Category: Cover Stories

A snack run at four area international markets

“OK, these ones are great,” said Keith Sarasin, pulling a bag of Indian snack mix down from a shelf. “They’re made with black salt, which isn’t something that most Americans are really familiar with. It’s got sulphury back-notes that are a little freaky at first, but after they’ve tried it, most people get addicted to it.”

Chef Sarasin is the chef and owner of Aatma, an Indian-themed popup restaurant. He describes himself as “Indian-food obsessed.” We were at Patel Brothers, an Indian supermarket in Nashua, looking over an aisle of dozens of varieties of snack mixes. He explains that people in South Asia — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — are passionate about snack foods. As if to illustrate his point, for every aisle of produce or staple ingredients at Patel Brothers, there is another one devoted to a different type of snack food.

“These,” he said, pointing to a package of biscuits (cookies), “are what you would have with tea. If you’re Indian, you keep some of these around all the time to serve to guests. There is a saying in Hindi that translates to ‘The guest is a god.’” That’s how seriously they take their snacks.

Almost every culture around the world has snacks that the people eat on the street, or sitting with friends, drinking tea, beer, coffee, or tequila, gossiping and arguing about sports. More and more of these snacks are making their way to New Hampshire — in supermarkets, superettes or convenience stores.

So, let’s do some exploring.

The following snack foods represent a small fraction of what is available at four local international markets — one Indian, one Filipino, one Mexican and one East Asian. These stores, in turn, are a fraction of the international snack landscape around us. There are Bosnian, African, Middle Eastern, and Greek markets that we haven’t had the opportunity to get to.

The snacks have been sorted by the stores where they were purchased (with tasting notes provided by snackers at the Hippo office). Because these are all ready-to-eat snacks, each section of regional snacks is followed by a recipe for a traditional snack from that culture that you probably won’t find on a grocery store shelf.

Patel Brothers:

Masala mix & West Indies potato chips

Patel Brothers (292 Daniel Webster Highway, Unit 8, Nashua, patelbros.com, 888-8009) is a large supermarket that is part of a national chain of more than 50 stores, according to the website. This one sits in Willow Springs Plaza in Nashua, next to Home Depot. It is a full-service supermarket with produce, groceries and products from all areas of South Asia and it features an in-store bakery.

Gharana brand Chakri (Muruku)

Where it’s from: Indian snack, made in New Jersey
Description: A dry, crunchy churro-shaped cookie or cracker, wrapped in a spiral.
Tasting notes: “A deep-fried flavor with a spicy back-end.” “Unexpectedly spicy”

Lay’s West Indies Hot & Sweet Potato Chips

Where it’s from: Lay’s, the PepsiCo-produced chips you’re familiar with, has produced flavors for the Caribbean and South Asian market
Description: A ruffled potato chip with Caribbean flavors
Tasting notes: “I taste paprika; the heat grows as you eat.” “Very reminiscent of Old Bay Seasoning.” “Wow, this excites my taste buds with the sweet, then the spice!”

Swad brand Mamra Laddoo

Where it’s from: Indian snack, manufactured in New Jersey
Description: Hard, crunchy caramelized puffed rice balls
Tasting notes: “Very crunchy.” “A second cousin to caramel corn.”

Anand brand Jaggery Banana Pieces (Sarkaravaratty)

Where it’s from: South India
Description: Nuggets of dried bananas covered with sugar and spices
Tasting notes: “This would be good with tea.” “Slight banana flavor — mostly hidden under the jaggery and cardamom. I like this.” “It tastes a little like garam masala.”

Bombay Kitchen Mumbai Masala snack mix

Where it’s from: Central Indian snack, made in New York
Description: A snack mix made of chickpea crackers, peanuts, raisins, rice flakes, lentils, green peas and spices.
Tasting notes: “There is a wide variety of textures. The flavor is subtle at first, with an aftertaste of garam masala.” “There is a variety of very crunchy and not-so-crunchy textures, with a nice amount of spice.” “I was much softer than I had thought. Not bad, but you need a decent handful to get the true flavor.”

Haldiram’s Khatta Meetha snack mix

Where it’s from: India
Description: A snack mix made of chickpea crackers, peanuts, mango powder, lentils and spices
Tasting notes: “Sweet tasting, with many spices. It isn’t hot.” “It starts out kind of bland, but quickly becomes addictive, with a sweet, mild heat and a soft crunch.”

Snack to make at home: Slacker Vada

Vada, a fried fritter-like food, are popular street snacks in Southern India. Passengers on trains will reach out the windows of their carriages at stops along their journey and buy them from vendors at each train station. They are a perfect on-the-go street food — crunchy outside, comfort-foody inside, and easily eaten on the go.

Let’s be clear about this: This recipe is not authentic vada. An Indian auntie would have a lot to say about how not-authentic they are. A vada wallah (a vada aficionado) on the streets of Mangaluru would take a bite of one, then shake his head at the state of this weary world. But, these vada are tasty, deep-fried and easy to make at home. Once you have a vague idea of how good a vada is, you will want to seek out one that is more authentic and involves intimidating ingredients like asafetida (a spice that requires a whole other conversation).

• 1 15-ounce can of lentils – I like Goya
• ½ 15-ounce can of chickpeas (sometimes labeled as garbanzo beans)
• 2 Tablespoon finely chopped cashews
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger
• ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 hot green chiles, finely chopped – New Hampshire chiles are notoriously unreliable; your best bet is probably serrano or Fresno chiles, which have a good flavor and a reliably moderate level of heat
• 2 Tablespoon rice flour, possibly more
• ½ teaspoon salt
• vegetable oil for frying

Your best tip for Indian cooking — or any cooking — is to prepare all your ingredients and lay them out so you know where they are when you need them and don’t need to rummage through your cabinets or refrigerator looking for something that you forgot you were out of. Professionals call this mise en place; it’s just another phrase for being properly prepared. Do that with your vada ingredients.

Rinse the chickpeas and lentils in a strainer until they stop being foamy.

Blend the lentils and chickpeas in your blender until they look like peanut butter and smell like refried beans. If the mixture is too thick, add water, a spoonful at a time, until it gets to where you want it to be.

Transfer the puree to a bowl, and mix in the other ingredients. It should be just stiff enough to work with your hands. If it’s too sticky, add more rice flour, again a spoonful at a time, until you can hold it and shape it with your fingers.

Take enough of the mixture to roll into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Roll it, then poke your finger through the middle of it, and shape it into a miniature doughnut. Vada are doughnut-shaped for the same reason doughnuts are: to allow them to cook completely in hot oil before they get greasy. It also allows you to get a deep-fried crispiness on the increased surface area of the vada. Make two or three while your oil heats up.

Heat 4 to 6 inches of oil in a pot to 350°F. If you choose a small pot, the oil will come to temperature quickly and you won’t need as much of it. You will only be able to fry one or two vada at a time, though, and the temperature of the oil will drop more easily when you add the room-temperature vada to the pan. If you use a bigger pot you will have more oil, can fry more vada at a time, and will retain a good frying temperature.

Fry the vada like you would doughnuts — 2 or 3 minutes on each side — until they are crispy and the color of brown car upholstery. Drain them on paper towels.

Because these are doughnut-shaped, part of your brain expects them to be sweet, but they are entirely savory. There are bits of chewy coconut, but also brightness from the chilies, ginger and cilantro. The background flavor is undefinably savory but supports its co-stars. These are excellent hot from the fryer, or at room temperature, although they are at their crispiest while they are still hot. They go very well with chai or coffee, and with a chutney, preferably coconut chutney.

Make these, grow to love them, and then we’ll talk about asafetida.

Saigon Asian Market:

sweets and seaweed

Saigon Asian Market (476 Union St., Manchester, 935-9597) is a medium-sized supermarket with groceries and products from Vietnam, China, Taiwan and Thailand. It offers fresh produce and excellent fresh seafood.

Kaoriya Mochi Peanut Flavor

Where it’s from: Traditional Japanese snack, made in Thailand
Description: Soft pillowy rice mochi, with a sweet, peanut filling
Tasting notes: “Two distinct textures; it tastes like a peanut butter bun.” “Very chewy; peanut flavor is very prominent, but not like peanut butter.”

Ricky joy brand Strawberry Mellow Cone

Where it’s from: China
Description: Brightly colored, ice cream cone-shaped candy.
Tasting notes: “Fun filling inside.”

Mag Mag brand Thai Hote Madame Plum

Where it’s from: Thailand
Description: Spiced dry plum
Tasting notes: “Madame is beautifully sweet and sour.” “Not too spicy — a nice balance of sweet plum and heat. I’m voting this my favorite.”

Tao Kae Noi: Mala Flavor seaweed snack

Where it’s from: Thailand
Description: Dried, seasoned strips of seaweed.
Tasting notes: “It has some heat.” “The spice builds as you eat it. It’s very fishy.”

Koe-Kae Sriracha Chilli Sauce Flavour Coated Green Peas

Where it’s from: Thailand
Description: Freeze-dried peas, coated with a sweet sriracha flavoring
Tasting notes: “It has a good crunch and good heat in small doses.” “Excellent crunch! The heat builds then recedes nicely.” “Great crunch! Perfect amount of spice for a snack food.”

Teddy Bear Sweet & Sour Spicy Tamarind

Where it’s from: Thailand
Description: Dried tamarind fruit with added spice
Tasting notes: “This has a delicious sour tamarind flavor. There are large seeds.” “Interesting combination — I got the sweet, the sour, and the spicy (in that order), with a nice gummy texture.” “I was not prepared for the seeds, but otherwise, I loved it. Sweet and sour with an earthy taste.”

Snack to make at home: Kluay Thod

These fried bananas are a specialty in Bangkok, where street cooks use small, finger-sized bananas. Those totally work in this recipe but can sometimes be a little hard to find. Half-inch rounds of a regular Cavendish banana will work just as well, as long as it’s properly ripe — yellow, with a lot of brown spots on it. If the convenience store you buy your morning coffee from has bananas up by the register, they will be just about perfect for this recipe, especially later in the week, when the bananas have seen too much of life and have given up hope. Think of this as helping them fulfill their destiny.

• 10-12 finger-sized bananas, cut in half, or ½-inch rounds of 3 large, ripe ones
• 1¼ cups (200 g) rice flour, plus more for dredging
• 1½ cups (200 g) all purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup (200 ml) water
• 1 cup (200 ml) coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon salt – I like to use coarse sea salt
• ½ cup (50 g) sesame seeds
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• ½ cup (50 g) finely minced coconut
• vegetable oil for frying

Fill a pot with 4 to 6 inches of vegetable oil and set it to heating over medium heat. Keep an eye on it; you want it to eventually reach 350°F.

Meanwhile, mix the rest of the ingredients, aside from the bananas, in a large bowl. It will make a thick batter.

Pour a smallish amount, maybe half a cup, of rice flour into a small bowl. This is for dredging. When you’re deep-frying something, wet batter doesn’t like to stick to wet or damp ingredients, so it’s a good idea to cover whatever you’re frying with something dry and powdery — fried chicken often calls for seasoned flour or cornstarch, for example. In this case, you’ve already got rice flour on the counter, so we’ll use that.

When your oil has come to temperature, dredge several pieces of banana in rice flour, then dunk them in batter. Even with the rice flour, the banana might balk at being completely covered; you’ll have to convince it.

Carefully drop the battered banana pieces into the oil and cook them until they are a rich brown color. You’ll know when they’re ready; their beauty will stagger you. Fry a few banana pieces at a time to keep the oil at a consistent temperature.

Drain them on several layers of paper towels.

You owe it to yourself to eat at least a couple of these hot and crispy right from the fryer. They are lightly sweet, with banana notes in the background, and a savory, sesame-forward flavor from the batter. There’s a comforting contrast between the soft banana and the crispy/chewy texture of the sesame coating.

True to their street food origins, you and whoever else is in the house with you will probably eat this standing in the kitchen. If there are any left, they will still be good for several hours, especially with a glass of Thai iced tea.

GFM Pinoy Food Mart:

ube and adobo

GFM Pinoy Food Mart (224 North Broadway, Salem, gfmpinoyfoods.com, 458-1957) is a very small, snack-heavy Filipino grocery store. There are some refrigerated and frozen foods from the Philippines, but most of the stock is dry goods.

Fritzie’s Ube Cheese Pandesal

Where it’s from: Filipino pastry, made in New Jersey
Description: A purple bun (ube is an Asian purple yam) with a mild cheese filling
Tasting notes: “This tastes a lot like a croissant.” “It reminds me of pan dulce slightly. I can’t really taste the cheese.” “It … has a nice taste, like a sweet bread.”

Jack ’n’ Jill brand Chicharron ni Mang Juan (vegetarian pork rinds), Sukang Paombong flavored

Where it’s from: Philippines
Description: Light golden-brown fried snack that is curled to look like pork rinds
Tasting notes: “Salty and savory with more depth of flavor than I was expecting.” “Mild and crunchy; they would be excellent with three or four beers.”

Boy Bawang Cornick: Adobo Flavor

Where it’s from: Philippines
Description: “Marinated Meat-Flavored Fried Corn”
Tasting notes: “Chickeny-tasting corn nuts.” “Crunchy puffed corn with a mild flavor.” “Fave! I love these. They are like Corn Nuts, but not tooth-breaky.”

Jack ’n’ Jill brand Chippy Barbecue Flavored Corn Chips

Where it’s from: The Philippines
Description: Barbecue-flavored corn chips the size and shape of Fritos
Tasting notes: “The taste is a mix between a Bugle and a Frito.” “It’s light on the barbecue flavor, but I love the corn chip for a nice change-up.” “Savory, meaty taste at the end.”

Jack ’n’ Jill brand V-Cut Potato Chips

Where it’s from: The Philippines
Description: Lightly smoky rippled potato chips
Tasting notes: “It reminds me of a barbecue sandwich in a chip form.” “I really enjoyed the barbecue flavor of this one. Not too strong; just perfect.”

Snack to make at home: Tambo-Tambo

Tambo-Tambo is a coconut pudding with tapioca pearls and rice balls from the Philippines. Because the Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands, each with its own culture, and because it is in the middle of several major trade routes, you never know what you’re going to get in a Filipino snack. The food culture of the Philippines has been impacted by East Asian, Indonesian, Spanish and even American influences. This particular snack leans heavily into three ingredients deeply rooted in the Filipino landscape: coconut, cassava (which tapioca is made from) and rice.

• ½ cup (75 g) small tapioca pearls
• 1 cup (250 ml) water
• 1 cup (150 g) glutinous rice flour – it will probably be called Sweet White Rice Flour in your supermarket, but it’s the same thing
• another ½ cup (125 ml) water
• 1¾ cup (400 ml) unsweetened coconut milk
• another ½ cup (125 ml) water
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (100 g) sugar
• diced fresh fruit – mangos are traditional, but I think fresh cherries would be fantastic

Soak the tapioca in a cup of water for half an hour, then rinse thoroughly.

Meanwhile, mix the rice flour with half a cup of water, then roll it into half-inch balls with wet fingers. (Your fingers should be wet. Giving the rice balls fingers would be disconcerting.) Cover them with a damp cloth until Game Time.

Mix the coconut milk, salt, sugar, and the last half cup of water in a small saucepan, then bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently.

Crash the heat to low, then stir in the rice balls. Cook them for about 4 minutes, until they are cooked through and chewy. Stir pretty much continuously, to keep the rice balls from sticking to each other.

Bring the heat back up to high, then stir in the rinsed tapioca, and stir until the tapioca has been cooked, another 3 or 4 minutes. The tapioca will thicken the mixture noticeably.

Remove from heat, and let the pudding cool, maybe 20 minutes. Serve, garnished with fresh fruit.

This snack is full of contrasts — the coconut pudding is creamy, the rice balls are chewy and the tapioca is, err, tapioca-y. The coconut is sweet — perhaps even a little too sweet on its own — but it is balanced out by the mildness of the rice balls. This snack is great warm, but even better cold and refreshing. I can imagine standing in a market in Manila, desperately hot and completely overwhelmed, then grounding myself with a dish of tambo-tambo.

La Michoacana Market:

Takis and Zambos

La Michoacana Market (112 Pine St., Nashua, 882-0271) is a small neighborhood market with Mexican snacks and products. It serves a small selection of American-style hot food, some with a Mexican twist.

Bimbo brand Nito snack cakes

Where it’s from: Mexico
Description: Dry, chocolate-frosted and -filled snack cake
Tasting notes: “A strong cocoa flavor.” “The sweet bread enhances the sweetness of the chocolate icing; it isn’t too sweet.” “Nice and chocolatey.”

Takis Hot Nuts Fuego

Where it’s from: Mexico
Description: Peanuts with a spicy/sour coating
Tasting notes:“The spiciness is all in the electric red dust.” “Very acidic.” “All the spice of a Takis with a peanut finish.” “Shockingly spicy at first, but ends nicely. It makes you want more!”

Yummies brand Ceviche Flavored Zambos

Where it’s from: Honduras
Description: Ceviche-flavored plantain chips
Tasting notes: “Outstanding lime and salt flavors; the fishy background is distracting.” “This tastes sort of like a seaweed chip; it’s pretty good.”

Diana Brand Jalapeňos tortilla chip

Where it’s from: El Salvador
Description: Seasoned tortilla chips
Tasting notes: “Tiny triangles. Delicate corn flavor with mild heat.” “not as hot as I expected but tasty and easy going with a great touch of spice.” “I’m obsessed with these! They are perfect, and almost no flavoring sticks to your fingers.”

Bimbo brand Choco Bimbuňuelos

Where it’s from: Mexico
Description: The packaging describes it as “Sweet Crispy Wheels with Chocolate Flavored Coating”
Tasting notes: “Extra crunchy. The chocolate is very melty.” “These are very dangerous! You could eat a whole package if you weren’t careful. The chocolate is so creamy and the crisp is light.”

Snack to make at home: Pemoles

Mexico is another country that has had its food shaped by a huge number of influences — indigenous, Spanish and even French. Mexico has a complex and sophisticated baking tradition. There are Mexican cookies that would blow your mind. Pemoles are wreath-shaped cookies made with masa harina (corn flour) instead of wheat flour, and are flavored with coffee.

• 2 cups (250 g) masa harina (corn flour)
• ¼ teaspoon salt – again, I like to use coarse sea salt; it plants little salt bombs in the finished cookie
• 1 Tablespoon finely ground coffee
• 1¼ sticks (125 g) butter — authentic pemoles are made with lard, which tastes fantastic in baked goods but can be intimidating, so we’ll use butter instead; feel free to use the full-octane fat, though; you will not regret it
• ½ cup (125 g) sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup (2 ounces) coffee liqueur

Toast the masa harina in a dry skillet, stirring constantly, until it darkens to a golden-brown color — about the same color as a lion. Transfer it to a bowl to cool.

Add the salt and coffee to the roasted masa harina. Stir to combine.

Using your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until they are pale yellow, light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and then, once the egg is incorporated, the coffee liqueur.

Gradually mix in the dry ingredients.

When the dough has come together, refrigerate it for half an hour.

OK, this is where things get a little weird. Every recipe for pemoles says that you should knead the dough until it is smooth before chilling it. This seems impossible. The pre-chilled mixture is much too soft to work with your hands. Additionally, because there isn’t any wheat in this recipe, there is no flour to produce gluten, the stuff that makes bread and other baked goods pliable. I’m sure that the Mexican nuns who invented pemoles could do it; I haven’t worked out a way to.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Pinch off a tablespoonful of the chilled dough and form it into a 6-inch-long snake. Apparently, rolling it is recommended — and that would probably work if you could manage to knead the dough — but I’ve found that squeezing it in my palms works better. Put your snake on the baking sheet and form it into a circle. You should be able to form about a dozen cookies.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. You won’t be able to tell by the color when they are done, but if you poke a pemole and it feels like a cookie that hasn’t firmed up yet, they are ready to take out of the oven.

Let the pemoles cool, then eat them.

These have a crumbly, sandy texture, much like a really good shortbread. This is something bakers call sablé. The roasted corn flavor is deeply satisfying — a little like a good cornbread — and the not-over-the-top coffee flavor gives you an emotional anchor to hang the “Ooh-I-like-this” part of your brain on. It goes without saying that these are a natural to have with coffee.

A look at some of the gathering spots that offer their own unique character, entertainment and, of course, beer

What is a pub? With a name derived from “public house,” it’s mainly a community gathering place. At the best ones, as the song goes, “everybody knows your name” and there are plenty of reasons to be there. A proprietor at one of the six area pubs profiled in this story spoke of theirs as a respite from stress at work or home: “If either of those aren’t great, we’re that third place.”

Each has something that sets it apart and makes the place special — a signature dish, musical gathering or standout staff member. It all adds up to a vibe that can’t be replicated. Much of it is by design, particularly in Manchester. A venerable watering hole is careful to schedule events that don’t compete directly with other downtown spots, so everyone does well.

Another common thread is evolution, often disruptive, always necessary. A move to a new location, rising from a death blow delivered by the pandemic, switching things up with a new music night, expanding the spirits menu ahead of, not in response to, a boom, or cultivating a particular demographic that was previously neglected.

In the case of one venue getting ready open in May, disruptive evolution simply means taking a leap of faith, something each of these does every single day.

The Forum Pub: Friendly zone

When Area 23 opened mid-decade, it quickly became known as a hard place to find but definitely worth the effort. Set at the end of a winding road off State Street, decorated with offbeat bric-a-brac and offering a tastefully curated beer list along with craft ciders and a smart pub menu, it also welcomed the Concord music scene. More than a few performers got their start there, and jam sessions were a magnet for creatives of all stripes.

Last year, however, owner Kirk McNeil was forced to move, due to what he called “irreconcilable differences” with his landlord. In early October he began occupying a space that formerly was an Asian restaurant in Penacook’s Thirty Pines Plaza. With a vibe much different than the cavernous Area 23, McNeil gave it a new name, The Forum Pub.

Before deciding on the change, McNeil asked one of his regulars to identify Area 23’s “main feature,” he recalled while standing behind the bar in mid-March, during the Forum Pub’s third week of business. “He said, ‘you could have good discussions with people; it wasn’t just a lot of sports on TV, a lot of people getting frustrated about this thing or that thing. You could actually have discussions.’ I said, ‘I think you just named it.’”

That said, Forum Pub is a haven for civil discourse; a House Rules list at the end of the bar includes “No Politics.” This is aimed at anyone “who’s not listening but only talking,” McNeil said. “I’m happy to talk about policies … we can talk about whether or not you think this thing or that thing should happen. What makes it a better show? I just don’t want to talk about why this nimrod or that nincompoop should be running the show.”

The process of moving 3 1/2 miles down the street wasn’t easy.

“As we all know, New Hampshire doesn’t have a ton of available real estate right now,” McNeil noted, and regulatory hurdles were also challenging. What saved the day were his people. “The best part of this entire move has been our staff, because a bunch of cooks and bartenders and sound men and servers … became construction workers and decorators.”

Adjustments between the new and old location include live music. There’s a nicely lit stage, an expertly tweaked sound system, but less room means solo, duo and trio performances instead of raucous bands. Don Bartenstein hosts a weekly song circle in the center of the room, there’s a growing list of Wednesday night singer-songwriter nights, and Saturday open mic is back, but no one’s loading in big amps anymore.

One upside of relocating is that the kitchen is four times the size of the old one, increasing the number of menu options.

“We’re doing some pretty terrific food here; we don’t have anything on the menu that I don’t like,” McNeil said. Among the customer favorites is an item that was also popular at Area 23. “I can’t say enough good things about the gyro; we do our own lamb roast.”

McNeil’s daughter Anastasia, home from college, echoed her father’s sentiments. “My friend Raphael is Greek as the day is long,” she said. “He took one bite and ran to get the chef to tell him it was the best gyro he’s ever had stateside.”

The Forum Pub
15 Village St., Concord, 552-0137
Must-try: Lamb gyro.
Big fun: Saturday afternoon Acoustic Circle

The Local: Rebirth in Warner

Like a lot of places, The Local, a small but scrappy and vibrant restaurant/bar on Main Street in Warner, couldn’t survive the pandemic. Owner Bill Meadows packed things up in May 2021. “We got through it and back,” he said by phone in late March. “When everything opened back up, we had people, but we were just so burned out by then that it just wasn’t worth continuing.”

As its name implies, it was more than a watering hole, and the community felt its absence. Meadows took a corporate job on the Seacoast, where he was frequently reminded why The Local was special. Its staff felt more like family, not a branch in an org chart.

“It’s not like going into a generic restaurant and being waited on by somebody you’ve never seen before,” he said. “You’re seeing the same people as when you came in a month, two months ago. It’s not just the food, the beer, the music; actually, it’s the staff bringing people back.”

When an opportunity to reopen came, in the form of another Main Street restaurant coming available, Meadows jumped. He and the owner of The Foothills began talking, and on October 13, 2023, The Local’s sign, featuring an arm wreath with two hands gripping mugs in a toast, came out of retirement.

It’s a bigger place, Meadows beamed.

“It’s an actual restaurant,” he said. “We were running the old Local out of a vanilla commercial space as best we could, but there were always restrictions, mostly with refrigeration … we could barely bring in enough stuff to last until our next delivery.”

Now there are more food specials, like a daily eggroll and burger, along with a doubling of beer taps, which Meadows has filled with all-local offerings.

“Our favorite thing to do is work with independents, breweries I go directly to for beer,” he said. “No. 1, it’s a great story, and No. 2, it’s not stuff people are going to find other places.”

Live music resumed recently, with April Cushman, Charlie Chronopoulos, Ryan Williamson and others appearing every Thursday night, courtesy of NH Music Collective’s talent service.

“It’s been really handy because booking was … it wasn’t difficult, but it was time-consuming,” Meadows said, so NHMC’s approach was welcome. “They book us great acts, and we don’t really have to do anything, so it works out.”

Along with that, Meadows leads a weekly trivia night on Wednesdays like he’s hosting a house party, surrounded as he is by mostly familiar faces.

“Our complete customer base came back when we reopened,” he said, adding that The Foothills’ old crowd still comes in.

Nine-to-five life compelled Meadows to rethink how he’d run The Local anew.

“I learned in a couple of years working for other people [about] things I used to do as a manager, not even knowing how toxic they were and how they affected other people, until I was that other person,” he said. “I came in with a completely different mindset as far as how to run a restaurant from a management standpoint; more how not to do it and trying to get away from that.”

The Local
15 Main St., Warner, 456-3333
Must-try: Eggroll of the day
Big fun: Wednesday trivia

The Barley House: New notes

As befits New Hampshire’s Capital City, Concord’s Barley House is packed with a mixture of locals and out-of-towners during the work week. On a recent Wednesday just past six o’clock, the bar included two men who earlier in the day were at the Statehouse talking over beers and burgers. Nearby, a couple from Cleveland who were attending an academic book conference at the Grappone Center considered a bowl of the pub’s signature Guinness Beef Stew.

“Definitely all walks of life,” said Nikki Miller, a longtime bartender at the North Main Street mainstay. Every Friday night, though, is locals’ time, she said. “A group of people in the community, they just take over the bar; they love it here. There’s also a ton of bar regulars, middle-aged people, and I’d say we do have some younger folk.”

It’s a less raucous vibe than in past years, she continued, meaning before the pandemic. “We’re not open late anymore,” she said. “People typically aren’t coming late to the Barley House, or dare I say, going out late anymore in Concord at all. It’s a changed place.”

The Barley House is very much an Irish pub. An ample supply of Redbreast, Green Spot and Jameson is always on hand, and St. Patrick’s Day is the North Star of their annual calendar. This year’s came on Sunday, a day they’ve been closed in the past. That changed this year, but Miller and her team weren’t sure what to expect.

To their relief, “it was a great day,” she said. “We didn’t have any troublemakers anywhere. Everyone was having a good time, eating great food. We had Irish step dancers, and the Irish session players for three hours. Then we had a DJ in our downstairs bar; I think a good time was had by all.”

A weekly Tuesday night gathering of Irish musicians, led by Eugene Durkee, was around before the pandemic. “Right now, we have about eight men and women that come in on a rotating basis,” Miller said. “They’re playing Celtic music, and it really just brings an awesome vibe to our dining space.”

Recently, regular live music, which ended many years ago, returned to the Barley House. Acoustic performers began appearing downstairs on Fridays and Saturdays.

“We all feel now that the world has returned to its new normal, so we decided to be creative in bringing people back,” Miller said. “Making it a place where you want to go in the community again … I think bringing music back was just the way to do it.”

Food-wise, the pub’s burgers are a constant favorite.

“I always tell my customers we have a top five burger list, which is not helpful to anyone trying to make a decision,” Miller said. Another recent addition is a personal deep-dish pizza with allegedly addictive qualities. “I don’t think anyone expected it to take off the way it did … it’s this funny little thing; people are like, ‘do you have it? I need it. I’m here for the pizza.’”

Still and all, a tight-knit staff on a first-name basis with so many of its customers is what sets the venerable downtown pub apart for Miller. “We say it’s not a Barley House, but it’s a Barley Home.”

The Barley House
132 N. Main St., Concord, 228-6363
Must-try: Guinness beef stew
Big fun: Tuesday Irish Session

Strange Brew Tavern: Peaceful coexistence

How does a business endure, let alone a pub? The National Restaurant Association reports an 80 percent failure rate within five years of opening. One local beat the odds. On April 6, Strange Brew Tavern marked its 25th anniversary. For pub owner Mitch Sawaya, however, the biggest milestone was making it to the end of Year 1.

He started in 1999 in a building that had stood empty for eight years, living on the third floor while he slowly built it out. Early days were quiet, but certain moments gave him hope, like when area restaurant workers stopped by after their shifts for a bite.

“I knew if we were doing something that attracted them we had a chance of making it, because they’re kind of harsh critics,” Sawaya said in a recent phone interview.

Fast forward to 2000. Strange Brew survived and, judging by a line snaking around the block on Market Street to mark the moment, was thriving. Sawaya could exhale a bit. “I thought, ‘You know what? I think we’re going to do OK, we’ll be here for a while.’ That was a big one; it was the first time I really felt comfortable or confident.”

As for lasting two and half decades, Sawaya worked to set Strange Brew apart from other Manchester bars, beginning with a big beer list.

“I had 18 draft lines when I opened, which everybody thought was ridiculous,” he said. With the craft beer boom years off, “I couldn’t fill them, but I refused at that point to put domestics on tap; I still do.”

Sawaya also vowed to make his pub the go-to place for blues and R&B fans, partly because he’s a fan. A favorite memory is booking Dennis Brennan; he’d followed the Boston guitarist since his days in The Martells. “What was even more odd is he was with some guys that I knew really well, and he told them that he remembered me,” he said. “I was blown away.”

Another reason for leaning into the genre, which includes a Howard Randall-hosted blues jam every Sunday and live acts every Friday and Saturday, is that Sawaya believes staying in his lane helps the overall downtown scene. Early on, he did a press interview that said as much. The next day the owners of the now-defunct Black Brimmer stopped by to thank him.

“They said, ‘That’s the best thing we’ve ever heard,’ which was great,” he said. “We made a point not to book the same bands or do the same things on the same night. They’d have Mama Kicks every Wednesday, so we just steered away from that sort of thing. I think it was good for everybody. There were lines to get into all those places.”

These days, Jordan Quinn, along with Scott Armstrong, hosts a music open mic on Wednesdays. “Everybody loves her; I think she’s been the most successful person with it,” Sawaya said, noting that there’s a similar Thursday comedy gathering. “It’s grown significantly; it’s really open mic, anybody can get up on stage, and occasionally a couple of the big guys from Boston will come down to test out material.”

Some of the best recollections are from the many New Hampshire primaries he’s seen. “I always tell the story about John Kerry,” he said. “I had a Tufts banner hanging in the corner because that’s where I went to college, and he saw it. His son and his daughter went to Tufts, and he asked the significance of the banner. They told him the owner had gone there, so he grabbed me and bought us a beer…. We spent 45 minutes talking about growing up in Massachusetts.”

Another time, Drew Barrymore had dinner at Strange Brew, but Sawaya couldn’t be coaxed to ask for an autograph. He did meet Chris Matthews when the MSNBC host did a bunch of shows there, along with Tom Brokaw and Boston Globe columnist turned television pundit Mike Barnacle, who gave his burgers a television shout-out. “Those are huge things,” he said. “All these people were coming out of the woodwork for the elections.”

Asked about the future, Sawaya said, “I intend to keep going for a while,” noting that recently he’s put a lot of focus on food offerings; the Jambalaya and Guinness Meatballs are customer favorites.

Musically, he’s tried a few new things, like recently bringing in the youthful River Sang Wild for a night.

“I’ll always have entertainment, multiple nights a week,” Sawaya said. “I’m going to keep playing around to see what works. I have a son who will be 18 in July, and he’s not interested in being part of the business. I’ve got to figure that out. I’d like to be around for quite a few more years.”

Strange Brew Tavern
88 Market St., Manchester, 666-4292
Must-try: Jimmy “The Greek” burger.
Big fun: One Big Soul Sunday blues jam

Wild Rover: Hometown handoff

Manchester’s bar and restaurant community is very collegial. A good example of this is the way Jesse Twarjan purchased the Wild Rover, the landmark Irish pub on Kosciuszko Street. A musician and entrepreneur who manages a few downtown residential properties, among other things, the “Manch-ghanistan born and raised” Twarjan has a long history here.

In a recent phone interview he talked about bumping into Bonfire owner Patrick Mills outside his Elm Street restaurant. “I made a passing comment like, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll call Bob for a shift or two at the Rover,’” he recalled, referring to pub owner Robert Scribner. “I believe Patrick’s words were, ‘He might sell it to you.’ That’s how the whole thing started.”

The deal was friendly and might not have happened otherwise.

“It wasn’t necessarily something that Bob was looking to advertise for sale,” Twarjan said. “It’s a place that requires the right kind of person, an owner-operator type of situation where people want to come in and see familiar faces, that type of thing.”

Twarjan took over the pub, which has been in business since 1990, on St. Patrick’s Day. With an outdoor liquor license in flux, everything happened inside, but crowds still showed up for what’s always their biggest day of the year. “We were at capacity all day,” he said. “It was a great vibe.”

With that essential celebration out of the way, an official grand opening is in the works, though the new owner is quiet on the details. He hopes it will happen before the end of April. To prepare for it, there will be new coats of paint, as he works on a stepped-up liquor offering and a reshuffling of the beer list.

Notso Costley Productions will manage live music, though Twarjan is ready to jump in when needed.

“We have them as a focal point every weekend, and they always have a rotating cast of extremely talented players,” he said. “My musician past leads me to have a fairly wide network of what I would consider to be extraordinarily talented people. They know if you’re going to come in here you’d better play as well as me or I’ll do it myself.”

Former chef Jeff Volker has been recruited to help with revamping the menu. Twarjan, who’s an alum of culinary-centric Johnson & Wales University, has big plans.

“We’re really going to lean hard into some of that Irish flair and fare,” he said, adding that Volker will strive to make the Wild Rover “the best place in town for fish and chips or shepherd’s pie…. We’ll be consolidating and doing it correctly. That comes down to quality over quantity, specifically with the kitchen.”

That said, the Rover won’t be going head-to-head with the downtown’s fine dining places. Twarjan’s thoughts go back to the way he acquired the bar.

“We need to be more collaborative instead of competitive in terms of making sure that there’s enough of a demographic out there for all of us to enjoy,” he said. “We’re definitely trying to fill some gaps in the food and make sure that we’re doing quality pub fare to a very high degree.”

Wild Rover
21 Kosciuszko St., Manchester, 669-7722
Must-try: Reuben sandwich
Big fun: open mic night

Pembroke City Limits: Born in a barn

Even though he can’t play a note, Rob Azevedo has an absolute passion for music. Seemingly his every waking hour is focused on it, whether he’s hosting his Granite State of Mind radio show every Friday night, blogging about a new local act he’s excited about, or gathering a bunch of his friends to do a Tom Petty or Stones tribute concert at the Shaskeen or Rex Theatre in Manchester.

Lately Azevedo has been hosting shows in his barn, adjacent to the house in Pembroke where he moved a few years back. They’re intimate affairs, with typically fewer than 100 people in attendance. Most are people he already knows, but a few new faces always show up, which got him thinking.

Which led to a new venture, his wildest and most ambitious yet.

Pembroke City Limits will present live events, everything from concerts to book signings and poetry readings, five days a week. Azevedo is putting the finishing touches on a space on Pembroke Village’s Main Street, originally an 1800s general store that most recently sold antiques. He’s been eyeing the spot for over a year.

“It was either going to be this place or it wasn’t going to happen,” he said in late March. Granite State of Mind will broadcast live every Friday, and initially acoustic acts will provide the music.

“We have four residents upstairs and we want to see how the sound is going to work,” Azevedo said, adding that all the pieces are coming together. “Rough plumbing is done, that’s huge; fire and electrical are updated; the next thing is drywall, and then get the kitchen and bar together. We’re hoping to be open by mid-May.”

During a walk-through, Azevedo pointed out the charming space’s many features, like hardwood floors, exposed brick and lots of ambient light, while discussing what it will look like when finished. A stage and seating area will be on the right. A bar serving a selection of area craft beer and wine will sit to the left.

Rather than operate a kitchen, he asked Kelly Sue LeBlanc’s Sleazy Vegan for help.

“I don’t know anything about food or cooking, but I love food trucks,” he said, “so I found one of the best food trucks around.”

Also on the team are Paulie Stone, a musician who’ll assist with that side of things, and Azevedo’s business partner, Eric Klesper. The new proprietor has big dreams for his little village, hoping it mirrors the growth he saw in Newmarket when the mills there were renovated. He’s grateful for an understanding wife.

“She knows I lost my mind sometime in the early ’90s, but I don’t feel overwhelmed,” he said. “I’ve been ready for a number of years to do this … I feel no anxiety about it. I ask my wife, why am I not crapping my pants? She says, ‘Because you’re ready.’”

Pembroke City Limits
134 Main St., Pembroke, 264-1757
Must-try: Sleazy Vegan Grilled Sleaze
Big fun: Americana Wednesdays

More Pubs

Here are a few more places where you feel like everybody knows your name. Know of a pub not mentioned here? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Flying Goose
40 Andover Road, New London 526-6899
Known for: Thursday night music series with best of New England’s folk scene
Must-try: Space Pony IPA

Holy Grail
64 Main St., Epping , 679-9559
Known for: Repurposed church with a heavenly beer list
Must-try: Bangers & Colcannon

Kathleen’s Irish Pub
91 Lake St., Bristol, 744-6336
Known for: It’s right there in the name — order a Jameson
Must-try: All-Day Irish Breakfast with real black pudding

McGarvey’s
1097 Elm St., Manchester 627-2721
Known for: Being Elm Street’s longest running bar
Must-try: Hot dog loaded with mac & cheese, bacon crumbles and pulled pork

Patrick’s
18 Weirs Road, Gilford, 293-0841
Known for: Wednesdays with singer-guitarist Don “Sev” Severance
Must-try: Seafood chowder

Peddler’s Daughter
48 Main St., Nashua, 821-7535
Known for: Lots of local bands on the weekends
Must-try: Cottage Pie is the real deal

Penuche’s Ale House
6 Pleasant St., Concord, 228-9833
Known for: The Concord music scene meets here most weekends
Must-try: Any local craft beer

Penuche’s Ale House
4 Canal St., Nashua 595-9831
Known for: Rustic, friendly atmosphere
Must-try: A cold beverage on their outside deck

The Pint Publik House
1111 Elm St., Manchester 206-5463
Known for: Serving Jamaican food with a friendly vibe
Must-try: Jerk pork or chicken

Pipe Dream Brewing
40 Harvey Road, Londonderry, 404-0751
Known for: Monthly Flights and Flow yoga beer night
Must-try: A beer flight of your favorite style, IPA, stout, take your pick

Press Room
77 Daniel St., Portsmouth, 431-5186
Known for: Buzzworthy live music
Must-try: Maple-forward Damn You Robert Frost cocktail

Shaskeen Pub
909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246
Known for: Backroom offering music most nights, comedy on Wednesday
Must-try: Proper Scotch Egg, made fresh once a week

Shopper’s Pub & Eatery
18 Lake Ave., Manchester, 232-5252
32-5252
Known for: Sports forward vibe, great game day stop
Must-try: Beehive Burger

Stark Brewing Co.
500 Commercial St., Manchester, 625-4444
Known for: Craft brew veteran with a big space to unwind in
Must-try: Drunken Tips, marinated in Tasha’s Red Ale

Stone Church
5 Granite St., Newmarket, 659-7700
Known for: Seacoast music hub with nonstop live entertainment
Must-try: La Bamba Rice Bowl

Wally’s Pub
144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton, 926-6954
Known for: Beach bar with frequent big-name concerts
Must-try: Famous Beach Pizza, a culinary choose your adventure

The NH Fisher Cats celebrate a new season and 20 years of baseball

By Zachary Lewis
zlewis@hippopress.com

On Tuesday, April 9, at 6:35 p.m. the New Hampshire Fisher Cats will celebrate their 20th opening day in Manchester. Twenty years of baseball in the Queen City means 20 years of home runs, hot dogs and memories.

“We hope that the 20th-anniversary season really shows how much we are committed to our fans and our community,” said Stephanie O’Quinn, Executive Director of Corporate Sponsorships and Ticket Sales. “We’ll continue to be that community gathering place … [to] provide family-friendly entertainment at an affordable price — that’s something that we take a lot of pride in as an organization and we will never let that go by the wayside.”

Andrew Marais, Senior Manager of Marketing and Promotion, agreed.

“The biggest thank-you we can give is to our community. That’s an honor to be here for 20 years. Blue Jays too,” Marais said. The Fisher Cats are the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Chris Jared, the Manager of Media Relations and Broadcasting and the new voice of the Fisher Cats, expanded on that theme.

“You want to dig into the bag of what you’ve done to the community and what’s worked in the past and then you also want to look at things like what can we do to keep this engaging and keep people on a fresh page,” Jared said.

Michael Neis, General Manager, said, “Every year we try to look for one of those unique ways that we can really give back to the fans … and know that when you come out to the ballpark, certainly you know you’re going to have a good time, but there’s also some new things that you can try and take in, in a little bit different way, so we’re excited about this.”

“We have new ownership this year,” Neis said. Diamond Baseball Holdings purchased the team in December 2023, according to a press release, which also stated that all staff will remain “in place under the existing leadership of CEO Rick Brenner, and General Manager Michael Neis.” Former owner Tom Silvia has stayed on in an advisory role.

“They [DBH] have been extremely supportive of our mission here in Manchester and New Hampshire as a whole,” Neis said.

Lights, Camera, Baseball!

So what are some of the new things around the ballpark that you will be able to try and take in?

“Two weeks ago we finished our brand new field lighting project, which is really exciting,” Neis said. “We can now do light shows, cue to music, have different colors on each pole. So there’s a lot that we can do, whether it’s pregame intros, home runs, when we win — because we’re going to win every game, right. We can do a lot of really fun things … to give it that big-league experience. That’s something that fans walking in immediately will have a chance to get to see.”

Changes implemented toward the end of last season include new areas to sit and watch the game above the bullpens. Some changes have been geared toward the players as well.

“In addition to everything that we do for the fans and the community, our job is also to provide that environment for these players too,” Neis said. Updates have included “completely renovating both the home and visiting clubhouse,” Neis said. “We did open up our brand new stand-alone batting tunnel and weight room area. Not only are we meeting MLB compliance in those areas; we have what we feel is a best-in-class facility that really rivals anything we can see at this level or above, quite frankly.”

The fan connection

When the Fisher Cats are on the road, or if you cannot make it to the ballpark, there will be a way to stay connected to the team.

“We’re not partnered with WGIR anymore. We now have an audio stream that we can set up from home and road games and then fans can still watch on the Bally Live App or on Milb.tv,” Jared said. Fans can also listen to the game live on nhfishercats.com under the ‘listen live’ tab.

“It’s a much more intimate environment in minor-league baseball,” O’Quinn remarked. “I think that’s a very key element in the experience that we get to provide.”

“We hear all the time about kids who came to their first Fisher Cats game at 6 years old and now they’re die-hard Toronto Blue Jays fans … never stepped a foot out of New Hampshire but they live, eat, sleep, breathe the Toronto Blue Jays because one player decided to sign an autograph on the ball and now they’re a fan for life and not only a fan of the Blue Jays but a fan of baseball for life,” O’Quinn said.

“From a fan engagement perspective our team last year was phenomenal with meeting people,” Marais said. “Staying after the game to sign autographs or before the game … the team that is coming in I am confident will bring that same energy.”

Cesar Martin, who is returning as the team’s manager for the fourth straight season, said “the support that we get from the fans, I think that’s something that makes myself really happy and feels like I’m home…” The players feel the same way. “They’re excited, we’re excited…” Martin said.

“Whether you’re a bigger kid or the littlest of tykes, there’s something for you,” Marais said. “For example, when kids read five books they get two tickets to a Fisher Cats game, courtesy of our sponsors. [There is the] Oral Health Challenge with Delta Dental, when you brush and floss for seven days a week, you get two tickets courtesy of Delta Dental.”

Fireworks, giveaways and promotions will be back with exciting new additions too. General Manager Neis also revealed that “the New England Honda Dealers Bat Dog … Casey will be joining us for the first time this year. We’re really excited about her. Just really another very cool addition to the experience.”

O’Quinn added, “Paw-parazzi [is] welcome. That’s ‘P’ ‘A’ ‘W.’”

A Field Guide to Fisher Cats Mascots

Fungo

Official Fisher Cats Mascot

Description: According to the Mascot Hall of Fame, Fungo was born in the woodlands of New Hampshire but spent much of his youth attending Phish concerts. As the founder of the Fisher Cats’ Kids Club he hopes to promote wildlife education, sportsmanship, good manners and the card game Go Fish.

Enthusiasms: Fishing on Lake Winnipesaukee, Swedish Fish, the movies The Fisher King and A Fish Called Wanda.

Slider

Backup Mascot

Description: Originally from Dunedin, Florida, according to the Mascot Hall of Fame, Slider is Fungo’s favorite cousin. He is young, athletic and frantically enthusiastic about the Fisher Cats. His goal is to add excitement and energy to each Fisher Cats home game.

Enthusiasms: His trademark moves are flexing his muscles, giving high-fives and showing off his athleticism.

Rowdy Red and Bubba Blue

Sumo Guys

Professional History: They come from nowhere between innings, fight furiously on the infield, then vanish as mysteriously as they appeared.

Enthusiasms: Waving to fans, inflicting carnage on each other.

Casey

New England Honda Dealers Bat Dog

Professional History: When Benny, the Fisher Cats’ previous bat dog, retired to work as a therapy dog for veterans and first responders, Casey completed her training in New Jersey, then moved up to the minors. This is her first full season with the Fisher Cats.

Enthusiasms: Meeting small fans, bats, balls and belly rubs.

On the field

Jared expressed his thanks to the crew that sets up the game for the fans and the players.

“There have been game-day workers that have worked with us … I’ve talked to guys that have been here 15, 17 [years], some that have been here for as long as the Fisher Cats have…. Those people make things entirely possible from a game-day perspective of what to expect.”

More than 150 Fisher Cats have gone into the major league, according to the December press release.

“We always welcome the new crop of players,” Neis said. We need to work really well with them, [so] that when players come to New Hampshire they have everything they need. … There’s nothing more exciting than an eventual superstar that you got to see here in New Hampshire, and we’ve certainly had more than our fair share over the years.”

Where do these players come from? From all over, but the Toronto Blue Jays have their high-A team, the Vancouver Canadians, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the triple-A team with the Bisons in Buffalo, New York. Their single-A team is the Dunedin Blue Jays and they are in Florida. Last year the Vancouver Canadians bested the Everett, Washington, AquaSoxs, a Seattle Mariners affiliate, to win their league championship.

“The talent jump from the single-A level to come to double-A is the largest jump. Triple A is essentially an extension of the major-league team,” Jared said. When players do move up from single-A, or high-A, they tend not to move alone. “Statistically they’ll keep coaches sometimes with guys. It is great to see when you have a team that, they’re in the lower ranks than you and they win a championship, sometimes those guys move in bunches and the chemistry is already there for them when they slide right in here in New Hampshire, they’re on the same page with each other.”

On the current roster, Manager Cesar Martin said that “a couple of new pitchers are coming from Vancouver.” The entire field will be well staffed too. “The most exciting part is we are going to have a really good defensive team and we have a lot of players that can put the ball in play…”

Fisher Cats fans will also have opportunities to catch major leaguers on the field.

“Last year we had the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect in Ricky Tiedemann … [major-leaguers sometimes on] the visiting teams that come in, like the New York Yankees having Spencer Jones,” Marais said. “The product on the field is very good baseball and very competitive, to the point where a player could be playing here tomorrow and [then] be playing in Toronto, or Fenway.”

Tuesday, April 9, is only a line drive away and the Fisher Cats hope all the hard work pays off.

“It is really exciting and rewarding for us as a staff and organization,” O’Quinn said. “We just want to be able to share that with our fans and our community and hope that they perceive it the way we present it.”

Players to watch

layer, they do all they can to get them on the team. Here are a few of the Fisher Cats to keep an eye on this season.

Josh Kasevich: The Blue Jays selected shortstop Josh Kasevich, a native of Palo Alto, California, out of Oregon with the 60th overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft. He spent 2023 in high-A Vancouver, where he helped the Canadiens win the Northwest League title and finished with the third-best batting average on the team at .284, according to the Fisher Cats. MLB.com lists Kasevich as Tornto’s 11th-best prospect for 2024. Kasevich worked on improving his bat speed and path in the off-season, along with getting stronger and faster, and hopes to continue his sharp eye of the zone, according to the Fisher Cats.

Adam Macko: Originally from Slovakia, with a brief stint in Ireland before moving to Alberta, Canada, this southpaw (left-handed pitcher) ranks 16th amongst fellow Toronto prospects according to Baseball America, while MLB.com slots Macko ninth, according to the Fisher Cats.

Alan Roden: Toronto called the outfielder’s name as the 98th overall pick in the 2022 MLB draft from Creighton University, according to the Fisher Cats. Originally from Middleton, Wisconsin, Roden spent his off-season in Florida to focus on improving his swing by building strength and increasing explosiveness, according to the Fisher Cats. After spending the first three and a half months of last season with high-A Vancouver, Roden received his double-A promotion to the Fisher Cats in Manchester and reached base safely in his first nine games, According to the Fisher Cats. Baseball America ranks Roden as Toronto’s ninth-most-promising prospect and MLB.com slots him in spot No. 7.

Phil Clarke: A catcher from Franklin, Tennessee, Clarke received his draft selection in the ninth round of the 2019 MLB draft out of Vanderbilt after his sophomore year concluded with a national championship in Omaha, according to the Fisher Cats. Clarke spent two seasons with the Fisher Cats and his third is set for 2024, and he received honors from MiLB.com at the conclusion of last season, making the site’s Organizational All-Star list, according to the Fisher Cats, and was also named best defensive catcher amongst Toronto prospects by Baseball America, who cited his fundamentals and natural skill as the reasoning behind the decision.

Save the date

Here are some of the special events planned at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

• Waggin’ Wednesdays: On Wednesdays when the Fisher Cats are not playing a home game, four-legged fans are invited (on-leash) to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in downtown Manchester. A waiver must be filled out prior to bringing your dog into the ballpark.

• Foodie Fridays: Experience specialty food items at the ballpark every Friday. The first Foodie Friday, on April 12, will celebrate all things chili, with chili dogs, chili burgers and chili fries.

• Copa de la Diversión: For the games on Thursday, April 25, and Thursday, June 20, the team will rebrand as Gatos Feroces de New Hampshire, with specialty uniforms (get a peek at all the specialty jerseys at milb.com/new-hampshire/tickets/specialty-jerseys). Gatos Feroces merch is available for purchase on the team’s website.

• Princesses at the Park: The first of four specialty brunches at the park will be on Sunday, April 28, with a Princess Brunch to be held before the 1:35 p.m. game. Tickets to the brunch cost $30.85 and include a ticket to the game.

• Manchester Chicken Tenders: On Saturday, May 11, the Fisher Cats will celebrate one of the defining moments in American history: the 1974 invention of the chicken tender at Manchester’s Puritan Restaurant. The team will temporarily rebrand as the Manchester Chicken Tenders. Chicken Tenders merch is available for purchase on the team’s website.

• Cats-Con: On Saturday, May 25, The Fisher Cats’ annual Cats-Con game will celebrate their favorite movies, comic books, heroes, villains, and much more, featuring characters from Double Midnight Comics.

• Blue Heeler Appreciation Brunch: The second specialty brunch of the season will take place on Sunday, May 26, before the 1:35 p.m. game. Tickets to the brunch cost $30.85 and include a ticket to the game.

• Father’s Day Celebration: To honor Fisher Cats dad fans, the first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a limited-edition Fisher Cats bucket hat on June 16.

• Super Bros. Brunch: The third specialty brunch of the season will take place on Sunday, June 23, before the 1:35 p.m. game. Tickets to the brunch cost $30.85 and include a ticket to the game.

• Game Show Night: On Friday, July 11, the whole game will be dedicated to famous game shows.

• Star Wars Night with Atlas Fireworks: Star Wars Night strikes back on Saturday, July 12. By popular demand, the iconic theme night will return with Star Wars characters, music, specialty on-field jerseys and more.

• A Pure Night of Imagination: The Fisher Cats promise a scrumdiddlyumptious night dedicated to everybody’s favorite fictional candy maker on Friday, July 26.

• Sitcom Night: On Thursday, Aug. 8, the Fisher Cats will dedicate their game to classic sitcoms.

• ’90s Night with Atlas Fireworks: Put your hair in a scrunchie and practice your macarena. On Saturday, August 10, the Fisher Cats will celebrate all things ’90s. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a clear fanny pack. Beanie Babies get in free.

• Hockey Night in New Hampshire with Atlas Fireworks: The Fisher Cats will celebrate New Hampshire hockey on Saturday, Aug. 24, with new jerseys, new hats, a new giveaway and a celebrity appearance from Max the Monarch. The first 1,000 fans through the gates will receive a Monarchs-vs.-Fisher Cats bobblehead.

• Piggy Tea Party: The final specialty brunch of the season will be held at the park on Sunday, Aug. 25, with a Piggy Tea Party Brunch to be held before the 1:35 p.m. game. Tickets to the brunch cost $30.85 and include a ticket to the game.

Nashua Silver Knights

Want more baseball? Nashua is home to the Silver Knights, a summer collegiate team of New England players at Division I, II and III levels, who split their time between Holman Stadium in Nashua (67 Amherst St. in Nashua) and Centennial Field in Burlington, Vermont. They play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.

General Manager Cam Cook says most of his players are working their way up the baseball ladder.

“A lot of people have heard of the Cape Cod League,” Cook said. “A lot of our guys are freshmen and sophomores who play with us for a year or two, then go to the Cape Cod League.”

Cook says that this is shaping up into a good season.

“It’s looking good,” he says. “We’re as busy as we’ve ever been. We’ve got great sponsors, and we’re planning some great theme nights.” Some of these theme nights include a Princess in the Park night, when fans, especially young ones, are encouraged to dress as their favorite princesses; a celebration of National Hot Dog Day; a visit from the Boogie Bros traveling mascot show, and a baseball card give-away.

The biggest game of the season will be the Knights’ July 25 exhibition game against the War Dogs, a team made up of active-duty and reserve military players.

“From a pure baseball point of view, it’s really interesting to see a freshman pitcher from Vanderbilt go up against an active-duty Marine,” Cook said. “It’s like an AI simulation, and we get to see it in real time.” The Knights have invited local veterans’ groups and VFWs to the game, to pump up interest in the game.

“We’ve already sold out our suites,” Cook said. It will be an unusual home game, he thinks, because most of the fans will be rooting for the visitors. “I’ve already started preparing the team,” he says, “warning them, ‘You’re probably going to get booed.”

This yearly exhibition game always honors the military in general, but this year it will have a special focus on the Air Force. “We’re trying to arrange a military fly-over, and a helicopter to deliver the First Pitch Ball,” Cook said. He noted that a point of particular interest is Silver Knight Player No. 7, pitcher Frankie Melendez, who is an ROTC cadet at Stonehill College. “He’ll be playing against soldiers he might run into in the service in a few years.”

The Nashua Silver Knights’ season begins on May 24 with a home game against the Vermont Lake Monsters. For more information, tickets and the team’s season schedule, visit their website at nashuasilverknights.com. —John Fladd

Fan food

An essential part of attending a baseball game is the food. It’s even in the song: “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack….” Stephanuie Vangjel is the Operations Manager for Professional Sports Catering, the company that provides snacks to Fisher Cats fans. It’s her job to make sure everyone in the stadium has access to baseball food during home games. That includes classics like hot dogs, fried dough and chicken fingers for the audience in the bleachers, but also lobster rolls and steak tips for the fans in the luxury suites.

“I’m making myself hungry,” Vangjel says, describing the food.

Feeding Delta Dental Stadium means more than handing out hot dogs. Vangjel’s staff is in charge of running concessions during home games but also providing service to the suites and running the Brewhouse Restaurant — the Fisher Cats’ onsite restaurant — as well as handling outside catering jobs.

Vangjel says her team is especially proud of their promotional food specials.

“We put together special packages like our Ballpark Buffet, a barbecue package, and a comfort food package [which includes burgers, chicken sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans]. We set up nacho bars and fajita bars. On Video Game Night, we’re planning an ‘Italian Plumbers’-themed menu.” “Italian Plumbers,” she explains, to avoid any trademark infringement with Nintendo.

The enthusiasm for this season’s ballpark food extends to the Fisher Cats’ front office.

“A highlight this year is we are introducing what we call ‘Foodie Fridays,’” says General Manager Michael Neiss. “That’s really taking that day of the week, taking that game, whether there’s a theme or not, and providing unique food [and] beverage options that you wouldn’t be able to get on a normal night.” Foodie Fridays will kick off the season on April 5 with an all-chili theme — chili dogs, chili burgers and chili fries — according to Stephanie Vangjel.

Andrew Marais, Senior Manager of Marketing and Promotions for the Fisher Cats, says management is excited about the Manchester Chicken Tenders returning to the field, referring to a Fisher Cats tribute to Manchester’s iconic food, when the team will dress in specially themed uniforms.

“The first [Chicken Tenders] game will be on May 11 — that will be your original Chicken Tender on-field uniform jersey — and then on July 27 we turn up the heat with Buffalo Tenders. So, brand new Buffalo Tender jerseys, very very cool. I believe they’re on our website too and you can purchase them in the team store.”

Hungry fans will also be able to eat brunch at the ballpark. The Fisher Cats will host four themed brunches this season, to correspond with special theme days. There will be a “Princess” brunch on April 28, a “Blue Heeler Appreciation” brunch in May, a “Super Bros” brunch in June and a “Piggy Tea Party” brunch in August. Each brunch ticket includes admission to the brunch and a ticket to the game following it. Brunch tickets are available through the Fisher Cats’ website (milb.com/new-hampshire). —John Fladd

We’re all winners!

From the spots voted best pizza place to those of us who can go eat that pizza, everybody involved in Hippo’s Best of readers’ poll 2024 is getting a win from this issue.

In this year’s poll we asked you to weigh in with your favorite doughnut, hiking trail, lunch spot and brewery. We also asked for your thoughts on ketchup, music while you work and picnics. We even asked you who, in New Hampshire, you’d like to extend a thank you to (and thank you to the reader who said “Hippo for a great paper”).

And after all that voting in February, now we present you with, generally, the top five winners in each category — though sometimes we have supersized it and let a few more reader faves join the winners court. And we’ve sprinkled some specific reader responses throughout, because they’re fun. Looking for a place where they make your coffee perfect every time or a great hair stylist? Here are Hippo readers’ favorites.

Link to Sections

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The Fine Print

This survey is for entertainment purposes only and all results are final.

The results of Hippo’s readers’ poll are based on readers’ answers to a poll conducted online in February. Readers typed in the names of people and locations they voted for. In situations where the vote is tied or otherwise unclear, Hippo editorial staff makes an effort to determine the will of the greatest number of voters. Hippo reserves the right to disqualify individual votes, ballots and/or entries when they are incomplete or unclear, do not meet the letter or the spirit of the question asked or otherwise do not meet the requirements to make them a usable vote.

Hippo’s editorial staff makes the ultimate determination of the winners in the categories. Hippo’s advertisers play no role in the determination of the winners. All results are final.

The Best of 2023 is a celebration of all things local and is meant to serve as a snapshot of the people and places in southern New Hampshire. Large national and international chains are, for the most part, not included in the count. Information presented here is gathered from sources including the location’s website and social media pages. Double check with the spots before heading out to make sure times, locations and menu items haven’t changed.

Questions, comments, concerns? Did we get an address or phone number wrong? Do you have an idea for a new category? Let us know. Contact editor Amy Diaz at adiaz@hippopress. com. Corrections will appear on the first page of the news section in future issues. Is your favorite category missing? Categories change regularly, with some categories taking a sabbatical and new categories introduced, so please send your suggestions for a category for next year. And, again, all results are seriously final. Hey, there’s always next year.

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Arts

Best Performing Arts Venue

• Best of the best: The Palace Theatres 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org
• Tupelo Music Hall 10 A St. in Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com
• Capitol Center for the Arts 44 S. Main St. in Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com

Nashua Center for the Arts 201 Main St. in Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com
Bringing nationally touring musicians, live comedy, theatre, children’s performances, and more to Downtown Nashua! Come experience a great show!

• BankNH Pavilion 72 Meadowbrook Lane in Gilford, 293-4700, banknhpavilion.com

Best Theatrical Production

• Best of the best: A Christmas Carol at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) ran Nov. 24 to Dec. 23, 2023.
• Ballet Misha’s The Nutcracker at the Dana Center (100 Saint Anselm Dr. in Manchester, 641-7700, tickets.anselm.edu) ran Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, 2023.
• Kinky Boots at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) ran Oct. 13 through Nov. 5, 2023.
• Dancing Queens at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) ran Jan. 19 through Feb. 11, 2024.
• The Wizard of Oz at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org) ran Sept. 8 through Sept. 24, 2023.

Best Local Place to Buy Art

• Best of the best: League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Annual Craftsmen’s Fair, which will take place this year Saturday, Aug. 3, through Sunday, Aug. 11, at Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury. See nhcrafts.org/annual-craftsmens-fair.
• Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St. in Manchester, 669-6144, currier.org, Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
• Mosaic Art Collective 66 Hanover St., Unit 201, in Manchester; 512-6209, mosaicartcollective.com, Wednesday Through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
• Concord Arts Market, a market with dates May through December. The first 2024 market is scheduled for the first Friday in May — Friday, May 3, at Bicentennial Square in downtown Concord. A market is also slated once a month in Rollins Park in Concord from June through September, as well as during Market Days in downtown Concord (June 20-22), according to concordartsmarket.net.
• Manchester Craft Market, Mall of New Hampshire, 1500 S. Willow St. in Manchester, 606-1351, manchestercraftmarket.com, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Best Publicly Viewable Mural

• Best of the best: Cat Alley off Elm Street between Manchester and Merrimack streets in Manchester, featuring kitties of various shapes and sizes.
• Hanover Street in Manchester titled “Greetings from Manchester” by Hooksett resident and artist James Chase and commissioned by Red Oak Apartments, according to manchesterinformation.com.
• Derry Downtown 1½ East Broadway in Derry on the side of Cask and Vine, showcasing a timeline of Derry, according to nhrtc.org.
• Derry Rail Trail in Derry. Robert Frost homage with trees and lines of verse painted on the asphalt-paved road, according to nhrtc.org.
• Mural by artist Keith Trahan on the building by Lamont-Hanley Park at the corner of Bridge and Elm streets in Manchester.

Entertainment

Best Bookstore

• Best of the best: Gibson’s Bookstore 40 S. Main St. in Concord, gibsonsbookstore.com, 224-0562
• Bookery 844 Elm St. in Manchester, bookerymht.com, 836-6600
• Balin Books 375 Amherst St. in Nashua, balinbooks.com, 417-7981
• Toadstool Bookshop 12 Depot Sq. in Peterborough, toadbooks.com, 924-3543
• Water Street Bookstore 125 Water St. in Exeter, waterstreetbooks.com, 778-9731

Best Bowling Alley

• Best of the best: Lakeside Lanes 2171 Candia Road in Manchester, lakesidelanes.com, 627-7722
• Merrimack 10 Pin 698 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, merrimacktenpin.com, 429-0989
• King Lanes 751 Mast Road in Goffstown, kinglanes.com, 623-9515
• Leda Lanes 340 Amherst St. in Nashua, ledalanes.com, 889-4884
• Yankee Lanes 216 Maple St. in Manchester, manchester.yankeelanesentertainment.com, 625-9656

Best Comic Book Shop

Best of the best: Double Midnight Comics 252 Willow St. in Manchester, dmcomics.com, 669-9636
Double Midnight Comics 341 Loudon Road in Concord, dmcomics.com, 715-2683
 Southern NH’s premiere source for the latest and greatest comics and games!

• Merrymac Games & Comics 550 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, merrymacgc.com, 420-8161
• Pop Culture Card Comics and Collectibles 66 Route 27 in Raymond, popculturenh.com, 244-1850
• Jetpack Comics 37 N. Main St. in Rochester, jetpackcomics.com, 330-XMEN (9636)

Best Mini Golf

• Best of the best: Mel’s Funway 454 Charles Bancroft Hwy. in Litchfield, melsfunwaypark.com, 424-229. Opens in April.
• Chuckster’s Ice Cream & Miniature Golf 53 Hackett Hill Road in Hooksett, chucksters-hooksett.com, 210-1415. Opens Saturday, April 13.
• Chuckster’s Family Fun Park 9 Bailey Road in Chichester, chuckstersnh.com, 798-3555. Opens Saturday, April 6.
• Captain’s Cove Adventure Golf 814 Lafayette Road in Hampton, smallgolf.com, 926-5011. Opens Saturday, April 20.
• Mini Links at LaBelle Winery 14 Route 111 in Derry, labellewinery.com, 672-9898. Slated to open April 1.

Best Place to Learn How to Make Something Cool

• Best of the best: Studio 550 Arts Center (550 Elm St. in Manchester, 550arts.com, 232-5597) Learn to sculpt clay, stain some glass, or make 2D artforms like watercolor, acrylics or pastels.

Manchester Craft Market (Mall of New Hampshire, 1500 S. Willow St. in Manchester, manchestercraftmarket.com, 606-1351) Learn how to use alcohol ink, wire-wrap gemstones or mold polymer clay. If you can craft it there is probably a workshop for it here.

• You’re Fired (25 S. River Road in Bedford, yourefirednh.com, 641-3473) A walk-in-friendly establishment where you can create and paint your own pottery.
• Cooking School at Tuscan Market (9 Via Toscana in Salem, tuscanbrands.com, 912-5467) Create the perfect spaghetti sauce and learn which wines to pair with it. A myriad of Italian-style cooking courses are available.
• The Canvas Roadshow (25 S. River Road in Bedford, thecanvasroadshow.com, 913-9217) Offers classes and events for painting, glass art, wood staining and more.

Best Place to Totally Geek Out

• Best of the best: Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, 669-4820)
• Boards and Brews (941 Elm St. in Manchester, boardsandbrewsnh.com, 232-5184) Play almost any board game that has ever been created while drinking beer and sharing food with friends.
• Granite State Comicon (700 Elm St. in Manchester, granitecon.com, 669-9636) Slated for Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22. Head to this Con to meet comic book artists and authors, game creators, actors and more, while enjoying costume contests and parties. Tickets are already on sale, including for weekend passes and VIP packages that include early entry and a goodie bag.
• Pop Culture (66 Route 27 in Raymond, popculturenh.com, 244-1850) Your one-stop shop for all things 40k, Magic The Gathering, RPGs, comic books and much more.
• Awesome Cards, Collectibles & Games (123 Nashua Road in Londonderry, awesomeccg.com, 404-6996) Anything from Pokemon card games to Dungeons & Dragons, if you can play it on a tabletop, you can find it here.
• Diversity Gaming (1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, diversitygaming.store, 606-1176) Set up your favorite board game with friends in one of four private rooms or use free tables where everyone is invited to roll the dice.
• Midgard (55 Crystal Ave. in Derry, midgardhobbiesandgames.com, 260-6180) Come for the tournaments and any type of game your Midgardian heart could desire.

Best Place to Make New Friends

• Best of the best: The Collective Studios 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, thecollective-studios.com, 216-2345
• The Nest Family Cafe 25 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, thenestfamilycafe.com, 404-3512
• Feathered Friend Brewing Co. 231 S. Main St. in Concord, featheredfriendbrewing.com, 715-2347

Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
Join us for Live music 6 nights a week (every night in the summer). Check our website to see who’s playing tonight

• The Hop Knot 1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731

Independent Shop Where You’d Have a Win-the-Lotto Shopping Spree

• Best of the best: Gondwana & Divine Clothing Co. 13 N. Main St. in Concord, gondwanaclothing.com, 228-1101
• Junction 71 707 Milford Road in Merrimack, junction71.wixsite.com/mysite, 213-5201
• League of NH Craftsmen’s gallery 36 N. Main St. in Concord, concord.nhcrafts.org, 228-8171
• Manchester Craft Market Mall of New Hampshire, 1500 S. Willow St. in Manchester; 606-1351, manchestercraftmarket.com
• The Terracotta Room 1361 Elm St., Suite 102, in Manchester, theterracottaroom.com, 935-8738

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Nightlife

Best Restaurant, Brewery or Bar for Live Music

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Derryfield Restaurant 625 Mammoth Road in Manchester, thederryfield.com, 623-2880
• The Shaskeen Pub and Restaurant 909 Elm St. in Manchester, shaskeenirishpub.com, 625-0246
• Backyard Brewery and Kitchen 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• Strange Brew Tavern 88 Market St. in Manchester, strangebrewtavern.net, 666-4292

Best Live Music Venue

• Best of the best: Tupelo Music Hall 10 A St. in Derry, tupelomusichall.com, 437-5100
• BankNH Pavilion 72 Meadowbrook Lane in Gilford, banknhpavilion.com, 293-4700
• The Rex Theatre 23 Amherst St. in Manchester, palacetheatre.org/venues/rex-theatre, 668-5588
• The BNH Stage 16 S. Main St. in Concord, ccanh.com/bank-nh-stage, 225-1111
• Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom 169 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, casinoballroom.com, 929-4100

Best Bar with an Outdoor Deck

• Best of the best: The Derryfield Restaurant 625 Mammoth Road in Manchester, thederryfield.com, 623-2880
• The Backyard Brewery 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill: 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• Bernie’s Beach Bar: 73 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, berniesnh.com, 926-5050
• KC’s Rib Shack: 837 Second St. in Manchester, ribshack.net, 627-7427

Best Bar or Pub

• Best of the best: The Shaskeen Pub and Restaurant 909 Elm St. in Manchester, shaskeenirishpub.com, 625-0246
• The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill: 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• Backyard Brewery and Kitchen: 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• Industry East: 28 Hanover St. in Manchester, industryeastbar.com, 232-6940
• The Hop Knot: 1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731

Best Weekly Bar Event

• Best of the best: Trivia with Heather at The Farm Bar and Grille (1181 Elm St. in Manchester, farmbargrille.com, 641-3276) takes place Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
• Tuesday open mic at KC’s Rib Shack (837 Second St. in Manchester, ribshack.net, 627-7427) is hosted by Paul & Nate with a featured artist from 7 to 8 p.m. and open mic from 8 to 10 p.m.
• Trivia at The Hop Knot (1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731) runs Thursdays at 7 p.m. with Broderick Lang.
• Trivia at Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road in Manchester, chunkys.com, 206-3888) runs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and is 21+. Each week usually has a theme based on a movie or genre of movies or a TV show or music. About once a month on Sunday, there is an all-ages family-friendly trivia night at 6 p.m.
• Music Bingo at Backyard Brewery and Kitchen (1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545) runs Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Best Spot for Some Friendly Competition

• Best of the best: The Rugged Axe 377 S. Willow St. in Manchester, theruggedaxe.com, 232-7846
• Block Party Social 51 Zapora Dr. in Hooksett, blockpartysocial.com, 263-5408
• RelAxe Throwing NH 157 Gay St. in Manchester, relaxethrowing.com, 782-3061
• Axel’s Throw House 4 Bud Way, Unit 2, in Nashua, axelsthrowhouse.com, 212-1778
• Granite State Escape 795 Elm St. in Manchester, escapenh.com, 935-7455

Best Spot for a Cheap Date

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Farm Bar and Grille 1181 Elm St. in Manchester, farmbargrille.com, 641-3276
• The Hop Knot 1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731
• Chunky’s Cinema Pub 707 Huse Road in Manchester, chunkys.com, 206-3888
• The Gyro Spot 1073 Elm St. in Manchester, thegyrospot.com, 218-3869
• Diz’s Cafe 860 Elm St. in Manchester, dizscafe.com, 606-2532
• Penuche’s Ale House 16 Bicentennial Sq. in Concord, facebook.com/penuches.concord, 228-9833

Best Spot for a Group Outing

• Best of the best: Tupelo Music Hall 10 A St. in Derry, tupelomusichall.com, 437-5100
• The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• Boards & Brews 941 Elm St. in Manchester, boardsandbrewsnh.com, 232-5184
• Axel’s Throw House 4 Bud Way, Unit 2, in Nashua, axelsthrowhouse.com, 212-1778
• Canobie Lake Park 85 N. Policy St. in Salem, canobie.com, 893-3506
• Game Changer Sports Bar and Grill 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, gamechangersportsbar.com, 216-1396
• The Rugged Axe 377 S. Willow St. in Manchester, theruggedaxe.com, 232-7846
• Fisher Cats at Delta Dental Stadium 1 Line Dr. in Manchester, milb.com/new-hampshire/tickets, 641-2005. The season begins April 4.

Best Place to Meet a Blind Date

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Farm Bar and Grille 1181 Elm St. in Manchester, farmbargrille.com, 641-3276
• The Hop Knot 1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731
• Penuche’s Ale House 16 Bicentennial Sq. in Concord, facebook.com/penuches.concord, 228-9833
• Stella Blu 70 E. Pearl St. in Nashua, stellablu-nh.com, 578-5557

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Restaurant

Best Restaurant

• Best of the best: Puritan Backroom 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890 for the restaurant.
• Copper Door 15 Leavy Dr. in Bedford, copperdoor.com, 488-2677
• The Tuckaway Tavern and Butchery 58 Route 27 in Raymond, tuckaway.com, 224-2431
• Revival Kitchen & Bar 11 Depot St. in Concord, revivalkitchennh.com, 715-5723
• Cotton 75 Arms St. in Manchester, cottonfood.com, 622-5488

Best New Eatery

• Best of the best: Stash Box 866 Elm St. in Manchester, stashboxnh.com, 606-8109. Opened October 2023.
• STREET: 76 N. Main St. in Concord, streetfood360.com, 333-2125. Opened October 2023
• Fotia Greek Taverna 401 S. Willow St. in Manchester, fotiagreektaverna.com, 461-3007. Opened September 2023.
• Buba Kitchen 148 N. Main St. in Concord, bubanoodle.com, 219-0064. Opened December 2023.
• Friendly Red’s 111 W. Broadway in Derry, friendlyredstavern.net, 404-6606. Opened July 2023.

Best Fine Dining Restaurant

• Best of the best: Hanover Street Chop House 149 Hanover St. in Manchester, hanoverstreetchophouse.com, 644-2467
• Buckley’s Great Steaks 438 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, buckleysgreatsteaks.com, 424-0995
• Bedford Village Inn 2 Olde Bedford Way in Bedford, bedfordvillageinn.com, 472-2001
• Revival Kitchen and Bar 11 Depot St. in Concord, revivalkitchennh.com, 715-5723
• Cotton 75 Arms St. in Manchester, cottonfood.com, 622-5488

Best Restaurant from which to get Takeout

• Best of the best: Puritan Backroom 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890 for the restaurant.
• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 6, in Londonderry, troysfreshkitchen.com, 965-3411
• Charlie’s of Goffstown 1B Pinard St. in Manchester, charliesgoffstown.com, 606-1835
• Goldenrod Restaurant 1681 Candia Road in Manchester, goldenrodrestaurant.com, 623-9469
• Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com

Best Date Night Restaurant

• Best of the best: Cotton 75 Arms St. in Manchester, cottonfood.com, 622-5488
• Revival Kitchen and Bar 11 Depot St. in Concord, revivalkitchennh.com, 715-5723
• Copper Door 15 Leavy Dr. in Bedford, copperdoor.com, 488-2677
• The Foundry 50 Commercial St. in Manchester, foundrynh.com, 836-1925
• Villaggio Ristorante Italiano 677 Hooksett Road in Manchester, villaggionh.com, 627-2424

Restaurant that Brings the Heat

• Best of the best: Destination India Restaurant and Bar 14A E. Broadway in Derry, destinationindianh.com, 552-3469
• Daw Kun Thai 93 S. Maple St., No. 4, in Manchester, dawkunthai.com, 232-0699
• Curry Leaf 6 Pleasant St. in Concord, curryleafus.com, 715-5746
• A Lot of Thai 360 Daniel Webster Hwy., Unit 121, in Merrimack, alotofthainh.com, 429-8888
• Kashmir Indian Cuisine 396 S. Broadway in Salem, kashmirindianfood.com, 898-3455
• Kathmandu Spice 379 S. Willow St. in Manchester, ktmspice.com, 782-3911

Best Food Truck

• Best of the best: Up in Your Grill Find them in the front parking lot, 526 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, upinyourgrill.com, 493-3191
• The Sleazy Vegan Usually at the Tideline Public House, 15 Newmarket Road in Durham, thesleazyvegan.com, 233-5078
• Teenie Weenies Often at Able Ebenezer Brewing Co., 31 Columbia Circle in Merrimack (find them on Facebook, 403-2336)
• B’s Tacos May through October they’re at the BP Gas Station, 2 Mohawk Dr. in Londonderry, nhtacotruck.com, 622-8200
• Messy Mike’s Barbecue and Catering 161 Rockingham Road in Derry, messymikesbbq.com, 781-710-7832

Restaurant with the Best Outdoor Seating

• Best of the best: The Crown Tavern 99 Hanover St. in Manchester, thecrownonhanover.com, 218-3132
• Backyard Brewery and Kitchen 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• The Derryfield Restaurant 625 Mammoth Road in Manchester, thederryfield.com, 623-2880
• Tuscan Kitchen Salem 19 Via Toscana in Salem, tuscanbrands.com/tuscan-kitchen, 952-4875
• Cheers Grille & Bar 17 Depot St., No. 1, in Concord, cheersnh.com, 228-0180

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Delicious Dishes

Best Barbecue

• Best of the best: KC’s Rib Shack 837 Second St. in Manchester, 627-7427, ribshack.net
• Smoke Haus 278 Route 101 in Amherst, 249-5734, smokehausbbq.com
• Smoke Show Barbecue 231 S. Main St. in Concord, 227-6399, smokeshowbbq.com
• Goody Coles Smokehouse 374 Route 125 in Brentwood, 679-8898, goodycoles.com
• Smoke Shack Cafe 226 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com

Best Breakfast

Best of the best: Tucker’s 95 S. River Road in Bedford, 413-6503; 80 South St. in Concord, 413-5884; 238 Indian Brook Road in Dover, 413-5470; 1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, 206-5757; 360 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 413-6477; 207 Main St. in New London, 413-5528; tuckersnh.com
Serving breakfast and lunch every day with a menu that includes organic, local and gluten free options for all to enjoy.

• Maryann’s Diner 29 East Broadway in Derry, 434-5785; 4 Cobbetts Pond Road in Windham, 965-3066; 3 Veterans Memorial Parkway in Salem, 893-9877; 1 Craftsman Lane in Amherst, 577-8955; maryannsdiner.com
• Janie’s Uncommon Cafe 123 Nashua Road in Londonderry, 432-3100, janiescafe.com
• Riverhouse Cafe 167 Union Sq. in Milford, 249-5556, damngoodgrub.com

Chez Vachon 136 Kelley St. in Manchester, 625-9660, chezvachon.com
Get what you deserve! Comfort food and French Canadian Favorites. Breakfast served all day.

• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 6, in Londonderry, 965-3411, troysfreshkitchen.com

Best Brunch

• Best of the best: The Foundry 50 Commercial St. in Manchester, 836-1925, foundrynh.com
• Tucker’s 95 S. River Road in Bedford, 413-6503; 80 South St. in Concord, 413-5884; 238 Indian Brook Road in Dover, 413-5470; 1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, 206-5757; 360 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 413-6477; 207 Main St. in New London, 413-5528; tuckersnh.com
• The Friendly Toast 4 Main St. in Bedford, 836-8907 (also has a location in Portsmouth); thefriendlytoast.com
• Firefly 22 Concord St. in Manchester, fireflynh.com, 935-9740
• Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com
• Prime at Sky Meadow 6 Mountain Laurels Dr. in Nashua, 888-9000, skymeadow.com

Best Burgers

• Best of the best: Papa Joe’s Humble Kitchen 237 South St. in Milford, papajoeshumblekitchen.com, 672-9130
• The Barley House 132 N. Main St. in Concord, 228-6363, thebarleyhouse.com
• The Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery 58 Route 27 in Raymond, 244-2431, thetuckaway.com
• River Road Tavern 193 S. River Road in Bedford, 206-5837, riverroadtavernbedford.com
• T-Bones Great American Eatery 25 S. River Road in Bedford, 641-6100; 404 S. Main St. in Concord, 715-1999; 39 Crystal Ave. in Derry, 434-3200; 77 Lowell Road in Hudson, 882-6677; 311 South Broadway in Salem, 893-3444; 1182 Union Ave. in Laconia, 528-7800; t-bones.com
• Vibes Gourmet Burgers 25 S. Main St. in Concord, 856-8671, vibes-burgers.com

Best Burrito

• Best of the best: California Burritos Mexican Grill: 655 S. Willow St., Suite 103, in Manchester, 722-2084; 2 Cellu Drive in Nashua, 417-6151; 101 Factory St. in Nashua, 718-8745; 35 Lowell Road in Hudson, 402-2130; californiaburritosnh.com
• La Carreta Mexican Restaurant 139 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua, 891-0055; 1875 S. Willow St. in Manchester, 623-7705; 545 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 628-6899; 44 Nashua Road in Londonderry, 965-3477; 35 Manchester Road, Suite 5A in Derry, 421-0091; 172 Hanover St. in Portsmouth, 427-8319; lacarretamex.com
• Dos Amigos 26 N. Main St. in Concord, 410-4161, dosamigosburritos.com
• Los Reyes Street Tacos & More 127 Rockingham Road, Unit 15, in Derry, 845-8327, losreyesstreettacos.com
• Puerto Vallarta Mexican Grill (865 Second St. in Manchester, 935-9182)and Nuevo Vallarta Mexican Restaurant (791 Second St. in Manchester, 782-8762), vallartamexicannh.com

Best Chicken Tenders

• Best of the best: Puritan Backroom Restaurant 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 669-6890, puritanbackroom.com
• Goldenrod Restaurant 1681 Candia Road in Manchester, 623-9469, goldenrodrestaurant.com
• Charlie’s of Goffstown 1B Pinard St. in Manchester, 606-1835, charliesgoffstown.com
• T-Bones Great American Eatery 25 S. River Road in Bedford, 641-6100; 404 S. Main St. in Concord, 715-1999; 39 Crystal Ave. in Derry, 434-3200; 77 Lowell Road in Hudson, 882-6677; 311 South Broadway in Salem, 893-3444; 1182 Union Ave. in Laconia, 528-7800; t-bones.com
• Smoke Shack Cafe 226 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com

Best Fish & Chips

• Best of the best: Lobster Boat 453 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 424-5221; 273 Derry Road in Litchfield, 882-4988; lobsterboatrestaurant.com
• The Peddler’s Daughter 48 Main St. in Nashua, 821-7535, thepeddlersdaughter.com
• Goldenrod Restaurant 1681 Candia Road in Manchester, 623-9469, goldenrodrestaurant.com
• The Beach Plum 3 Brickyard Square in Epping, 679-3200; 8 S. Village Drive in Salem, 458-7266; 2800 Lafayette Road in Portsmouth, 433-3339; 16 Ocean Blvd., North Hampton, 964-7451; thebeachplum.net
• Petey’s Summertime Seafood 1323 Ocean Blvd. in Rye, 433-1937, peteys.com

Best Grilled Cheese

• Best of the best: Patz Deli & Catering 900 Elm St., Suite 102, in Manchester, 644-7289
• Cheese Louise 76 Congress St. in Portsmouth, 427-8615, eatcheeselouise.com
• Copper Door 15 Leavy Dr. in Bedford, 488-2677, copperdoor.com
• Prime Time 119 Hanover St. in Manchester, find them on Facebook or Instagram
• Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com

Where the French Fries Are So Good They Could Be a Whole Meal

• Best of the best: Goldenrod Restaurant 1681 Candia Road in Manchester, 623-9469, goldenrodrestaurant.com
• The Farm Bar & Grille 1181 Elm St. in Manchester, 641-3276, farmbargrille.com
• Puritan Backroom Restaurant 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 669-6890, puritanbackroom.com
• River Road Tavern 193 S. River Road in Bedford, 206-5837, riverroadtavernbedford.com
• Smoke Shack Cafe 226 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com

Best Mac & Cheese

• Best of the best: Mr. Mac’s 497 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 606-1760, mr-macs.com
• The Tuckaway Tavern & Butchery 58 Route 27 in Raymond, 244-2431, thetuckaway.com
• Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive through only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com
• Smoke Shack Cafe 226 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com
• Diz’s Cafe 860 Elm St. in Manchester, 606-2532, dizscafe.com

Best Menu of Pasta Dishes

• Best of the best: Villaggio Ristorante Italiano 677 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 627-2424, villaggionh.com
• Fratello’s Italian Grill 155 Dow St. in Manchester, 624-2022, fratellos.com
• Angelina’s Ristorante Italiano 11 Depot St. in Concord, 228-3313, angelinasrestaurant.com
• Luccianos 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, 432-2442, luccianoscafe.com
• Giorgio’s Ristorante & Bar 524 Nashua St. in Milford, 673-3939; 270 Granite St. in Manchester, 232-3323; 707 Milford Road in Merrimack, 883-7333; giorgios.com

Best Pizza

Best of the best: 900 Degrees 50 Dow St. in Manchester, 641-0900, 900degrees.com
Voted Best Pizza for 17 years! Inspired by the mouthwatering, wood fired pizza native to Naples, Italy. Join us for gourmet pizza, pasta, and salads.

• Alley Cat Pizzeria 486 Chestnut St. in Manchester, 669-4533, alleycatpizzerianh.com
• Vintage Pizza 241 Candia Road in Manchester, 518-7800, vintagepizzanh.com
• Sour Joe’s Pizzeria 5 Pleasant St. Ext. in Concord, 856-7427, sourjoespizzeria.com
• Elm House of Pizza 102 Elm St. in Manchester, 232-5522, elmhop.com

Best Specialty Pizza

• Best of the best: “The House Pie” at Elm House of Pizza 102 Elm St. in Manchester, 232-5522, elmhop.com — “house made tomato sauce, cup and char pepperoni, Italian sausage, dollops of ricotta, three cheese blend, hot honey drizzle.”
• “Bella Cosa” at 900 Degrees 50 Dow St. in Manchester, 641-0900, 900degrees.com — “Roasted garlic cream sauce, Grana Padano, mozzarella, baby spinach, caramelized red onions, rosemary ham, prosciutto, and EVOO.”
• “Saltimbocca” at 900 Degrees 50 Dow St. in Manchester, 641-0900, 900degrees.com — “Roasted garlic cream sauce topped with fresh mozzarella, fontina, roasted chicken, tomatoes, caramelized red onion, prosciutto, torn sage and EVOO.”
• “Meat Lovers” at The Pizza Man Bar & Grill 850 E. Industrial Park Dr., Suite 3, in Manchester, 623-5550; 254 W. River Road in Hooksett, 626-7499; thepizzamandelivers.com — “pepperoni, Italian sausage, ground beef, meatball, ham & extra cheese.”
• “Eagle Square” at Sour Joe’s Pizzaria 5 Pleasant St. Ext. in Concord, 856-7427, sourjoespizzeria.com — “Crushed tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, ricotta dollops, hot honey.”

Best Sandwich

• Best of the best: “Patz melt” at Patz Deli & Catering 900 Elm St., Suite 102, in Manchester, 644-7289 — “Black Angus burger, grilled rye bread, American cheese, brown sugar carmelized onions and garlic pepper aioli”
• Roast Beef Sub at Bentley’s Roast Beef 134 Route 101A, in Amherst, bentleysroastbeef.com, 883-2020 — “4 oz. freshly thin-sliced USDA Choice Midwestern beef on a toasted sesame roll.”
• “Caprese Panini” at The Green Beautiful 168 Wilson St. in Manchester, 606-1026, greenbeautifulcafe.com — “seasonal pesto, tomato, cashew mozzarella and balsamic reduction served on sourdough.”
• “Sabich” at Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com — “grilled lightly breaded eggplant, hummus, hard boiled egg, crunchy cukes, Roma tomatoes, amba sauce, tahini drizzle & schug (cilantro hot sauce) pressed on ciabatta or fresh pita.”
• “Chipotle Steak Grilled Cheese” at Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com — “cheddar, Swiss & American cheese with braised beef short rib, chipotle mayo, applewood smoked bacon & Roma tomatoes pressed on ciabatta bread.”
• “The Wellington” at Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com — “braised beef short rib, roasted mushroom, caramelized onion, demi jus, Gorgonzola cheese crumbles, Swiss, & Boursin spread pressed on ciabatta.”

Best Subs

• Best of the best: Nadeau’s Subs 776 Mast Road, Manchester, 623-9315; 110 Cahill Ave., Manchester, 669-7827; 673 Hooksett Road, Manchester, 644-8888; nadeaussubs.com (there is also a location in Exeter)
• USA Subs 66 Crystal Ave., Derry, 437-1550, usasubs.com
• Patz Deli & Catering 900 Elm St., Suite 102, 644-7289
• Bill Cahill’s Super Subs 8 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson, 882-7710, find them on Facebook @billcahills
• Great American Subs 44 Nashua Road, Unit 3, Londonderry, 434-9900, greatamericansubsnh.com

Best Tacos

• Best of the best: Los Reyes Street Tacos & More 127 Rockingham Road, Unit 15, in Derry, 845-8327, losreyesstreettacos.com
• La Carreta 139 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua; 891-0055, 1875 S. Willow St. in Manchester, 623-7705; 545 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 628-6899; 44 Nashua Road in Londonderry, 965-3477; 35 Manchester Road, Suite 5A, in Derry, 421-0091; 172 Hanover St. in Portsmouth, 427-8319; lacarretamex.com
• Taco Time Cocina & Cantina Mexicana 11 Wilton Road in Milford, 554-1424, tacotimenh.com
• Puerto Vallarta Mexican Grill (865 Second St. in Manchester, 935-9182)and Nuevo Vallarta Mexican Restaurant (791 Second St. in Manchester, 782-8762) vallartamexicannh.com
• Hermanos Cocina Mexicana 11 Hills Ave. in Concord, 224-5669, hermanosmexican.com

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Sweets & Treats

Best Bakery

• Best of the best: Bearded Baking Co. 819 Union St. in Manchester, beardedbaking.com, 647-7150
• Buckley’s Bakery & Cafe 436 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 262-5929; 9 Market Place in Hollis, 465-5522; buckleysbakerycafe.com
• Crosby Bakery 51 E. Pearl St. in Nashua, crosbybakerynh.com, 882-1851
• Frederick’s Pastries 109 Route 101A in Amherst, 882-7725; 25 S. River Road in Bedford, 647-2253; pastry.net
• Klemm’s Bakery: 29 Indian Rock Road in Windham, klemmsbakery.com, 437-8810

Best Blueberry Muffins

• Best of the best: Troy’s Fresh Kitchen & Juice Bar 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 6, in Londonderry, troysfreshkitchen.com, 965-3411
• Buckley’s Bakery & Cafe 436 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 262-5929; 9 Market Place in Hollis, 465-5522; buckleysbakerycafe.com
• The Crust and Crumb Baking Co. 126 N. Main St. in Concord, thecrustandcrumb.com, 219-0763
• Patz Deli 900 Elm St., Suite 102, in Manchester, 644-7289, find them on Facebook
• The Bridge Cafe on Elm 1117 Elm St. in Manchester, thebridgecafe.net, 647-9991
• Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com

Best Candy or Chocolate Shop

Best of the best: Granite State Candy Shoppe 13 Warren St. in Concord, 225-2591; 832 Elm St. in Manchester, 218-3885; granitestatecandyshoppe.com
Locally sourced Ingredients. Premium chocolates From New Hampshire.

• Van Otis Chocolates 341 Elm St. in Manchester, vanotis.com, 627-1611
• Nelson’s Candy and Music 65 Main St. in Wilton, nelsonscandymusic.com, 654-5030
• Loon Chocolate Center Entrance, 195 McGregor St., No. 121, in Manchester, loonchocolate.com, 932-8887
• Dancing Lion Chocolate 917 Elm St. in Manchester, dancinglion.us, 625-4043

Best Cookies

• Best of the best: Bearded Baking Co. 819 Union St. in Manchester, beardedbaking.com, 647-7150
• Black Forest Cafe & Bakery 212 Route 101 in Amherst, blackforestcafeandbakery.com, 672-0500
• The Crust and Crumb Baking Co. 126 N. Main St. in Concord, thecrustandcrumb.com, 219-0763
• Buckley’s Bakery & Cafe 436 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 262-5929; 9 Market Place in Hollis, 465-5522; buckleysbakerycafe.com
• Charlie’s of Goffstown 1B Pinard St. in Manchester, charliesgoffstown.com, 606-1835
• Lighthouse Local 21 Kilton Road in Bedford, lighthouse-local.com, 716-6983

Prettiest Cupcakes

• Best of the Best: Queen City Cupcakes & Gift Shop 816 Elm St. in Manchester, qccupcakes.com, 624-4999
• Carina’s Cakes 14B East Broadway in Derry, facebook.com/Carinas.Cakes, 425-9620
• Frederick’s Pastries 109 Route 101A in Amherst, 882-7725; 25 S. River Road in Bedford, 647-2253; pastry.net
• Cupcakes 101 132 Bedford Center Road in Bedford, cupcakes101.net, 488-5962
• Bearded Baking Co. 819 Union St. in Manchester, beardedbaking.com, 647-7150

Best Doughnuts

• Best of the best: New Hampshire Doughnut Co. 410 S. River Road in Bedford, 782-8968; 2 Capital Plaza in Concord, 715-5097; nhdoughnutco.com
• Klemm’s Bakery 29 Indian Rock Road in Windham, klemmsbakery.com, 437-8810
• Crosby Bakery Inc. 51 E. Pearl St. in Nashua, crosbybakerynh.com, 882-1851
• Brothers Donuts & Deli Shop 426 Central St. in Franklin, facebook.com/brothersdonuts, 934-6678
• The Bakeshop On Kelley Street 171 Kelley St. in Manchester, thebakeshoponkelleystreet.com, 624-3500

Best Ice Cream

• Best of the best: Puritan Backroom Restaurant 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890
• Moo’s Place Homemade Ice Cream 27 Crystal Avenue in Derry; 15 Ermer Road in Salem, 898-0199, moosplace.com, 425-0100
• Hayward’s Ice Cream 7 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua, 888-4663; 364 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 424-5915; haywardsicecream.com
• Goldenrod Restaurant: 1681 Candia Road in Manchester, goldenrodrestaurant.com, 623-9469
• The Inside Scoop: 260 Wallace Road in Bedford, theinsidescoopnh.com, 471-7009

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Drinks

Best Breakfast or Brunch Cocktails

• Best of the best: The Friendly Toast 4 Main St. in Bedford, 836-8907; 113 Congress St. in Portsmouth, 246-5285; thefriendlytoast.com

Firefly 22 Concord St. in Manchester, fireflynh.com, 935-974

• Tucker’s 95 S. River Road in Bedford, 413-6503; 80 South St. in Concord, 413-5884; 238 Indian Brook Road in Dover, 413-5470; 1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, 206-5757; 360 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 413-6477; 207 Main St. in New London, 413-5528; tuckersnh.com
• Copper Door 15 Leavy Dr. in Bedford, copperdoor.com, 488-2677
• The Foundry 50 Commercial St. in Manchester, foundrynh.com, 836-1925

Best Beer Selection at a Retail Shop

• Best of the best: Bert’s Better Beers 545 Hooksett Road in Manchester, bertsnh.com, 413-5992
• The Packie 88 W. River Road in Hooksett, 518-8069; 581 Second St. in Manchester, 232-1236; thepackienh.com
• The Beer Store 433 Amherst St. in Nashua, 889-2242; 291 South Broadway in Salem, 458-1440; thebeerstorenh.com
• East Derry General Store 50 E. Derry Road in Derry, eastderrygeneralstore.com, 432-5302
• Lazy Dog Beer Shoppe 27 Buttrick Road in Londonderry, lazydogbeer.com, 434-2500

Best New Hampshire Brewery

• Best of the best: 603 Brewery & Beer Hall 42 Main St. in Londonderry, 603brewery.com, 404-6123
• Backyard Brewery and Kitchen 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• Pipe Dream Brewing 49 Harvey Road, Unit 4, in Londonderry, pipedreambrewingnh.com, 404-0751
• Spy Glass Brewing Co. 306 Innovative Way in Nashua, spyglassbrewing.com, 546-2965
• Concord Craft Brewing Co. 117 Storrs St. in Concord, concordcraftbrewing.com, 856-7625

Best New Hampshire Winery

• Best of the best: LaBelle Winery 345 Route 101 in Amherst, 672-9898; 14 Route 111 in Derry, 672-9898; labellewinery.com
• Zorvino Vineyards 226 Main St. in Sandown, zorvino.com, 887-8463
• Fulchino Vineyard 187 Pine Hill Road in Hollis, fulchinovineyard.com, 438-5984
• Flag Hill Distillery & Winery 297 N. River Road in Lee, flaghill.com, 659-2949
• Sweet Baby Vineyard: 260 Stage Road in Hampstead, sweetbabyvineyard.com, 347-1738

Best Cocktail

• Best of the best: Mudslide at Puritan Backroom Restaurant (245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890) This drink is made with Baileys Irish Cream, Kahlua coffee liqueur and vodka and is offered in flavor variations.
• C.R.E.A.M. at Industry East (28 Hanover St. in Manchester, industryeastbar.com, 232-6940) This drink is made with Mi Campo tequila, ancho verde, cucumber, lemon and jalapeño.
• Espresso Martini at Giorgio’s Ristorante & Bar (524 Nashua St. in Milford, 673-3939; 270 Granite St. in Manchester, 232-3323; 707 Milford Road in Merrimack, 883-7333; giorgios.com) This drink is made with fresh-brewed espresso and it carries a froth on top.
• Blood Orange Cosmo at Copper Door (15 Leavy Dr. in Bedford, copperdoor.com, 488-2677) This drink is made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, blood orange liqueur, cranberry juice and fresh squeezed lime.
• Margarita at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana (11 Hills Ave. in Concord, hermanosmexican.com, 224-5669) The standard margarita is made with Lunazul tequila, triple sec and a house fresh-squeezed sour mix.

Best Margaritas

• Best of the best: La Carreta Mexican Restaurant (139 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua, 891-0055; 1875 S. Willow St. in Manchester, 623-7705; 545 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 628-6899; 44 Nashua Road in Londonderry, 965-3477; 35 Manchester Road, Suite 5A, in Derry, 421-0091; 172 Hanover St. in Portsmouth, 427-8319; lacarretamex.com) The margarita menu at La Carreta features multiple “signature margaritas” such as the Sangria-Rita, Berry Rita and Pineapple En Fuego.
• Hermanos Cocina Mexicana (11 Hills Ave. in Concord, hermanosmexican.com, 224-5669) The standard margarita is made with Lunazul tequila, triple sec and a house fresh-squeezed sour mix.The menu also features multiple varieties and a build-your-own offering with their extensive tequila menu.
• Puerto Vallarta Mexican Grill (865 Second St. in Manchester, 935-9182)and Nuevo Vallarta Mexican Restaurant (791 Second St. in Manchester, 782-8762; vallartamexicannh.com) offer the same Margaritas Especials menu featuring Wildbery Margarita, Vallarta Margarita, Hot Rita and a cucumber margarita.
• Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry, tupelomusichall.com, 437-5100) The Tupelo offers a classic margarita with tequila, triple sec and sour mix.
• Taco Time Cocina & Cantina Mexicana (1 Wilton Road in Milford, tacotimenh.com, 554-1424) The house margarita is available in strawberry, watermelon, pomegranate, mango, peach, and orange flavors.
• Amigos Mexican Cantina (20 South St. in Milford, amigosmilford.com, 673-1500) Their margarita is made with Lunazul Reposado tequila, triple sec and Jamaican Lime Juice.

Restaurant with the Most Inventive Cocktails

• Best of the best: Industry East (28 Hanover St., in Manchester, industryeastbar.com, 232-6940) Offerings include the Caribbean Kilt (Scotch, amaretto, orange, lime, orgeat and bitters, with a rum float) and Granny Panties (dark rum, Zucca, creme de violette, pineapple, lemon and grapefruit, with celery bitters).
• Stash Box (866 Elm St. in Manchester, stashboxnh.com, 606-8109) Drinks include Religion and Politics (Barr Hill Gin or Peloton Mezcal, ancho, lemon, honey, orange, carrot, and pepper tincture) and Stay Classy (a smoked cocktail with Plantation Stiggin’s Fancy Pineapple Rum and bitters).
• Prime at Sky Meadow (6 Mountain Laurels Dr. in Nashua, skymeadow.com, 888-9000) The menu includes Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Cocktail (Plantation Rum, velvet falernum, freshly squeezed lime juice and Cointreau) and a Gin Basil Smash(gin, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, basil syrup and fresh basil).
• The Hop Knot (1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731) Offerings include the Nova (blueberry vodka, house-made blueberry syrup and lemon) and a Zero-Proof Margarita (agave, lime and alcohol-free tequila).
• Greenleaf (54 Nashua St. in Milford, greenleafmilford.com, 213-5447) The selection includes There’s Something About Rosemary(Uncle Nearest 1884, rosemary red wine reduction and orange bitters) and Fizzy Lifting Drink (prosecco, creme de violette and lemon).

Bar Where They Make You Feel Relaxed as Soon as You Sit Down

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Hop Knot 1000 Elm St. in Manchester, hopknotnh.com, 232-3731
• Industry East 28 Hanover St., in Manchester, industryeastbar.com, 232-6940
• The Shaskeen Pub and Restaurant 909 Elm St. in Manchester, shaskeenirishpub.com, 625-0246
• Stash Box 866 Elm St. in Manchester, stashboxnh.com, 606-8109

Where They Make Your Coffee Perfect Every Time

• Best of the best: Flight Coffee Co. 209 Route 101 in Bedford, flightcoffeeco.com, 836-6228
• Brother’s Cortado 3 Bicentennial Square, Odd Fellows Avenue in Concord, brotherscortado.com, 856-7924
• Revelstoke Coffee 100 N. Main St. in Concord, revelstokecoffee.com, 715-5821
• Hometown Coffee Roasters 80 Old Granite St. in Manchester, hometownroasters.com, 703-2321
• Aroma Joe’s locations include 2 S. Beech St. in Manchester, 518-5409; 527 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 782-7173; 13 Manchester Road in Derry, 552-3581; 71 Calef Hwy. in Lee, 749-7700; 478 W. Main St. in Tilton, 729-0030; 3 Chambers Dr. in Hooksett, 932-2890; 135 Loudon Road in Concord, 715-8109; 214 Fisherville Road in Concord, 565-5497; 171 N. Broadway in Salem, 458-6335; 401 Main St., Suite 112, in Salem, 458-2770; 140 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 459-8702; 2 Paul’s Way in Amherst, 402-1195; 1912 Dover Road in Epsom, 736-0505, and others; aromajoes.com.

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Work Life

Best Spot for a Quick but Tasty Lunch

• Best of the best: Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com
• Patz Deli & Catering 900 Elm St., Suite 102, in Manchester, 644-7289
• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 6, in Londonderry, troysfreshkitchen.com, 965-3411
• The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Bridge Cafe on Elm 1117 Elm St. in Manchester, thebridgecafe.net, 647-9991

Best Place to Order Lunch for the Office when the Boss is Buying

• Best of the best: Pressed Cafe 216 S. River Road in Bedford, 606-2746; 108 Spit Brook Road in Nashua, 718-1250; 3 Cotton Road in Nashua (drive-thru only); 1 Artisan Dr. in Salem, 458-5922; pressedcafe.com
• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen 4 Orchard View Drive, No. 6, in Londonderry, troysfreshkitchen.com, 965-3411
• Puritan Backroom 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890 for the restaurant.
• The Bridge Cafe on Elm 1117 Elm St. in Manchester, thebridgecafe.net, 647-9991
• The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210

Best Happy Hour

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, stumbleinnnh.com, 432-3210
• The Farm Bar and Grille 1181 Elm St. in Manchester, farmbargrille.com, 641-3276
• Feathered Friend Brewing 231 S. Main St. in Concord, featheredfriendbrewing.com, 715-2347
• Tandy’s Pub & Grille 1 Eagle Sq. in Concord, tandyspub.com, 856-7614
• Backyard Brewery and Kitchen 1211 S. Mammoth Road in Manchester, backyardbrewerynh.com, 623-3545
• Hare of the Dawg 3 East Broadway in Derry, hareofthedawgnh.com, 552-3883

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Happenings

Best Food Festival

• Best of the best: Glendi at Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral (650 Hanover St. in Manchester, stgeorgenh.org, 622-9113) is slated for Friday, Sept. 13, through Sunday, Sept. 15.
• Taco Tour in Downtown Manchester (tacotourmanchester.com, 792-4107) is Thursday, May 2, from 4 to 8 p.m.
• Hampton Beach Seafood Festival (on Route 1A in Hampton, seafoodfestivalnh.com, 926-8718) will take place Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8, from noon to 9 p.m.
• Bacon & Beer Festival at Anheuser-Busch Brewery (Outdoor Fields, 221 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, nhbaconbeer.com) will take place Saturday, June 1, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.
• NH Poutine Fest from the Franco-American Centre and held at Anheuser-Busch Biergarten (221 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, nhpoutinefest.com) will take place Saturday, Oct. 12. Sign up for the newsletter to get information about ticket sales.

Best Farmers Market

• Best of the best: Concord Farmers Market takes place Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, on Capitol Street next to the Statehouse Lawn, starting May 4 and running through Oct. 26, according to concordfarmersmarket.com.
• Derry Homegrown Farm & Artisan Market takes place at 1 West Broadway in Derry on Wednesdays, 3 to 7 p.m., beginning June 5, according to derryhomegrown.org.
• Salem NH Farmers Market is open year-round, with the winter market open Sundays, November through April, from 10 a.m through 1 p.m. at the LaBelle Winery, 14 Route 111 in Derry, and the summer market open Sundays, May through October, 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. at the Mall at Rockingham Park, according to salemnhfarmersmarket.org.
• Candia Farmers Market runs every third Saturday, June 15 through Oct. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon at 55 High St. in Candia, according to candiafarmersmarket.org.
• Church St. Farmers Market is at 9 Church St. in Deerfield and is open two Saturdays a month June through October (only once in September), 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., starting June 8, according to churchstmarket.com.

Event That Puts the “Fun” in Fundraiser

• Best of the best: Glendi at Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral (650 Hanover St. in Manchester, stgeorgenh.org, 622-9113) is slated for Friday, Sept. 13, through Sunday, Sept. 15.
• Castle in the Clouds Gala (455 Old Mountain Road in Moultonborough, castleintheclouds.org, 476-5900) on Friday, July 12.
• Special Olympics Penguin Plunge (Hampton Beach State Park in Hampton, fundraising.sonh.org/event/penguin-plunge, 624-1250) Next year’s high school plunge will be on Saturday, Feb. 8, and the Penguin Plunge will be on Sunday, Feb. 9.
• Aviation Museum Car Show ( 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, 669-4820) is Saturday, July 13.
• Wags to Whiskers Festival to benefit the Humane Society For Greater Nashua (hsfn.org, 889-2275). Saturday, September 21, at the Anheuser-Busch brewery at 221 Daniel Webster Hwy in Merrimack. See the Humane Society’s website for details.
• NH Renaissance Faire Martin Road in Fremont, nhrenfaire.com, Saturday, May 11, Sunday, May 12, Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19.

Best Community Event

• Best of the best: Market Days Festival on Main Street in Concord will run Thursday, June 20, through Saturday, June 22, according to marketdaysfestival.com.
• Glendi at Saint George’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral (650 Hanover St. in Manchester, stgeorgenh.org, 622-9113) is slated for Friday, Sept. 13, through Sunday, Sept. 15.
• Winter Holiday Stroll in downtown Nashua takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving; see downtownnashua.org.
• Milford Pumpkin Festival takes place on and at locations near the Oval in downtown Milford and will be held Friday, Oct. 11, through Sunday, Oct. 13, according to milfordpumpkinfestival.org.
• Goffstown’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off and Regatta will take place on Main Street in Goffstown on Saturday, Oct. 19, and Sunday, Oct. 20, according to goffstownmainstreet.org.

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Family Fun

Best Place to Take Your Kids

• Best of the best: Aviation Museum of New Hampshire 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, 669-4820
• The Nest Family Cafe 25 Orchard View Dr., Unit 1, in Londonderry, thenestfamilycafe.com, 404-2139
• Fun Spot 579 Endicott St. North, in Laconia, funspotnh.com, 366-4377
• Fun City 553 Mast Road in Goffstown, funcitygoffstown.com, 606-8807
• Canobie Lake Park 85 N. Policy St. in Salem, canobie.com, 893-3506
• Nova Trampoline Park 300 Main St., Suite 402, in Nashua, novanashua.com, 825-4131

Best Outdoor Spot to Let Kids Get Out Their Energy

• Best of the best: Benson Park 19 Kimball Hill Road in Hudson, hudsonnh.gov/bensonpark, 886-6018
• Livingston Park 156 Hooksett Road in Manchester, manchesternh.gov/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks-Trails-and-Facilities/Parks/Livingston-Park, 624-6444
• Hampton Beach in Hampton, hamptonbeach.org
• Mel’s Funway Park 454 Charles Bancroft Hwy. in Litchfield, melsfunwaypark.com, 424-2292
• White Park 1 White St. in Concord, concordnh.gov/facilities/facility/details/White-Park-21, 225-8690

Best Spot for All-Ages Family Fun

• Best of the best: Canobie Lake Park 85 N. Policy St. in Salem, canobie.com, 893-3506
• Aviation Museum of New Hampshire 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, 669-4820
• The Nest Family Cafe 25 Orchard View Dr., Unit 1, in Londonderry, thenestfamilycafe.com, 404-2139
• Fun Spot 579 Endicott St. North in Laconia, funspotnh.com, 366-4377
• Mel’s Funway Park 454 Charles Bancroft Hwy. in Litchfield, melsfunwaypark.com, 424-2292
• Hampton Beach in Hampton, hamptonbeach.org

Best Restaurant for the Whole Family

• Best of the best: Puritan Backroom 245 Hooksett Road in Manchester, puritanbackroom.com, 669-6890 for the restaurant.
• T-Bones Great American Eatery 39 Crystal Avenue in Derry, t-bones.com, 434-3200
• The Nest Family Cafe 25 Orchard View Dr., Unit 1, in Londonderry, thenestfamilycafe.com, 404-2139
• T-Bones Great American Eatery 25 S. River Road in Bedford, t-bones.com, 641-6100
• The Common Man Merrimack 304 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, thecman.com, 429-3463

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Pets

Best Doggie Day Care

• Best of the best: All Dogs Gym & Inn 505 Sheffield Road, Manchester, 669-4644, alldogsgym.com

American K9 Country 336 Route 101, Amherst, 672-8448, americank9country.com

• Chewie’s Playland 472 Amherst St., No. 24, Nashua, 921-1875; 217 W. Hollis St., Nashua, 921-0745; chewiesplayland.com
• Superdogs Daycare 637 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 424-1515, superdogsdaycare.com
• Pawquet’s Play & Stay 302 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, 216-1147, pawquetsplaystay.com

Best Dog Groomers

• Best of the best: Sarah’s Paw Spa 16 Manning St., Derry, 512-4539, find them on Facebook @sarahspawspa
• D’Tails Dog Grooming 178 Route 101 in Bedford, 703-6288, find them on Facebook
• Wag Grooming Salon & Spa 15 Ermer Road in Salem, 898-0924, wagplace.com
• Grooming at Tiffany’s 127 Rockingham Road, Derry, 432-8000, groomingattiffanys.com
• Woofmeow 19 Manchester Road, Suite A, Derry, 965-3218, woofmeownh.com

Best Pet Retail Store

• Best of the best: Woofmeow 19 Manchester Road, Suite A, Derry, 965-3218, woofmeownh.com
• Pets Choice 454 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 424-7297, petschoicenh.com
• The Wholistic Pet 341 Route 101, Bedford, 472-2273, thewholisticpet.com
• Sandy’s Pet Food Center 141 Old Turnpike Road, Concord, 225-1177, sandyspetfood.com
• State Line Pet Supply 137 Plaistow Road, Plaistow, 382-6873, statelinepetsupply.com

Best Place to Let Your Dog Off Leash

• Best of the best: Hudson Dog Park inside Benson Park, 19 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson, 886-6000, hudsonnh.gov
• Derry Dog Park Fordway and Transfer Lane, Derry, 432-6136, derrynh.org
• Hooksett Dog Park 101 Merrimack St., Hooksett, 485-8471, hooksett.org. This park is open daily from 6 a.m. to dusk.
• Nashua Dog Park One Groton Road (Route 111A) in Nashua, nashuadog.org (where you can find information about membership)
• Bear Brook Canine Camp a fenced area designed for private, pre-booked play in Allenstown; book a time at sniffspot.com
• Raymond Dog Bark Park in Riverside Park (98 Sundeen Parkway in Raymond), raymondnh.gov/riversidepark

Best On-Leash Dog Outing

• Best of the best: Benson Park 19 Kimball Hill Road, Hudson, hudsonnh.gov/bensonpark
• Mine Falls Park Whipple Street, Nashua, 589-3370, nashuanh.gov
• Lake Massabesic Trail a 3.7-mile loop with parking in the Massabesic Center parking lot (though dogs are not allowed on any Audubon trails), according to alltrails.com
• Benedictine Park on Wallace Road in Bedford, featuring 27.4 acres of active and passive recreational land and walking trails that are just under a mile, according to bedfordnh.myrec.com
• New Boston Rail Trail a 4-mile rail trail with a trail head at Lang Station (Gregg Mill Road in New Boston); see nbrailtrail.com
• Windham Rail Trail windhamrailtrail.org, 4.1 miles of trail

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Beauty & Wellness

Best Barber

• Best of the best: Homegrown Barber Co. 18 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, homegrownbarber.com, 818-8989
• Lucky’s Barbershop 50 S. State St. in Concord, luckysbarbershop.biz, 715-5470
• Polished Man Barbershop & Lounge 707 Milford Road, No. 3A, in Merrimack, thepolishedman.com, 718-8427
• Polished Man Barbershop & Lounge 178 Route 101 in Bedford, thepolishedman.com, 233-7991
• Dude’s Barbershop 1328 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, dudesbarbershop.com, 626-0533

Best Salon

• Best of the best: Blank Canvas Salon 1F Commons Dr. in Londonderry, find them on Facebook, 818-4294
• Pellé Medical Spa 159 Frontage Road in Manchester, pellemedicalspa.com, 627-7000
• Salon Bogar 25 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, salonbogar.com, 434-2424
• Color Trends Hair Salon 25 Merritt Parkway in Nashua, colortrendshairsalon.com, 880-7504
• Topknot Salon and Spa 1 Nashua St. in Milford, topknotnh.com, 212-6863

Best Spa

Best of the best: Renew MediSpa 23B Crystal Avenue in Derry, renewmedispa.com, 931-4345
Redefine The Way You Age To Look and Feel Your Best. Advanced Anti-Aging Technology Combined with Experienced Care

• Chill Spa 1224 Hanover St. in Manchester, chillspa.com, 622-3722
• Pellé Medical Spa 159 Frontage Road in Manchester, pellemedicalspa.com, 627-7000
• Innovations Salon and Spa 228 Naticook Road in Merrimack, innovationsnh.com, 880-7499
• Serendipity Day Spa and Float Studio 23 Sheep Davis Road in Pembroke, serendipitydayspa.shop, 229-0400

Where They Do a Good Brow

• Best of the best: Renew MediSpa 23B Crystal Avenue in Derry, renewmedispa.com, 931-4345
• Pellé Medical Spa 159 Frontage Road in Manchester, pellmedicalspa.com, 627-7000
• Art of Eyebrows 449 Amherst St. in Nashua, 888-2186; 1500 S. Willow St., Mall of New Hampshire, in Manchester, 624-1414; Pheasant Lane Mall, 310 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Nashua, 864-8679; 1 Mall Road in Salem, 898-2444; Art of Beauty, 291 S. Broadway, Suite 3A, in Salem, 898-1212; artofeyebrows.com
• Beauty Works 123 Nashua Road in Londonderry, beautyworksnh.com, 275-8672
• Kriss Cosmetics 145 S. Main St. in Manchester, krisscosmetics.com, 624-2333

Where They Make Your Nails Look Fabulous

• Best of the best: Glossy Nails 1 S. River Road in Bedford, 935-8383; 655 S. Willow St. in Manchester; glossynails.net
• Exotic 9 Nails 30 Crystal Avenue, Suite 6, in Derry, exotic9nails.com, 425-7731
• Chill Spa 1224 Hanover St. in Manchester, chillspa.com, 622-3722
• 9 Nails and Spa Salon 7 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 9nailsandspasalon.com, 216-1668
• Beautiful Nails 1525 S Willow St., Suite 2, in Manchester, 232-4700, find them on Facebook

Best Tattoo Shop

• Best of the best: New Inkland Tattoo Co. 1358 Elm St. in Manchester, 518-7493, find them on Facebook
• Tattoo Angus 179 Elm St., Unit C, in Manchester, tattooangus.com, 935-9398
• Underworld Tattoo Co. 282 Main St. in Salem, 458-7739, find them on Instagram or Facebook
• Capital City Tattoo 8 N. Main St. in Concord, capcitytat.com, 224-2600
• Wayne’s Tattoo World 6 West Broadway in Derry, waynestattooworld.com, 432-4828

Best Workout Space

• Best of the best: Collective Studios 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, thecollective-studios.com, 216-2345
• Executive Health and Sports Center 1 Highlander Way in Manchester, ehsc.com, 668-4753)
• Dynamic Strength & Conditioning 115 Northeastern Blvd. in Nashua, dynamicsc.com, 882-2348
• The Workout Club 18 Orchard View Dr., Unit 2, in Londonderry, theworkoutclub.com/londonderry, 434-6565 (there are also locations at 16 Pelham Road in Salem and 35 Hamel Dr. in Manchester)

Hampshire Hills Athletic Club 50 Emerson Road in Milford, hampshirehills.com, 673-8123

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Shopping

Best Place to Buy Jewelry

• Best of the best: Bellman’s 1650 Elm St. in Manchester, bellmans.com, 625-4653
• Princess Jewelers 55 Crystal Ave., Unit 5, in Derry, princessnh.com, 247-3773
• Day’s Jewelers 66 March Ave. in Manchester, 641-0034; 567 Amherst St. in Nashua, 595-2780; daysjewelers.com
• Jonathan’s Jewelers 460 Route 101 in Bedford, jonathansjewelers.com, 471-2828
• Richters Jewelry & Design Studio 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 16, in Londonderry, richtersjewelry.com, 437-2655

Best Independent Shop to Buy Clothes or Shoes

• Best of the best: Alec’s Shoes 1617 Southwood Dr. in Nashua, alecs-shoes.com, 882-6811

Gondwana and Divine Clothing 13 N. Main St. in Concord, gondwanaclothing.com, 228-1101

• Alapage 25 S. River Road in Bedford, alapageboutique.com, 625-5601
• Joe King’s Shoes 45 N. Main St. in Concord, joekings.com, 225-6012
• George’s Apparel 675 Elm St. in Manchester, georgesapparel.com, 622-5441

Best Secondhand Store

• Best of the best: Corey’s Closet 1329 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, coreyscloset.org, 722-2712
• M&C Clothing and Gifts 135 Route 101A in Amherst, mcclothingandgifts.com, 886-6727
• Kelly’s Kloset in Hooksett, kellysklosetllc.com
• Lilise Designer Resale 7 N. Main St. in Concord, liliseresale.com, 715-2009
• Outfitters Thrift Store 394 Second St. in Manchester, fitnh.org/outfitters, 641-6691

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Outdoors

Best Farm for Pick Your Own

• Best of the best: Sunnycrest 59 High Range Road in Londonderry, sunnycrestfarmnh.com, 432-9652
• Mack’s Apples 230 Mammoth Road in Londonderry, 432-3456, macksapples.com
• Lull Farm 65 Broad St. in Hollis, 465-7079, livefreeandfarm.com

Brookdale Fruit Farm 41 Broad St. in Hollis, 465-2240, brookdalefruitfarm.com
Celebrating 177 years! Seasonal PYO: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, 19 varieties of apples and pumpkins. Check our website for the latest picking options.

• J&F Farms 108 Chester Road in Derry, 437-0535, jandffarms.net

Best City Park

• Best of the best: White Park 1 White St. in Concord, 225-8690, concordnh.gov
• Livingston Park 244 Hooksett Road in Manchester, 624-6444, manchesternh.gov/parks
• Benson’s Park 19 Kimball Hall Road in Hudson, 886-6000, hudsonnh.gov/bensonpark
• Greeley Park Concord Street in Nashua, 589-3370, nashuanh.gov
• Mine Falls Park Whipple Street in Nashua, 589-3370, nashuanh.gov

Best State Park

• Best of the best: Pawtuckaway State Park 128 Mountain Road in Nottingham, 895-3031, nhstateparks.org
• Bear Brook State Park 61 Deerfield Road in Allenstown, 485-9869, nhstateparks.org
• Odiorne Point 570 Ocean Blvd. in Rye, 436-7406, nhstateparks.org
• Wellington State Park 614 W. Shore Road in Bristol, 744-2197, nhstateparks.org
• Hampton Beach 160 Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, 227-8722, nhstateparks.org

Best Bike Trail

• Best of the best: Derry Rail Trail traillink.org, 3.6 miles of paved trail
• Londonderry Rail Trail, londonderrytrails.org, 4.5 miles of trail
• Windham Rail Trail windhamrailtrail.org, 4.1 miles of trail
• Goffstown Rail Trail Goffstown, goffstownrailtrail.org, 5.5 miles of trail
• Nashua Rail Trail Nashua, 12.5 miles of paved trail

Best Hike in Southern New Hampshire

• Best of the best: Mount Monadnock 169 Poole Road in Jaffrey, 532-8862, nhstateparks.org
• Mt. Major in Alton, nhstateparks.org
• Pawtuckaway State Park 128 Mountain Road in Nottingham, 895-3031, nhstateparks.org
• Pack Monadnock in Miller State Park, 13 Miller Park Road in Peterborough, 924-3672, nhstateparks.org
• Mine Falls Park Whipple Street in Nashua, nashuanh.gov, 589-3370

Best Spot for a Long Run

• Best of the best: Mine Falls Park Whipple Street in Nashua, nashuanh.gov, 589-3370
• Goffstown Rail Trail in Goffstown, goffstownrailtrail.org, 5.5 miles of trail
• Londonderry Rail Trail londonderrytrails.org, 4.5 miles of trail
• Windham Rail Trail windhamrailtrail.org, 4.1 miles of trail
• Massabesic Lake area Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail, 27.3 miles of trail from Auburn to Manchester, nhstateparks.org

Best Lake to Canoe or Kayak in

• Best of the best: Lake Massabesic Off Londonderry Turnpike in Manchester, manchesternh.gov, 642-6482
• Pawtuckaway Lake Pawtuckaway State Park, 7 Pawtuckaway Road in Nottingham, 895-3031, nhstateparks.org
• Newfound Lake Wellington State Park, 614 W. Shore Road in Bristol, 744–2197, nhstateparks.org
• Lake Winnipesaukee in Belknap and Carroll counties intheLakes Region, lakewinnipesaukee.net, which says it is the largest lake in New Hampshire
• Squam Lake located in Grafton, Carroll and Belknap counties, lakesregion.org/squam-lake

Best Ski Hill

• Best of the best: Pats Peak Ski Area 686 Flanders Road in Henniker, 428-3245, patspeak.com,
• Loon Mountain 60 Loon Mountain Road in Lincoln, 745-8111, loonmtn.com
• Gunstock 719 Cherry Valley Road in Gilford, 293-4341, gunstock.com
• McIntyre Ski Area 50 Chalet Way in Manchester, mcintyreskiarea.com
• Cannon Mountain Ski Resort 260 Tramway Drive in Franconia, 823-8800, cannonmt.com

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Personalities

Most Inventive Chef

• Best of the best: Chris Viaud at Greenleaf 54 Nashua St. in Milford, 213-5447, greenleafmilford.com
• Bobby Marcotte at The Tuckaway Tavern and Butchery 58 Route 27 in Raymond, 244-2431, thetuckaway.com
• Corey Fletcher at Revival Kitchen & Bar 11 Depot St. in Concord, 715-5723, revivalkitchennh.com
• Scott Ouelette at Canoe Restaurant and Tavern 232 Whittier Hwy. in Center Harbor, canoecenterharbor.com
• Shawn Harris at Prime at Sky Meadow Country Club, 6 Mountain Laurels Dr. in Nashua, 888-9000, skymeadow.com

Restaurant with the Friendliest Staff

• Best of the best: The Stumble Inn Bar & Grill 20 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 432-3210, stumbleinnnh.com
• Prime at Sky Meadow Country Club, 6 Mountain Laurels Dr. in Nashua, 888-9000, skymeadow.com
• The Nest Family Cafe 25 Orchard View Dr., Unit 1, in Londonderry, 404-2139, thenestfamilycafe.com
• Troy’s Fresh Kitchen 4 Orchard View Dr., No. 6, in Londonderry, 965-3411, troysfreshkitchen.com
• Smoke Shack Cafe 226 Rockingham Road in Londonderry, 404-2178, smokeshackcafe.com

Butt-kicking-est Fitness Instructor (in the Good Way)

• Best of the best: Biliana Mihaylova is currently an independent instructor in Concord. You can message her via instagram.com/pop.kween.
• Claudia Michel of The Collective Studios Apple Tree Shopping Center, 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, 216-2345; 125 S. River Road in Bedford, 782-3321; thecollective-studios.com
• Leah Heath of The Collective Studios Apple Tree Shopping Center, 4 Orchard View Dr. in Londonderry, 216-2345; 125 S. River Road in Bedford, 782-3321; thecollective-studios.com
• Tricia Hoyt at Journey Fitness 333 27 Buttrick Road, No. 6, in Londonderry, 247-9334, journeyfitness333.com/Londonderry
• Ashley Oberg at Barre Life 944 Elm St., No. 23, in Manchester, barrelifenh.com

Best Barber

• Best of the best: Traci Evans at Tooky Village Barbershop 12 Maple St., Unit 1, in Concord; 746-2170, tookyvillagebarbershop.net
• Benny D’Ambrosio at The Polished Man Barbershop & Lounge 707 Milford Road, Unit 3A, in Merrimack, 718-8427, thepolishedman.com
• Juliet Lord at Clean Cut Jewels Barbershop 604 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack, 657-6376, cleancutjewels.com
• Erica Juneau at Juneau The Barber 1802 Elm St. in Manchester; find Juneau the Barber on Facebook, 490-2421) Josh Craggy at Lucky’s Barbershop and Shave Parlor 50 S. State St. in Concord, 715-5470, luckysbarbershop.biz

Best Hair Stylist

• Best of the best: Jessica Moll at Lightened & Lifted 22 Greeley St., Suite 10, in Merrimack, lightenednlifted.glossgenius.com
• Mariana Bortolossi at Mari Lossi Hair Studio 40 S. River Road, Unit 63, in Bedford, 782-3908, marilossihairstudio.com
• Aaron Losier at Hairpocalypse 904 Hanover St. in Manchester, 627-4301, hairpocalypse.com
• Tashia Landry at Studio 22 1191 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, 703-7418, vagaro.com/hairbytashia
• Amanda Noonan at Topknot Salon 1 Nashua St. in Milford, 213-6863, topknotnh.com

Friendliest Dentist

• Best of the best: Danielle London of London Family Orthodontics 502 Riverway Place in Bedford, 622-2100, londonfamilyorthodontics.com
• Dr. Elizabeth Spindel and Dr. Victoria Spindel Rubin at Spindel General and Cosmetic Dentistry 862 Union St. in Manchester, 669-9049, elizabethspindel.com
• Leonard M. Attisano, D.M.D. 700 Lake Ave. in Manchester, 668-0227, leonardattisanodmd.com
• Dr. Nicholas C. Rizos at the Office of Dr. Nicholas C. Rizos, D.M.D. 103 Riverway Place in Bedford, 669-4384, drnickdmd.com
• Charles Pipilas, D.D.S. 280 Main St., Suite 311, in Nashua, 881-8280

Friendliest Mechanic

• Best of the best: Chris McNeil in Concord St. Motors 15 Concord St. in Nashua, 882-8642, find them on Facebook
• Bill Morin at Morin’s Service Station 1091 Valley St., Manchester, 624-4427, morinsservicestation.com
• Sean Roaf at In Tune Automotive 4 Lafayette Road in Hampton Falls, 926-6910, intuneauto.net
• Jason Ux at Proficient Automotive 546 Mast Road in Goffstown, 361-4514
• Pete Koster at Second Car Center 181 Rockingham Road in Derry, 432-4200, secondcarcenter.com

Best Local Musical Act

• Best of the best: Jennifer Mitchell The next events on her calendar are JMitch Karaoke on Friday, March 29, at 7 p.m. at Penacook American Legion Post 31; Good Vibes Music Bingo on Monday, April 1, at 6 p.m. at Salona in Manchester and Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m. at Backyard Grill Burgers & Wings in Manchester, and then Jennifer Mitchell Solo Acoustic on Friday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at Hill Top Pizza in Epsom, according to jennifermitchellmusic.com.
• Justin Jordan According to his Facebook page, you can next find Justin on Thursday, March 28, at the Copper Door in Salem from 7 to 10 p.m. and on Friday, March 29, at Luna Bistro in Salem from 7 to 10 p.m.
• Nicole Knox Murphy See her Saturday, March 30, at the Bristol House of Pizza in Bristol from 6 to 8 p.m., according to nkmsings4u.com.
• Small Town Stranded Catch the band Saturday, March 30, from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Derryfield in Manchester, where they will return on Friday, May 10, from 8 to 11 p.m., according to their Facebook page.
• Ramez Gurung A regular at area restaurants; see his Facebook page, facebook.com/ramezmataz, for updates on his shows.

Best Local Comedian

• Best of the best: Bob Marley Bob Marley lives in Maine and regularly performs in New Hampshire — he’ll next be here Thursday, April 11, through Sunday, April 14, during a run of five shows at the Palace Theatres in Manchester. See bmarley.com.
• Juston McKinney McKinney lives in New Hampshire, according to justonmckinney.com, where you can find his schedule packed with New Hampshire and New England shows. Up next is a performance at the Park Theatre in Jaffrey on Friday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. He’ll return to New Hampshire for a show at the Colonial Theatre in Laconia on Saturday, May 25, at 8 p.m.
• Paul Landwehr Check out Landwehr’s Instagram for new comedy clips. He’s scheduled to be at the Rex Theatre in Manchester on Friday, April 5, at the 7:30 p.m. comedy show and the Saturday, July 20, Tupelo Night of Comedy at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry at 8 p.m.
• Matt Barry See Barry Saturday, March 30, at Main Street Grill & Bar in Hillsborough; Thursday, April 4, at the Stone Church in Newmarket and Saturday, May 4, at Chunky’s in Manchester, according to mattbarrycomedy.com.
• Queen City Improv This Manchester-based comedy troupe performs regularly, with upcoming shows at Stark Brewing in Manchester on Monday, April 1 (the first of several first-Monday-of-the-month shows slated at Stark Brewing) and Chunky’s in Manchester on Friday, April 19, according to queencityimprov.com, where you can also find information about their upcoming six-week improv intensive starting April 3.
• Jimmy Dunn Dunn is now Frasier’s Jimmy Dunn, landing a role on the Paramount+ reboot of the sitcom. He is a fixture of the Hampton Beach Comedy Festival, slated for Aug. 14 through Aug. 18, according to jimmydunn.com.

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Living Here

Coolest Historic Site or Monument You Can Visit for Free

• Best of the best: New Hampshire Statehouse (107 N. Main St. in Concord, gencourt.state.nh.us) Self-guided tours are generally available between 8:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., when you may also be able to get a docent-led tour if one is available. For groups of 10 or more, see the website for information on booking a tour.
• Robert Frost Farm Historic Site (122 Rockingham Road in Derry 432-3091, robertfrostfarm.org) opens the New Hampshire home of Robert Frost to visitors from May to October. Admission costs $4 for adult New Hampshire residents and is free for residents who are 65+ or under 17. The grounds and trails around the house and barn are open from dusk to dawn all year, according to nhstateparks.org.
• Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (139 St. Gaudens Road in Cornish, 675-2175, nps.gov/saga) is a 190-acre park featuring the preserved home, gardens, studios and works of American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens (who stayed there during the summers from 1885 to 1897). The park grounds, outdoor monuments and sculptures, gardens and wooded trails are free to visit and open to the public year round, from dusk to dawn. The visitors center and museum buildings are open, with guided tours available, from Memorial Day weekend to Oct. 31. Admission is free for children age 15 and under and for all visitors on Entrance Fee-Free Days (which for 2024 are June 19, Aug. 4 and Sept. 28). Regular admission for adults costs $10.
• Stark Park (550 River Road in Manchester, starkpark.com) is a 30-acre tract that was once the site of the Stark family farm in Manchester’s North End. The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Look for a concert series in July and August and see the website for information on sculptures in the park and the Walk in the Woods map.
• Madison Boulder (in Madison Boulder Natural Area, 473 Boulder Road in Madison, nhstateparks.org) “is a huge granite rock measuring 83 feet in length, 23 feet in height above the ground, 37 feet in width, and weighs upwards of 5,000 tons” that was deposited on the site by a glacier, according to the state parks site.
• The Old Man of the Mountain (Franconia Notch State Park, Exit 34B off Interstate-93, Franconia, oldmannh.org) Get a sense of what was at Old Man of the Mountain Profile Plaza, which recreates the Old Man profile.
• Memorial Arch of Tilton, which is actually on Elm Street in Northfield, was erected in 1882 by Charles Tilton, is made mostly of granite and was modeled on the Arch of Titus in Rome, according to an archives document available at nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com.

Attraction Worth Visiting Again and Again

• Best of the best: Aviation Museum of New Hampshire 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, aviationmuseumofnh.org, 669-4820
• Canobie Lake Park 85 N. Policy St. in Salem, 893-3506, canobie.com
• Flume Gorge (852 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Lincoln, nhstateparks.org/visit/state-parks flume-gorge) is a natural gorge extending 800 feet at the base of Mount Liberty.
• Mount Washington (1598 Mt Washington Auto Road in Sargent’s Purchase, nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/mt-washington-state-park) is the highest peak in the northeastern U.S.
• Currier Museum of Art 150 Ash St. in Manchester, 669-6144, currier.org
• Castle in the Clouds 455 Old Mountain Road in Moultonborough, 476-5900, castleintheclouds.org
• Strawbery Banke Museum 4 Hancock St. in Portsmouth, 433-1100, strawberybanke.org

NH Organization You’d Give $1 million to if You Won the Lottery

• Best of the best: Aviation Museum of New Hampshire 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org
• The New Hampshire Food Bank a program of Catholic Charities NH, 700 E. Industrial Park Dr. in Manchester, 669-9725, nhfoodbank.org
• Manchester Animal Shelter 490 Dunbarton Road in Manchester, 628-3544, manchesteranimalshelter.org
• CASA of New Hampshire 138 Coolidge Ave. in Manchester, 626-4600, casanh.org
• Animal Rescue League of NH 545 Route 101 in Bedford, 472-3647, rescueleague.org

NH Person, Place or Thing You Want to Say Thank You To

• Most thanked: Gov. Chris Sununu, who will finish his fourth term as governor in January 2025
• Readers’ moms and/or dads
• Justin Spencer of the band Recycled Percussion and the TV show Chaos & Kindness
• Jeff Rapsis, executive director of the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire, who also performs live music to accompany screenings of silent films (see silentfilmlivemusic.blogspot.com) (and is a Hippo associate publisher)
• All first responders
• Journey 333 — “Tricia and Janice at Journey Fitness 333 in Londonderry, N.H., for helping me gain my confidence back and being the sweetest people!” said one reader
• The Old Man of the Mountain — “Thank you for looking over us for so long. Rest in Peace!!!” said one reader
• Tupelo Music Hall — “for keeping music alive,” said one reader
• Fritz Wetherbee, who appears on WMUR’s New Hampshire Chronicle

Your Favorite New Hampshire Fun Fact

Most favorite: That our motto is “Live Free or Die”

• New Hampshire has the shortest coastline of any coastal U.S. state
• We (still, mostly) have the first-in-the-nation presidential primary
• The one-time existence of the Old Man in the Mountain (RIP)
• We have no sales or income tax
• Chicken tenders were invented here
• First man in space Alan Shepard was from New Hampshire (born in Derry)
• Elm Street in Manchester is the longest dead-end street in the U.S.
• New Hampshire had the first free tax-supported public library in the nation (as explained by peterboroughtownlibrary.org).
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was created in New Hampshire (in Dover, where there are public markers about the Turtles’ creation including a manhole cover, dover.nh.gov).

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Things We Forgot to Ask About

Best NH Food Product

Laurel Hill Jams and Jellies (laurelhilljams.com) offers a wide variety of flavors: fruit (such as strawberry rhubarb, Marvelous Multiberry, Raspberry Lavender), Summit Wines (Rosé, Pinotage, Moscato), tea (Earl Grey, chamomile) and spirits (Captain Banana’s Jam, Screwdriver Jelly). In 2023, Rachel Mack and Sara Steffensmeier took over from founder Sue Stretch. See the website for all the offerings.

Best Children’s Birthday Party Business That Comes to You

Party Palace (apartypalace.com) will bring Ana and Elsa, the Encanto sisters, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Princess Leia or the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, along with other characters, to your parties. They also offer theme parties such as Galactic Knight training camp and dinosaur expedition.

Best Dance Studio

Dimensions in Dance (84 Myrtle St. in Manchester; dimensionsindance.com, 668-4196) offers camps and classes for the youngest dancers (“Twos in Tutus”) through adult. Dimensions is also the home of Ballet Misha, a dance company that presents productions such as the run of The Nutcracker that was performed at the Dana Center in December.

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Compiled by Amy Diaz
adiaz@hippopress.com

Spring is full of awesomeness.

Spring officially began March 19 and unofficially ends Memorial Day weekend when we start to slide into summer mode. Between now and then there are oodles of fun indoor, outdoor, artsy, music-y, foodie, bookworm-ish things happening. Here are 99 to consider putting on your calendar.

1. Golf! In a Facebook post last week, Derryfield Golf Course & Country Club (625 Mammoth Road in Manchester; derryfieldgolf.com, 669-0235) announced that nine holes would open on March 18. Call or go online to book a tee time.

2. Watch some indoor hockey action at the Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24, at Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett. The games are free to watch. See blackicepondhockey.com and the event’s Facebook page for schedule updates.

3. Skate! Kick off your weekend at Remix Skate & Event Center (725 Huse Road in Manchester; skateremix.com, 912-7661), which offers all-ages roller skating from 3 to 8 p.m. and 18+ Friday Night Flashbacks from 8:30 to 11 p.m., with a DJ — on Friday, March 22, the scheduled DJ is DJ Steve Fox, according to the venue’s Facebook page. Tickets for the adult portion of the evening cost $20 (which includes skate rental). See the website for tickets and for the rest of the week’s schedule.

4. Get kooky at the Pinkerton Players production of The Addams Family at the Stockbridge Theatre (44 N. Main St. in Derry; stockbridgetheatre.showare.com) on Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $15.

5. Root for the lacrosse teams at Southern New Hampshire University. The men’s team’s next home game is scheduled for Saturday, March 23, at 1 p.m. at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium on the SNHU campus (the stadium is on Victory Lane in Hooksett) versus American International College. The women’s next home game is Friday, March 22, at 5 p.m. versus Franklin Pierce University. Regular season games are free to attend; see snhupenmen.com for the full schedule.

6. Get more maple. Ben’s Sugar Shack (8 Webster Hwy. in Temple; bensmaplesyrup.com) continues its tours of the syrup operation on Saturday, March 23, and Sunday March 24, as well as Saturday, March 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the website.

7. Catch Rivier Raiders men’s baseball on Sunday, March 30, when they play a doubleheader against Norwich at noon and 3 p.m. at Historic Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St. in Nashua). The women’s softball team plays at Raider Diamond and their first home games will be against Fitchburg State on Saturday, March 23, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Games are free to attend. See rivierathletics.com.

8. Cheer the Rivier College Raiders men’s and women’s lacrosse teams. The next home game for the men’s lacrosse team will be Saturday, March 23, at noon, on Joanne Merrill Field at Linda Robinson Pavilion when they face Dean College. The women’s team’s next home game is Saturday, March 30, at noon when they face New England College. The games are free to attend. See rivierathletics.com.

9.Watch the Southern New Hampshire University Penmen baseball team play the Saint Anselm Hawks at Penmen Field on Wednesday, March 27, at 3 p.m. The women’s softball team will play a doubleheader against Mercy University at home on Saturday, March 23, with games at noon and 2 p.m. at the SNHU Softball Field (on Eastman Drive). The women will then play American International College on Sunday, March 24, at noon and 2 p.m. See snhupenmen.com for the schedule.

10. Catch Avenged Sevenfold with special guests Poppy and Sullivan King on Saturday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. at the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St. in Manchester; snhuarena.com). Tickets cost $34.95 through $129.95.

11. Laugh at the Mike Koutrobis Comedy Special Recording onSaturday, March 23, at 8 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St.; nashuacenterforthearts.com). Tickets cost $27. See the story on page 36.

12. Hear the Sounds of Seattle, a show featuring Five Against None (a Pearl Jam tribute band) and Song Garden (a Chris Cornell tribute band) on Saturday, March 23, at 9 p.m. at Angel City Music Hall (179 Elm St. in Manchester; angelcitymusichall.com). Tickets cost $10 for this 21+ show. See the website for Angel City’s full line-up this spring, including Legends of Rock night on Saturday, April 27, featuring tributes to AC/DC, Social Distortion and the Ramones.

13. Keep the St. Patrick’s Day spirit going at the Manchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday, March 24, at noon on Elm Street stepping off from Salmon and Elm streets and heading to Central and Elm streets, according to saintpatsnh.com. The Citizens Shamrock Shuffle, a 2-mile run/walk on Elm Street, starts at 11 a.m. (with a Lil’ Leprechaun Run for ages 8 and under at 10:30 a.m); see millenniumrunning.com/shamrock for details on the race and to register.

14. Listen to author Chris Bohjalian discuss his works including his newest book The Princess of Las Vegas in conversation with NHPR’s Rick Ganley on Wednesday, March 27, at 7 p.m. at BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $39 for one person and one hardcover copy of The Princess of Las Vegas or $49 for two admissions and one book. Author Julia Alvarez will also appear on the BNH Stage this spring on Monday, April 15, at 7 p.m. In the Chubb Theatre, also part of the Capitol Center for the Arts’ stages, author David Sedaris will talk on Sunday, April 21, at 7 p.m. and author Erik Larson will discuss his work on Tuesday, May 21, at 7 p.m.

15. Enjoy “An Evening of A Capella with Tonehenge and the Afternotes” on Wednesday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord; theaudi.org). Admission is free, doors open at 7 p.m. Other shows at the Audi this spring include William Florian in Concord on April 13 and The Shana Stack Band on April 24.

16. Read readers’ picks! Hippo’s Best of 2024 is slated to hit streets next week, Thursday, March 28. Get all the winners in categories like best pizza, best margarita, best doughnut and some things that have nothing to do with food.

17. Thou shalt check out Cecil B. DeMille’s first crack at The Ten Commandments, the 1923 silent film that blends the story of Moses with a modern (1920s modern) story, which will screen with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m. at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $10.

18. Watch the movies of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Friday, March 29, with a reception at 6 p.m. and screening at 7 p.m. at the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). See the website for different ticket packages including an online-only option.

19. Put on your fuzzy ears and your unicorn horn for a presentation of Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn by the book’s author Shannon Hale and illustrator LeUyen Pham, creators of the Kitty-Corn series, on Friday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord; gibsonsbookstore.com). Other author events this spring include Howard Mansfield for his book I Will Tell No War Stories on April 25 and Jilly Gagnon with her book Love You, Mean It on May 7.

20. Shop Concord’s Giant Indoor Yard Sale on Saturday, March 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord), according to the arena’s schedule of events.

21. Get some Saint Anselm College Hawks lacrosse. The women’s team’s next home game is Saturday, March 30, at noon against the D’Youville University Saints. The men’s team will play its next home game on Saturday, March 30, at 3:30 p.m. versus the Bentley University Falcons. Both games take place at Grappone Stadium on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester. See saintanselmhawks.com. Games are free to attend.

22. Cheer on the Saint Anselm College Hawks baseball team, whose upcoming home games include Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, at noon, both at Sullivan Park on the Saint Anselm College campus in Manchester. The women’s softball team will play their next home games on Saturday, March 30, at noon and 2 p.m., both against the Assumption Greyhounds, at the South Athletic Fields on the Saint Anselm College campus. See saintanselmhawks.com. Games are free to attend.

23. Root for your faves at Road to WrestleMania on Saturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. at the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St. in Manchester; snhuarena.com). Tickets cost $30 to $125.

24. Enjoy a chocolate bunny or a full brunch buffet with the many Easter eats offerings. Easter Sunday is March 31; check out all the dine-in and takeout food offerings in this week’s Hippo on page 26.

25. Laugh with the Queen City Improv troupe. They will perform on Monday, April 1, at Stark Brewing Co. (500 Commercial St. in Manchester) from 7 to 9 p.m. Or catch them at Chunky’s (707 Huse Road in Manchester; chunkys.com) on Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m., where tickets cost $20. See all of their upcoming shows at queencityimprov.com.

26. Listen to a conversation between writers Joe Hill and Michael Koryta, who writes under the name Scott Carson, on Monday, April 1, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St. in Nashua). Tickets cost $10 for general admission, $39 for admission and a book. See nashualibrary.org.

27. Try new brews during NH Craft Beer Week 2024, running Thursday, April 4, through Saturday, April 13. The week will feature more than 120 events throughout New Hampshire, according to nhbrewers.org, where you can check back for updates of events including Pint Days (April 7-13).

28. Watch lots of movies at the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival, which will run April 4 through April 14, with a bonus week of virtual screenings through April 21. The festival kicks off on Thursday, April 4, with a reception at 5:15 p.m. at the Spotlight Room at the Palace Theatre in Manchester followed by a screening at 7 p.m. of Remembering Gene Wilder. Events take place at theaters and locations throughout the state. See 2024nhjff.eventive.org for this year’s line-up of films and events and the available film ticket packages.

29. Meet Robert Frost when actor Gordon Clapp performs as the poet in Robert Frost: This Verse Businesson Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at the Stockbridge Theatre (44 N. Main St. in Derry; stockbridgetheatre.showare.com). Tickets cost $25 and $30.

30. Catch Club D’Elf on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. at BNH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $30.75 in advance, an additional $5 at the door. The BNH Stage will feature several other concerts this spring including Senie Hunt (in the Cantin Room) on April 7, Mullett on May 18 and the Granite State Blues Challenge on May 19.

31. See Rufus Wainwright perform on Thursday, April 4, at 8 p.m. at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com), one of the venue’s many standout shows this spring. Tickets cost $54 or $59. Other shows on the schedule include Spyro Gyra’s 50th Anniversary tour (March 23 at 8 p.m.), comedy night on April 13, Tusk (Fleetwood Mac tribute) on April 20 and more.

32. Meet Pete the Cat at the Books Alive! event at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) on Friday, April 5, at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. and Saturday, April 6, at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. On both days, play sessions are from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. (the Friday also features “First Friday” play time from 4:15 to 7 p.m.). Admission costs $12.50 for adults and kids over 12 months old, $10.50 for 65+.

33. Shop the Made In NH “Try It & Buy It Expo” scheduled for Friday, April 5, from 1 to 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, April 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Center of New Hampshire Expo Center, DoubleTree By Hilton Manchester Downtown Hotel. Admission costs $8 for adults, $7 for 65+, and is free for kids under 14, according to businessnhmagazine.com/events/made-in-nh-expo, where you can purchase tickets.

34. Sing “bum bum BUM” when So Good: the Neil Diamond Experience tribute show comes to the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) on Friday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $29 to $39.

35. Hear the American Spiritual Ensemble, described as featuring singers, an accompanist and an African drummer having a “repertoire ranging from spirituals to classical to jazz and Broadway numbers highlighting the Black experience” on Friday, April 5, at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Center for the Arts’ Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com). Tickets cost $43.75. The show is one of many concerts at the Cap Center this spring including Buddy Guy on April 12, Gregorian: Pure Chants in Concert on April 20, Straight No Chaser on their Yacht Rock Tour on May 5, and Kansas on May 10.

36. Find new reads, meet authors and get tips for writing your own book at the Derry Author Fest onSaturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway, Derry, 432-6140, derrypl.org), which will feature workshops, panels and networking for aspiring authors and dabblers. Attendees can stay all day or just drop in for a session. Book sales and signings are interspersed between workshops. The day begins with a keynote address from Virginia MacGregor. See derryauthorfest.wordpress.com/schedule for a detailed schedule.

37. Shop the Capital City Craft Festival on Saturday, April 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, April 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord) featuring more than 100 artisans selling arts, crafts, specialty foods and more, according to castleberryfairs.com. Admission costs $8 for adults, under 14 get in free.

38. Get literary at Exeter Litfest, a free event (donations welcome) on Saturday, April 6, at Exeter Town Hall (Front Street) and Exeter Library (4 Chestnut St.). A kick-off party will be held Friday, April 5, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Exeter Public Library with a free concert by Sharon Jones. Events on Saturday include a Crime and Mystery Brunch at Sea Dog restaurant, tickets required; an event with children’s authors Matt Tavares and Suzanne Slade at the Exeter Public Library at 11 a.m.; poetry readings, writers’ panels and author talks during the afternoon; a book-swap table; and a keynote address with Andre Dubus III at 4 p.m. at Exeter Town Hall. See exeterlitfest.com.

39. Get a taste of the classical music of Spain and Spanish composers at Bolero!, a concert from the New Hampshire Philharmonic on Saturday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 7, at 2 p.m. at the Seifert Performing Arts Center (44 Geremonty Drive in Salem). Tickets cost $5 to $35 and the Sunday show has an online option. See nhphil.org.

40. Watch The Peking Acrobats on Sunday, April 7, at 4 p.m., one of several shows coming to the Nashua Center for the Arts this spring. Tickets cost $29 to $59. See nashuacenterforthearts.com for more on this and other shows such as Preacher Lawson (April 6), Adam Ezra Group (April 20), Rodrigo Y Gabriela (May 5) and more.

41. Get eye protection. There’s going to be a total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, and the Granite State will have a good view of it (weather permitting). Northern New Hampshire will see the sun completely blocked, while the rest of the state will see it mostly blocked. Get your eclipse glasses before they sell out, if you want to look at the sun during the eclipse. Regular sunglasses are not good enough.

Then, check out one of these pre-eclipse events. On Wednesday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m., the New Hampshire Astronomical Society presents “What to Expect from a Solar Eclipse” at Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway, Derry, derrypl.org, 432-6140); register to attend at the library’s website. See nhastro.com for more events from the Astronomical Society. On Tuesday, April 2, from noon to 1 p.m. Plymouth State University professor and planetarium director Dr. Brad Moser presents a “Lunch and Learn” at the Puritan Backroom in Manchester; tickets cost $15 per person, which includes a lunch buffet and a pair of solar eclipse viewing glasses. Get tickets at plymouth-usnh.nbsstore.net/lunch-and-learn-eclipse. And on Wednesday, April 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. the UNH Department of Physics and Astronomy welcomes the public to a free informal all-ages event, “The Science of Solar Eclipses,” on the UNH Durham campus. See extension.unh.edu/eclipse for details and lots of eclipse-related resources.

If you want to go up north for eclipse totality, check out visitnh.gov/solareclipse for viewing tips, event listings, and lodging information to make a night of it.

On eclipse day here in southern New Hampshire, McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord (2 Institute Dr., 271-7827) will have eclipse activities included with general admission from noon to 5 p.m., such as making a pinhole camera, eclipse puzzles and lunar phases wheels. As of March 14, eclipse glasses were still available in the Center’s store, $2.50 per pair. See starhop.com for details and eclipse info. And in Manchester, SEE Science Center will host an eclipse viewing event at Arms Park from 2 to 4:30 p.m. with music from WZID and activities to explain eclipse science. Visit see-sciencecenter.org for eclipse simulation videos and more. SEE’s gift shop has eclipse glasses for $2 per pair.

42. Buy your peanuts and Cracker Jack as the Fisher Cats hit the field for the first home game of the season on Tuesday, April 9, at 6:35 p.m. for the first of six games against the Somerset Patriots. On the schedule for the first games: The first 500 fans at Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games get a magnet Fisher Cats’ schedule, mascot Fungo will get a birthday celebration on Friday (April 12), Saturday’s game (April 13, 4:05 p.m.) will celebrate the team’s 20th anniversary and Sunday’s game (April 14, 1:05 p.m.) will include “Kids Run the Bases” after the game. Other promotions include: Copa La Diversión when the team becomes the Gatos Feroces de New Hampshire (April 25 at 6:35 p.m.); Wizards & Wands on May 9 at 6:35 p.m.; and the Manchester Chicken Tenders night (when the team is briefly rebranded) on May 11 at 4:05 p.m. See milb.com/new-hampshire for the schedule and tickets.

43. Laugh with the comedy of Bob Marley, who will perform five shows at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) Thursday, April 11, through Sunday, April 14. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. every day except Saturday, when shows are at 5:30 and 8 p.m. Tickets cost $43.50.

44. Get poetic at the Nossrat Yassini Poetry Festival, a free weekend of readings, workshops, performances and prize winners hosted by the UNH English Department Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14, at the UNH Durham campus. Get the details at unhpoetry.com/about.

45. See the Majestic Theatre’s production of the comedy Birthday Club, described as “Five women get together for their birthdays, each with her own story, to drink, celebrate, commiserate and support each other,” on Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 13, at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $15 to $20.

46. Enjoy another installment of “A Distant Conversation,” a series looking at the works of two artists, when “Filippo de Pisis and Robert Mapplethorpe: A Distant Conversation” opens on Saturday, April 13 (it runs through Monday, Sept. 2), at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org). April 13 is also the Second Saturday, when admission is free for New Hampshire residents, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

47. Find comics at the Little “Giant” Comics Old School Comics Show (oldschoolcomicshow.com) on Saturday, April 13, at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Tickets cost $15 for general admission, $50 for VIP admission (an hour early at 9 a.m. plus a red carpet entrance and a goodie bag), and for $125 admission that includes a dinner on Friday, April 12, with Jim Steranko (described as “one of the most prolific artists in the history of comics”), according to the website. The show features comic book vendors and comic book artists, including what the show is billing as Venompolooza, a line-up of artists who have worked on Marvel’s Venom comics.

48. Celebrate Earth Day with the Stonyfield Earth Day 5K on Saturday, April 13, at 9 a.m. The race begins and ends at Londonderry’s West Soccer Complex, near the site of the Stonyfield Earth Day Fair. The day will also include a kids’ fun run, vendors, games, a beer garden for ages 21+ and more, according to millenniumrunning.com/stonyfield5k, where you can register.

49. Take the kids to the Nashua Chamber Orchestra’s free family concert on Saturday, April 13, at 2 p.m. at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St. in Nashua). Kids can get an up-close look at the instruments, according to nco-music.org.

50. Catch one or both of the Candlelight concerts at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) on Wednesday, April 17. At 6 p.m. it’s “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and More” and at 8:30 p.m. the show is “A Tribute to Adele.” Tickets to either show cost $43 to $60.

51. Join New Hampshire Roller Derby by checking out the Rookie Camp Meet and Greet on Thursday, April 18, at 6:30 p.m. at the Manchester Ballers Association (3 Sundial Ave. in Manchester), according to a post on the organization’s Facebook page. No experience is necessary. New Hampshire Roller Derby begins its lineup of home games with a mixed public scrimmage on Saturday, May 11, at 5 p.m. at JFK Memorial Coliseum (303 Beech St. in Manchester). See nhrollerderby.com.

52. See Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which will runat the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) Friday, April 19, through Sunday, May 12, with shows on Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and Thursday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $28 to $49.

53. Rediscover vinyl on Record Store Day, Saturday, April 20, when participating stores will have special releases. Locally, participating indie stores include Metro City Records in Manchester, Music Connection in Manchester, Pitchfork Records in Concord, Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough and Bull Moose in Salem, according to recordstoreday.com, where you can find more about the offerings.

54. Search for treasures at the Granite State Trading Cards & Collectibles Show on Saturday, April 20, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Admission costs $5, free for 12 and under. See jimmysplacesportscards.com.

55. Celebrate Earth Day at the New Hampshire Audubon’s Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way in Auburn; nhaudubon.org) on Saturday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The schedule includes a bird walk, amphibian exploration, a wildlife photography tour, the “Where Does It Go” game show, Raptor Encounter, a Caterpillar Lab presentation and an afternoon nature hike as well as attractions throughout the day such as a master gardener, composting demonstrations, upcycled crafts and seed giveaways, according to the website, where you can purchase tickets for $15 for a family of four. The Walking Gourmet food truck is also scheduled to attend.

56. Discover Discover WILD New Hampshire Day hosted by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department (11 Hazen Drive in Concord) on Saturday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free family event features live animals, big fish, trained falcons, archery, bb gun shooting, retriever dog demonstrations, kids’ crafts, hunting and fishing gear and more, according to wildlife.nh.gov/event/discover-wild-new-hampshire-day-2024.

57. Get a view of history when Howard Mansfield discusses his book I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid About World War II on Saturday, April 20, at 2 p.m. at Balin Books (375 Amherst St., Somerset Plaza, in Nashua; balinbooks.com). Other author events at Balin this spring include Maggie Thrash on April 27 and Karen Eber on April 28.

58. Listen to Symphony NH’s presentation “New World: Dvorak and Sparr”featuring Antonin Dvorak’s “Symphony No. 9 in E Minor ‘New World’” and the world premiere of composer D.J. SParr’s “Extraordinary Motion: Concert for Electric Harp” with poet/co-creator Janine Joseph and harpist Rosanna Moore, on Saturday, April 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Keefe Center for the Arts (117 Elm St. in Nashua). Tickets cost $10 to $63. See symphonynh.org.

59. Picture it: Nashua. Sunday, April 21. Golden Girls: The Laughs Continuecomes to the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St.; nashuacenterforthearts.com) on with shows at 2 and 7 p.m. See goldengirlstour.com for a peek at the show. Tickets cost $52 to $72. The show will also be at the Capitol Center for the Arts’ Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Thursday, April 11, at7:30 p.m.

60. Shop the spring fair at the Craftworkers’ Guild in Bedford (3 A Meetinghouse Road in Bedford, at the bottom of the hill in the library parking lot; thecraftworkersguild.org) Thursday, April 25, through Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The fair features crafters working in a variety of media; items are also available to see and purchase online.

61. Load up on books on Saturday, April 27, Independent Bookstore Day, when participating bookstores hold events and have special offerings. See indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day and check with your favorite bookstore for updates.

62. Watch Glitches in Reality, a magic show starring Simon Coronel, on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 28, at 2 p.m. at Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). Tickets cost $39 to $49.

63. Learn some important comics history at Portsmouth Mini-Con 40 on Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, April 28, an event celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Dover-born Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles featuring Turtles creator Kevin Eastman and other creators and artists including from Mirage Studios. See portsmouthminicon.com for ticket package options.

64. Eat as many tacos as you can handle at the Taco Tour Manchester 2024 on Thursday, May 2, from 4 to 8 p.m. More than 60 restaurants will serve tacos for $3 each (bring cash), according to tacotourmanchester.com, where you can find information on parking and street closures, and a tour map.

65. Nosh for a cause at Taste of the Towns on Thursday, May 2, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Sheraton Nashua (11 Tara Blvd. in Nashua), where attendees will enjoy food and drink from area restaurants, distilleries and more. Tickets cost $75 and help support Nashua Center. See nashuacenter.org/taste-of-the-towns.

66. Get a spoof of Broadway when Forbidden Broadway comes to the Stockbridge Theatre (44 N. Main St. in Derry; stockbridgetheatre.showare.com) on Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $35 and $45. See a trailer at forbiddenbroadway.com.

67. Laugh with Kevin Nealon, who comes to the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com) on Thursday, May 2, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $45 to $60.

68. Dream big outdoor dreams at the New Hampshire Farm, Forest & Garden Expo on Friday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Deerfield Fairgrounds. The event will feature industry experts, barnyard animals, a kids’ ag discovery zone, 4-H and FFA competitions, workshops and more, according to nhfarmandforestexpo.org, where you can purchase tickets for $10 per person, ages 12 and under get in free.

69. Catch one of the New Hampshire Fiddle Ensemble spring concerts in New Hampshire: Friday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Rochester Opera House (31 Wakefield St. in Rochester); Saturday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Interlakes High School Auditorium (1 Laker Lane in Meredith); Saturday, May 18, at 6:30 p.m. at Exeter Town Hall (9 Front St.) and Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. at the Derryfield School (2108 River Road in Manchester). The ensemble features fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, basses, harps, cellos and more, according to a press release. See nhfiddleensemble.org for tickets.

70. See Wheatus, the band known for its 2000 release “Teenage Dirtbag,” on Friday, May 3, at 7 p.m. at Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St. in Manchester; jewelmusicvenue.com). Tickets cost $20; find a link to purchase tickets on the venue’s website.

71. Enjoy some Jane Austen live when the Community Players of Concord present Pride & Prejudice on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $20 for adults, $17 for 65+ or 17 and under; see communityplayersofconcord.org.

72. Take in a classic when the Nashua Theatre Guild presents Thornton Wilder’s Our Town on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 5, at 2 p.m. at the Court Street Theater (14 Court St. in Nashua). For tickets see nashuatheatreguild.org.

73. Get your free comics on Saturday, May 4, Free Comic Book Day, the annual celebration of comics featuring specially published books handed out at area comic book shops. See freecomicbookday.com for a peek at some of the comics that will be on offer and for participating shops in your area such as Merrymac Games & Comics (550 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack; merrymacgc.com) and Collectibles Unlimited (25 South St. in Concord; collectiblesunlimited.biz). Both Double Midnight Comics (252 Willow St. in Manchester; 341 Loudon Road in Concord, dmcomics.com) participate in the day; in years past, Manchester’s store has hosted costume contests and other events. (See the website for updates.) In Rochester, JetPack Comics (37 N. Main St.; jetpackcomics.com) is billing this year’s townwide celebration as the final Rochester Free Comic Book Day Festival, with comics available at locations throughout downtown Rochester, an event hall with vendors and guests, a costume contest and more.

74. Go outdoors to shop the farmers markets. Farmers markets return to the outdoors starting in May, with the Concord Farmers’ Market slated to return to its spot next to the Statehouse on Saturday, May 4, from 8:30 a.m. to noon and the Salem NH Farmers Market heading back to the Mall at Rockingham Park on Sunday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. See agriculture.nh.gov for a listing of markets.

75. Run or walk the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire’s Run the Rail Trail 5-Miler on Saturday, May 4, at 9 a.m. beginning and ending at the museum, 27 Navigator Road in Londonderry. See aviationmuseumofnh.org to register.

76. Shop the Squam Lake Vintage & Makers Market at Cottage Place at Squam Lake (1132 Route 3 in Holderness; cottageplaceonsquam.com) on Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission is $5. The market will feature vendors, live music, food and a mobile bar, according to an email.

77. See cats compete at the Seacoast Cat Club’s Cat Show on Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, May 5, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Tickets cost $10 for adults and ages 12 and up, $8 for seniors, veterans and ages 5 to 12, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page. The event also features cat coloring books for the first 50 kids, vendors for cats and pets, a concession stand and more, the post said.

78. Catch one of the four scheduled spring concerts — titled Putting It All Together — of the New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus. The first show is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, at 7 p.m. at Christ the King Lutheran Church (3 Lutheran Drive in Nashua). The Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; rextheatre.org) has the show on its schedule for Sunday, May 5, at 3 p.m. (tickets cost $25). Other shows are scheduled for Saturday, May 18, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, at 3 p.m. at locations to be announced. See nhgmc.com for updates.

79. Run the Camienne Financial Cinco De Miles 5K on Sunday, May 5, at 9:15 a.m. at a race that begins and ends near Bedford High School. After the race, 21+ racers can enjoy a Modelo Oro or Teremana Small Batch Tequila Margarita, according to millenniumrunning.com/cinco, where you can register.

80. Join Lyle Lovett and Lisa Loeb: In Conversation and Song on Monday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St.; nashuacenterforthearts.com). Tickets cost $79 to $149.

81. Run or walk in the Rock ‘N Race 5K Race/Walk on Wednesday, May 8, at 5:30 p.m. at the Statehouse Plaza in Concord. The event, which benefits Concord Hospital Payson Center for Care Care’s HOPE Resource Center, according to concordhospital.org, where you can register to run. In addition to the race, the event features food, live music and more.

82. Get caffeinated at the Northeast Coffee Festival taking place Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, at locations in Concord. On Friday a market and live music will run from noon to 8 p.m. on South Main Street, with a workshop series on the BNH Stage. On Saturday the market and music run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with workshops from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a Latte Art Throwdown at 4 p.m., according to northeastcoffeefestival.com, where you can purchase passes.

83. Watch the magic at the Peacock Players’ teen mainstage production of Godspell Friday, May 10, through Sunday, May 19, with shows at 7 p.m. on Fridays and at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets cost $15 to $18 for adults, $12 to $15 for seniors and students. See peacockplayers.org.

84. See Catch Me If You Can The Musical presented by the Actorsingers on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 12, at 2 p.m. at the Keefe Center for the Arts (117 Elm St. in Nashua). Tickets cost $20, $18 for seniors and students. See actorsingers.org.

85. Ready thyself for the New Hampshire Renaissance Fair, taking place Saturday, May 11, and Sunday May 12, and then Saturday, May 18, and Sunday, May 19, in Fremont. See nhrenfaire.com for details and updates.

86. Load up on plants. Spring is garden club sale season, when you check out plant offerings and get tips from local gardeners. The Amherst Garden Club (amhrestgardenclub.org) will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wilkins School (80 Boston Post Road). The Colonial Garden Club of Hollis (hollisgardenclub.org) will hold its plant sale on Saturday, May 11, from 9 a.m. to noon at Lawrence Barn Field on Depot Road. The May Plant Sale for the Bedford NH Garden Club (bedfordgardenclubnh.org) is Saturday, May 18, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bedford Village Common (15 Bell Hill Road). The Nashua NH Garden Club (sites.google.com/view/nashuanhgardenclub) is also scheduled to hold its sale Saturday, May 18, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Nashua Historical Society. Know of an upcoming plant sale? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

87. See the Flying Gravity Circus, featuring performers ages 10 to 18, on Friday, May 10, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 11, at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford; amatocenter.org/riverbend-youth-company, 672-1002). See flyinggravitycircus.org for tickets.

88. Enjoy a comics and pop culture convention geared to younger fans at Kids Con New England, which will take place Saturday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord). Tickets for kids ages 5 and up cost $15; tickets for a family of four cost $55. The day features comic and children’s book creators; superheroes and other costumed characters; creative workshops; Jedi and superhero training; magic shows; face painting; video and tabletop games; a scavenger hunt, and more, according to kidsconne.com, where tickets are on sale now.

89. Enjoy a Mother of a Comedy Show featuring comedians Kelly MacFarland, Christine Herley and Kerrie Louise at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) on Saturday, May 11, at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $30.

90. Hear French Fantasies, a concert from the NH Philharmonic focusing on the masterworks of French Romanticism, on Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 12, at 2 p.m. at Sainte Marie Roman Catholic Church (378 Notre Dame Ave. in Manchester). Tickets cost $5 to $35. See nhphil.org.

91. Catch comedian Ace Aceto Saturday, May 11, at 8:30 p.m. at Headliners Comedy Club at the DoubleTree in downtown Manchester. Tickets cost $20 at the door and at headlinersnh.com, where you can see the full lineup of comedians performing at Headliners’ weekly shows.

92. Plan that Mother’s Day meal. Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12, and some restaurants are already taking reservations. At the Bedford Village Inn, for example, they’re offering a three-course Mother’s Day dinner with seatings from 2 to 7 p.m. (bedfordvillageinn.com). Keep an eye on Hippo’s food section for more meals for mom. Know of a big Mother’s Day to-do? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

93. Have fun at the Kiwanis Club of Concord’s Spring Fair, scheduled to run Thursday, May 16, through Sunday, May 19, at the Everett Arena (15 Loudon Road in Concord), according to the arena’s spring schedule. See concordkiwanis.org or find them on Facebook for updates.

94. Eat at the Greek Food Festival at St. Philip Greek Orthodox Church (500 W. Hollis St. in Nashua; 889-4000, nashuagreekfestival.com) on Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18. Keep an eye on the website for details on when and how to load up on delicious gyros, pastries and more.

95. Introduce kids to a classic story and to the stage with the Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts’ production of Stuart Little on Friday, May 17, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 18, at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre (880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net). Tickets cost $10 to $15.

96. Shake off all the liars and the dirty dirty cheats at Shake It Off! A (Taylor’s Version) Tribute featuring the Swiftie Tribute Band playing the music of Taylor Swift at three shows at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org) on Friday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 18, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.Tickets cost $35 to $40.

97. See a New Hampshire premier production of the musical Between the Linespresented Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19,by Riverbend Youth Company at Amato Center for the Performing Arts (56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford; amatocenter.org/riverbend-youth-company, 672-1002).

98. Buckle up for Slabfest III, a two-day celebration of heavy noise and experimental and electronic music, at Jewel Music Venue (61 Canal St. in Manchester; jewelmusicvenue.com) Saturday, May 18, at 4 p.m. through Sunday, May 19, at midnight, according to a post on the venue’s Facebook page. Check back for ticket information; the post lists 32 bands slated to perform. See slabfestnh.com for more on the event and bands.

99. Embrace neo-swing with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who will perform on Saturday, May 18, at 8 p.m. at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St. in Derry; tupelomusichall.com). Tickets cost $45.

Tips for making this most perfect dish

I read a science fiction/martial arts novel once where the main character, in classic Kung Fu tradition, searches out a reclusive martial arts master and begs him to train him. The old man reluctantly agrees, on the condition that the young man doesn’t ask any questions. His main teaching method is to jump out, surprise his student, then beat him mercilessly with a stick.

Eventually the young man learns the most important lesson in martial arts — how to develop the instincts to avoid trouble.

Making pancakes is a little like that.

There are a few things you can do to improve your pancake-making — cooking over a relatively low temperature, for instance, so the surface doesn’t cook too quickly, leaving the inside under-done. Or letting the pancake batter rest for a few minutes before cooking it, to let the ingredients get themselves in the right frame of mind.

But ultimately, it comes down to developing Pancake Instincts. You won’t be able to really know, intellectually, when a pancake is ready to flip. It’s only after you’ve made three or four in a batch that you will get an instinctive feeling for when a pancake is ready to turn over. There’s an old piece of wisdom that the first pancake isn’t very good. There’s something to that; it will definitely not be your prettiest one.

Be kind to yourself and don’t get discouraged. You’ve got this.

As we move into maple season, our thoughts turn to pancakes. Here are a few to widen your pancake vocabulary.

Simple Straightforward, Classic Pancakes (With Blueberries If You Want Them)

Basically the King Arthur Baking Company recipe you’ll find at kingarthurbaking.com.

2 eggs, room temperature

1¼ cup (283 g) milk, also room temperature

3 Tablespoons (43 g) melted butter. Have you ever noticed that there is a measuring guide printed on the side of a stick of butter? It’s almost always calibrated in tablespoons; just count down three lines and cut through the stick with a sharp knife. Unwrap your pat of butter and melt it in the microwave.

1½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 Tablespoons (25 g) sugar

Frozen wild blueberries, or unfrozen, or regular-sized ones, or chopped strawberries or mango — I’m not here to fruit-judge you; I just happen to like the frozen wild blueberries

Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together. Set them aside.

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, or in your blender, beat the eggs, milk and butter together, until they are light and frothy.

Mix the dry and wet ingredients until just combined, then set the batter aside for 10 or 15 minutes, while you heat your skillet or pan over medium-low heat, until it seems hot enough. You can test it with a drop of batter, or a few drops of water. If the water dances around, or the micro-pancake cooks, the pan is ready.

When your pan is properly heated, drop a generous amount of butter, maybe a teaspoonful, into the pan. Many well-intentioned pancake enthusiasts will tell you, “Hey, if you’re using a nonstick pan, you don’t need to add extra butter; there’s already butter in the recipe.” At best, these people are over-thinking things. At worst, they are unhappy and want to deprive you of this small bit of pleasure, so you can keep them company in their discontent. There is nothing that you can fry that isn’t better fried in butter. This is a stand I will defend passionately. Do this for each pancake.

Spoon two to three tablespoons of batter into the butteriest part of the pan. If you are making blueberry pancakes, sprinkle the berries over the raw batter. They will thaw and warm up when you cook the other side of the pancake.

When the first side has cooked enough — it’s OK to lift a corner and peek; it isn’t cheating — flip it over and finish the other side, and fry it until it is the shade of golden brown that you like.

As you finish two or three pancakes and have them stacked on a plate, call the least patient person in your house to come get them. These are delicious warm and stacked, but even better still hot and crispy around the edges. True, your family will not all be able to sit together at a table with a checked cloth and take joy in each other’s company, but pancakes wait for nobody.

These are your classic, platonic ideal pancakes. They are rich and buttery — because you cared enough to add the extra butter — and ready for you to add even more butter and syrup.

(Yes, more butter. If you wanted to eat healthy, you’d be having half a tomato and some Swedish crispbread. You knew what you were getting into when you decided to make pancakes.)

A glass of cold milk is perfect to cut through the doughy sweetness.

Moroccan Pancakes (Baghrir)

These are hand-held crumpet-adjacent pancakes from Morocco. If you make them once, you’ll make them many times.

1½ cups (252 g) semolina flour

¼ cup (32 g) all-purpose flour

2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (474 g) water

2 teaspoons yeast

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Add all the ingredients to a blender, and blend for a minute or so to get everything thoroughly mixed and to beat some air into the batter.

Leave the batter alone for 30 to 45 minutes, to give the yeast time to lighten it up.

Heat your pan over medium-low heat. When your batter has rested, pour enough batter into the pan to make a 4- to 5-inch pancake.

Wait.

This part takes patience. These particular pancakes are only cooked on one side. As your pancake cooks, bubbles will form on the surface and remain open. When the surface of the pancake has cooked all the way through — you’ll be able to tell by the color; if it’s still a little doughy inside, the surface will be a little bit yellow (from the semolina), and it will lighten in color when it has finished — and is covered with bubbles, remove it from the pan and finish its brothers.

These are excellent hot from the pan with butter, honey or jam — the holes are perfect for holding onto them — but they are good cooled down, too. They are a little yeasty and very slightly sweet. They are crispy on the bottom, and chewy, with a little extra texture from the semolina. These are very good for sharing with a friend over tea.

Simple Orange Pancakes

This is one of the easiest pancake recipes you will ever make. Don’t let its simplicity fool you; they are delicious and worthy of you.

Use your favorite pancake mix, but replace the milk or water called for with orange juice. Add the zest of an orange, and ½ to 1 teaspoon of orange extract.

As promised, these are deliciously orangey, but they’re not overly sweet. If you are generous with the butter or other fat when you fry them, you should get some crispy edges, which are one of the few, uncomplicated joys in this often exhausting world.

Dutch Baby

This is a jumbo, pan-sized pancake that is useful for impressing people who underestimate you.

½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

3 eggs, room temperature

¾ cup (170 g) milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 Tablespoons butter

Preheat your oven to 425ºF, with a medium-sized cast iron skillet on the center rack. You’re going to want the pan to be rocket-hot when you pour the batter in (see below).

In a small mixing bowl, mix together your dry ingredients — the flour, sugar and salt.

In a blender, purée the eggs until they are light and a little foamy.

Add the milk, flour mixture and vanilla, then blend again, until everything is well mixed.

Remove the skillet from the oven.

Here’s the thing: You’re probably not used to using a frying pan in the oven; no one is. Because you’ve learned, probably the hard way, to use a kitchen towel or an oven mitt to take something out of the oven, you’ll remember to do that. It’s after you’ve set it down on your stovetop and your brain has moved on to the next step that you’ll get annoyed that the skillet’s handle is in your way, and absentmindedly grab it to rotate the pan. The pan that is 425ºF hot. If you have any small children in your house, it is at this point that they will learn some fascinating new words.

Set the pan down, and melt the butter in it. It will sizzle and foam in a really satisfying way. Pour the batter into the hot pan.

Return the skillet to the center rack of your oven and bake for about 20 minutes (though you should start checking on it at about 15).

Take your giant pancake out of the oven when it is golden brown and a little puffy. Set it down on your stovetop, or your granite countertop — if you want to show off and you’re 100 percent positive it’s real granite — and garnish it with yogurt and fresh berries

This is an outstanding brunch dish. Instead of making 15 or 20 normal-sized pancakes to feed a few friends, you just have to make one. A Dutch Baby is the rare intersection of fanciness and comfort food. It tastes very much like a thick crepe, a little sweet and eggy, with a satisfying chewiness, without being tough.

Crepe Cake

This is a Dutch Baby’s fancy sister. It is simply a pile of crepes layered with a cream cheese frosting. It’s one of those dishes that seems complicated, but if you follow the recipe carefully it will turn out well and you’ll be deservedly really pleased with yourself.

Crepes:

½ cup (114 g) water

1 cup (227 g) milk

4 eggs

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

12 ounces (340 g) sweetened condensed milk (almost all of a 14-ounce can, without scraping down the sides)

8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese at room temperature

Add the crepe ingredients to your blender. This is weird, but you should do it in the order listed above: first the water and milk, then the eggs and melted butter, and then the dry ingredients. This keeps the flour from gelatinizing on the bottom of the blender jar. If you float the dry stuff on top, they will get pulled into the mixture smoothly and make you feel like a professional.

Turn off the blender and let the batter rest while you make the frosting.

With an electric mixer — either a hand mixer or a stand one — beat the butter and condensed milk together for a shockingly long time, seven to nine minutes, at the highest speed. After this time, the mixture will be very, very light and fluffy.

Cut off tablespoon-sized chunks of cream cheese and beat it into the butter mixture at a slightly lower speed, until it is thoroughly incorporated. Set it aside. It’s tempting to chill it in the refrigerator at this point, but you want it to be smooth, fluffy and spreadable when you put the cake together.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium-low heat. When it’s hot enough, grease the pan with butter. This is the only time you will do this. Yes, this is a violation of the Always Add More Butter rule, but crepes can be finicky; they seem to prefer not to be fried in extra butter. Who can understand the mind of a crepe?

Pour ¼ to ⅓ of a cup of batter into your pan. When it seems done — again, it’s OK to lift a corner and peek — flip it over and cook the other side. The easiest way to do this is to lift a corner with a spatula, then flip it with your fingers.

When it has cooked on both sides, transfer it to a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat to cool. Do not stack warm crepes together; it will be very difficult to separate them later. Once they have cooled, it’s fine to stack them, so you don’t run out of counter space. You should end up with 10 to 15 crepes.

When all the crepes have cooled, take a moment to feel good about yourself. Crepes can be really intimidating, but you have overcome them.

Choose a serving dish that you want to present this cake on, then place your Alpha Crepe on it. Frost the top of the crepe with your cream cheese frosting, starting from the middle and working your way out to the edges.

Stack your Beta Crepe on top of the first, and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you run out of crepes. Somewhere along the line you will find a particularly good-looking crepe. Save it for the top of the pile.You will probably have extra frosting left over at the end. Save it for French toast or something.

Chill your crepe cake for several hours in your refrigerator to firm up the frosting layers.

When you are ready to serve your crepe cake, run a sharp chef’s knife under hot water. This will help you make neat, non-squooshed cuts. It might help to stab the middle of the cake, then work your way down from there. Run the knife under hot water for each cut you make. If you want to be extra fancy — maybe you’re on a date or trying to show up your sister-in-law — garnish the plate with a few berries or mint leaves.

The two elements of this cake really make themselves known. The frosting is soft, sweet, and a little tart from the cream cheese. The crepes are eggy and really delicious, with a firm resistance when you bite through them.

In your heart, you always knew you were fancy.

Old-School Traditional Buckwheat Pancakes

¼ cup (57 g) warm water

1½ teaspoons yeast

½ teaspoon sugar

1 cup (227 g) cold water

½ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (120 g) buckwheat flour

¾ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons molasses

2 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine

½ teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in ¼ cup (57 g) of water

Mix the quarter cup of water with the yeast and sugar. Set it aside for 10 minutes or so. This is called “activating” the yeast. The little granules of yeast that have been sleeping in your refrigerator, or in their little envelopes, have been taking a nap. This will wake them up and get them excited about fulfilling their destiny.

When the yeast mixture looks foamy and excited, mix it in a container with a cover with a cup of cold water, the flours and the salt. Mix them thoroughly, then cover the container and store it in the refrigerator overnight or, if you’re having Breakfast For Dinner, several hours before you plan to eat.

In the morning, remove the container from your refrigerator and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Let the batter sit on your counter for half an hour or so, to come up to room temperature. The cold from your refrigerator has allowed the flours to build up a little bit of gluten — buckwheat flour doesn’t have much to begin with, so the all-purpose flour had to tutor it overnight — but it has also made your yeast sleepy again. Bringing the temperature back up will give the yeast a last chance to pump out some carbon dioxide and live life to the fullest one more time before facing the frying pan.

Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat.

Drop a generous blob of butter or margarine into the pan, and when it is thoroughly melted, scoop 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan. It will be light and unexpectedly stretchy. You might hear it sizzle a little bit, or you might be too busy kitchen-dancing to “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Or that might just be me.

When a few bubbles have formed along the edge of the pancake and remained open, flip it and see if it is dark enough on Side A. If it isn’t, you might have to re-flip it for a few seconds, once the B Side is done. (This is one of those examples of building a pancake instinct we’ve talked about.) Stack them on a warm plate, covered with a kitchen towel until you’ve finished making the batch.

Eat these while they are still hot, with too much butter, and Bourbon Maple Syrup (see below).

These pancakes have a deep, rich, slightly sweet flavor. They give you a wholesome, hunkering down in a log cabin during a blizzard — or, in our case, Mud Season — feeling. The crispy edges play off the chewy interior in a way that can leave you quietly happy.

Are there other recipes for Buckwheat Pancakes that don’t take 10 hours of planning ahead? Absolutely. Will they taste as good? Maybeee? Will they fill you with pride and a feeling of accomplishment? It’s doubtful.

Bourbon Maple Syrup

Warm half a cup of dark maple syrup, then stir in a tablespoon of good bourbon. The sweetness of the bourbon is a good match for the maple and gives it a slightly boozy backbone.

Local Eateries talk about how they’re faring,
Plus a pairing of restaurants and theater in Manchester

Running a restaurant has never been easy.

The past four years have surpassed the definition of “challenging” for the restaurant industry — from the pandemic that shut New Hampshire restaurants down in March 2020 to all the supply chain, staffing and inflation issues that have come after. So how’s it going now?

How it’s going

Less than optimal, according to Todd Roy, owner of Cheers Grille and Bar in Concord.

“It’s not great,” he said. “Everything is down; I can tell you that.”

Roy blames a combination of inflation and too many restaurants in the Concord area.

“There’s just not enough population to support all of us,” he said. But he sees inflation as a bigger challenge to his business. Rent, utilities, and especially food costs have gone up, but there are secondary effects as well. When money is tight, he clarifies, restaurant patrons have to set priorities: “Going out to eat goes farther down the list.”

“We’re all struggling. I’ve added breakfast on the weekends to raise our revenue,” Roy said.

Jeff Paige, chef and co-owner of Cotton in Manchester, is happier about business conditions. “Business has been great,” Paige said. Overall, his regulars have been very loyal.

“We’ve been able to build a relationship with our customers over the years,” Paige said. “A few of them come in so regularly that they call in to let us know if they can’t make it in.”

He agrees that staffing can be challenging. Cotton, which pre-pandemic was open weekdays for lunch, has had to drop lunch service.

“Lunch was busy; we just didn’t have the staff,” Paige said. Fortunately, most of Paige’s core kitchen staff have been with him for 20 years or more. “We make sure we take care of those people. We’re fortunate that we’ve been able to pay more than a lot of other restaurants.”

Amanda Wihby, co-owner and COO of Red Arrow, agrees that business is good. During uncertain times customers crave comfort food — something that diners like the Red Arrow specialize in.

“It’s been a tumultuous four years,” she said. “We’re finally coming out of the effects of the pandemic. Because of inflation, we’re seeing the customers coming back.”

Ready to eat?

Keith Sarasin, cookbook author, chef and owner of The Farmer’s Dinner Dining Group, sees a change in many restaurant customers, who have traditionally had conservative tastes in food. “It’s encouraging,” he said. “People are embracing foods that they aren’t familiar with — that haven’t been represented in the mainstream up until now. The education piece has been much higher for the average diner. As a chef, that’s super encouraging.”

He also sees more of a relationship between customers and individual chefs.

“I’m seeing trends where people are getting involved with the [local] chef community. I see diners following chefs from restaurant to restaurant,” Sarasin said.

Chris Viaud, the chef and owner of Greenleaf (serving seasonal, contemporary American style food) and Ansamn (Haitian cuisine) restaurants in Milford, has been surprised and gratified by the loyalty of his customers over the past few years.

“Our guests have been so supportive,” he said. “In 2019, we got off to a great start, then boom! But our customers have been supportive of both our restaurants, coming out during Covid and helping build us back up.”

Viaud, too, sees customers becoming more adventurous.

“They’re definitely more sophisticated than they used to be,” he said. “Diners do want to see different and new things. As a chef, my excitement comes from being able to adapt and change. I’m excited that there is such excitement for new and different cuisines.”

On the menu

While traditional comfort foods will always play an important role in New Hampshire dining, across the board, cuisine diversity was frequently mentioned as the biggest change in the local restaurant scene.

“I think we’re getting more international food,” said Jessica Martin, Executive Director of Intown Concord. “We’ve got our classics, but we’re getting a lot more restaurants in Concord that reflect how diverse our population is becoming.” She cited Batulo’s Kitchen, a Concord restaurant that specializes in Somali-inspired cuisine, as one example.

“There’s Buba Noodle (a Vietnamese restaurant), N’awlins Grille (Creole), and STREET, which specializes in dishes inspired by street food from around the world,” Martin said.

Sarasin agrees that the New Hampshire restaurant community is embracing diversity and food from around the world. He points to Classic Biryani, Kabab and Curry — an Indian restaurant on Manchester’s West Side.

“I travel all over the country, tasting food everywhere. As far as I’m concerned, this is the best kebab house in the country. It’s incredibly encouraging that a community like Manchester can support an Indian restaurant of that quality,” Sarasin said.

Wihby of the Red Arrow agrees.

“I’d like to see even more diversity in fine-dining restaurants,” she said. “It would be great to see more places popping up.” She expressed a fondness for Thai Food Connection, which has restaurants in Manchester and Bedford.

Viaud, whose Ansanm restaurant in Milford specializes in Haitian-fusion cuisine, feels vindicated by the expansion of offerings.

“Coming up in the industry, you get pigeonholed,” Viaud said. “I feel strongly that this is my background, and I want to share it. Customers have definitely become more sophisticated. Indian, Mexican, Italian — they’re open to it all.”

Kaji Maharjan of Kathmandu Spice, a Nepali/Indian restaurant in Manchester, said before Covid most of his business was in-house dining.

“2021 was a very bad year, though,” Maharjan said. “Now, 25 to 30 percent of our customers eat here; the rest of our business is takeout, at this point.”

He said that in addition to customers using Grubhub, UberEats and DoorDash, his restaurant has changed its online presence. “Now people can order online or call in their orders,” which, he said, translates into even more takeout business.

Maharjan said that over the past year, however, in-house dining has been on the rise.

“There are more people eating here,” he said. “It’s slowly getting better.”

What’s next

According to Jessica Martin at IntownConcord, there are some very positive developments on the horizon. She points to the Capitol Center For the Arts’ Culinary Artist in Residence program, which works with newly arrived community members who want to start a food business. The culinary residents are able to use the Capitol Center’s two commercial kitchens to develop a customer base and to work out recipes on a commercial scale.

She also points to State Street Kitchen’s incubator program, which helps provide equipment and training for prospective small food businesses. Traditional restaurant models are changing. “We’ve been working on bringing more food trucks to the area,” she said, such as the food trucks that show up for the monthly First Friday shopping events.

Jeff Paige at Cotton sees more changes to traditional service models in the future.

“I’m seeing a trend toward dinner-only service,” he said. Staffing issues and kitchen efficiencies make eliminating lunch more attractive to restaurant owners. He also points to the difficulty of staying open seven days a week.

“Tuesday through Sunday makes the most sense for most of us,” he said, “and holiday Mondays.” Paige said that although the past few years have been tough, he’s cautiously optimistic. “We’re doing really well and a few of our friends who own restaurants are doing well, too.”

Kaji Maharjan at Kathmandu Spice agrees. His restaurant has been open seven days a week for years, but has just started closing on Tuesdays.

“Being open all the time is just too hard,” he said. “My staff needs a break.”

Roy at Cheers continues to worry about rising business costs: “I just signed a three-year contract with my food reps to keep prices down.”

Sarasin sees New Hampshire’s restaurant scene as only becoming more diverse, and more focused on superior ingredients. “More small, chef-driven restaurants centered around high-quality, fresh, seasonal ingredients are going to thrive,” he said.

Viaud sees area restaurants working together to build a culinary community where restaurants play off each other. As customers at one restaurant open themselves up to new experiences, hopefully they will take that spirit of adventure with them to other restaurants.

Different restaurants with different cuisines pull together to build a common culinary vocabulary. “I’m hoping the industry continues to be collaborative,” he said.

Great Manchester Restaurant Week

Greater Manchester Restaurant Week runs through March 14. The Greater Manchester Chamber and the Palace Theatre are working together this year, to promote the Palace’s production of the Broadway musical The Prom (running weekends March 1 to March 24) by collaborating with more than 25 participating Manchester restaurants, who will have special offerings from custom cocktails to prix-fixe meals.

“Pairing a Restaurant Week with the Palace Theatre’s production of Prom is quite a creative way to experience the culinary and cultural contributions of the Greater Manchester community,” said Cole Riel, Director of Small Business and Community Development at the Greater Manchester Chamber, in a press release.

“We’ve been wanting to sponsor a restaurant week for a couple of years now,” says Kelsey Collins, the Marketing Director for the Palace Theatre. “Prom is a new show for us and we’re very excited about it, so we decided to do it now.”

The Prom is a musical comedy about four overly enthusiastic Broadway actors who try to help an Indiana teenager, who has been banned from attending her prom. Their over-the-top efforts are overwhelming to the teenage girl, who just wants to be left alone.

Many participating restaurants will be serving prom-themed cocktails and meals. Campo Enoteca has developed a pair of bespoke cocktails called “The King of Prom” and “The Queen of Prom.” The Gyro Spot is featuring an “After Prom Special” — two gyros of the customer’s choice, and a special chocolate-covered loukoumades. Current Kitchen & Bar at DoubleTree is serving a Honey Nut Cheerios ‘Prom-tini’ with Honey Nut Cheerios-infused rum, Angry Orchard hard cider and honey cinnamon simple syrup.

“A lot of theater-goers are going out to dinner,” Collins explains, “either before or after a show. This is a good way to let them know about the great restaurants in the area, and vice versa.”

The Prom is running at the Palace Theatre until March 21. For tickets and a list of participating restaurants, see palacetheatre.org/restaurant-week.

Your guide to summer day camps

The calendar says winter but when it comes to signing kids up for day camps, summer 2024 is already here.

Many camps begin sign-ups in February or even January, with previous years’ campers often getting early access to registration. (A tip for parents just entering the camp game is to take a less-than-ideal week your first year to get a foot in the door and get access to early sign-ups the next year. Another tip is to see if there is a waitlist for camps that are full — this far in advance, plans can change and spaces can open up.)

Here are some of the area day camps (camps offering at least half-day sessions) that have plans for summer 2024. Information comes from the organizations’ websites unless otherwise stated. (Some camps may also have extended care options and counselor-in-training options for teenagers not mentioned here.) Know of a camp not mentioned here? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

General Interest Day Camp

• Amherst Parks & Recreation amherstnh.myrec.com In addition to its daylong summer camps, the Amherst Parks & Recreation department offers half-day and part-day camps on a variety of subjects including “Art Around the World” (July 8-11, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; for grades 1-5); “Creative Skill Builders Camp” (Aug. 19-22, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; grades 1-5); “Eagles Basketball Camp” (sessions vary based on age); “Mini Camp at Outdoor Discovery” (weeklong June 24 through Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; ages 4 and 5) and “Move More Camp” (grades 3-6; 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. the weeks of June 17, July 8 and Aug. 5.

• Baboosic Lake Summer Camp Baboosic Lake Beach in Amherst; amherstnh.myrec.com Camp for kids entering grades 1 through 7 will feature crafts, swimming, games and more, during weeklong sessions running June 24 through Aug. 16, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with before (as early as 7 a.m.) and after care (as late as 5:30 p.m.) available with advance registration and an additional fee. Campers need to be able to swim. $335 per week for nonresidents; $285 for Amherst residents.

• Boys & Girls Club of Central and Northern New Hampshire nhyouth.org/summer-camps Summer camps are geared to kids entering kindergarten through 8th grade (with some opportunities for older kids and counselors in training depending on the location). This Boys & Girls Club offers summer camps at 14 locations — see the website for camps in Sutton, New London, Lisbon, Laconia and Andover.

Suncook Clubhouse (8 Whitten St. in Allenstown; 210-2854) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Bradley Street Clubhouse (55 Bradley St. in Concord; 224-1061) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Christa McAuliffe School (17 N. Spring St. in Concord; 268-9568) will serve kids going into kindergarten through 6th grade and operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Epsom Central School (282 Black Hall Road in Epsom; 268-9566) will operate 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Maple Street School Hopkinton (194 Maple St. in Contoocook; 268-9562) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Penacook location (26 Washington St. in Penacook; 224-1061) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Simonds Elementary School (Church St. in Warner; 268-9561) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

Weare Upper Elementary/Middle School (16 East Road in Weare) will operate 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; cost is $210 per week before May 1, $235 after.

• Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua 1 Positive Place in Nashua; bgcn.com/summer-camp; 883-0523 Nine weeklong sessions running June 24 through Aug. 23, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily, with early-bird option as early as 7 a.m. Programs are divided by Early Learning Center Day Camp (kindergarten through 3rd grade); Ohana-Nash Summer Camp (4th through 6th grade); Tween (entering 7th grade) and Teen (8th through 12th grade). See the website for each week’s theme and for the various pricing options according to age, income and number of weeks.

• Boys & Girls Club of the Souhegan Valley 56 Mont Vernon St. in Milford; svbgc.org; 672-1002. Weeklong sessions run June 17 through Aug. 23 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily for kids ages kindergarten through 12th grade, divided in groups by ages. Activity offerings include arts, dance, science, STEAM, sports, swimming, field trips and more, according to the website. $225 per week by April 19; $250 after April 19 plus a one-time swim pass fee and club membership.

• Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem NH 3 Geremonty Drive in Salem; salembgc.org/summercamp; 898-7709 Camps are divided into Little Explorers (beginning at age 4), Camp FUNtastic (for 1st- through 5th-graders) and Teen Center Camp (6th grade through age 16). Campers enjoy age-appropriate activities including swimming, gym time, arts and crafts, field trips and more. Weeklong sessions June 17 through Aug. 23, 8:45 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. with extended care offerings from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. $265 per week plus $50 membership fee.

• Brainwave STEAM Camps 2nd Nature Academy, 10 Groton Road in Nashua; 881-4815; 2ndnatureacademy.com/brainwave Camps for ages 6 to 14, with some classes geared to more narrow age ranges, with focuses on arts (such as “En Plein Air” and “Brainwave Comic-Zines”), science (“Python Unleashed” and “Atomic Odyssey”), maker stuff (“Paperpalooza” and “Bling Fling”) gaming and more. Weeks of June 24 through Aug. 19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended care options 7:30 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. $440 for most weeks.

• Brentwood Summer Camp Brentwood Recreation Complex, 190 Route 125 in Brentwood; rec.brentwoodnh.gov/programs/youthEight weeklong sessions featuring water activities, field games, arts & crafts, team-building activities, field trips and more, grouped into Youth Camp (grades 1 through 5) and Adventure Camp (grades 6 to 8). Weeks of June 24 through Aug. 16, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with extended care 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for an extra fee.

• Camp Adventure Auburn Parks & Recreation Department; auburnparksandrec.com Four weeklong camps in July (starting the week of July 8) meeting at the Safety Complex at 8:30 a.m. and returning at 4:30 p.m. with kids in grades 5 to 8 taking field trips around the state. Registration is open now for Auburn residents and opens May 1 for nonresidents. $325 per week.

• Camp Carpenter 300 Blondin Road in Manchester; nhscouting.org/outdoor-programs/camp-carpenter Cub Scout Camp of the Daniel Webster Council of the Boy Scouts of America offering activities including archery, arts & crafts, BB gun shooting, field sports, nature, Scout skills and more. Five weeklong day camps run the week of July 8 through the week of Aug. 5, 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Camp director chats via Zoom will be held Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m.; Sunday, April 28, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 19, at 7 p.m. Camp Carpenter also has an overnight camp program for packs. Cost is $340 for day camp.

• Camp Foster 36 Camp Allen Road in Bedford; 644-0102; operated by the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester; mbgcnh.org/programs/summer_programsTen weeklong sessions featuring traditional outdoor day camp activities — swimming, arts & crafts, field games, boating, hiking, athletics and more — and a weekly field trip. The camp runs the week of June 17 through the week of Aug. 19. Camp Foster is open to kids in grades 1-7 (in the 2024-2025 school year). Kidz Kamp for kids entering kindergarten takes place at the Union Street Clubhouse (555 Union St. in Manchester) and also features age-appropriate field trips. A “Summer Teen/Tween Program” offers a drop-in option for kids grades 6 to 12, Monday through Fridays from 1 to 7 p.m. with some pre-scheduled field trips. Camp Foster runs from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost is Boys & Girls Club membership fees plus $200 per week.

• Camp Kettleford 26 Camp Allen Road in Bedford; girlscoutsgwm.org Day camp of the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. Kettleford offers weeklong sessions for girls in kindergarten through 8th grade and two-week programs for girls over 5th grade. Sessions start the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12. Each session has themes. A virtual camp chat will be held Monday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. and an open camp day will be held Sunday, June 2, from 10 a.m. to noon. Campers can be dropped off at 9 a.m. and picked up at 5 p.m. or ride a bus from set locations. Weeklong programs cost $350; two-week programs cost $675.

• Camp Lincoln 67 Ball Road in Kingston; 642-3361; ymcacamplincoln.org; hosted by Southern District YMCA, sdymca.org Six weeklong sessions (weeks of June 17, June 24, July 8, July 22, Aug. 5 and Aug 19) offer a traditional day camp for kids in kindergarten through 9th grade as well as specialty camps during some weeks with subjects such as cooking, survival, mountain biking, fantasy games, theater, woodworking, jewelry, movie production and adventure (field trips). There are also counselor-in-training programs. Cost varies according to program. Bus pickups are available (may vary from session to session) including stops in Windham, Derry and Londonderry. Dropoff is at 8:30 a.m., with pickup at 4:30 p.m.

• Camp Lovewell 2nd Nature Academy, 10 Groton Road in Nashua; 881-4815; camplovewell.com Nine weeklong sessions the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 19 with the camp offering team-building activities, ropes course, archery, arts & crafts, nature studies and orienteering, farm animal visits, swimming, kayaking, sports and field games, drama and skits, hiking and exploration and more, according to the website. Camp is for ages 6 to 14 and runs 9 a.m to 4 p.m., with extended care 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (for extra fees). $420 for ages 6 to 8, $410 for ages 9 to 14, plus a registration fee.

• Camp Naticook merrimackparksandrec.org Weeklong camp sessions at Wasserman Park in Merrimack starting the week of June 24 with each week themed (“Aloha Summer” is the first week) and campers participating in a variety of activities including arts & crafts, archery, boating in Naticook Lake, nature, sports & games, theater and more. A daily hot lunch is provided. Camp runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended care available as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 6 p.m. Camp is for kids entering kindergarten through 5th grade in fall of 2024; 5th-graders can choose between Camp Naticook and Camp Trek. $248 per week for Merrimack residents, $360 per week for nonresidents. Additional fees for extended care. Sibling discounts are available.

• Camp Otter 66 Hooker Farm Road in Salem; camp.mvymca.org/camp-otter A coed day camp on Captain’s Pond with “weekly themes, a swimming area for both instructional and free swim time, boating, basketball/volleyball courts, a baseball/soccer field, an archery and air rifle range, arts & crafts, ropes courses and more. Daily transportation is provided throughout the Merrimack Valley and southern New Hampshire,” according to the website. The camp is operated by Merrimack Valley YMCA, based in Massachusetts (mvymca.org), and runs the weeks of June 24 through Aug. 26, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost varies per week.

• Camp Ponemah Hampshire Hills Athletic Club, 50 Emerson Road in Milford; 673-7123, ext. 272; hampshirehills.com/camp-ponemah 10 weeklong sessions run the week of June 17 through the week of Aug. 19 featuring games, swimming, crafts and more, 7:30 a.m. (camp begins at 9 a.m.) to 4 p.m., with extended care Mondays through Thursdays to 5:30 p.m. Camp is for kids kindergarten through 7th grade. A Little Warriors program for ages 4 and 5 runs seven weeks (weeks of June 24 through Aug. 5) 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; Troop T is for grades 8 and 9 and also runs those seven weeks. $359 for nonmembers, $309 for members for the main camp. Price varies for Little Warriors and Troop T. Discounts for siblings.

• Camp Trek merrimackparksandrec.org Weeklong camp sessions meeting in Merrimack for kids in grades 5-9 starting the week of June 24 and running through the week of Aug. 19. This camp is a trip- and activity-based program with daily field trips (such as, during the first week, to a ninja gym, Surry Mountain Lake, the movie theater, Canobie Lake Park and Wallis Sands State Beach). Camp runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with trips departing between 8:30 and 9 a.m. and getting back in the afternoon before camp ends. Extended care is available as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 6 p.m. $340 for Merrimack residents, $390 for nonresidents, with extra fees for extended care and sibling discounts.

• Camp Witzel bedfordnh.myrec.com Seven-week camp of weeklong sessions based in Bedford for ages 6 to 13. Each week has a theme — “Game Show Mania” for July 15-19, for example — and a field trip destination (that week is Canobie Lake Park in Salem). Sessions start the week of June 24 and run through the week of Aug. 5. The camp runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (July 1-3 only that week). $300 for a five-day week, including field trip, for Bedford residents; $315 for nonresidents. Discounts for going fewer days, for the short July 1 week and for multiple siblings registered the same week.

• Concord Parks & Recreation Adventure Camp City-Wide Community Center, 14 Canterbury Road in Concord, concordparksandrec.com , 225-8690 Open to grades 3 through 8, the camp features beach trips, hikes, theme parks, kayaking, surfing and more, with out-of-town trips generally Monday through Thursday and Friday spent in town, according to a Parks & Rec email. The cost per week is $205 for Concord residents; $215 for non-residents. The camp runs the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

• Concord Parks & Recreation Stay & Play Summer Camp City-Wide Community Center, 14 Canterbury Road in Concord, concordparksandrec.com , 225-8690 Open to 1st through 5th graders, this 8-week traditional day camp will feature swimming, arts & crafts, field games and more, according to a Parks & Rec official. The cost is $175 for Concord residents; $185 for non-residents. The camp runs the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

• Girls, Inc. of New Hampshire 340 Varney St. in Manchester, 623-1117; 27 Burke St., Nashua, 882-6256; girlsincnewhampshire.org Eight weeklong sessions of camp, starting June 24, featuring field trips, swimming, weekly themes and more for girls entering kindergarten through 7th grade. Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner are provided. Cost is $225 — with sliding fee scales, financial assistance and scholarships available.

• Granite State YMCA graniteymca.org/camps/day-camp The Granite State YMCA offers day camps at 10 locations as well as two overnight camps — Camp Foss for girls ages 7 to 15 (campfoss.org) and Camp Mi-Te-Na for boys ages 7 to 15 (campmitena.org). See the website for day camp offerings in Somersworth, the Seacoast and Strafford County.

YMCA of Downtown Manchester(30 Mechanic St.; 437-9622) Weeklong summer programs for ages 6-11 featuring arts, sports, swimming, field trips and more, running the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 11; prices are $285 per week, with discounts for members and siblings. The camp runs from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with swim lessons offered for an extra price. The Manchester location also has a Teen Trip Camp for ages 7th grade through 11th grade, featuring daily field trips, the weeks of July 1 through the week of Aug. 12. That camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with before and after care options. The cost for most weeks is $409, with discounts for members.

YMCA Allard Center of Goffstown (116 Goffstown Back Road; 497-4663) Camp Halfmoon features nine weeklong camp sessions that run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with before and after care options) the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 19. The camp is divided into Astros (entering 1st and 2nd grade), Cosmos (entering 3rd and 4th grade) and Explorers (5th through 8th grade). Each week has a theme. Halfmoon generally offers the traditional outdoor day camp experience with arts & crafts, archery, climbing, field games, swimming and more. The cost is $335 per week, with discounts for members. Camp Quartermoon for kids entering kindergarten also offers a similar full-day experience (the cost is $240 for non-members). Specialty camps on subjects like baking, archery, art, photography and more are also offered (with more narrow age groups and different fees). Teen Trip camp (for ages 12 to 16) features weeklong sessions with daily field trips for $409 for non-members running the weeks of July 1 through the week of Aug. 12. Teens can also join Leader In Training (for ages 13-14) and Counselor In Training (for ages 15-16), which are multi-week sessions. The Allard center also offers weeklong sessions of Ninja, Cheerleading and Gymnastics camps (ages 6 to 18, depending on the subject), with half-day options for kids 4 to 6; weeklong sessions of Adventure Camps for ages 10-11 and 12-15, and tennis camps for ages 6-16.

Camp Mowkawogan (Abbot-Downing School, 152 South St. in Concord; 228-9622) Nine weeklong sessions for ages 6 to 14 begin the week of June 24 and run through the week of Aug. 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with before and after care options as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 5:30 p.m. The camp experience includes swimming and field trips. Campers are in groups divided by age and the cost is $285 per week for nonmembers. Leader In Training camps are available for ages 13-14 in three two-week sessions.

YMCA Day Camp of Hooksett (Hooksett Memorial School, 5 Memorial Drive in Hooksett; 623-3558) Eight weeklong camps run the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12, with a traditional camp experience for ages 6-10, grouped by age (the cost is $285 for nonmembers), a teen camp for ages 11-13 (also $285 for nonmembers) and a Leader In Training program for ages 13-14 that runs for three two-week sessions ($300 per session). The camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with before and after care options and discounts for members and Hooksett residents.

Camp Pa-Gon-Ki (206 Rockingham Road in Londonderry; 437-9622) Nine weeklong sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily for ages 4-5 and 6-15 the weeks of June 24 through Aug. 19. An extra three-day pre-week session runs June 19-21 for ages 6 and up. The kids are grouped by age and enjoy a traditional outdoor day camp experience including sports and swimming. An additional swimming lesson option is available, as well as before and after care as early as 7 a.m. and as late at 5:30 p.m. The cost is $325 for non-members. Specialty camps, which include fort-building, dodgeball, basketball, art, soccer and more, run for more limited age groups during specific weeks (cost is $358). Leader in Training (for ages 13-14) and Counselor in Training (15-16) run for two-week sessions.

Derry Voyager Camp (location TBD; 437-9622) Eight weeklong camps run June 24 through Aug. 12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for ages 6-11. The cost is $270 for nonmembers. Each week is themed; campers take part in STEAM-based activities related to each week’s theme.

Windham Explorers Camp (Windham Center School, 2 Lowell Road; 437-9622) Eight weeklong camps run June 24 through Aug. 12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., for ages 6-11. The cost is $270 for nonmembers. Each week is themed; campers take part in STEAM-based activities related to each week’s theme.

• Hudson Parks & Recreation Summer Program hudsonnh.gov/recreation/page/summer-program Hudson offers a program running from the end of June through mid-August, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday for kids ages 6 to 14. Registration opens March 19.

• IMAGINE Camps New Morning Schools, 23 Back River Road in Bedford; 669-3591; newmorningschools.com Indoor and outdoor activities and clubs for kids age 6 to 12. Camp is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays with weekly and daily options. There is also a preschool camp for ages 3 to 6 who are independent bathroom users. Check with the website for updates regarding summer offerings.

• Krazy Kids 60 Sheep Davis Road in Pembroke; krazykids.com/register-for-summer-camp, 228-PLAY Nine weeklong sessions June 24 through Aug. 23 featuring indoor and outdoor play and a once-a-week field trip. Camp is for ages 5 to 11 and runs 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended care as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 5:30 p.m. $225, with extra fees for field trips and discounts for siblings.

• Fun in the Sun from Manchester Parks & Rec; manchesternh.recdesk.com Camp for ages 6 to 12 (must be a Manchester resident) takes place at Livingston Park, JFK Coliseum and Piscataquog River Park. The camp is free to attend and runs from July 8 through Aug. 16. Registration will be live in April.

• Manchester Police Athletic League 409 Beech St. in Manchester; 626-0211; manchesterpoliceathleticleague.org MPAL is open to kids ages 5 to 18 who are attending school. The summer program runs Mondays through Fridays, from 9 a.m. to noon. Call for details.

• My Gym Children’s Fitness Center 410 S. River Road in Bedford; 668-7196; mygym.com/bedford Two-day mini camps (Tuesday and Thursdays, 1 to 3:30 p.m.) are offered for potty-trained kids ages 4 to 9 the week of June 25 through the week of Aug. 20. Cost is $49 per session.

• Nashua Parks & Recreation summer camp nashua.recdesk.com Weeklong camps will run from the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 19. Registration will begin March 1; see website.

• North End Montessori School 698 Beech St. in Manchester; northendmontessori.com; 621-6011 The school offers summer programming starting June 17 and running through Aug. 30. This year’s theme is “Passport Around the World,” with each week having its own focus such as North America (week 1), Africa (week 5), Antarctica (week 8), International Food and Music (week 9) and more.

• Outdoor Discovery Camp Peabody Mill Environmental Center in Amherst; amherstnh.myrec.com “A fun-filled camp focused on exploring the great outdoors and encouraging an appreciation for the natural environment,” according to the website. Weeklong sessions run June 24 through Aug. 16, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday with before and after care options. Camp is for kids entering grades 1 through 6. $335 for nonresidents, $285 for residents, with daily and full summer fee options.

• Voyager Camp londonderrynh.gov/recreation Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays, June 26 through Aug. 9, for ages 11 to 15. “The program is field trip-based with campers having the option to visit 2 to 3 locations each week, which includes hiking, deep sea fishing, amusement parks, and other adventure-based destinations. In addition to the registration fee, each trip will have its own fee associated with it. The trip brochure will be available in March,” according to the website. $50 for residents, $60 for nonresidents — plus a per-trip fee.

• SummerQuest at World Academy 138 Spit Brook Road in Nashua; 888-1982; worldacademynh.comFive two-week sessions for kindergarteners through 4th-graders that offers field trips, geocaching, camping, recreational activities, sports, science experiments and more. Two-week sessions begin with June 17-28; final session is Aug. 12-23. Camp runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with extended care offerings from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The cost of SummerQuest is $320 (plus additional fees for extended care).

Enrichment Camp, open to grades 5 to 8, runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and begins weeklong sessions starting June 24; each week has a theme. Cost is $350.

STEAM Academy, also for grades 5 to 8, runs from 8 to 11:30 a.m. (with full day care options) and has new themes each week starting July 1. The cost for the half day is $210.

• YMCA of Greater Nashua nmyaca.org The YMCA of Greater Nashua offers camps at Camp Sargent (141 Camp Sargent Road in Merrimack); Merrimack YMCA (6 Henry Clay Drive in Merrimack); Nashua YMCA (24 Stadium Dr. in Nashua), and Westwood Park YMCA (90 Northwest Blvd. in Nashua). Camp Sargent offers traditional day camp activities such as swimming, boating, arts and crafts, hiking, games, gaga ball and more as well as specialty camps such as “Superhero Training Camp” and “Farm Camp.” At Merrimack YMCA Camp Create includes a variety of arts- and STEAM-themed camps. Both Merrimack YMCA and Nashua YMCA offer camps geared toward 3- to 5-year-olds. Merrimack YMCA and Westwood Park YMCA both offer sports camps. Camps run the week of June 17 through the week of Aug. 26, with an 8:45-to-9:15 a.m. check-in and a 4-to-4:15 p.m. dismissal with pre-camp starting as early as 7 a.m. and post-camp running as late as 6 p.m. (registration required). Cost varies according to camp; discount for siblings.

Academics

• Academic & College Prep Programs The Derryfield School, 2108 River Road in Manchester; derryfield.org/about/summer-programs Half-day “Jump Start Your College Essay” classes for rising 11th- and 12th-graders and “ACT/SAT Prep” divided into math and verbal. Registration opens in March.

• Academic Enrichment at University of New Hampshire Durham campus; unh.edu/youthprograms Academic-focused camps include “Camp Pageturner” (weeklong sessions for grades 1 to 5, the week of June 24 through the week of July 29; $275); “Writer’s Academy” (weeklong session June 24-29, grouped by age for grades 5-6, grades 7-8 and grades 9-12, and July 8-12, grouped by grades 6-8 and grades 9-12, 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.; $325), as well as other programs specifically for teens and high school students.

• Nashua Community College505 Amherst St. in Nashua; nashuacc.edu/about/for-the-public/summer-camps; 578-8979 Summer camp programs at Nashua Community College include “Finding My Career” for rising 6th- through 12th-graders (week of July 8) featuring “exploration of career pathways in the social and health sciences”; “Exploring the World of Public Health” (week of July 15) for 10th- through 12th-graders, and “Skills for High School and College Success” (week of July 22) for 6th- through 12th-graders. Email KEckenrode@ccsnh.edu.

Art

• Children’s Museum of New Hampshire 6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org; 742-2002 Mini-camps run Tuesdays through Thursdays from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. with art and art-adjacent themes and feature art, STEAM and other hands-on activities. A camp for ages 4 and 5 takes place July 9-11; the rest of the camps are in August. 3D Print It camp (Aug. 13-15) is for ages 8 through 11+; the rest of the camps are for ages 4-5 or 6-7. Cost is $140 per session.

• Creative Ventures Gallery 411 Nashua St. in Milford; creativeventuresfineart.com; 672-2500 “Art of the Seasons” with Kristine Mancuso runs Aug. 5-8 for ages 8 to 12; “Art In Animation” with Kristine Mancuso runs Aug. 12-15, 9 a.m. to noon, for ages 8 to 12. Cost is $125.

• Currier Museum of Art 150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org; 518-4922 The theme of this year’s art camps is “Time Bandits,” with weeks focused on different eras of art and culture, starting with “Raiders of the Lost Arts” June 24-28, focusing on “paleolithic cave drawings, early marine adventurers, ancient cultures and more,” according to the website. Six weeks of camp run through the week of Aug. 19. Camps are for ages 6 to 14, with kids divided into ages 6-7, 8-10 and 11-14. Student dropoff is 9:15 to 9:30 a.m. and pickup is at 4 p.m. Thursdays there is a student exhibition at 3:45 p.m. $375 per week ($337.50 for members).

• Hollis Artspace 30 Ash St. in Hollis; hollisartspace.com/summer; 465-4300 Look for details about the coming summer after February school vacation. Summer 2023 offerings included half-day art programs and minicamps.

• Kimball Jenkins 266 N. Main St. in Concord; kimballjenkins.com/youth-summer-camp-2024; 225-3932 Eight weeks of themed weeklong camps for ages 6 to 17, with kids grouped according to age. Campers will get to work in a variety of media including sculpture, painting, clay, printmaking, drawing and more with outdoor time and group activities. The camp runs the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 19. Dropoff is 8:30 to 9 a.m. and pickup is at 4 p.m. with extended care to 5 p.m. available for $30 per week. $320, discount for members and multi-week registration.

• Paint pARTy 135 N. Broadway in Salem; 898-8800; paintpartynh.com Four-day, three-hour-per-day sessions July 8 (for grades 1 to 4), July 15 (grades 5 to 8), July 22 (grades 1 to 4), July 29 (grades 5 to 8) and Aug. 5 (grade 1 to 4). $160.

• Studio 550 Community Art Center 550 Elm St. in Manchester; 232-5597; 550arts.com Offerings for summer 2024 so far include Tween/Teen Clay for ages 10+ with sessions June 24-28, July 22-26 and Aug. 12-16, all 2:30 to 5 p.m. Tween/Teen Illustration, also ages 10+, runs July 29-Aug. 2, 2:30 to 5 p.m. Arts Explorer for ages 8+ will run July 12-8 and Aug. 5-9, 2:30 to 5 p.m. See the website three months in advance to register and for pricing.

Aviation & Space

• Aviation Museum of NH27 Navigator Road in Londonderry; aviationmuseumofnh.org; 669-4820 The “Flights of Discovery” Aviation Educational Camp feature two-week sessions that cover aviation history, aerospace engineering, flight simulation and more, with field trips to watch aircraft take off and land, explore the Air National Guard base, experience air traffic control and more. A session Monday, June 17, through Friday, June 28, is open for ages 10 to 13. The second session runs Monday, July 8, through Friday, July 19, and is open to ages 14 through 17. Ages 10 to 13 get a second camp session Monday, July 22, through Friday, Aug. 2. Camps run 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost: $1,100 (financial aid/scholarships available)

• McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center 2 Institute Dr. in Concord; starhop.com; 271-7827 The Center offers seven weeklong STEM camps with four focused on space or rockets — “Blast Off” for ages 8 to 11, July 8-12; “Up, Up, And Away” for ages 5 to 7, July 15-19; “Star Hunters” for ages 8 to 12, July 22-26, and “So You Wanna Be An Astronaut” for ages 5 to 7, Aug. 5-9. These camps run either 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (for ages 5-7) or 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (for older kids). $345 per week.

• Nashua Community College505 Amherst St. in Nashua; nashuacc.edu/about/for-the-public/summer-camps; 578-8979 Summer camp programs at Nashua Community College include “Aviation” for 6th- through 12th-graders, which looks at different careers in aviation, week of July 29.

• WinnAero’s Ace Academy Laconia Airport, 65 Aviation Way in Gilford; winnaero.org/registerAviation- and aerospace-related camps, divided by age groups. Half-day camps “Foundations of Aviation and Space Sciences” for ages 5 to 7 run July 8-12 and July 15-19. Middle school aviation classes (for grades 6 to 8) run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily July 8-12 and include “Pilot and Air Traffic Control,” “Pilot and Search/Rescue & Emergency Services” and “Pilot and Aerospace Engineering/Manufacturing.” A middle school (grades 6 to 8) girls-only academy with female instructors runs July 15-19. A middle school space academy (focuses on aerospace careers) runs July 15-19. Three aviation-focused high school (grades 9 through 12) sessions are available with two July 8-12 and one July 15-19; a fourth session held July 15-19 is focused on drones and unmanned aerial systems. Half-day classes for ages 5 to 7 cost $330 per session. Middle and high school full-day classes cost $600. The high school drone class costs $690.

Dance

• Alicia’s School of Dance 563 Route 106 in Loudon; 496-9762; aliciasschoolofdance.comIn 2023 Alicia’s offered a weeklong half-day camp for ages 6+ that included learning all styles of dance as well as doing crafts and playing games. Check back with the school for this year’s information.

• Allegro Dance Academy 100 Factory St. in Nashua; 886-7989; allegrodancenh.com Camps are offered for ages 3+ from July 15 through Aug. 15. The schedule will be available April 1.

• Bedford Dance Center 172 Route 101 in Bedford; bedforddancecenter.com; 472-5141 Bedford Dance Center offers a variety of summer programing, from weekly hourlong classes in July (for dancers ages 6+) to three-day half-day camps for ages 5 to 8 July 30-Aug. 1, 9 a.m. to noon and more intensive workshops such as Contemporary Workshop July 29-Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for ages 8-13 and 12+ (cost is $375). An Intensive Division Workshop runs Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for ages 8-13 and 12+ (cost is $395). Costs for other programs vary.

• Bedford Youth Performing Company 155 Route 101 in Bedford; bypc.org; 472-3894BYPC’s dance and movement summer offerings include weeklong preschool camps (running most weeks the week of June 10 through the week of July 29, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) for ages 3 and 6 on subjects including science, theater, superheroes and circus. For older kids, a Dance Boot Camp (ages 12+) runs June 17-21, 4 to 9 p.m., and Acro Circus Camp (ages 8 to 12) runs July 29-Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The school also offers summer music classes. See website for pricing.

• Broadway Bound Performing Arts Center 501 Daniel Webster Hwy. in Merrimack; 429-8844; broadwayboundpac.com Broadway Bound offers workshops and classes in August as well as camps — Musical Theatre Camp July 1-20, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for ages 6 to 18, culminating in a production of Descendants The Musical ($750); Kid Dance Camp Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for ages 4 to 11 ($275), and Intensive Dance Camp Aug. 12-16, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ($250).

• Concord Dance Academy 26 Commercial St. in Concord; 226-0200; concorddanceacademy.com Dance Camp, July 22-26, runs full day (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; $275) or half day (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; $160) with early dropoff (7:30 a.m.) and late pickup (5:30 p.m.) available. A mini camp (half day) is geared toward ages 3 to 5. Recreational camp (ages 4 to 12) offers dance classes in a variety of styles as well as nature walks, arts and crafts and more. Intensive Camp (ages 8 to 13) is for dancers who want to be challenged and critiqued, the website said.

• Creative Dance Workshop of Bow 1355 Route 3A, Unit A & B, in Bow; 225-7711; nhdances.com This year’s summer camp lineup features a variety of themes for the weeks of June 24, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29. See the website for details and to register.

• The Dance Company 130 Route 101A in Amherst; 864-8374; thedancecompanyonline.comIn addition to classes, private lessons and one-day events, The Dance Company offers an Acro Camp July 23-25, 1 to 4 p.m., for ages 3-6 and 7-11 ($130); Camp Dance June 24-28, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for ages 5-10 ($275) and Level Up Intensive Aug. 12-16, 9 a.m. to noon for ages 6-10 ($225) and then 12:30 to 7 p.m. for ages 10+ ($485).

• Dance Visions Network 699 Mast Road in Manchester; 626-7654; dancevisionsnetwork.comLast year Dance Visions offered a mini-camp (half day) for ages 3 to 6, a three-day full-day camp for ages 7 to 15 and a dance intensive. Check back for summer 2024 information.

• Dimensions in Dance 84 Myrtle St. in Manchester; 668-4196; dimensionsindance.com “Fairy Tale Dance Camp,” pre-ballet, is open to ages 3 to 6, July 15-19, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ($230 by March 15, $260 after). Level 1-2 Dance camp is open to grades 1 to 3, July 15-19, 9 a.m to 2:30 p.m. ($325 by March 15; $350 after). Level 3-4 Junior Dance Intensive is open to ages 8 to 12, July 29-Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ($375 by March 15; $410 after). Summer Dance Intensive for Levels 5-Adult runs July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ($425 for one week, $790 for two weeks before March 15; $460 and $860 after).

• Happy Feet Dance School 25 Indian Rock Road in Windham; 434-4437; happyfeetdanceschool.bizLast year’s summer offerings included classes as well as three-day half-day camps. Check back for 2024 updates.

• Kathy Blake Dance Studios 3 Northern Blvd. in Amherst; 673-3978; kathyblakedancestudios.com Three-day mini camps, 9 to 11:30 a.m., will take place July 9-11, July 16-18, July 23-25, July 30-Aug. 1, Aug. 6-8 and Aug. 13-15, with each session split into age groups 3-5 and 6-8. The cost is $150 with a multiclass discount. The studio is also offering six-week weekly dance classes and dance team workshops.

• Martin School of Dance 288 Route 101, Suite 202, in Bedford; 488-2371; martinschoolofdance.com Dance camp offerings for ages 5 to 7 include Circus June 24-29, Outer Space July 8-12 and Magical Fantasy July 15-19, all 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring dance, outdoor activities, an end-of-week performance and more. JR Summer Dance Camp (ages 7 to 9) has themes including Taylor Swift (July 22-26) and Red Carpet (July 29-Aug. 2), both 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are two weeklong Summer Dance Intensive Sessions for ages 9 to 18, Aug. 5-9 and Aug. 12-16, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Melissa Hoffman Dance Center 210 Robinson Road in Hudson; 886-7909; melissahoffmandancecenter.info A three-day mini camp is offered for ages 2 to 4 (“My FIrst Dance Camp” July 8-10, 9:30 to 11 a.m.; $75). Five-day half-day ( 9 a.m. to noon) camp sessions are offered for ages 3 to 7 (“Kitty Camp” July 15-19 and “Princess Camp” July 22-26; $230). Swiftie Camp, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., for ages 6 to 12, will run July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 5-9; $260. The center will also hold a series of summer parties ($45 per event).

• Miss Kelsey’s Dance Studio 2626 Brown Ave. in Manchester; 606-2820; mkdance.com One-day, three-day and full-week camps. Three-day camps include “Fashion Dolls & Dude Dreamtopia” (June 24-26, noon to 3 p.m., ages 5 to 10), “Christmas in July” (July 16-18, 9 a.m. to noon, ages 5 to 9) and “Groove and Doodle” (July 16-18, noon to 3 p.m., ages 5 to 9). The full-week camp is “Afternoon Adventures in a Magic Mouse House” for ages 5 to 10, June 24-28, 3 to 6 p.m. Prices vary according to class.

• Nancy Chippendale’s Dance Studios 49 Range Road, Building No. 2, Suite A, in Windham; 458-7730; chippswindham.com Camps for preschool through 1st grade include “Princess Power” (July 8-12 and July 15-19, 9 a.m. to noon) and “Chipp Dance Party” (July 29-Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to noon). A “Little Chipp Bootcamp” for dancers ages 2nd to 5th grade takes place Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to noon.

• New England School of Dance 679 Mast Road in Manchester; newenglandschoolofdance.com/summer2024; 935-7326 The school offers mini camps for ages 3 to 6 (July 23 & July 25 for “Circus Camp” and July 30 & Aug. 1 for “Teddy Bear Picnic”; 9 a.m. to noon); technique classes for ages 3 and up, and weeklong summer intensives (9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for ages 6 to 8, to 3 p.m. for ages 9 to 11 and to 4 p.m. for ages 12 and older). Cost varies depending on the class and how many classes.

• New Hampshire Academie of Dance 1 Action Blvd., No. 4, in Londonderry; 432- 4041; nhadance.com Summer 2024 information is listed as coming soon; check back for updates.

• N-Step Dance Center 1134 Hooksett Road in Hooksett; 641-6787; nstepdance.com Weeklong musical theater camps run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., June 24-28 (Encanto), July 29-Aug. 2 (The Little Mermaid) and Aug. 12-16 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). The cost is $250. The center also offers weeklong Intensive camps — Junior Intensive July 22-26 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. ($350), Teen Intensive July 22-26 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ($350) and Aug 5.-9 5 to 8 p.m. ($25) — and a series of weekly classes.

• Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater 19 Harvey Road in Bedford; 637-4398; snhdt.org Princess Camp (age 3 to 5) runs June 25-27 (9:30 to 11:30 a.m. or 2 to 4 p.m.) and July 9-11 (9:30 to 11:30 a.m.). Young Dancer Workshop (age 6 to 8 or age 9-12) runs July 15-19, 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Summer Intensive (age 10 to 19) runs July 22 to Aug. 9.

• Turning Pointe Center of Dance 371 Pembroke St. in Pembroke; 485-8710; turningpointecenterofdance.com A Summer Dance Camp runs June 24-28, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., for ages 5 to 10. The cost is $165 for the week. The school also offers a weekly July class series for grades 7 through 12.

• Unbound Dance Academy 237 Londonderry Tpke. in Hooksett; 714-2821; unbounddanceacademy.com A musical theater camp culminating in a performance of Matilda runs the week of July 8 (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) for ages 8 to 13 ($275). A mini Acro camp runs July 15-17 (5 to 6 p.m., Levels 1-3, $50, and 6 to 7:30 p.m. for intermediate/advanced, $75). Princess Camp runs July 15-19, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., for ages 4 to 7 ($300). Nutcracker Camp runs July 22-24, 9 a.m. to noon, for ages 6 to 12 ($150). A Ballet Intensive for Levels 3+ runs July 29-31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. ($140). The school also offers a four-week ballet session (one class per week) in August and a series of Ballerina Tea Parties on Wednesdays in August.

Games

• Chess Wizards bedfordnh.myrec.com Morning, afternoon or full-day chess camp for grades 1-5 at Bedford Town Hall (70 Bedford Center Road in Bedford). July 15-19 at either 9 a.m. to noon, noon to 3 p.m. or 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $215 for half day, $315 for full day

• Esports Summer Camp at Southern New Hampshire University William S. and Joan Green Center, 2500 N. River Road in Hooksett; esports@snhu.edu In 2023 SNHU offered an esports camp with sessions for ages 12-14, 15-18 and 12-18.

Gymnastics

• A2 Gym & Cheer 16B Garabedian Drive in Salem; 328-8130; a2gc.com Seven weeks of summer camp are open to ages 5 to 11 with full- and half-day options. Check back for 2024 details.

• Gymnastics Village 13 Caldwell Drive in Amherst; 889-8092; gymnasticsvillage.com Nine weeklong sessions (week of June 24 through week of Aug. 19) with full- (9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) and half-day (9 a.m. to noon) options. Gymnastics and Ninja camps are open to ages 6 to 14 with a junior half-day camp open to 4- and 5-year olds. Half-day camps are $200 per week or $45 per day; full-day camps are $305 per week or $65 per day (with sibling and multi-week discounts).

• Gym-Ken Gymnastics 184 Rockingham Road in Windham; 434-9060; gymkengymnastics.com “Wet & Wild Summer”runs July 8 through Aug. 23, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (pickup is 4 to 5 p.m.) with early dropoff as early as 7:30 a.m. and late pickup until 5:30 p.m. for additional fees. The swim and gym program is open to ages 5 to 12. $75 per day or $350 per week, with discounts for multiple weeks and siblings.

• Impact Gymnastics 301 River Road in Bow; 219-0343; impact-gymnastics.com Seven weeklong camps for ages 5 to 13 running the week of July 1 through the week of Aug. 12, each week with a theme as well as swimming, outdoor play, movie Fridays and more. Camps run 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with extended care as early as 7:30 a.m. and as late as 5:30 p.m. for additional fees. $285 weekly.

• Noha’s Gymnastics Academy 200 Perimeter Road in Manchester, 518-7660; 30 Pond St. in Nashua, 880-4927; ngacademy.us Full- and half-day (morning or afternoon) camps are offered in Manchester in weeklong sessions June 10 through the week of Aug. 19. Each week has a theme. Full-day camp runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; half-days are offered 8 a.m. to noon and noon to 4 p.m. Until April 1 full day is $300 and half day is $200; after, full day is $350 and half day is $250.

• Sky High Gymnastics 185 Elm St., No. 2, in Milford; 554-1097; skyhighgym.com Last year’s camps were weeklong sessions featuring theme weeks for ages 5 to 12. Check back for 2024 information.

• Southern New Hampshire Gymnastics Academy 4 Orchard View Drive, No. 11, Londonderry, 404-6181, snhga.com Weeklong camps for ages 4 and older run the week of June 24 and then the week of July 8 through the week of Aug. 19 will full and half-day options. The days will include gymnastics, arts and crafts, contests, themed activities and more. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (full day); 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (half days) Cost is $75 per day or $240 per week for full days; $50 per day or $180 per week for half days, with extra fees for extended care and sibling discounts.

• Tumble Town Gymnastics 444 E. Industrial Park Drive, No. 10, in Manchester; 641-9591; tumbletownnh.com Four weeklong camps the weeks of July 8, July 15, July 29 and Aug. 12, running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.$225 per week, with discounts for siblings and multiple classes in the same month.

Martial Arts & Ninja

• Bedford Martial Arts Academy 292 Route 101 in Bedford; 626-9696; bedfordmartialartsacademy.com Camp features field trips, dodgeball, obstacle courses, indoor and outdoor activities, playground and pool activities and more, according to the website. Contact the school for details.

• Empowering Lives Martial Arts 542 Mast Road, No. 15, in Goffstown; 978-414- 5425; martialartsnewhampshire.com Summer camp featuring themed weeks. Call for details.

• Granite State American Kenpo Karate 290 Derry Road, No. 5, in Hudson; 598-5400; gsakenpo.com Camp offers indoor and outdoor games, arts & crafts, field trips, park visits and outdoor play and more, according to the website. Contact the studio for details.

• Phoenix Fire Martial Arts 79 Plaistow Road in Plaistow; 234-8665; phnixfire.comWeeklongcampsessions run June 17 through Aug. 16, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with early dropoff and late pickup available for an additional fee). Camp will feature martial arts as well as games, crafts, water games, free play and more, the website said. Discounts are available for siblings and for signing up for the full summer.

• The Training Station 200 Elm St. in Manchester; 505-0048; thetrainingstationnh.comCamp includes outdoor activities and water games, martial arts games, a visit from a local police officer, a field trip and more. Check back for 2024 information.

• USA Ninja Challenge 444 E. Industrial Drive in Manchester; ninjamanchesternh.com; 935-7100 Camps for ages 6 to 12. Check back for 2024 information.

Multimedia

• ConcordTV Video camps 170 Warren St. in Concord; yourconcordtv.org Camps will run again this summer; in past years, beginner and advanced video production camps were available. Check back with the website for updates.

• Londonderry Access TV Londonderry Access Center, 281 Mammoth Road in Londonderry; 432-1147; lactv.com Kids learn how to make better-quality videos, including shot composition, editing and graphic design, for short-form videos and longer TV shows in a professional studio, according to an email. For kids entering 5th through 8th grade in fall 2024. Monday, July 8, through Friday, July 19, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; kids must be able to attend all days of the camp. $85.

• NH Audubon Massabesic Center, 26 Audubon Way in Auburn; 224-9909; nhaudubon.org “Conservation Quest Camp” from Media Power Youth will “merge the excitement of filmmaking with outdoor adventures.” Sessions run the weeks of July 8 and July 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For 11- to 14-year-olds. $350 per session.

• SEE Science Center 200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org; 669-0400 SEE offers camps mid-July through mid-August including two sessions that have a video-making component — “Flip the Script” camp July 29-Aug. 2 for ages 10 to 14 and “Animation with LEGO” camp Aug. 5-9 or Aug. 12-16 for ages 9 to 12. Both camps run 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $300.

Music

• Bedford Youth Performing Company 155 Route 101 in Bedford; bypc.org; 472-3894BYPC’s summer music offerings include private lessons and Kindermusik (infant through age 7) drop-ins as well as Summer Rock Band Camp — June 17-21 and July 29-Aug 2, 3 to 8 p.m. either week, for grades 4 to 6; July 8-12, 3 to 8 p.m., for grades 7+ — and Summer Recording Camp (grade 7+, Aug. 12-16, 3 to 8 p.m.).

• Concord Community Music School 23 Wall St. in Concord; ccmusicschool.org; 228-1196 Full- and half-day camps as well as classes for younger kids, workshops for teens and adults, and private music lessons. Camps include “Piano Dynamos Camp” for ages 9 to 15, June 24-28, 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Summer String Camp for ages 8 to 15, June 24-28, 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; “Summer Jam Camp” for students entering grades 5 to 12, July 8-12 and July 15-19, 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.; “Creative Arts Camp” for students entering grades 1 to 6, July 22-26, July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 5-9, each week with a different theme, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (extended care options available) The full-day camps cost $350 per week. “Summer Jam Camp” costs $275.

• Let’s Play Music! 145 Hampstead Road in Derry, 425-7575; 2626 Brown Ave. in Manchester, 218-3089; 136 Lowell Road in Hudson, 882-8940; letsplaymusic.com Camps for kids ages 7 to 12 include “Intro to Art And Music” and “Ready to Rock Camp,” both running Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Rock Band Camp” is available for ages 10 to 16, also Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Kidzrock Camp,” for ages 4 to 6, is Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. And there is also a Musical Theater Camp for ages 8 to 16. Go online to request information on specific camps and specific weeks in one of the three locations.

• Manchester Community Music School 2291 Elm St. in Manchester; mcmusicschool.org; 644-4548. The school will offer camps for 3rd- through 12th-graders in music exploration, piano, brass, woodwind, strings, choir and guitar that run half-day (either three hours in the morning or three hours in the afternoon) for a week. Camps will run between late June and early August. Check the website for the latest information on dates and pricing and to register.

• Nashua Community Music School 2 Lock St. in Nashua; 881-7030; nashuacms.org The school offers weeklong camps in July, including three camps (starting Mondays, July 8, July 15 and July 22) for ages 4 to 7 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (with an early dropoff option starting at 8 a.m. for an extra $50 per week) and three camps for ages 8 to 12 running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each week has a focus; for younger kids it’s “Music Around the World” (starting July 8), “Broadway Babies” (July 15) and “Latin Music Week Junior” (July 22), with the first two weeks planned to run in Greeley Park. For older kids the themes are “Broadway Week” (July 8), “Piano Camp” (July 15) and “Latin Music Week” (July 22). The school also offers classes for ages 12-17 in the evenings, 6:30 to 9 p.m., with different themes each week starting with the week of July 30 through the week of Aug. 20. Younger kid classes cost $185 per week, classes for ages 8 to 12 cost $325 per week; the evening classes cost $165 per session.

Nature & the Outdoors

• Beaver Brook Nature Camps Beaver Brook Association, 117 Ridge Road in Hollis; 465-7787; beaverbrook.orgSix weeklong camps focus on different subjects related to nature and the outdoors, divided by age. Camps start the week of June 24 with offerings for kindergarteners through 6th grade. The next session is the week of July 8 and includes camp for kids in grades 7 through 9, as does the week of July 22. Registration opens March 6 for Beaver Brook members and March 8 at 8 a.m. to the public. Camps run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Concord Parks & Recreation Camp Wild The Lodge at White Park, concordparksandrec.com, 225-8690 For ages 9 to 12 years old, this camp use the City of Concord trail system to oexplore the natural sites around Concord. Camp runs July 1-5 (no camp of July 4); 9 am. to 3 p.m. The cost is $140 for Concord residents; $148 for non-residents.

• Concord Parks & Recreation Nature Camp The Lodge at White Park, concordparksandrec.com , 225-8690 For ages 5 to 8 years old, this camp will feature outdoor exploration , nature based crafts and more. Camps run the week of June 24 through the week of Aug. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. The cost is $175 for Concord residents; $185 for non-residents.

• Educational Farm at Joppa Hill 174 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford; theeducationalfarm.org; 472-4724 Eight weeklong sessions (starting the week of June 17 and running through the week of Aug. 12, no camp the week of July 1) that feature daily farm chores, nature walks, hands-on learning experiences, outdoor games, visits with the farm animals and more. Kids are grouped in ages 5-8 and ages 9-12. Camp day runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with extended day options as early as 8 a.m. and as late as 5 p.m. for an additional $75. Cost is $350.

• NH Audubon nhaudubon.org Half-day (9 a.m. to noon) camps are available for ages 4 and 5 at both the Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way in Auburn; 224-9909) and McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road in Concord; 224-9909). Full-day camps at both locations run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are grouped by Discovery Camp (ages 6 to 9), Explorers Camp (ages 10 to 12) and Leaders In Training (ages 13 to 15). Sessions start the week of June 24 and run through the week of Aug. 19, with each week having a focus such as “Creepy, Crawly Critters” (July 8-12) and “Wet and Wild Watersheds” (Aug. 12-16). Before care starts at 8 a.m., after care goes until 5 p.m. Cost is $220 for Wonders (the half-day camp) and Leaders In Training; $330 for Discovery and Explorers. Discounts for members.

Science & STEM

• Camp Invention Southern New Hampshire Education Center, 1E Commons Drive, #28, Londonderry, snhec.org, 818-8613A STEM camp for kids entering kindergarten through 6th grade, Camp Invention offers a week-long session, July 15 through July 19, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The cost is $295. Call about Leader In Training spots for grades 7 through 9.

• iDTech Camps at Southern New Hampshire University idtech.com/locations Day camps and overnight camps on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University in north Manchester offer robotics, coding, digital art, game design and more in classes grouped by age, with overall offerings from ages 7 to 17. Weeklong sessions run the week of July 8 through the week of July 29. Cost starts at $999.

• LetGoYourMind letgoyourmind.com/summer-program-locations LEGO-based STEM programming in weeklong sessions for ages 4 to 13 daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at locations across New Hampshire. Offerings include Amherst (Aug. 5-9), Bedford (the weeks of June 17-21; June 24-28; July 8-12; Aug. 5-9, and Aug. 12-16), Concord (the weeks of June 24-28; July 1-3; July 8-12, and Aug. 12-16), Londonderry (weeks of July 15-19 and July 22-26), Manchester (weeks of July 29-Aug. 2 and Aug. 5-9), Nashua (July 22-26 and July 29-Aug. 2), Pelham (July 29-Aug. 2), Salem (June 24-28) and Windham (July 8-12 and July 15-19). Age groups offered differ by location and week. $390 per week

• McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center 2 Institute Dr. in Concord; starhop.com; 271-7827 The Center offers seven weeklong STEM camps with three focused on more Earthbound subjects — “Discover the Dinosaurs” for ages 5 to 7 June 24-28; “The Earth We Walk On” for ages 8 to 11 July 1-3, and “Codename: Robot Camp” for ages 11 to 14 July 17-21. These camps run either 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (for ages 5-7) or 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (for older kids). $345 per week (July 1 week is $210).

• Nashua Community College505 Amherst St. in Nashua; nashuacc.edu/about/for-the-public/summer-camps; 578-8979 Summer camp programs at Nashua Community College include automotive classes the weeks of July 8 and July 15; digital electronics the week of July 15 and coding the weeks of July 15 and July 22, all for 6th- through 12th-graders. Email KEckenrode@ccsnh.edu.

• SEE Science Center 200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org; 669-0400 SEE offers camps mid-July through mid-August including multiple hands-on science and STEM-related camps — “Camp Summer Science” for ages 7 to 13 July 15-19 or July 22-26; “SeaPerch Camp” for ages 11 to 14 July 15-19; “FIRST PLACE Innovation Challenge” for ages 9-14 July 22-26 or July 29-Aug. 2; “BioTrekker’s Camp” for ages 11 to 14 July 29-Aug. 2, and “iSpy Camp” for ages 8 to 13 Aug. 5-9 or Aug. 12-16. Camps run 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. $300.

• STEM Summer Camps Manchester Community College, 1066 Front St. in Manchester; mccnh.edu/summer-camps STEM–focused four- and five-day sessions for students entering grades 6-8 including “Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs” July 15-19; STEM Camp July 22-25 and Robotics Camp July 29-Aug. 1. $175.

• Top Secret Science & Math Summer Camp bedfordnh.myrec.com Two weeklong sessions for ages kindergarten through 5th grade at the Bedford Old Town Hall (70 Bedford Center Road) where “the kids will explore 20 weird and wacky hands-on science experiments and will make and take home all the projects. The scientists are fast-paced and funny and your kids will be thoroughly entertained (they’ll even learn some interesting things too),” according to the website. July 22-26 and July 29-Aug. 2, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $320 per week.

• University of New Hampshire STEM camps unh.edu/youthprograms UNH offers science- and math-based camps, such as robotics camps (for grades 4-6 and grades 5-7; two sessions the weeks of June 24 and July 1), a mini-half-day STEM camp July 1-3 for grades 2-4, and Tech Camp for grades 5-12. Most camps are at the Durham campus, though a Tech Camp for students grades 5-12 in the Manchester School District takes place in Manchester. Cost varies by offering.

Sports

• Amherst Soccer Club amherstsoccerclub.com Summer and pre-season camps have been offered in past years; check back for updates on 2024.

• Athletic Camps at The Derryfield School 2108 River Road in Manchester; derryfield.org/about/summer-programs Check back for information on “Strength Conditioning” and “Magic Touch Soccer” camps. A field hockey camp led by Derryfield School’s field hockey coach Katie Bulk runs Aug. 5-7, 9 to 11 a.m., for middle and high school players (cost is $150). A basketball camp run by varsity girls coach Courtney Cheetham runs June 24-28, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Registration starts in March.

• Auburn Parks & Recreation Summer Basketball Camp 483-5052; auburnparksandrec.com Coed camp for students entering grades 5 to 8 runs Monday, Aug. 12, through Friday, Aug. 16, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. $225.

• The British Are Coming Summer Soccer Camp mnsl.org/soccer-camp-in-manchesterThe camp, run by Manchester North Soccer League, will take place July 29 through Aug. 2 in Livingston Park in Manchester offering soccer instruction for kids ages 5 to 15. The cost is $250 for full day, $160 for half day (with discounts for siblings).

• Caramba Soccer Skills camp locations in Concord, Nashua, Canterbury and Chichester; 496-3579; soccerskillscamp.org Soccer skills and goalkeeping camps with full- and half-day options for the week of July 8 (in Mine Falls Park in Nashua) and July 15 (at Carpenter Fields in Chichester), a full-day-only camp the week of July 22 in Concord (Center Point Fields), an evening-only camp July 29-Aug. 1 at Center Point Fields in Concord, and a half-day camp July 29-Aug. 1 in Canterbury. The first three camps are open to ages 6 to 14. The last two camps are open to 2nd- through 12th-graders. Full-day camp costs $245, half-day costs $160

• Challenger Sports Soccer Camps various NH locations; 800-878-2167, ext. 280; challengersports.com Camps on the schedule are often connected to the town’s parks and recreation department, ages and prices vary. So far, the schedule includes Pelham (June 24-28), Weare (July 8-12), Windham (July 15-19 and Aug. 5-9), New Boston (July 15-19), Northwood (July 15-19 and July 22-26) and Hopkinton (Aug. 12-18).

• Conway Arena 5 Stadium Dr. in Nashua; 595-2400; conwayarena.com Weeklong and four-day-long hockey camps are offered starting the week of July 15 through the week of Aug. 19. Price varies according to camp. Camps the first and last week are geared toward kids age 7 to 14. The arena is also home to weekly skills classes starting as early as June 1.

• Executive Health & Sports Center 1 Highlander Way in Manchester; ehsc.com/summer-camps; 668-4753 Eight themed weeklong sessions that feature swimming, sports, games, outdoor play and more. Sessions are divided by Lil’ Tikes (ages 5 and 6), Juniors (7 and 8) and Exec (9 and 10) Sessions start the week of June 17 and run through the week of Aug. 5; camps run 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily, with dropoff from 7:30 to 9 a.m. and pickup 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. $349, with discounts for members and for partial weeks.

• Fisher Cats Baseball & Softball Camps Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, 1 Line Drive in Manchester; 641-2005; nhfishercats.comHalf-day camps (8:30 a.m. to noon) for ages 6 to 15 that focus on stretching and warmups, throwing and catching, infield and outfield tips and drills, swing mechanics, pitching and base-running, according to the website. June 17-21; July 22, 23, 24 and 26; Aug. 19-23. Cost is $175 for the first and third weeks, $150 for the second week.

• Foster’s Golf Camp Dropoff and pickup location is Derryfield Park, 581 Bridge St. in Manchester; 622-1553; fostersgolfcamp.com Campers travel to three different par-3 courses each week to participate in practice clinics and play nine holes of golf. Camp is for kids ages 7 to 16 of all abilities. Bus arrives at Derryfield Park at 7:30 a.m. and leaves at 8 a.m.; campers return at 4 p.m. Sessions are a week long and begin the week of June 17 and run through the week of Aug. 26 (no camp the week of July 1). $325 per week.

• Jack Perri Basketball Camps jackperribasketballcamp.com Co-ed weeklong basketball camps for kids in grades 3 to 10 held at Southern New Hampshire University and run by Jack Perri, head coach of the SNHU men’s basketball team. The program also runs a high school showcase for grades 9 to 11 (check the website for updates). Sessions are July 8-11 and July 15-19, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $255 per child until March 1, $325 per child after March 1 (discounts for siblings).

• JT Soccer Training info.abcsportscamps.com/jtsoccer A weeklong full-day camp at Penmen Stadium on the Southern New Hampshire University campus in north Manchester featuring soccer fundamentals, team play and more, for kids ages 5 to 14. July 8-12, with full day 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon on Friday or a half-day option 9 a.m. to noon daily. $225 for full-day camp, $150 for half-day with discounts for siblings and SNHU employees.

• Longfellow New Hampshire Tennis & Swim Club 140 Lock St. in Nashua; 883-0153; longfellownh.comLast summer the club offered 10 weeklong sessions of Hammel Tennis Camp, with full-day and half-day options. Check back for updates on 2024.

• NH Climbing & Fitness 10 Langdon Ave. in Concord; nhclimbinggym.com/camp; 715-9171 Weeklong indoor climbing camps for ages 6 to 12 start the week of June 24 and run through the week of Aug. 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (with early dropoff and late pickup available for an extra charge if pre-arranged). NH Adventure Camp with a mix of indoor and outdoor climbing for ages 10+ runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. those same weeks. $295 for indoor camp; $495 for Adventure Camp

• NH Hoop Skills nhhoopskills.com Two weeklong (Monday through Thursday) sessions led by Karen Pinkos, head coach of the Southern New Hampshire University Women’s Basketball team, for girls in grades 2 through 10, taking place at Stan Spiro Field House on the SNHU campus in Manchester. Sessions run June 24-27 and July 29-Aug. 1, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $295 per week if you register before May 1, $325 after.

• NH Hoop Skills HS Elite nhhoopskills.com Clinics for girls in grades 9 through 12, dates TBA in June and July. See the website for information.

• NH Tomahawks nhtomahawks.com The Tomahawks have summer offerings for boys and girls. Half-day girls camps (for ages 5 to 17) run in Bedford at Joppa Fields (July 8-11 and July 22-25, 9 a.m. to noon) and on Back River Road (June 24-27, 9 a.m. to noon); cost is $195. Half-day boys camps run at Joppa Fields in Bedford for ages 5 to 17 June 24-27, July 8-11 and July 22-25, 9 a.m. to noon; cost is $195. There is also a league that meets weekly.

• Nike Baseball Camp ussportscamps.com/baseball/nike Held at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, the camp is run by Southern New Hampshire University’s Head Coach Scott Loiseau for ages 6 to 12, grouped by age and ability. Sessions run Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., July 15-18 and July 22-25, with check-in 30 minutes before start time. $365 per session.

• Nike Basketball Camps Locations in Manchester, Nashua and Hampton, 800-645-3226, ussportscamps.com/basketball/nike In Manchester, four weeklong sessions of the camp take place at Saint Anselm College the weeks of June 24, July 8, July 15, July 22 and July 29, running 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays. In Concord, the camps take place at Capital City Sports & Fitness the weeks of July 15 and Aug. 5, running 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon with a half-option throughout the weeks. In Derry, the camp is at SportsZone; check back for dates and times.

• Paul Hogan Basketball Camp hogancamps.com Basketball camps held at NHTI in Concord including three-day camps for point guards and post players in grades 5 through 12; four-day Rip City Basketball Camps that “provide advanced individual offensive and defensive instruction” for grades 4 through 10; Shooter’s Gold Basketball Camp (taking place in multiple locations including Bow July 8-11) for kids in grade 1-4 (from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and grades 5 to 8 (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), and Specialty Basketball Camp for grades 5 to 12 July 28-Aug. 1. Prices vary based on camps.

• Seacoast United Soccer seacoastunited.com Seacoast camps held in New Hampshire include in Epping (full- and half-day camps the week of June 24 for 6-14 and 8 to 15 goalkeeper; half-day goalkeeper the week of July 15; full and half days the week of July 29 Bedford (full day the weeks of June 24 and July 17, full and half days for the week of July 29, for ages 6 to 14). Prices vary by camp.

• University of New Hampshire summer sports camps unh.edu/youthprograms UNH hosts camps (both day and overnight) related to basketball (a boys and a girls camp), field hockey, football evening camp, gymnastics camp, girls ice hockey, Wildcat Hockey School, girls soccer, track and field, volleyball camp, boys soccer and girls lacrosse. See the website for details and availability.

Theater

• Bedford Youth Performing Company 155 Route 101 in Bedford; bypc.org; 472-3894BYPC’s summer theater offerings include Jungle Book Kids musical theater production camp (June 24-28, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for kindergarten through 4th grade; $325), Little Mermaid Jr. musical theater production camp (June 24-28, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for grades 5 to 9; $325), Seussical the Musical Kids Musical Theater Production camp (Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for kindergarten through 4th grade; $325), and Alice in Wonderland Jr. Kids Musical Theater Production camp (Aug. 5-9, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., for grades 5 to 9; $325).

• Community Players of Concord 435 Josiah Bartlett Road in Concord; communityplayersofconcord.org A one-week musical theater camp that would run Sunday through Friday in August at the Community Players Studio and then culminate in a camp show at the Concord City Auditorium for kids ages 8 to 14. Check the website in early April for camp information or subscribe to the Players’ monthly newsletter.

• Derryfield Repertory Theatre The Derryfield School, 2108 River Road in Manchester; derryfield.org/about/summer-programs Two two-week sessions where campers, grouped by age, learn improvisation, acting, singing, scriptwriting and dancing and are in productions of junior versions of We Are Monsters, Shrek The Musical, Rock of Ages, 101 Dalmatians, Finding Nemo and Legally Blonde The Musical Rising 4th- through 12th-graders Sessions are July 8-19 and July 22-Aug 2, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. $660 per session, includes lunch; discounts for siblings of multiple sessions.

• Kids Coop Theatre Londonderry; admin@kids-coop-theatre.org, kids-cooptheatre.org A two-week session July 8-19, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., is open to ages 7 to 13. Show title is TBA. $550.

• Majestic Academy of Dramatic Arts 880 Page St. in Manchester; majestictheatre.net; 669-7469 Themed half-day weeklong camps for ages 5 to 7 and full-day week- and two-week-long camps for ages 8 to 14. Camps teach acting, movement, improvisation, music and other aspects of theater. Half-day camps include Green Eggs & Ham (stories and songs of Dr. Seuss; June 24-29) and Video Zone (July 15-20); full-day camps include “Imagine a Dragon” (July 8-13) and “Kokonut Island” (July 22-Aug. 3). Showcases are held on the Saturdays at the end of each camp. $160 for half-day camps; $225 for full-day camp, $325 for two-week full-day camp.

• Merrimack Summer Stage Theater Program merrimackparksandrec.org This weeklong program for ages 8 to 15 takes place at the Wasserman Park Theatre July 15-19 and culminates in a production of Disney’s 101 Dalmatians Kids. Camp runs 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. $285 for Merrimack residents, $295 for nonresidents.

• Palace Youth Theatre Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org/pyt Weeklong and two-week camps focus on a particular production, with performances at the end of the sessions. Camps start with a two-week session on June 24 and alternate two and one weeks with the final camp a one-week session Aug. 19. The camps are open to grades 2 through 12 and run Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Two-week camps cost $599, one-week camps cost $299.

• Peacock Players 14 Court St. in Nashua; 886-7000; peacockplayers.orgFive weeklong sessions each on a theme for grades 1 to 9 — Legendary Composers (July 15-19), Getting Spooky (July 22-26), All About the Mouse (July 29-Aug. 2), Rock & Roll Week (Aug. 5-9) and Hollywood Week (Aug. 12-16). 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (pickup is 4 to 5 p.m.). $350.

• Triple Threat Theater Camp Londonderry Dance Academy, 21 Buttrick Road in Londonderry; 432-0032; londonderrydance.com A Triple Threat Film Camp for ages 7 to 17 runs June 24-28, 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. A Triple Threat Theater Camp for ages 6 to 17 runs July 8-26, 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. A Triple Threat Theater Camp Jr. for ages 5.5 through 9 runs July 8-12 and July 15-19, 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. The weeklong camps cost $325 per week; the three-week camp costs $850.

• University of New Hampshire Theatre & Dance Stars unh.edu/youthprograms UNH offers a theater camp July 8-12 for grades 3 through 12, divided in different sessions by age, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. as well as a camp from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for grades 1 through 3. A camp for grades 5 to 12 runs July 15-19 runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Full-day camps cost $400, half day is $250.

Winter farmers markets offer a taste of sunnier seasons

Farmers markets aren’t just for the warmer months; some continue to operate through the winter, featuring a variety of vendors selling everything from fresh produce to artisanal crafts.

Via email, organizers and vendors discussed how these markets adapt to the colder season and what unique offerings they bring to the community.

Concord Farmers Market

Brenda White, with input from her fellow organizers for the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market, discussed how this season is going.

How has this year’s winter farmers market differed from previous years in terms of vendor participation and customer attendance?

This year, our fledgling market has grown in visibility through our social media advertising and new signs that are more visually appealing and draw the attention of passersby. We worked with a local Concord artist, RS Creative, who designed our fresh, new logo. Attendance is up from an average of 275 customers to roughly 425 customers. We have gained some wonderful vendors to add to a diverse offering. The produce and products that you can find range from fish, meats and eggs to fresh microgreens, root veggies, fresh baked treats and bread. We have vendors who make wonderful soaps, lotions, candles and dog treats. We even have a vendor with fresh cut winter flowers … and microbrews and wine. There is such a wide variety of local goodness.

What unique challenges does operating a farmers market in the winter present, and how have you and the vendors adapted to these conditions?

Finding a location that works for all patrons and gives us enough space to set up. We are grateful for the generosity that Stephen Duprey has gifted this market in its early years by giving us a location to have a market to provide easy access for customers to obtain amazing local products. 7 Eagle Square is a bright, beautiful open space with two levels of shopping. It is a great location for folks who are either choosing to walk around downtown or park close by for quick easy in and out.

Can you share some success stories or particularly popular initiatives from this year’s winter market?

Manus Basket: Every Saturday we have a basket set up to gather donations to support families in need of food. So we have partnered with The Boys & Girls Club of Central and Northern New Hampshire. How it works is that each market Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market purchases food from vendors at the market to place in the cooler or basket for the Boys & Girls Club. We have budgeted a certain amount a week to spend. In addition to that, customers and vendors purchase or donate items to add to the basket and cooler as well while they shop. This supports the vendors as well as helping our local community.

We were excited to host a sing-along with Santa in December this year. It was well-received and fun for the customers’ children and families. … As always, the Merrimack County Conservation District has continued to offer its Granite State Market Match and Veteran Value Bucks programs. Through the Granite State Market Match, SNAP/EBT recipients can double the amount they are spending on food items offered at the market. For example, if $20 is charged to a SNAP card, the recipient will receive $40 in vouchers to spend on food items. The Veteran Value Bucks program provides $20 to veterans and active service members once a month to shop for any items at the market. These programs allow more customers to visit our market, while also keeping more dollars local. It’s a win for everyone.

How important are winter farmers markets for the vendors’ businesses, and what role do they play in the local community during the colder months?

There are very few markets in the winter months, and it is not easy for vendors to get their products out to consumers on their own during the winter months without this farmers market community. The market provides a central location with easy access for the public to get all their needs in one location. We have a variety of meats including traditional beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish and now a new vendor who provides ostrich. We have cheeses, yogurt, beer, soaps, bread, pastries, gluten-free pastries and bread, vegetables, syrup, honey, jams, eggs, beef chips, mushrooms, coffee, microgreens, dog food, popcorn, nuts, soft pretzels, rolls and flowers. These amazing vendors are local and love to support and help their communities and provide fresh locally grown/made products.

What measures have you implemented to encourage community engagement and ensure a safe, enjoyable experience for visitors during the winter season?

We are fortunate that we can use the Storr Street parking garage’s top level to park and use the ramp to bring products down to 7 Eagle Square easily for setup. Customers can use the garage’s top level as well during business hours of the market. The building has an elevator so that patrons can access both floors of the market easily if they prefer not to use the stairs. Walkways and the courtyard are maintained well to be sure that the area is free of ice and snow so customers have easy and safe access to the building. We also have local musicians who are scheduled by NH Music Collective to entertain at the market to add another family-friendly feel to the experience.

Looking forward, are there any new plans or ideas you’re excited to introduce to the winter farmers market in future seasons?

We hope to have a new permanent location in the future that will give us more space and make it even more convenient for customers to join us.

Joyberry Farms

Amy Joyce and Brad Ikenberry of Joyberry Farms, based in Mason, joyberryfarms.com. Find them at the winter Salem NH Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

We are the owners of Joyberry Farms, a small family-owned and -operated farm in Mason. We cultivate fresh mushrooms and create unique mushroom products. At the markets you can find a variety of fresh mushrooms each week, as well as a variety of dried products like mushroom coffee, teas, dried mushroom soups and risotto. We also make wellness mushroom powders.

How has this year’s market been for your business in terms of customer attendance and sales trends?

The sales in the winter tend to drop a little bit, due to attendance and weather. However, each year, as we grow, we also see a rise in our sales trends from repeat and new customers that love our products.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

The cold weather definitely makes farming a lot harder, but it also gives us time to slow down and be more creative.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

Mushrooms, like vegetables, grow differently in each season. We offer different ‘cold weather’ mushrooms in the winter than in the summer, but some varieties grow all year-round.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

Although our summer season is packed with farmers markets, we do attend a few winter markets which helps keep our business running year-round.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

Our fresh mushrooms remain our top seller; however, in the winter we get an influx of sales from our soups, risotto, coffee and teas.

Blakeney’s Bakery

Brenda White, Blakeney’s Bakery, based in Contoocook, blakeneysbakery.com. Find them at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

Blakeney’s Bakery has a large variety of breads, scones, cookies, soft pretzels, whoopie pies, lemon bars and cookies.

How has this year’s market been for your business in terms of customer attendance and sales trends?

Each year has grown in customers and sales.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

Weather can be a challenge, especially if it keeps customers from coming out.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

Really don’t have to do much. We make seasonal products and create new flavors of bread sometimes just from customer suggestions. We don’t make as many products during the winter market as the customer base is significantly smaller due to summer guests and residents who leave for the winter.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

Being able to provide a great product for our customers and to … work with other vendors to support them by pairing their products with ours when possible.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

Our variety of bread flavors and scones. We strive to have savory, sweet and salty options to meet a variety of needs that our customers have.

HorseFeathers Ostrich Farm

Monte and Alison Cossette. HorseFeathers Ostrich Farm, based in Webster, horsefeathersostrichfarm.com. Find them every other Saturday (next date March 2) at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

My husband and I started our ostrich farm several years ago. We’ve been growing our farm, breeding stock, and now are excited to be able to offer USDA ostrich meat for the first time both locally and through online sales. This is our first season participating in farmers market and we have been thrilled with this market.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

Since we are offering a product that not as many people are familiar with, the amount of customers going through the market is very important for us. The more people we can show and teach about ostrich meat, the more sales and repeat customers we can have.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

Currently we are bringing a small amount of meat and only a few types of meat cuts; we are hoping to be part of the summer market and have more offerings.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

As a new business it is amazing to have people to talk to about our product. All organizers of the group have been amazingly helpful as we get started with our farmers markets and our business.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

In our booth we have a display of ostrich egg shells with a fake ostrich head. That seems to really pique interest for people and get them over to the booth. The egg shells can be used for decorations and arts, but the display is a great starting point to bring people to the table and start talking about the meat.

Arándano Farm and Gluten Free or Die Bakery

Paul Gareau and Angela Letelier, Arándano Farm and Gluten Free or Die Bakery, Belmont, arandano.farm, gfordie.com. Find them at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

It’s our first year as vendors in Concord; generally we attend other markets in Belknap County and we’ll be running three new markets in 2024. Our farm offers organic-fed chicken, grass-fed pork, eggs, vegetables and microgreens. The bakery offers celiac-safe gluten-free baked goods.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

Our area mostly offers summer markets, so the winter market helps us sell our products throughout the winter.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

Less emphasis on grilling, more on meal prep.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

Income throughout winter months and expanded customer base.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

Our main attraction is no-compromised gluten-free baked goods, and we have a following for our chicken and pork as well.

Pastry Dream

Ann and Roger Baril of Pastry Dream are based in Derry. Find them at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market and the winter Salem NH Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

We sell individually sized pastries called Dreams. Some call them small pies. Our flavor selection ranges from lemon curd and raspberry to chocolate/peanut butter to our brand new Key lime. We presently offer nine flavors — something for everyone.

How has this year’s market been for your business in terms of customer attendance and sales trends?

We have already seen an increase over last year.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

A challenge we experience each year is New Year’s resolutions and the fact that everyone eats too much over the holiday season and cuts back for a time especially in January. Our opportunity is that farmers markets allow us the opportunity to present our products to those who may not have tasted them before.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

For the winter season we offer a pecan pie Dream and a ginger/spice cake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting along with all of our other items.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

Feedback from customers is a huge benefit of being at the farmers markets. We have a lemon curd and a raspberry and many customers suggested that we put the two flavors together. We did, and the lemon/raspberry is one of our best sellers. We’ve also been asked to create a Key lime dream, which we are now offering and is a great success.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

We offer samples, which give new customers the opportunity to taste our flavors before buying. This makes a big difference, because once you taste the filling flavors you have to have more.

KYS Food for Dogs

Sonia Javier Obinger of KYS Food for Dogs, based in Sandown. Find them at the Downtown Concord Farmers Market and the winter Salem NH Farmers Market.

Can you tell us about yourself and what you offer at the winter farmers market?

I started preparing whole-food recipes because of my interest in providing the best nutrition for my three pugs and a Boston terrier. I began researching, taking classes and using my experience to develop whole-food recipes for them. There would even be times when my friends would come over and ask what was cooking because it smelled so good. I said it was my dog’s dinner. So fast forward 16-plus years of testing, making mistakes, re-testing and friends’ support, I started KYS Whole Food for Dogs. Our recipes are created in small batches, bone broth braised with organic ingredients sourced from local farms sold fresh/frozen in compostable packages at farmers markets, online and retail. Recipes offer seasonally harvested organic vegetables with pasture-raised chicken or grass-fed beef, organ meat, seaweed, hempseed or flaxseed, providing dogs with a nutritious, complete meal. KYS ingredients are sourced from local farms like Vernon Family in Newfields. They provide the chicken for Tilly’s Pastured Chicken recipe. The organic vegetables in this recipe are grown and harvested by Heron Pond in Hampton, Two Farmers Farm in Scarborough, Maine, and Brandmoore Farm in Rollinsford.

How has this year’s market been for your business in terms of customer attendance and sales trends?

This is my first season with Downtown Concord Farmers Market, so I am still working on brand awareness. With the Salem NH Farmers Market this is my third winter market and this market has grown, especially at its new location at LaBelle Winery.

What unique challenges and opportunities does the winter market present for you?

I think the opportunities are that they are indoors, thus providing customers access to a great variety of vendors. I think the biggest challenge is New England weather, which this year has been relatively calm.

How do you adapt your offerings or business strategy for the winter season?

Since my recipes are based on harvest availability, root vegetables — carrots, winter squash, cranberries, for example — are used in the winter. Once the spring/summer season starts we have more greens, summer squash, blueberries, etc. So all year my customers have a diverse nutritional diet.

What are the main benefits of participating in the winter market for your business?

The benefits are that we still have access to our summer customers as well as meeting new ones. Plus it is warmer than being outside.

What is a popular item or service that draws customers to your stall at the winter market?

I think both Jake’s Grass fed Beef and Tilly’s Pastured Chicken recipes are equally popular. I have recently been testing with some of my customers’ liver truffles, which are another whole food product for those who want to provide a healthy treat for the dog.

Completely, totally, mostly free and free-ish fun things to do, see and enjoy

Library, more like “free-brary”

Libraries are the kings of free fun.

1. Your local library of course offers books, magazines, graphic novels, audiobooks and other physical media free for you to borrow with only your library card, which usually requires just proof of residency (or employment in that town, if you want to load up on library memberships) like a bill or your driver’s license (some area libraries also specifically ask that you bring a photo ID). But those aren’t the only free offerings.

2. Ebooks and e-audiobooks are available, along with magazines, newspapers and more, via apps such as Libby, Overdrive and Hoopla, which are accessible once you get your library card. Depending on the app, you can check out a specific number of titles per month or at a time. Instructions on your library’s website explain how to get the title onto your device.

3. Kanopy membership is another perk offered by area libraries. A streaming service for movies and TV shows, Kanopy is a solid service for movie fans, with a selection that includes wide- and more limited-release feature films, documentaries, world cinema and relatively recent releases, such as 2023’s Beau Is Afraid and Kelly Reichhardt’s Showing Up, as well as last year’s Oscar winner Everything Everywhere All At Once. There is also currently a whole tab of A24 movies. The movies cost two tickets each to watch (for example, Bedford Library patrons get 16 tickets per month). You can watch a Great Courses class (a “Cooking Through the Ages” class costs five tickets) or a TV show (Series 1 of Luther costs four tickets).

4. In addition to things to watch and read, many local libraries also lend stuff. The Library of Thingsat the Concord Public Library (concordpubliclibrary.net) includes a ukulele, a ghost meter, a karaoke machine, a telescope and a pickleball set. The Bedford Public Library’s (bedfordnhlibrary.org) Library of Things includes a portable projector and portable screen, binoculars and more. The Manchester City Library (manchester.lib.nh.us) has telescopes, framed prints and Playaway Launchpads. Borrow an XBox, an electric guitar, night vision binoculars or the board game Exploding Kittens via the Merrimack Public Library (merrimacklibrary.org). Check out a Game of Thrones board game, a virtual reality headset or a bird-watching set at the Kelley Library in Salem (kelleylibrary.org). Like several other local libraries, the Nashua Public Library (nashualibrary.org) has a Puzzle Exchange, where you can leave a puzzle, take a puzzle.

5. Stuff also includes seeds — many area libraries have a Seed Library to help you plan and plant your garden. “Check out” seeds for veggies, herbs and other plants and get instructions on how to collect and return the seeds from that plant after the growing season. Area libraries offering seed libraries and exchanges include Goffstown Public Library (goffstownlibrary.com), Bedford Public Library, the Smyth Public Library in Candia (smythpl.org), Nashua Public Library, Manchester City Library, and the Wadleigh Memorial Library in Milford (wadleighlibrary.org).

6. And take a day trip to an area cultural site with the museum passes available to cardholders at pretty much all area libraries. What admissions are free and what admissions may be discounted vary by museum: For example, via the Griffin Free Public Library in Auburn (griffinfree.org), passes for the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire and the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center get you up to four free admissions for those locations, while the pass for the Currier Museum of Art gets you half off two adult and all youth admissions. The list of participating museums varies by libraries but often includes Boston attractions as well as New Hampshire sites.

7. As with the “libraries offer books” example, it might seem obvious to mention all the events at area libraries but it’s more than just storytimes for kids and book clubs (though pretty much all libraries do have those and the storytimes are often specific to certain ages, offering entertainment specifically geared toward, say, the youngest toddler or the wiggliest preschooler). Among the offerings: JerriAnne Boggis, executive director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, discusses the Trail and African American history in Concord Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Concord Public Library (concordpubliclibrary.net); Nashua Public Library will screen Blazing Saddles on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 1:30 p.m., and the Manchester City Library (manchester.lib.nh.us) offers an evening with romance authors Ali Hazelwood, Nikki Payne and Denise Williams via Zoom on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m.

8. You can even hold a book club, board game night or kid graphic novel club of your own at your library by using one of their meeting rooms. The rooms are often free to reserve (which you can do at many libraries online).

Arts & culture for free

Enjoy the experience of checking out some locally created and/or visual or performing arts — and then support it with donations or by purchasing works.

9. The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester (currier.org) offers free admission on the Second Saturday of each month to New Hampshire residents — the museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Active-duty military and their families and veterans can also get free admission any time (Currier also has special offers for free or discounted admission for members of certain associations and for faculty, staff and students at some area colleges; see the website).

10. You can also go in depth on Currier collections and exhibitions from home on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. as part of “Art Conversations From Home.” The 30-minute Zoom registrations are free, though registration is required.

You can also check out the exhibitions in area art galleries, many of which have public hours and often hold artist receptions near the beginning of the show. Current shows include:

11. “All Heart Statuses,” an exhibition featuring works with a variety of approaches to love and emotion, on display at the Mosaic Art Collective in Manchester (mosaicartcollective.com) through Wednesday, Feb. 28. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. See Michael Witthaus’ story about the exhibition in the Feb. 8 issue of the Hippo.

12. “Nature in Focus: Image of Flora, Fauna and Landscapes of New England” at the McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road in Concord; nhaudubon.org) Friday, March 8. The show features nature photography by Bob Fleck, a New Hampshire author and photographer, according to a press release. Visit the exhibition Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

13. “Blossoming Beyond,” an exhibition that “showcases work that embodies the resilience, strength and beauty of both the natural world and the LGBTQ+ community,” according to queerlective.com, at the New Hampshire Audubon Massabesic Center (26 Audubon Way in Auburn). The exhibit will be on display through Saturday, March 30; visit Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

14. Artists Brenda McDonald, Seth Dewey, Craig Michaud and Dan Splaine have works on display at the Sandy Cleary Community Art Gallery at the Nashua Center for the Arts (nashuacenterforthearts.com) through the end of March.

15. The works of Susan Rock, including pieces about Abraham Lincoln, are on display at Two Villages Art Society (Bates Building, 846 Main St. in Hopkinton; twovillagesart.org) through Saturday, March 2. The gallery is open Thursdays through Sundays, from noon to 4 p.m.

16. Check out the League of NH Craftsmen galleries in Concord (open Monday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Nashua (open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) for fine crafts by juried members on display (and available for purchase). See nhcrafts.org.

17. See the sculptures created as part of the Nashua International Sculpture Symposium installed at locations around the Gate City. Find a map to all the pieces at nashuasculpturesymposium.org, where you can get information about each of the sculptures.

18. Art and nature meet at the Andres Institute of Art in Brookline (andresinstitute.org), where more than 100 sculptures are positioned on the institute’s 140 acres, which are open daily from dawn to dusk and are free (donations accepted). Find maps to the trails, which include which sculptures you’ll find where, on the website, where you can also see the art and get information on the artists.

19. Take a drive, then take a stroll for some art. The Portsmouth downtown area hosts the Art ’Round Town gallery walk on the first Friday of every month from 5 to 8 p.m. (14 Market Square). Explore the art scene in this creative historical community by visiting different art galleries downtown. Visit artroundtown.org.

20. In Exeter, it’s the 2nd Friday Art Walk 5 to 7 p.m. — see the exhibits at the Seacoast Artists Association (seacoastartist.org), Foundation Art Space (teamexeter.com/foundation-art-space.html) and more. See teamexeter.com.

21. The Walker Lecture Series offers music, performances, lectures and more for free at the Concord City Auditorium (theaudi.org/events). Upcoming events include the Freese Brothers Big Band on Wednesday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m.; Man on the Hill, described as a two-act performance that mixes music and story, on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. and “Exotic and Tropical Asia, a Travelogue with Marlin Darrah” on Wednesday, March 20, at 7 p.m.

22. The Bach’s Lunch series at the Concord Community Music School (ccmusicschool.org) offers quick free concerts, usually 12:10 to 12:50 p.m. Next up is “A Mountain in Miniature: Exploring the Irish Musical Tradition through the Lens of a Single Tune” on Thursday, March 7.

23. The Concord Community Music School also hosts regular student recitals, which are free to attend. Next on the schedule is the Integrated Arts recital on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. where participants can display visual art they’ve created during their musical performances, according to the website.

24. The Manchester Community Music School regularly hosts free faculty concerts (online registration is required; there is also a virtual attendance option). Next up is a tribute to Nat King Cole on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. Visit mcmusicschool.org.

25. The Nashua Community Music School (nashuacms.org/recitals) has student recitals that are free and open to the public. Next up are recitals on Friday, March 22, at 7 p.m., and Saturday, March 23, with times at 2, 4 and 6 p.m.

26. The New Hampshire Historical Society offers free events, most at its 30 Park St. location in Concord (though some are held elsewhere). Upcoming events include the lecture “Late in Arriving: How Electricity Changed Rural New Hampshire” by Steve Taylor on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m.; a book talk by Alan Rumrill about his Monadnock Originals on Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m., and a free family fun day on Saturday, March 16, from 2 to 4 p.m. that will feature games, crafts, storytelling and more, according to nhhistory.org.

27. New Hampshire Humanities holds a variety of events — book talks, history lectures, musical performances and more — some of which are in person at locations across the state, some virtual and a few hybrid. Upcoming events include “Liberty Is Our Motto!: Songs and Stories of the Hutchinson Family Singers” with Steve Blunt portraying a mid-19th century entertainer on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. at the Canterbury Town Hall; “Songs of Old New Hampshire” presented by Jeff Warner at the Hooksett Public Library on Friday, Feb. 16, at 11 a.m., and “Banjos, Bones & Ballads” also presented by Warner on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 11 a.m. Some events require pre-registration; see nhhumanities.org/programs.

28. Slam Free or Die, an ongoing poetry open mic and slam series, takes place every Thursday night at Stark Brewing Co. in Manchester. Follow them on Facebook @slamfreeordie for updates on upcoming events and appearances.

29. The Poetry Society of New Hampshire holds regular readings, usually the third Wednesday of each month, at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord (gibsonsbookstore.com) often with an open mic following reading by a published poet. Next up is Chard deNiord at the event on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.

30. Gibson’s Bookstore also holds regular in-store author events that are free — though you can upgrade the experience by buying the author’s book and getting it signed. Next up are Margo Cooper to discuss Deep Inside the Blues: Photographs and Interviews (Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 6:30 p.m.) and Leila Philip to discuss Beaver Land: How One Weird Rodent Made America(Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m). See gibsonsbookstore.com for the calendar and to sign up for their newsletter.

31. Balin Books in Nashua (balinbooks.com) regularly offers author events. Next on the schedule is Civics 101 podcasters Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice to discuss their book A User’s Guide to Democracy on Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m.

32. Bookery Manchester (bookerymht.com) has a schedule full of author events including upcoming events with Michaela Horan to discuss Rolling Hills and the Sword of Avalon (Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m.); Fox Hollow to discuss Heart Strings (Sunday, Feb. 18, at 3 p.m.) and Midge Goldberg, editor of Outer Space: 100 Poems (Friday, March 15, at 5:30 p.m.). Bookery will also host NAV Arts writers open mic on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m.

Free in the outdoors

Walking outside your door is free — but what if you’re looking for some more specific outdoor adventures?

33. The network of more than 35 miles of trails at Beaver Brook Association in Hollis (beaverbrook.org) is free and open to the public daily from dawn to dusk. Find trail maps, including to accessible trails, on the website.

34. Another stop at Beaver Brook is Maple Hill Gardens (at the 117 Ridge Road in Hollis location). The 13 themed gardens are also free and open for daily viewing, with the best season for viewing April through October, according to the website, which also said there is a natural play area, a demonstration compost court, picnic areas and a wildflower trail.

35. The New Hampshire Audubon manages 39 wildlife sanctuaries throughout the state that are free to visit and open to the public. See nhaudubon.org/lands/sanctuaries for a list of the sanctuaries, many of which, such as the Massabesic Center/Battery Point Wildlife Sanctuary in Auburn and the Ponemah Bog in Amherst, have links to trail guides, maps, birding tips and more.

36. The Manchester Cedar Swamp (nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/manchester-cedar-swamp-preserve) offers free dawn-to-dusk trails of 1.8 miles that are universally accessible including to people using wheelchairs, strollers and other adaptive devices according to the website, where you can find a trail map and more.

City parks offer spots for picnics, playtime and other recreation. A few to check out:

37. Mine Falls Park features trails from roughly a third of a mile to nearly 3 miles; see nashuanh.gov/491/Mine-Falls-Park for a map.

38. Stark Park in north Manchester features a “Walk in the Woods” trail network, an outdoor nature playspace and more; see starkpark.com.

39. Livingston Park (manchesternh.gov) is a 131-acre park in north Manchester that features a playground, a summertime swimming pool, sports fields and facilities, and walking trails around Dorrs Pond, according to the website.

40. White Park in Concord features the Monkey Around Playground, a seasonal splash pad, basketball courts, an ice skating rink (weather permitting), walking trails and more, according to concordnh.gov.

41. Watson Park in Merrimack offers a gaga pit, picnic spots, a butterfly garden and ice skating (weather permitting); see merrimackparksandrec.org.

42. The Educational Farm at Joppa Hill in Bedford (theeducationalfarm.org) is free to visit daily, dusk till dawn, and features hiking, walking and cross country skiing trails (see maps on the website) as well as farm animals to visit. Upgrade the experience by purchasing $5 grain cups or by doing some shopping at the farm stand.

43. Get state park admission for free — sort of.In this case “free” is going to cost you about $93. For an annual $85, plus a one-time $8 new license plate fee, you can get a New Hampshire State Park license plate for your car. The revenues from the plate go to the State Parks Fund, which helps pay for the operation of the parks, according to nhstateparks.org. The plates (with a current registration) get you free admission to more than two dozen state parks, including Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham and Wallis Sands State Park in Rye. See nhstateparks.org for details.

44. The New Hampshire Astronomical Society goes everywhere and they bring their telescopes. Check out their calendar (nhastro.com/calendar.php) to find a spot where you can meet up, talk telescopes and sky watching and get a look at the stars. Upcoming public appearances include a “sidewalk astronomy” session in Portsmouth on Saturday, Feb. 17, from 5 to 10 p.m. in Market Square; their monthly first Friday skywatch at the McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center in Concord on Friday, March 1, from 7 to 10 p.m., and a skywatch at Benedictine Park in Bedford on Monday, March 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. The Society is also holding presentations on the April eclipse at several area libraries, including Whipple Hall in New London (Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m.), Kelley Library in Salem (Monday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m.), Baker Free Library in Bow (Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.), the Concord Public Library (Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m.), Whipple Free Library in New Boston (Thursday, March 7, at 6 p.m.) and the Goffstown library (Tuesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m.), as well as several more libraries in March.

45. Take the NH Rail Trails Challenge! Run, bike, walk, rollerblade or otherwise explore the state’s rail trails — there are 43 of them currently — in whatever time frame or increments you’d like and then complete a form at nhrtc.org. Bragging rights are free; $10 gets you a patch to point to whilst bragging. Find out more about the challenge at an upcoming Bike Talk held by the New Hampshire Rail Trails Coalition on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. via Zoom; find the link to register via the group’s Facebook page.

Free fun & free games

Here are some sports, family attractions and more free happenings.

46. Enjoy a free(-ish) movie at Chunky’s Cinema Pubs in Manchester, Nashua and Pelham with the monthly Little Lunch Date screenings of kid-friendly films in a kid-friendly screening room (lights not as dim, noise and squirming to be expected). The movies don’t have an admission per se, though you reserve a seat by buying $5 food vouchers to be used at the movie (there is also a $1.25 service fee per ticket when purchased online). Next up is 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet (PG) on Friday, Feb. 16, at 3:45 p.m.

47. Head to winter farmers markets for some free browsing and hobnobbing with local farmers and producers (and in some cases live music) and then upgrade the experience by buying treats for now and treats for later. The Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market (downtownconcordwinterfarmersmarket.com) runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon at 7 Eagle Square; on Saturday, Feb. 17, musician Joel Begin performers. The Contoocook Farmers Market (find them on Facebook) spends its winters at the Maple Street School on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon; on Saturday, Feb. 17, Ryan Williamson performs. The Milford Indoor Farmers Market (milfordnhfarmersmarket.com) is open for two more Saturdays — Feb. 24 and March 9 — from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Milford Town Hall Auditorium on the Oval. The Salem New Hampshire Farmers Market (salemnhfarmersmarket.org) spends winters at LaBelle Winery in Derry (14 Route 111) on Sundays, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

48. Regular season Southern New Hampshire University basketball games are free to attend and both Penmen women’s and men’s teams have three home games left — Saturday, Feb. 17, (1:30 p.m. women, 3:30 p.m. men) against Pace University; Saturday, Feb. 24 (1:30 p.m. women, 3:30 p.m. men) against Assumption University and Tuesday, Feb. 27, (5:30 p.m. women, 7:30 p.m. men) against the College of Saint Rose. The games take place at Stan Spiro Field House (at the Southern New Hampshire University campus, 2500 River Road in Manchester). See snhupenmen.com.

49. Meanwhile, lacrosse season is starting for the SNHU Penmen. The men’s team has a home game against Molloy University scheduled Saturday, Feb. 17, at noon at Mark A. Ouellette Stadium on the SNHU campus (the stadium is on Victory Lane in Hooksett). The women’s first home game is Saturday, March 16, at 1 p.m. versus Presbyterian College. Regular season games are free to attend; see snhupenmen.com for the schedule.

50. Lacrosse season is also starting at Rivier College in Nashua, with the Rivier Raiders men’s lacrosse team playing UMass Boston Saturday, Feb. 17, at noon, on Joanne Merrill Field at Linda Robinson Pavilion. The men will also face Curry College in the home game on Saturday, Feb. 24, at noon. The women will play Saint Joseph on Saturday, March 9, at noon. The games are free to attend. See rivierathletics.com.

51. And then it’s baseball and softball season. The SNHU Penmen baseball team plays a home game against the Saint Anselm Hawks at Penmen Field on Wednesday, March 27, at 3 p.m. The women’s softball team will play a doubleheader against Mercy University at home on Saturday, March 23, with games at noon and 2 p.m. at the SNHU Softball Field (on Eastman Drive). The women will then play American International College on Sunday, March 24, at noon and 2 p.m. See snhupenmen.com for the schedule.

52. The first home game for Rivier Raiders men’s baseball will be Sunday, March 30, when they play a doubleheader against Norwich at noon and 3 p.m. at Historic Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St. in Nashua). The women’s softball team plays at Raider Diamond and their first home game will be against Fitchburg State on Saturday, March 23, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Games are free to attend. See rivierathletics.com.

53. Get lessons in all things maple — from the sap gathering and syrup making process to a sample of the finished product — at area sugarhouses during Maple Weekend, this year scheduled for Saturday, March 16, and Sunday, March 17. Check with nhmapleproducers.com for a listing of sugarhouses, many of whom offer samples of maple syrup and maple products as well as tours and more. And of course upgrade the experience by purchasing some fresh local maple syrup.

Save the date for “free”

There are actually a fair number of free events throughout the year, from the music and movies presented in parks to the town holiday celebrations and parades in December. Here are a few free happenings coming up in the next few months.

54. Merrimack’s Winter Carnival takes place Saturday, Feb. 24, from noon to 3 p.m. at Wasserman Park. This free event features games and activities including, at 1 p.m., the cardboard box sledding competition. See merrimackparksandrec.org.

55. Tickets are free for the upcoming Sing-Along Piano Bar nights at the Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Sunday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m.; Sunday, March 24, at 6 p.m., and Sunday, April 28, at 6 p.m. Tickets are also free to the Rockstar Karaoke night on Saturday, May 11, at 7 p.m. See the website for details on these events.

56. Get an up close look at the making of kombucha at a tour of Auspicious Brew in Dover, billed as the first licensed kombucha brewery in New Hampshire, on Monday, Feb. 26, at 6:30 p.m. Register at dovernh.assabetinteractive.com.

57. Check out the installation of a “graffiti fiber art tree hugging project” at Waldron Park in Dover on Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m., according to a post on Dover Arts Commission’s Facebook page.

58. Remember the Old Man in the Mountain at the presentation “The Old Man: His Life and Legacy” on Saturday, March 16, at 11 a.m. at the Millyard Museum in Manchester (manchesterhistoric.org).

59. This year’s Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships will take place Friday, March 22, through Sunday, March 24, at Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett. The games are free to watch. See blackicepondhockey.com and the event’s Facebook page for schedule updates.

60. Manchester’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be Sunday, March 24, at noon, marching down Elm Street from Salmon Street, according to saintpatsnh.com. Enjoy this free downtown event or upgrade your experience by participating in the Shamrock Shuffle (registration costs $25 for adults), a 2-mile run/walk that starts at 11 a.m. and includes a post-race beer for of-age participants. See millenniumrunning.com/shamrock.

61. On Monday, April 8, catch the total solar eclipse — but, like, safely. The eclipse is free but for $2 ($3 if you want it sent to you) you can get solar eclipse glasses from the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord (starhop.com). And you can head to the center for the “Great American Eclipse Viewing Party” from noon to 5 p.m. that day, with the eclipse predicted to begin at 2:15 p.m. and maximum Concord viewing at 3:29 p.m., according to the Center’s website.

62. The Manchester Community Music School will host the May Gruber Memorial Concert on Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m., with a special performance by cellist Aristides Rivas. Admission is free but registration is required; seemcmusicschool.org/events.

63. Free Comic Book Day — it’s right there in the name! On Saturday, May 4, you can score free comic books specially created for this day, which often means they introduce a character or storyline or otherwise help to bring in new readers. In our general area, both Double Midnight Comics locations (Concord and Manchester; dmcomics.com) participate, with Manchester doing the event up big with costume contests and more. Other locations include Merrymac Games and Comics in Merrimack (merrymacgc.com) and Collectibles Unlimited in Concord (collectiblesunlimited.biz), according to freecomicbookday.com, where you can often find previews of the books that will be available. For a Free Comic Book Day celebration that goes town-wide, check out Jetpack Comics in Rochester (jetpackcomics.com); score all the FCBD comics as well as other cool perks by volunteering to help out all day, according to the website.