community event and family event.”

Haunted attractions

• Fright Kingdom (frightkingdom.com) 12 Simon St., Nashua. When: General admission Friday, Oct. 18, through Saturday, Nov. 2, Friday and Saturday 7 to 10:30 p.m; Sunday 7 to 10 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 31, 7 to 10 p.m. Hardly Haunted Sunday, Oct. 20, 1 to 4 p.m. In the Dark Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9, 7 to 10 p.m. Cost: General admission and In the Dark tickets $36, Hardly Haunted $10.
• The Dark Woods (thedarkwoodsnh.com) Trombly Gardens, 150 N. River Road, Milford. When: Scary Walk-Through Show on Fridays, Oct. 18, Oct. 25, Nov. 1, and Saturdays; Oct. 19, Oct. 26, Nov. 2. Gate opens at 7 p.m., last ticket sold at 10 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 29, gate opens at 6 p.m., last ticket sold at 9 p.m. The Darker Woods Thursday, Oct. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. and Oct. 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. Cost: $29, with upgrades and add-ons available.
• Spooky World Presents Nightmare New England (nightmarenewengland.com) 454 Charles Bancroft Hwy., Litchfield. When: Thursdays, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, 7 to 9:30 p.m.; Fridays, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25, 7 to 11:15 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 1, 7 to 10:15 p.m.; Saturdays, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26, 6 to 11:15 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2, 6 to 10:15 p.m.; Sundays, Oct. 20 and Oct. 27, 6 to 10:15 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 31, 7 to 10:15 p.m. Cost: Tickets range from $39.99 to $84.99; general admission and VIP admission tickets are offered. General admission ticket reservations allow one-time access through all four haunted attractions. General admission time-slot tickets must be purchased in advance online. VIP ticket reservations allow two times through all four haunted attractions.Ticket reservations are every 15 minutes. VIP guests join a lower-wait entrance line at each Spooky World Haunted Attraction and access to Mel’s Funway Park Go-Karts (weather permitting), mini golf and batting cages. Mel’s Funway Park opens for VIP ticket holders to enjoy unlimited activities beginning at 3 p.m. on open Saturday and Sundays, or beginning at 5 p.m. on open Thursday and Fridays. Mel’s Funway Park activities close 30 minutes after the main ticket booth closes.
• Haunted Overload (hauntedoverload.com) DeMeritt Hill Farm, 20 Orchard Way, Lee. When: Thursday, Oct. 17, through Sunday, Nov. 3. Main Event: Fridays, Oct. 18, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 from 7 to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, Oct. 19, Oct. 26 and Nov. 2 from 6:45 to 9 p.m.; Sundays, Oct. 20 and Oct. 27, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Fright Night Lite: Thursday, Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Black Out Night: Sunday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Halloween: Thursday, Oct. 31, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Day walks are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost: $36 for Main Event, $22.50 for Fright Night Lite, $26 for Black Out Night, $12 for Day Walk.
• The Salisbury Woods Haunted Barn and Trail (salisburywoods.com) 19 Franklin Road, Salisbury. When: Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 18 through Oct. 26, 7 to 10 p.m. Cost: $20.
• Screeemfest at Canobie Lake Park (canobie.com) 85 N. Policy St., Salem. When: Fridays, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25, 5 to 11 p.m.; Saturdays, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26, 3 to 11 p.m.; Sundays, Oct. 20 and Oct. 27, 1 to 9 p.m. Cost: General admission ranges from $52 to $64; those under 48 inches tall or 60 years or older pay $37.

Mostly treats

Halloween excitement for the kids

Compiled by John Fladd
[email protected]

Here are some Halloween happenings geared specifically at kids.

• Kids age 12 and younger are invited to a Halloween Haunted Hangar event at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry) on Saturday, Oct. 19, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when they can meet the ghosts of aviation past, enjoy Halloween treats and receive their “Broomstick Pilot License.” The experience is free with admission to the museum; admission costs $10 for visitors age 13 and up. Visit aviationmuseumofnh.org or call 669-4820.

• Charmingfare Farm (774 High St., Candia) will offer its Children’s Trick-or-Treat Experience on Saturdays, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26, and Sundays, Oct. 20 and Oct. 27, with start times available on the hour between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. In addition to trick-or-treating, families can meet a friendly witch, see wildlife exhibits and barnyard animals, take a horse-drawn wagon ride, decorate pumpkins, ride a pony and watch a juggling show. Tickets cost $29 per person — admission is free for children under age 2 — and must be purchased online in advance. Visit visitthefarm.com.

• The Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, playersring.org) will present Trick and Treat, a“workshop production, performed by kids and for kids, [that] is the culmination of 5 weeks of rehearsals focused on collaboration and the creative process” about a girl in Sleepy Hollow and a little witch in Frightsburgh, according to the website, on Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $20; $16 for kids 12 and under.

• There will be a Pumpkins and Scarecrows, and Art, Oh My Fall Festival, Sunday, Oct. 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Different Drummer Farm (55 South Road, Candia, 483-2234, differentdrummerfarm.com), with a rain date of Sunday, Oct. 27. There will be a scarecrow-building contest, pumpkin decorating, live entertainment, animal petting, pony rides, kids’ arts and crafts, and more. General admission tickets are $20 per person, or $50 per family, on the Farm’s website.

• The Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, 836-6600, bookerymht.com) will host a Storytime with Naomi Fredette, author of Ellie the Skelly, Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 10 a.m. to noon, a treat for small children who are excited about Halloween. Reserve a space through the Bookery’s website.

• Hotel Transylvania(PG, 2012) will screen on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 11:30 a.m., a “Little Lunch Date” screening at all Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com). Little Lunch Dates are for parents and their preschool children. The movie will be shown with the lights slightly dimmed and admission is $5; the $5 can be used toward food and beverage purchase during the event.

• There will be a Halloween Costume Workshop at the Griffin Free Public Library (22 Hooksett Road, Auburn, 483-5374, griffinfree.org) Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Bring any kind of craft material you’re looking to use, or use some provided. Even if you’re not dressing up this year, this could be an opportunity to help someone else with a project. All ages welcome, but recommended for fifth grade and up.

• The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill (174 Joppa Hill Road, Bedford) will host Halloween on the Farm on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 4 to 6 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to come in costume to enjoy a bonfire, scavenger hunt and Halloween music. The event is free, and fireside treats such as s’mores, apple cider, hot cocoa and hot dogs will be available for purchase at the farm stand. Each child will receive a complimentary Halloween treat. Visit theeducationalfarm.org. Registration is required.

• Arlington Street Community Center (36 Arlington St. in Nashua) will hold a Halloween P arty on Friday, Oct. 25, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event is free and will include a trunk or treat, pumpkin painting and more, according to a post on the center’s Facebook page.

• The New Hampshire Audubon’s McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road in Concord; nhaudubon.org, 224-9909) will hold its annual Enchanted Forest Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26. Follow a trail in the forest illuminated by jack-o’-lanterns, watch skits, hear stories by the campfire and more, according to the website, where you can purchase tickets for $15 per person. Reservations are required.

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St., Dover) hosts its Not-So-Spooky Spectacular on Friday, Oct. 25 and Saturday, Oct. 26, with sessions each day from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes The event will feature interactive science experiments, crafting in the STEAM Lab and a pumpkin scavenger hunt. The afternoon session includes a concert and dance party with kids’ musician Mr. Aaron at 2 p.m. Admission costs$12.50 for adults and children over age 1; $10.50 for 65+. Register in advance online.

• Join kids’ musician Laurie Berkner for a Halloween show at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord) on Saturday, Oct. 26, with performances at 11 a.m.and 3 p.m. Laurie will blend her hits with Halloween tunes. Attendees are encouraged to wear dancing shoes and bring a stuffed animal. Tickets start at $31.75 on the CCA website.

• Families with children of all ages are invited to participate in the Family Costume Parade at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 10:30 a.m.. Attendees are encouraged to don their costumes and parade around the building. Each department of the library will offer a special treat for the participants. Visit nashualibrary.org.

• There will be a Teen Halloween Party Tuesday, Oct. 29, 10 to 11 p.m. at the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St., Manchester, 624-6550, manchesterlibrary.org). Come dressed in your costumes for Halloween activities.

• A Kids’ Halloween Party will take place Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Weare Public Library (10 Paige Memorial Lane, Weare, 529-2044, wearepubliclibrary.com). Enjoy Halloween crafts while dressed in your Halloween costumes.

• The North Side Plaza in Manchester will hold a Community Trick or Treat on Wednesday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. with store-to-store trick or treat, a small petting zoo and horse-drawn wagon rides. See northsideplazanh.com for directions.

Trick-or-Treat Times

Trunk-or-Treats

All Halloween

Spooky season fun for everyone

Compiled by John Fladd
[email protected]

Find fun for all (or most) ages at these Halloweeny happenings.

• J&F Farms (124 Chester Road, Derry, jandffarmsnh.com) has a Halloween-themed corn maze through Oct. 31. The farm is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to its website. The cost is $10 per person.

• Elwood Orchards (54 Elwood Road in Londonderry; 434-6017, elwoodorchards.com) opens its corn maze for night admission on Fridays and Saturdays (last admission is at 9 p.m.). The maze is also open daily at 9 a.m., last entrance at 5 p.m.. Admission costs $12; children 5 and under get in for free.

• Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, nhcornmaze.com) has a flashlight night corn maze on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time and are $15. Flashlights will not be provided. Additionally there is a daytime maze open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daytime admission can be purchased at the farm stand and costs $10 for adults and $8 for children, students, seniors and military. For both events, children under age 4 get in free.

• Take photos with the pumpkin man and then check out the corn maze at Brookdale Fruit Farm (41 Broad St., Hollis, 465-2240, brookdalefruitfarm.com) Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $4 per person.

• Rochester Opera House (31 Wakefield St., Rochester, 335-1992, rochesteroperahouse.com) presents a stage adaptation of The Wizard of Oz through Sunday, Nov. 3, with showtimes on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. Tickets range from $26 to $32. Visit rochesteroperahouse.com to purchase tickets.

• Hocus Pocus(PG, 1993) will screen at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com) Friday, Oct. 18, through Thursday, Oct. 24, at 12:45, 3:50 and 7 p.m. (6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23).

• Spookville: A Nightmare on Chestnut Street, a haunted attraction designed by SCARE NH (Secondhand Costume Annual Redistribution Effort), will open Friday, Oct. 18, and run Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and Halloween night from 6 to 9 p.m. The attraction also has sessions on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that are “sensory safe/ fright-light days,” according to scarenh.org/spookville. The attraction is at 1 Chestnut St. in Nashua and admission is free with any donations going to the organization to help with its efforts, which include the annual attraction and the collection of new and gently used costumes to give away to kids in need, the website said.

• The Strand (20 Third St., Dover, thestranddover.com) will present Break A Leg Legally’s eighth annual live production of Dracula Friday, Oct. 18, through Sunday, Oct. 27, with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $18 for matinees, $20 for evening performances. See breakaleglegally.com.

• The Portsmouth Farmers Market (1 Junkins Ave.) will host a Pumpkin Smash on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 8 a.m. to noon. For $10 participants can choose a pumpkin to smash with a mallet, a two-by-four or “the trusty ol’ Louisville Slugger.” For $5 they can bring their own pumpkin to smash. See portsmouthhalloweenparade.org.

• Devriendt Farm (178 S. Mast St., Goffstown, devriendtfarm.com) opens its corn maze (and its pumpkin patch) on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at its 47 Story Road location.

• The Animal Rescue League of NH (rescueleague.org) will host a Howl-O-Ween 5K run Saturday, Oct. 19, beginning at 10 a.m. at Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive, Manchester, 641-2005, milb.com/new-hampshire). This is a dog-friendly run/walk that benefits the Rescue League. Participants can purchase a special timed bib for their dog. Visit rescueleague.org/howloween5k.

• The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off and Regatta in downtown Goffstown takes place Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, with a variety of events each day as well as vendor booths throughout the weekend. See goffstownmainstreet.org/pumpkin-regatta.

• Windham Recreation Department will hold its annual Harvest Fest on Saturday, Oct. 19, in Griffin Park. See windhamnh.gov for more on this family fun event.

• Cake Theatre (12 Veterans Square, Laconia, 677-6360, thecaketheatre.com) will host three Halloween with Recycled Percussion performances: Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. Tickets begin at $49. There will also be a Spook N’ Groove hangout and dance party Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. with special drinks and snacks, including the Cake’s signature cotton candy and candy bar. This event is family-friendly and promises a night of spooky fun for all ages. Tickets are $15 and available through the Cake’s website.

• The City of Nashuawill host its Halloween Boo Bash on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Greeley Park (100 Concord St.). Activities include hay rides, pumpkin decorating, a haunted house and a bonfire. Costumes are encouraged and admission is free. Visit nashuanh.gov.

• Watch Hocus Pocusin Derryfield Park in Manchester on Saturday, Oct. 19, outside starting at dusk. Bring chairs and blankets; concessions will be available for purchase, according to a post on the Manchester Parks & Recreation department Facebook page.

• Step into the Halloween spirit with a Graveyard Walk at Castle in the Clouds (455 Old Mountain Road, Moultonborough, 476-5900, castleintheclouds.org). This outdoor history walk spans approximately 2 miles over varied terrain, offering insights into the rich past of this remarkable estate. Tickets are $15 each and available through the Castle’s website. Pre-registration is required. The Walk will take place on Saturdays and Mondays throughout October, from 3 to 5 p.m.

• The 18th annual Celebrate Samhain festival will be held on Sunday, Oct. 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Nashua (2 Somerset Pkwy., Nashua, 886-1200, hilton.com/en/hotels/ashssdt-doubletree-nashua).The Samhain Festival is a celebration of the final harvest and of those who have passed and will feature vendors, artisans, psychic readings and a ritual led by Serenity Coven to honor the dead. Admission is $12 or $10 with the donation of a nonperishable food item. Visit facebook.com/ NHSamhain.

• The Groovy Witch (332 Central Ave., Dover, 312-9267, groovywitch.com) is hosting Dover’s third annual Witches Market on Sunday, Oct. 20, from noon to 5 p.m. The Witches Market is a community event that highlights local artisans and small businesses specializing in witchcraft, magic, herbalism, spiritual readings and handmade mystical items. It’s in the Dover City Hall Auditorium but also spills out onto Central Ave. for an outdoor experience. Visit eventbrite.com to reserve a spot or for more information.

• Der Golem (1920) will screen at Wilton Town Hall Theatres (40 Main St., Wilton; find them on Facebook) on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m., with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free, though a $10 donation is suggested.

• The Seacoast Repertory Theatre(125 Bow St., Portsmouth, seacoastrep.org) will present Lizzie! A Lizzie Borden Rock Musical through Sunday, Oct. 27, with shows on Sunday, Oct. 20, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $37. The content warning includes “adult themes, description of abuse, blood/gore, suicidal idealtion/attempted suicide,” according to the website.

• The Friends of the Salem NH Historical Society will host their annual Salem Soul-Stroll, Sunday, Oct. 20, from 3 to 5 p.m. This will be a tour of the Salem Burying Ground at The Salem Common. Meet at the Old Town Hall (310 Main St., Salem). Children under age 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

• The Haunted History of New England is a one-hour slide presentation at the Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway, Derry, 432-6140, derrypl.org) on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The presentation compares present-day photographs of all the sites to historical period photographs, and melds historical fact together with legend and myth to produce an interesting new look at events that really happened and the stories of hauntings that followed them. This event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Visit the Library’s website.

• The Lost World (1925), a silent film based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel about dinosaurs found by “modern” explorers, will screen at the Flying Monkey (39 S. Main St., Plymouth, flyingmonkeynh.com) on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. The presentation features live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis.

• On Thursday, Oct. 24, Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26, Canterbury Shaker Village (288 Shaker Road, Canterbury, 783-9511, shakers.org) will host Ghost Encounter Tours at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. The 45-minute tours will explore the evolution of spiritualism in Shaker faith and will include “firsthand accounts of otherworldly encounters,” according to the website. Tickets purchased in advance are $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Tickets cost $25 day of. Register at shakers.org.

• Ghosts on the Banke is a family-friendly Halloween event. Trick-or-treat outdoors from house to historic house at the Strawbery Banke Museum (14 Hancock St., Portsmouth, 433-1100, strawberybanke.org) with jack-o’-lanterns lighting the way in Portsmouth’s oldest waterfront neighborhood. Meet wayward pirates and a mysterious fortune-teller, listen to ghostly tales, construct a giant spider web, dance to tunes and play games for prizes. This event will take place Thursday, Oct. 24, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 25, at 5 and 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, at 5 and 6:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and children, less for infants and Museum members.

• Manchester City Library (405 Pine St., Manchester, 624-6550, manchesterlibrary.org) will partner with local historian Stan Garrity for a walk through Manchester’s forgotten history in a Tour of the Valley Street Cemetery on Friday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. Hear the fascinating stories of some of the Cemetery’s more obscure residents. The event will start in the rotunda of the Main Library at 2 p.m. From there, participants will walk as a group to the cemetery for the tour before returning to the Main Library rotunda around 4 p.m. This is a free event, but pre-registration on the Library’s website is recommended.

• The Witch of Weston Tower is back and haunting McIntyre Ski Area (50 Chalet Way, Manchester, 622-6159, mcintyreskiarea.com) Oct. 25 through Oct. 27. Take a scenic chairlift ride and travel the treacherous trail on a tractor to the Witch of Weston Tower. Guests are welcome to climb the stairs of Weston Tower and see the most spooktacular views of Manchester. Proceeds benefit the Manchester Historic Association. Hours are Friday, Oct. 25, 4 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 26, noon to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 27, noon to 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 to $22 and are available at ticketscandy.com.

• On Friday, Oct. 25, there will be a Downtown Trick-or-Treat and Zombie Walk on Main Street in Rochester. Businesses downtown will be handing out candy from 4 to 6 p.m. Zombies will be taking a new route from the Citizens Bank parking lot to Bridge Street, around River Street and back to North Main Street.

• InTown Concord (49 S. Main St., Concord, 226-2150, intownconcord.org) will host a Halloween Howl on Friday, Oct. 25, on Main Street from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. There will be Wicked fun on Main Street for community trick-or-treating, festive costumes and decor, and plenty of ghoulish games and activities for the whole family to enjoy.

• Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone (PG, 2001) will screen at Chunky’s in Manchester, chunkys.com, Friday, Oct. 25, through Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m.

• The Park Theatre (19 Main St., Jaffrey, 532-9300, theparktheatre.org) is hosting Halloweenie at the Park, featuring some scary movies. On Friday, Oct. 25, there will be a showing of the 1960 movie 13 Ghosts (featuring “Illusion-O” glasses to see the ghosts) at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 26, Yellow Brick Road (PG, 1984), a horror movie filmed in Lancaster, New Hampshire, will play at 7 p.m., followed by a live Zoom interview with the director. On Thursday, Oct. 31, beginning at 4 p.m., the theater will continue its tradition of giving out treats to trick-or-treaters, as well as screenings of 1987’s The Monster Squad at 6 p.m. and Little Shop of Horrors with Jack Nicholson at 7:45 p.m. Visit theparktheatre.org/halloweenie for event details and to purchase tickets.

• Nosferatu (1922), a silent film directed by F.W. Murnau, will be presented with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis at the Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway, Derry) on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.

• Disney’s Descendants will be presented by Epping Community Theater (38 Ladds Lane, Epping, eppingtheater.org) on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $17 for seniors and $15 for ages 12 and under.

• The New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival will take place Saturday, Oct. 26, starting with a road race at 9 a.m. and running through a laser show at 7 p.m. Events include an arts and crafts fair, a pet parade, food trucks, lots of pumpkin activities and more. See nhpumpkinfestival.com.

• The Wilton Main Street Association will host The Haunting of Wilton on Saturday, Oct. 26, with various events throughout the day. At 2 p.m. there will be a costume parade down Main Street, followed by trick-or-treating with Main Street merchants. There will be a Bizarre Bazaar, a Haunted trail and more.Visit visitwilton.com.

• The third annual Halloween Howl Hustle for Housing is a 5K that will benefit Fellowship Housing Opportunities. The adult 5K costs $40 and will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Masonic Lodge (53 Iron Works Road, Concord). Registration will end on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 11:59 p.m. To register visit runsignup.com/ halloweenhowlhustle5k.

• The Amherst Orthodontics Trick or Trot 3K will be held at Backyard Brewery and Kitchen (1211 S. Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-3545, backyardbrewerynh.com) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 11 a.m. Participants ages 9 and up are welcome to participate in the race, and preregistration is encouraged. Registration costs between $15 and $25 at runreg.com/trick-or-trot-3k. Pre-race activities will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will include a Kids’ Halloween Festival with magic, animals, and vendors, a magic show on stage, and Lil’ Pumpkin Fun Runs (100m dash) for young children. Visit millenniumrunning.com/trick-or-trot.

• The Exeter Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a Halloween parade and costume contest on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Swasey Parkway. The costume contest will be judged at 10:30 a.m., and the parade will begin at 11 a.m. From noon to 3 p.m. there will be trick-or-treating downtown. Visit exeternh. gov.

• Join the town of Merrimack for its 32nd annual Halloween Party on Saturday, Oct. 26, from noon to 3 p.m. at Wasserman Park (116 Naticook Road). There will be a costume contest and a pumpkin race car derby along with free games, crafts and face painting. Visit merrimackparksandrec.org.

• The 18th annual Dover Zombie Walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m. Zombies will assemble at the Dover Chamber of Commerce and shuffle their carcasses down to Henry Law Park for games, goodies, giveaways and costume contests for kids and adults alike. Visit facebook.com/doverzombiewalk.

• The Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, playersring.org) will presentFright Night!, a horror-themed comedy night presented by the improv and comedy group Stranger Than Fiction, on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Admission is $15.

• Dracula will be presented by PUSH Physical Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. at Stockbridge Theatre (5 Pinkerton St., Derry, pinkertonacademy.org/stockbridge-theatre). Tickets cost $15 to $35.

• Monster Mash Teen Cabaret will be presented by the Majestic Academy Teens at the Majestic Studio Theatre (880 Page St., Manchester, majestictheatre.net) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15.

• Kiki’s Delivery Service (G, 1989) will screen Saturday, Oct. 26, through Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Apple Cinemas in Hooksett and Merrimack, O’neil Cinemas at Brickyard Square in Epping, Cinemark in Salem and Regal Fox Run. See FathomEvents.com for times and for which screenings are dubbed or subtitled..

• Bedford Event Center (379 S. River Road, Bedford, 997-7741, bedfordeventcenter.com) will host the second annual Fall Artisan Fair Sunday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free event will include food trucks, dozens of local art vendors, free Halloween-themed kids’ activities, and trick-or-treating.

• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (PG-13, 2024) will screen at Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, chunkys.com) as part of a five-course farmer’s dinner on Sunday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. Dinners (with a vegetarian option) are $75 per person, $110 with a wine package.

• There will be a lecture, “The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us,” at Rodgers Memorial Library (194 Derry Road, Hudson, 886-6030, rodgerslibrary.org) on Tuesday, Oct. 29, from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. This presentation will explore an array of prosecutions in 1600s-era New England. This is a free event, but pre-registration is recommended.

• The Lon Chaney Halloween Creepfest Double Feature brings The Unknown (1927) and West of Zanzibar (1928) featuring live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis at the Rex Theatre in Manchester (palacetheatre.org) on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m.

• Fathom Events will screen Coraline (PG, 2009) in celebration of its 15th anniversary with shows on Thursday, Oct. 31, and Friday, Nov. 1, at Cinemark Rockingham Park in Salem (4 and 7 p.m.) and Regal Fox Run in Newington (1 and 7 p.m.). See FathomEvents.com.

• Vampire Circus will offer a mix of circus cabaret and theater on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. at the Chubb Theatre at Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $44 through $64.

• The Portsmouth Halloween Parade will take place on Halloween, Thursday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Visit portsmouthhalloweenparade.org for the parade route and details.

• The Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, playersring.org) will present The Fall of the House of Usher Thursday, Oct. 31, through Sunday, Nov. 17. The Halloween opening night of this adaptation of an Edgar Allen Poe short story will be presented at 9 p.m.; thereafter shows will be at 7 p.m. on Thursdays; 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets cost $29 general admission; $26 for students, 65+, military and first responders. A Players’ Ring email described the show as PG-13.

• A live production of Beetlejuice will be presented by Riverbend Youth Company Friday, Nov. 1, through Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Amato Center for the Arts (56 Mont Vernon St., Milford, amatocenter.org/riverbend-youth-company). Shows are at 7:30 pm. on Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday; tickets cost $15, $10 for seniors and children.

• Stay with that Halloweeny vibe of the supernatural at Magic Rocks with illusionist Leon Eitenne on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 4 and 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $35.

Spooky season of fun

Movies, dances, meals and more grown-up Halloween fun

Compiled by John Fladd
[email protected]

If a scary movie is more your speed or you want to start your Halloween partying before the big week, here are some events aimed at the 18+ (and in some cases 21+) crowd.

• Enjoy a Halloween Wine Cave Igloo Experience at Averill House Vineyard (21 Averill Road, Brookline, 244-3165, averillhousevineyard.com) until the end of October. This private wine tasting will be in a darkened igloo where blacklights enhance the experience. Choose from a flight of four wines, or indulge in a single glass. There will be a complimentary charcuterie board with nuts, meats, cheeses and crackers. Tickets are $100, with additional guests for $50. Reservations at the Averill House website.

• Enjoy a spooky evening on the water with a Haunted Winnipesaukee Ghost Story Cruise by Mount Washington Cruises (211 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-5531, cruisenh.com). The cruise will last from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights through Saturday, Oct. 26. Tickets are $60 each and available at cruisenh.com.

• The Conjuring (R, 2013) will screen at Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, chunkys.com) on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the October Classic Horror Movie Collection series. Tickets cost $5 (plus fees), which also gets you a $5 food voucher for use that night.

• Test your It and Misery knowledge at Stephen King movies trivia with Heather at Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, chunkys.com) on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m.

• The Seacoast Repertory Theatre (125 Bow St., Portsmouth, 433-4472, seacoastrep.org) presents Nick Dear’s adaptation of Frankenstein on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19, at 2 and 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 26, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $37. The website recommends the show for 18+ as it has “graphic depictions of violence and sexual assault [and] adult content.”

• Brookline Events Center (269 Route 130, Brookline, 673-4474) will hold a Halloween DJ dance with Bernie & Bob on Friday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. The cost is $10 at the door.

• Auspicious Brew (1 Washington St., Dover, 953-7240, auspiciousbrew.com) will host a Spooky Soirée Drag Night with Raya Sunshine on Friday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m., tickets $12, and a Fall Swap & Sip (Halloween costume edition) on Tuesday, Oct. 22, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. — bring five to 10 fall garments, housewares or Halloween costumes to swap.

• Red Rivers Theatres (11 S. Main St., Concord, redrivertheatres.org) will hold its annual screening with audience participation of Rocky Horror Picture Show (R, 1975) on Fridays and Saturdays from Oct. 18 through Oct. 26 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 for this 18+ event (16+ with an adult). “We provide the props, you provide the costumes, and we all enjoy a night of interactive, movie-going naughtiness. There will be prizes for best costumes so we expect you to BRING IT! Audience participation is expected — this is NOT a quiet night out at the movies!” said the website, which specifies no outside props are allowed.

• Join the Royal Palace Dance Studio (373 S. Willow St., Manchester, 621-9119, royalpalacedance.com) Saturday, Oct. 19, at 6:30 p.m. for a sultry Halloween Tango & Tarot Social with complimentary drinks, appetizers, a psychic, and festive fun. Tickets are $45 through eventbrite.com.

• Salsa Secrets Studio (2800 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, 584-2985) will hold a Spooky Dance Social on Saturday, Oct. 19, beginning with an intermediate dance class at 7:30 p.m., followed by social dancing until 10:30 p.m. See salsasecretsdance.com.

• An unrated release of Saw (2004) will screen as part of a celebration of its 20th anniversary via Fathom Events on Sunday, Oct. 20, at Apple Cinemas in Merrimack and Hooksett (at 7 p.m.), Cinemark Rockingham Park in Salem (4 and 7 p.m.), O’neil Brickyard Cinemas in Epping (4 and 7 p.m.) and Regal Fox Run in Newington (4 and 7 p.m.) as well as Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Apple Cinemas in Merrimack and Hooksett (at 7 p.m.), Cinemark Rockingham Park in Salem (7 p.m.), O’neil Brickyard Cinemas in Epping (4:25 and 7 p.m.) and Regal Fox Run in Newington (4 and 7 p.m.). See fathomevents.com.

• It’s Boo-ze and Cookies “A Halloween Cookie Decorating Class with Drinks” at The Hill Bar & Grille (McIntyre Ski Area, 50 Chalet Way in Manchester) on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $45 for one ticket, $80 for two and include a beer or wine (or non-alcoholic drink), four cookies, decorating materials and instruction, according to a post on The Hill’s Facebook page where you can purchase tickets. Children welcome with an adult, the post said.

• Test your knowledge of frightening films at a 21+ Horror Movie Trivia Night at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com) on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. Gather your team to crown yourself the ultimate fan with a Chunky’s Gift Card for the top three teams. $6 will secure a spot and a $5 food voucher. Be advised: Each player needs to purchase a ticket; one ticket does not reserve an entire team.

• Also at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com) there will be a screening of the original Halloween(1978, R) on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5, which gets a food voucher that can be used on the night of the viewing.

• To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester, tosharebrewing.com) will offer a Beer & Candy Pairing Thursday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 27. The pairing of an assortment of To Share brews and classic Halloween candy will only last as long as the candy, so get in early.

• Catch the murder mystery dinner show Death of a Gangster at the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 4 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $48.75.

• It’s the Buzz, Brews & Boos Halloween Party at The Hill Bar & Grille (McIntyre Ski Area, 50 Chalet Way in Manchester) on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets cost $40 and are available through The Hill’s Facebook post about the event, which describes the 21+ party as featuring Rock 101’s Greg and the Morning Buzz, a Halloween contest, a DJ, an appetizer buffet and more.

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show will return to Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 206-3888, chunkys.com) on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 9 p.m. This is a one-night-only viewing party with props and costumes encouraged. Tickets cost $10.

• The Seacoast Repertory Theatre (125 Bow St., Portsmouth, seacoastrep.org) will present The Rocky Horror Picture Show Live! On Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 31, at 8 and 11:59 p.m., and Friday, Nov. 1, at 8 p.m. “Make no mistake, this is not a showing of the classic film — this is a fully produced, spectacular production of the original stage show, featuring a top tier cast of wild & untamed performers and an electric live band,” according to the website. No props. Tickets start at $37.

• Chunky’s (707 Huse Road, Manchester, chunkys.com) will hold a 21+ screening of 2001’s Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone on Thursday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Costumes are encouraged (free admission to a future movie for those who show up in Harry Potter gear) and the event will feature specialty themed cocktails available for purchase, according to the website.