With new music, MB Padfield returns to New England
It’s a quiet Monday for musician MB Padfield — she has only two shows. The New Hampshire-born singer, songwriter and guitarist is back for her summer sojourn, something she’s done since moving to Los Angeles a while back. This season, she’s booked 130 dates, including a run of 11 gigs over six days at the end of June — a personal record for her.
“I’m not far off from being an endurance athlete,” Padfield said by phone. “I’ve been doing a lot of physical training outside of music to be able to make these shows happen. Doing a lot of nutrition, learning so much about just the body and health and science and how it relates to live performance.”
Though Padfield plays mostly covers at places like The Goat, Wally’s and Margaritaville in Boston, such rigor extends to her original music. Take the video she made for “Waverider,” released earlier this year and part of an upcoming EP. In it, Padfield sang in an ice bath, and she had to repeat the process three times to get the right take.
At the end of the clip, she’s visibly quaking from what looks like hypothermia.
“Yeah, that was an experience … it was great and horrible at the same time,” she recalled. “I filmed over the winter in New Hampshire, in Bedford with my friend Ben Proulx, who is a really incredible videographer. He’s worked on some massive projects. He’s Grammy nominated.”
Impossibly, she managed to lip-sync all the song’s words. “That was a really tricky part … but I drilled it so many times,” she said. “I started with cold showers, and I did cold baths. Then I found a cold plunge in Los Angeles, and I’d sit there the whole song. I just tried to keep my head on straight.”
The song itself is a gem, an electronica-infused slow burn with bracing confrontational lyrics reminiscent of Taylor Swift’s recent work. It addresses the challenges of being an independent musician and facing a world where big acts have massive organizations behind them.
“It can be quite intimidating as an artist just getting started … that’s a bit of what ‘Waverider’ is about,” Padfield said. “It’s funny, everyone is asking me if it’s about a jet ski. It’s not, but I guess a jet ski wouldn’t be a bad analogy. I think everyone has their own Waverider. We all have our own ups and downs and do our best to try to navigate. It’s not necessarily about trying to keep calm waters, but just drive right in the waves where you’re at.”
Padfield’s latest release is “Into the Grey,” a song about letting go that became more poignant when her 96-year-old Meme passed away in May.
“We hospiced her at home, and I was there to the end; it was a wild experience,” she said. “There are people I’ve known who’ve had a hard time functioning through grief…. With the small experience I had, I learned that you have to pick the right memories to hold on to. That’s a big part of what ‘Into the Grey’ was about.”
Two more songs, “Lost at Sea” and “I’ll Be,” will be released in the coming months to complete a four-song EP. Padfield has a full-length album in the works as well and plans to make videos for the forthcoming songs.
“I’ve really come to see the value in communicating not only the music but also the visuals,” she said. “To explore not just what sound sounds like but also what it looks like … which has been a really fun creative adventure.”
In performance, Padfield is a one-woman powerhouse, using looping pedals and samples to produce a full band sound. It makes the most sense for her at the moment, keeping overhead low and her mobility flexible.
“That being said, I do love live looping, there’s such freedom in it,” she said. “I have my recipes for songs and how I make them. The cool part is, at least with the current setup I have, almost no two performances are identical. They’re similar for sure, but not identical, and that is a lot of creative freedom.”
MB Padfield When: Sunday, July 28, 7 p.m. Where: The Goat, 50 Old Granite St., Manchester More: Full schedule at mbpadfield.com/tour
Attractive people chase tornadoes in Oklahoma in Twisters, an, I guess, in-universe but otherwise sort of unrelated follow-up to the 1996 Twister.
When we meet college-age buddies Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Javi (Anthony Ramos) and friends, they are chasing a storm to try out an experiment: putting barrels of moisture-absorbing material in the path of a tornado in hopes that the material will draw water out of the tornado and the lack of water will cause the tornado to collapse. It’s the non-toxic particles used in diapers, one girl explains. (Except if you’ve ever accidentally put a diaper in a washing machine you’ll know that what you have is a bunch of slippery, impossible to clean up blobs and are people really going to want those in their wheat fields? Never addressed.) But on this day, the tornado they try it out on is a, whatever, category five tornado (it’s called something else but let’s just go with cat 5) that eats these diaper science particles for breakfast and then proceeds to come roaring after the buddies, eventually vortexing away everyone but Kate and Javi.
Five years later, Kate is working at NOAA in New York City and avoiding anything to do with tornadoes and Oklahoma. Javi searches her out and asks her to join his new company to chase tornadoes. His company makes three-dimensional maps of tornadoes which something something profit and helps people. As little sense as what he says he’s doing makes, what he’s actually doing is a viable, if slimy, business that doesn’t require close storm-monitoring at all but you can only pull so many threads of this plot before this whole movie unravels.
And anyway, what he’s doing makes more sense than what rival (sort of) storm chaser Tyler (Glen Powell) is doing. While Javi and his well-equipped, uniform- and tech-sporting team seek to gather storm data, Tyler and his crew, sporting kind of a post-apocalyptic cowboy pirate look, are YouTube stars. They drive into tornadoes and shoot off fireworks and somehow this — well, this plus merch sales — brings in the dollars. For what? I’m not sure.
Anyway, it allows for inter-group antagonism and Tyler calling Kate “City Girl” and the two groups chasing after the same storms. Though Kate is still working through her trauma from the whole “friends dying in a tornado” thing, her overall purpose in joining Javi’s work is still, somehow, to use the data to find a way to protect people from the increasingly frequent, increasingly powerful storms.
I realize how grumpy, how “old man yells at cloud” this will sound but I don’t find Glen Powell handsome and charismatic as much as I find him to be a product being sold to me as Handsome and Charismatic TM. The salesmanship is so aggressive, so “embrace this next-gen Tom Cruise, embrace him!” that it gets in the way of my actually relating to any character he is playing. His character here comes off as like 73 percent grin and cowboy hat. It’s as if I were watching an ad for, I don’t know, Arby’s or Chili’s on a loop, something where the food might look plausibly intriguing on first watch but looks more suspicious the longer I have the same pitch yelled at me.
Powell’s Tyler is thus a prickly irritant that kept me from just letting the dumb action and pretty cinematography of this movie wash over me. The wide-open spaces of the Midwest can be beautiful and director Lee Isaac Chung (who also directed the excellent Minari) truly shoots this movie for maximum wonder. Even crumbly farms and oil storage tanks have landscape loveliness. The twisters of Twisters are also fine — perhaps it is a function of the theater I saw the movie in (just a regular screen) that they didn’t have a greater wow factor. I feel like if you want to see this on the big screen probably go for the biggest, most total-attention-getting screen you can.
Beautiful images plus one half of the lead actor duo who needed to dial it down gets me to a movie I didn’t enjoy as much as I wanted to but I didn’t find actively loathsome. I feel like this movie never fully found its footing, never really decided what it wanted to be — straight-faced action? 1990s near-camp action? something else entirely? — and as a result always felt like it was running at half strength. C+
Rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language and injury images, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung with a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, Twisters is two hours and two minutes long and distributed in theaters, where it made $80 million its opening weekend according to media reports, by Universal Studios.
Tickets sell out fast to the annual celebration of potato, cheese and gravy
PoutineFest is Oct. 12 but tickets go on sale this weekend, and according to the event’s organizer and founder, Tim Beaulieu, they go quickly.
“We sell out lightning fast,” he said. “We’re going on sale on [July] 27th at 10 a.m. We’ll probably be sold out by 11 is my guess. We have people who come every year with their families, their friends. So all those folks want to come every single year. My biggest recommendation is if you want to try the most poutines in New England and you want to come on that day — on Columbus Day — be online at 10 o’clock and ready to buy.”
PoutineFest, which will be held at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Merrimack on Saturday, Oct. 12, is the country’s largest and oldest poutine festival. Poutine is a traditional French Canadian dish made of french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy, and it is deeply loved by people in New Hampshire of Québécois descent. Tim Beaulieu is one of them.
“I started PoutineFest back in [2016], honestly, because I was trying to connect to my heritage,” he said. “I looked around and I’m like, you know, there’s really no festival about the French Canadians. Poutine could be our pizza. So I approached the Franco-American Centre, became a volunteer, and started doing this event to benefit them.”
Guests at PoutineFest will be able to sample interpretations of poutine from different local restaurants who vie for the title of “Best Poutine” as voted on by Festival guests.
“Right now we have 13 vendors signed up to do sampling,” Beaulieu said. “We also have a whole bunch of different dessert trucks. We have French pastries, fried dough, pretzels, lemonade, coffee, a kids’ Halloween fun house, and a lot of different French-themed foods.”
New England Tap House Grille in Hooksett, is one of the vendors competing for the top prize. Tap House has participated in PoutineFest since the beginning.
“We’re competitors,” Nancy Comai of Tap House wrote in an email. “We want to win the ‘Best Poutine’ of the Festival title, and bring it back to Hooksett to share and keep the heritage alive!” She wrote that the Taphouse’s poutine stands out through its simplicity. “Our secret lies in the cheese curds,” she wrote, “— squeaky, fresh, and sourced locally. We’ve perfected the golden ratio of crispy fries, savory gravy, and those irresistible curds.” She did admit to one secret ingredient: “Our chefs add a splash of truffle oil, which makes all the difference.”
The Tap House’s fairly conservative approach might be a sound strategy to compete with some of the event’s less traditional interpretations of poutine.
Beaulieu said the Festival will publish the names of this year’s competitors around the time tickets go on sale. “We’re having somebody that wants to make poutine out of an ice cream cone or a taco shell,” he said. “We have duck confit, we have barbecue poutine. We have a pizza place coming that’s tinkering with maybe doing a poutine pizza. We get all kinds of different things. Any kind of beef is always huge on top.”
Beaulieau personally prefers a traditional french fry/cheese curd/gravy-style poutine, but he is picky about the gravy.
“It’s a meat-based gravy,” he said, “usually beef, that has a little bit of, like, almost like a zippy pepper to it. It’s hard to explain without you tasting it, but a good gravy really makes the difference.”
Ultimately, Beaulieu and Comai said PoutineFest is about celebrating New Hampshire’s French-Canadian-American culture.
“It benefits the culture,” Beaulieu said. “The Franco-American Centre in Manchester that does language classes [and] community outreach that is benefiting. So it’s going to a good cause.”
“It [PoutineFest] is about celebrating French language, culture and heritage,” Comai wrote. “The festival supports the Franco-American Centre of New Hampshire, a nonprofit that preserves our shared legacy.”
PoutineFest 2024 When: Saturday, Oct. 12 Where: Anheuser-Busch Brewery, 221 DW Highway, Merrimack, 595-1202, anheuser-busch.com/breweries/merrimack-nh Tickets: The Festival’s 1,500 tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 27, and are expected to sell out very quickly. General admission tickets are $54.99. More: nhpoutinefest.com
More than 100 tattoo booths and other excitement at the Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo
By Zachary Lewis zlewis@hippopress.com
The 16th annual Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo begins on Friday, July 26, and goes until Sunday, July 28, at the DoubleTree Hilton in Downtown Manchester.
Mike Boisvert, General Manager of Tattoo Angus/Spider-Bite Body Piercing, acts as coordinator, stage manager and graphics lead of the Expo. “John, who’s the owner, he also owns Spider-Bite, he and I pretty much do 95 percent of everything, organizing, planning, and getting everything together, contacting the city and everything that we need to do,” Boisvert said.
This year’s logo was created by Steve Cummings, who owns a shop called Blood Oath Tattoo in Concord. “This year we’d like to hold the Expo in honor of all of our fallen friends,” Boisvert said. These include Lyle Tuttle, Bill Rhine, Dave Marden, Jeff Denoncour, and Michael “CHOPS” Gray.
This community event will showcase tattooers from all over. “We just upgraded to 134 booths in the Expo room this year and I’d say probably about 110 are tattoo booths and they’re usually two people, so you’re going to have like 250-plus tattoo artists there ready to tattoo you throughout the weekend.”
That’s not all. “We also have body piercers, we also have vendors … we have people that do taxidermy with bugs, clothing companies that come in.”
Appointments aren’t necessarily necessary. “Anybody can get tattooed as long as you come in and you have an idea and someone is free and you like their work, they’ll gladly tattoo you,” Boisvert said.
“We’re open 13 hours on Saturday so I mean that’s a good chunk of time that you can get tattooed if you can sit that long…. As long as you respect the artist and respect the craft and come in there knowing that they are busy but they’re going to take their time to, that’s what they’re there for, to tattoo everybody,” he said.
When the doors open on Friday at 5 p.m. the tattoo contest registration begins and pin-up pageant registration begins. Shortly after, at 7 p.m., attendees will be treated to No Gimmicks Needed Suspension. “They swing from a steel truss that they have. They do it to music and it’s like an art performance and they do one show a day,” Boisvert said.
Then at 8 p.m., the Monsters of Schlock perform. “They’re from Toronto and they hold like 26 Guinness book world records for pulling a car with hooks in his back. The other guy has the record for most mouse traps snapped on his tongue or his face … We always try to keep it pretty cool. ”
Then at 9 p.m. the wondrous Sally Sapphire Aerialist will dazzle attendees. “She’s also a local tattooer. She’s an aerialist so she’s bringing a lollipop stand and will be doing two performances.” Those three performers will also perform Saturday.
The rest of the evening will be devoted to the tattoo contests.
When the doors open on Saturday at 11 a.m. the tattoo contest registration and pin-up pageant registration begin. The day will also feature a raffle (to benefit Manchester Animal Shelter). On Sunday, there will be another tattoo contest as well as performances by the Monsters of Schlock and No Gimmicks Needed Suspension.
So why tattoo at all? “Some people like the pain, it’s therapeutic…. Some people just really respect the craft and the art and like to express themselves with imagery that caters to their personality,” Boisvert said.
Live Free or Die Tattoo Expo Where: DoubleTree by Hilton, 700 Elm St., Manchester When: Friday, July 26, 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, July 27, 11 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, July 28, noon to 8 p.m. Admission: one-day pass $15 ($20 at the door); two-day pass $25 ($30 at the door); three-day pass $35 ($40 at the door) More: livefreeordietattoo.com, 625-1000
In this week’s cover story, we take a look at some of the places you and your doggos can head for some out-of-the-house fun — don’t forget to pack the water.
Dogs in nature
Outdoor places where pups can have fun too
By Zachary Lewis zlewis@hippopress.com
Our fuzzy canine companions who treat us better than we treat ourselves are always ready for an adventure. There are tons of locales in the Granite State for dogs and their owners to explore, whether it’s a dog park, a trail or even a sidewalk.
Samantha McKeon, the Vice President of Development of the Manchester Dog Park Association, a nonprofit organization, has two dogs, Fable and Zoey.
“It’s the bonding time,” McKeon said of taking dogs on outdoor adventures. “That’s the fun stuff. When you get a pet, you share activities together, you do things together and that builds your bond with your companion. Play time, walking, travel, adventures, those are experiences that you’re building with your best friend. It’s part of the relationship that you have with your pet. You do stuff together. It would be kind of messed up if you got a dog and you’re like, ‘You’re never leaving the house.’”
Dog parks
Most dog parks have some combination of “chairs, dog toys, and probably some agility platforms, poo poo bags, and just a space to run around in, off leash.”
The Manchester Dog Park (344 Second St., Manchester) has “chuck-it sticks, water holes, we have picnic tables, we have a dog house, an A frame, a cat walk…. Pretty soon there’ll be a water catchment system with a filter so we’ll have a water resource as well,” she said.
The Manchester Dog Park does require membership, so if you live outside Manchester or aren’t ready to make that kind of leap, there are other dog park options as well, like the dog park in Derry (Fordway, off Route 102).
“They have trails there as well as a boat launch and a lot of the people let their dog swim at the boat launch, which is a lot of fun,” McKeon said. “There is no water source for drinking so I do suggest you bring your own water.”
Bigger dog parks have their perks that wind up helping the littlest of puppers.
“They usually have two separate sections. For example, the Derry [dog] park, they have a small dog section and a big dog section. So they have a separate fenced area for smaller dogs although usually Zoey’s fine with big dogs but there’s a lot of small dogs that do need that separate area,” McKeon said.
Another fun park is Hudson Dog Park (19 Kimball Hill Road in Hudson) with a huge draw because it is located right by Benson park.
“They share a parking lot…. If I’m going to a dog park with my family I will tend to go to the Hudson Dog Park because Benson park is right there so we can have family fun as well as our pups…. They have a pond you can walk around and they have a bunch of swans and ducks there.”
A dog park McKeon is interested in exploring is the Terril Dog Park (7 Manchester St. in Concord).
“This month we’re going to be planning a trip to drive to Concord so we can visit the new dog park there,” she said.
So why bother to take your furry companion to a dog park?
“Socializing is huge. It’s a game-changer and parks are a great place for that. Also, it’s off leash. When you’re on trails or when you’re taking them out you have to have them on leash, but at a dog park … they can run really far, they can go fast … it’s more focused play and exercise so it just goes further,” McKeon said. And dogs can learn “proper dog play, how they communicate with each other.”
People parks
Gabrielle Tayag, a dog owner from Manchester, had recommendations for dog adventures at on-leash city parks.
“I own a Great Pyrenees; her name is Callie,” said Tayag, who was walking Callie around White Park in Concord. “She’s a rescue dog, so we always look for new places to take her, get her exposed to things. White Park in Concord is great and we actually do some training around here.”
Yawkey is Sam and Joe Newman’s mini Australian shepherd. Courtesy photo.
That’s not all. “Livingston Park in Manchester is great too to do some training at, walking around, there’s a beautiful trail there. Lots to see, lots of distractions…. Another good place is Heads Pond up in Hooksett. It’s a really nice trail that opens up to a beautiful lake … a good place to take the pups,” Tayag said.
Sam and Joe Newman from Granite State Glizzys, who were grilling up some hot dogs at Arms Park, mentioned a few of their favorite places for cool dog adventures.
“We have a mini-Australian Shepherd, who is 4 years old, his name is Yawkey, ideally we love to take him on hikes. In Hooksett there’s a path right near the dog park on the water, so we go there,” Sam Newman said.
“It’s the Hooksett Riverwalk Trail. It’s a great spot to bring dogs,” Joe added.
“Livingston Park, we’ll go for hikes there,” Sam Newman said. That’s one more vote for Livingston Park.
“If we’re going to take him out to run we go to Derryfield Park in Manchester, like to bring him on the fields just so it’s fenced in but sometimes we’ll just go right up on the hill because there are a lot of other dogs… really the main places we take him out and about,” Sam Newman said.
David Mack from Bedford and his wife, Rachel, take their dog Charlie, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to fun spots in their area: “He is full of energy, we take him, in Bedford, to Pulpit Rock Hiking Trail, which is a beautiful little couple-mile hiking trail, very nice. It’s got lots of different flat sections, hills. Other than that, going around the Goffstown rail trail is I think just the perfect spot… lots of other dogs for him to sniff and just a really nice area to go on… .”
Katie Barker, from Bow, knew of some cool trails too.“We have a dog named Cleo and she is a little rescue puppy who’s about two years old and we usually take her to the Winant Park {Trails] area, it’s near St. Paul and it’s really pretty, you go up a little hill, there’s a really nice lookout at the top, so that’s one nice walking trail to take your dog on.”
Bow has its share of dog friendly spaces too. “I would say another one that we do is in Bow, it’s called Nottingcook Forest off of South Bow Road, that’s a really great one. There’s a couple of good outlooks there as well, so they’re just really fun little walks in the woods near some rivers so your dog can swim in the river. Cleo loves it, so I’m sure a bunch of other dogs will love it too,” Barker said.
Adventure supplies
What’s the No. 1 thing to bring on the adventure besides your puppy and sense of wonder? “Definitely water,” McKeon said. “Super important to bring water. We have a pop-up water bowl. Also, for trips where I am bringing a lot of stuff already, I also have a Kong brand water bottle and the top turns into a bowl itself. You take off the cap and it’s like open and you can pour the water in.”
First aid is a good idea too.
“If we’re going on a camping trip … I also have a sling that I bring with me so if she gets hurt or whatever I can carry her back if needed. Especially with bigger dogs like that, you’ve got to be prepared for any emergencies,” McKeon said.
Once you find a good leash and collar combo (see sidebar), some added flair can help you keep track of any dogs that get so sucked into their adventure they disappear.
“What I do for both of my dogs, and I always talk highly of it, Apple Trackers, they actually have cases that can slide on collars, and I have an Apple Tracker on both of my dogs’ collars so if they ever get loose I can track them on my phone,” McKeon said.
Tips on adventuring
Be aware of any rules before heading out: “Technically in New Hampshire for any State Parks, dogs aren’t supposed to be at beaches. Not everyone follows those rules….”
Charlie, David and Rachel Mack’s dog, at Cathedral Ledge. Courtesy photo.
What the trail is made up of is important too, especially in a hot summer, Mckeon said.
“Be mindful of pavement. Try to avoid places with a lot of pavement because that heats up. If you wouldn’t walk barefoot on it, don’t make them do it, because their paws can get really burned on the hot pavement in the summer,” she said.
The most important thing is that everyone, human and canine, is having fun.
“Be mindful before you take your dog on an adventure, like how much they’re capable. Dogs have personalities too. So if you take a dog, or you have a puppy, and you love going for a hike, camping, it doesn’t mean your dog’s going to like it. If you are going to adventure with your dog you have to make sure they’re comfortable too…. Don’t force your dog to go on an adventure they don’t want to go on,” she said.
If everyone is on board and all the supplies are accounted for, adventuring with dogs is one of the best things to do, she said.
“It’s just fun, it’s fun to take your dogs out. … You want to create those memories. You want to make sure they have a good experience and it’s healthy for them, it’s important for them, and that’s the fun thing for you as a human, getting that time with your dog,” she said.
Adventure spots
Find a list of the rail trails across the state at nhrtc.org or visit nhstatepark.org for a myriad of state parks to adventure with your dog. Here are some other spots worth a visit.
Dog Parks
• Manchester Dog Park 344 Second St. in Manchester manchesternh.gov/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks-Trails-and-Facilities/Recreation-Facilities/Manchester-Dog-Park
• Hudson Dog Park 19 Kimball Hill Road in Hudson hudsonnh.gov/bensonpark/page/dog-park
• Derry Dog Park Fordway, off Route 102 in Derry derrynh.org/animal-control/pages/derry-dog-park)
• Terril Dog Park 7 Manchester St. in Concord bringfido.com/attraction/902
Other Parks
• White Park 1 White St., Concord, 225-8690, concordnh.gov
• Livingston Park 244 Hooksett Road, Manchester, 624-6444, manchesternh.gov/parks
• Benson’s Park 19 Kimball Hall Road, Hudson, 886-6000, hudsonnh.gov/bensonpark
• Greeley Park Concord Street, Nashua, 589-3370, nashuanh.gov
• Mine Falls Park Whipple Street, Nashua, 589-3370, nashuanh.gov
Fable, Sam McKeon’s dog. Courtesy photo.
State parks
Day use fees for most state parks: adults, or those 12 or older, $4 to $5 depending on the park; ages 6 to 11 $2; free for those age 5 and younger and New Hampshire residents 65 or older with a valid NH license. Visit nhstateparks.org for rules about pets in specific parks (pets are prohibited seasonally at some parks and year-round at four state parks) and a list of parks and spots in the parks where pets are permitted. At all parks, animals must be leashed, owners must clean up any animal waste and animals can not be left unattened, the website said. Pets are prohibited at beaches and designated swim areas and picnic areas, pavilions and group use areas from May 1 to Sept. 30, the website said.
• Pawtuckaway State Park 128 Mountain Road, Nottingham, 895-3031. This park is always open for recreation unless closed or restricted by posting, according to their website.Dogs are prohibited at beaches, swim and picnic areas and the campground from May 1 to Sept. 30. Dogs are permitted on hiking trails through Reservation Road and Round Pond Road only, the website said.
• Bear Brook State Park 61 Deerfield Road, Allenstown, 485-9869. A majority of Bear Brook’s trails are impassable by bicycle or horse due to downed trees but cleanup is underway, according to their website. The fee for ages 12 to 17 is $2, according to their website.
• Wellington State Park 614 W. Shore Road, Bristol, 744-2197. When the park is unstaffed during the season, deposit payment in Iron Ranger (self-serve pay station), according to their website.
• Clough State Park 455 Clough Park Road, Weare, 529-7112. This park is always open for recreation unless closed or restricted by posting, according to their website.
Kibble and Cracker Jack
Taking your dog out to the ballgame
By John Fladd jfladd@hippopress.com
If you were a dog, what would a great night out look like for you? Maybe watching a bunch of humans running around chasing a ball?
The Fisher Cats have that covered.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Delta Dental Stadium, 1 Line Drive, Manchester) have expanded one of their most popular programs from last season, Waggin’ Wednesdays. Fans can bring their dogs to any home games that are played on Wednesday nights. Last year the club held three dog-friendly games during the season; this year it has opened the promotion up for the entire season.
Courtesy photo.
“We have a doggy ticket on our website that people can purchase,” front-office representative Andrew Marais said. “They just fill out a simple waiver saying, ‘I know I’m responsible for my dog.’ Marais said the dog-friendly games have been “1,000 percent successful.”
Marais said the Fisher Cats are following a growing trend in baseball.
“This has been done throughout not only minor league baseball but major league baseball too,” he said. “We definitely wanted to incorporate more of those too.” With the recent hot weather, fewer dogs have been showing up to Wednesday night games. “But we still see dogs,” Marais said. “But definitely in the early months, [and] in the latter months of the calendar season that we play, we see a good amount. I remember about a month ago, it seemed like we had like over 70 dogs.”
In addition to their tickets, dogs can expect other swag and amenities.
“We give a nice little treat bag,” Marais said, “…and obviously some relief bags too. We put some doggy bowls out across the concourse, [and] keep them filled. We sell pup cups in the ballpark too; just like the humans like a little ice cream, our dogs do, too. We always try to put those little nuances in there to make people and dogs feel great when they come to the ballpark.”
Waggin’ Wednesdays Dog tickets to Fisher Cats home games start at $10 and can be purchased on the Fisher Cats’ website. Waivers can be signed at the ballpark on the night of a game. The next Waggin’ Wednesday will be Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 6:35 p.m., when the Fisher Cats will play the Hartford Yard Goats.
Dining with doggos
The rules of taking your dog out to eat
By John Fladd jfladd@hippopress.com
Can you take your dog to a restaurant?
According to New Hampshire Health Statute Title XLV: Animals, Chapter 466: Dogs and Cats, “No person shall bring any animal into any restaurant or any store that sells food; and no person shall allow any animal to enter in any store that sells food, except for service animals…. A restaurant owner may allow dogs in any outdoor dining area at his or her place of business.”
The statute goes on at some length defining terms like “service dog” and “patio,” but most of it discusses the legal dog requirements on the part of a restaurant. For a customer with a dog, it breaks down to this: You and your dog are allowed to dine at any restaurant with outside tables, provided the restaurant agrees, and you, your dog and the servers all behave yourselves.(For more information about service dogs and restaurants, consult the Governor’s Commission on Disability, 271-2773, disability.nh.gov, disability@gcd.nhy.gov.)
The Rockingham Brewing Co. in Derry is about as dog-friendly as it can legally be. Ali Lelleszi is the owner.
“We often partner with Darbster Doggy,” she said, “for monthly dog adoption events where the dogs are outside on the patio. They usually bring four to six dogs that are all available for adoption. And we’ve had great success finding them homes with events like that.”
Lelleszi likes the idea of relaxing outside a restaurant with a dog but knows her dog Rennie well enough that she wouldn’t bring him to a restaurant patio.
Gus the Pug at Rockingham Brewery. Courtesy photo.
“I’m definitely pro-dog at a brewery,” she said. “Outside, you know, well-behaved, on a leash. I think those are two very, very important things. Not every dog can handle it. It’s unfortunate, but we would never put our dog in a situation where you set him up for failure. You have to know your dog’s limitations, and lots of dogs can be very, very well-behaved and respectful of other parties and other animals and children. And other dogs, you know, just don’t have those boundaries. So you just have to know your own dog’s strengths and play toward those. They can never ever be off leash; that’s probably a recipe for disaster.”
Ice cream stands that sell ice cream to customers through a window, generally to be eaten at outside tables or in customers’ cars, also generally welcome dogs. Many soft-serve places even sell a dog-sized mini-portion called a “pup cup.” (See the July 4 issue of the Hippo for a list of soft-serve spots.)
King Kone in Merrimack has a reputation for serving enormous portions of soft-serve ice cream. There are Small, Medium, and Large sizes there — a Large cone is topped with over a foot of ice cream — but there are smaller portions, too. At the bottom end there is a Baby size, followed by a Pup Cup.
Mikayla Plante is a shift leader at King Kone.
“The Pup Cup,” she said, “is usually vanilla ice cream with a dog bone, but you can also substitute the vanilla ice cream for whipped cream. It’s about the size of half a Baby [a Baby-sized portion — not half the size of an actual baby] so most people do order it for their dogs, but occasionally we will have someone order it for themselves and just remove the dog bone from it.” Because the weather has been so hot recently, she said, fewer customers have been bringing their dogs out for ice cream, but in an average week King Kone probably sells 30 Pup Cups.
“Usually people with smaller dogs request less ice cream,” she said, “because we do overfill them a little bit because we just love dogs so much. And all of our servings are kind of crazy.”
Leashes If the adventure takes place outside of a dog park, a leash and collar will most likely be necessary. Not all leashes are made the same.
“I’m sure every leash company thinks their leash can do everything, but unfortunately that’s not the case. It really depends on the level of experience your dog has walking,” said Samantha McKeon. And the needs of the dog may change over time.
“When I first started walk training with Fable we had a gentle lead. She doesn’t use that anymore because she’s much better with just your standard collar,” she said. “A gentle lead is basically a collar that goes over their snout. So if they pull it pushes their head down so if they’re pulling their head actually goes down so they learn not to pull. Gentle leads are really good for when you’re first starting to train your dog.”
Dog size is a factor in leash and collar selection. For Zoey, the Yorkiepoo, “I would never use just a standard collar with her. I only use a harness with her because she’s so tiny…. Well, the harness, it’s more evenly proportioned on her body. It’s more comfortable for her when she walks. It’s more secure,” McKeon said.
For her larger dog, it’s a different story: “With Fable I tend not to use harnesses because they’re really heavy, they’re really clunky and Fable backs out and she can come out of harnesses. As you’re walking your dog, their leash and collar leads may change. You have to see what are things they are doing well, what are things they can improve on, are they ready to take off the training wheels and go to a regular collar or do they still need that gentle lead?”
The Community College System of New Hampshire is keeping tuition at the same $215 per credit rate for the 2024-2025 school year, according to a July 18 press release from the organization. The Board of Trustees approved a budget that included the tuition rate, which has stayed the same for in-state tuition since 2018, the release said. The tuition freeze applies to 200 certificate and degree programs at all seven community colleges and affiliated academic centers (including campus, online and hybrid offerings), the release said.
“We want to ensure that high-quality postsecondary education is within reach for all New Hampshire families, whether they are looking for technical training for the trades, preparing for careers in healthcare, or building a strong foundation for pursuing a college degree in virtually any field,” said Mark Rubinstein, Chancellor of the Community College System of New Hampshire, in the release.
NH community colleges serve 24,000 students annually in degree and certificate programs, dual-credit courses for NH high school students, non-credit offerings, and customized training with businesses, and through CCSNH’s workforce program, ApprenticeshipNH, according to the release. In-state tuition is set at $215 per credit for New Hampshire residents, a full-time courseload of 30 credits per year costs $6,450 plus fees, the release said.
See ccsnh.edu for more on the individual colleges and for information for Pell grant eligible students.
Old news
According to a press release, the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources has announced that the United States Secretary of the Interior has listed the Kensington Town Center Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places for its long history serving as a town center as well as for the architectural significance of its properties.
The Town of Kensington was incorporated in 1761 and was originally part of Hampton. The half-mile-long Kensington Town Center Historic District remains an active town center and includes 27 well-preserved public and private properties that reflect the development of a rural southern New Hampshire town center over the course of nearly 250 years, according to the press release.
Most buildings in the district are wood-framed and were built in the late 18th through late 19th centuries. Their styles reflect the function and tastes of the time and include Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Classical Revival and Colonial Revival details, according to the release.
The north end of the district, which has historically been referred to as the Upper Village, has provided civic and religious functions from the time the town was incorporated and features three buildings that are architecturally typical of a New Hampshire village. These are the Union Meetinghouse/Universalist Church (1839-1840), Kensington Town House (1846) and First Congregational Church (1865-66). The Lower Village has a greater mix of historically significant properties that range from residential to religious and commercial to cultural, according to the release.
Almost two dozen Revolutionary War veterans are buried in the public cemeteries, along with veterans of the War of 1812, the Mexican War and the Civil War, according to the release.
Three buildings within the district were previously listed in the National Register of Historic Places: the Union Meeting House/Universalist Church (listed in 2013), Kensington Town House (2013) and Kensington Social Library (2020). A fourth, the First Congregational Church, was listed to the State Register of Historic Places in 2019, according to the release. Visit nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov.
Learn to hunt
According to a press release, New Hampshire residents can sign up now to take Hunter Education classes to be ready for all of the coming fall’s seasons online. There are in-person courses and online offerings. To complete a class, participants will be required to attend a field day, a schedule of which will be provided upon completion of either type of course, according to the release.
Walk-ins are accepted at in-person trainings on a space-available basis, but seats are never guaranteed, so pre-registration is highly recommended, according to the release.
Hunter Education is required in New Hampshire before a new hunter age 16 or older can purchase their first hunting license. Children under 16 are permitted to hunt with a properly licensed adult hunter who is at least 18, according to the release. Participants must be at least 12 years old by the last day of the course to achieve certification in basic Hunter Education and students must be at least 12 years old to take the online course with a field day. New Hampshire’s Hunter Education course provides firearms and archery certification, according to the release.
Hunters who purchased an Apprentice Hunting License last year must take Hunter Education before they can purchase a hunting license, according to the release.
Hunter Education in New Hampshire is funded with Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration by an excise tax on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment, according to the release.
Visit wildlife.nh.gov/hunting-nh/hunter-education or call 271-3214.
Organized by the Merrimack Valley Military Vehicle Collectors Club, this year’s Weare Rally will go from Friday, July 25, to Sunday, July 27, at Center Woods School (14 Center Road). The rally features military vehicle displays, scenic rides, demonstrations, food and more. The cost is $5 per family. See mvmvc.org.
The annual Summer Psychic & Craft Fair returns for a 13th year to Weirs Beach Community Center (25 Lucerne Ave., Laconia) on Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hosted by CAYA Reiki and Healing, the event will include psychic readings, vendors and door prizes. Admission is free. See eventbrite.com for ticket information.
Tickets are on sale for the 2024 Annual Celebration of the Humanities from New Hampshire Humanities on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry. The event will feature as keynote speaker Gregory Maguire, author of the novel Wicked. Tickets start at $35; see nhhumanities.org/celebrate.
Registration is open for the Friends of Aine’s annual Kids Try-athlon, which will be held Sunday, Aug. 11, starting at 8 a.m. in Bedford. Kids ages 4 to 15 will participate in three events — swimming, running and biking — in age-based groups. The event features a post-race family festival and registration costs $40. The event is a fundraiser for Friends of Aine Center for Grieving Children & Families, which offers bereavement services for children. See friendsofaine.com.
