Category: Featured Content

2023 beckons

Music and comedy New Year’s Eve bashes

Looking to send 2022 off in style? Here are some places with plans for Saturday, Dec. 31 — New Year’s Eve.

• 3S Artspace (319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth, 766-3330) Dress loud and have fun at Harsh Promadillo, a prom-themed 21+ dance party with music from Harsh Armadillo, with The Q-Tip Bandits. A prom king and queen will be crowned. Doors open at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $21 and up.

• 603 Bar & Lounge (368 Central Ave., Dover, 742-9283) DJ Tuggboat back to back with DJ Donald Bump, starting at 9 p.m. and ending with a New Year’s Champagne toast.

• 815 Cocktails & Provisions (815 Elm St., Manchester, 815nh.com) This ’80s Prom Party promises to be gnarly to the max, totally, for sure. Open bar, featured menu, dancing, photo booth, Champagne toast at midnight. Starts at 9 p.m., tickets $120.

• Alan’s (133 N. Main St., Boscawen, 753-6631) New Year’s Eve with Stray Dog playing covers, $15 per person, starts at 8 p.m.

• American Legion Post 21 (7 Perley St., Concord, 225-0498) Technical Difficulties — the band, not the excuse — performs at 8 p.m.

• American Legion Post 22 (189 Mechanic St., Lebanon, 448-3429) Dance with Cruisin’ after a 5:30 p.m. cocktail hour and 6:30 p.m. dinner that offers the choice of steak or chicken as a main course. $20.

• American Legion Post 47 (551 Foundry St., Rollinsford, 742-5833) Acoustic Radio is back for the sixth time in a row; the annual bash includes opener Middleman. $15 with prime rib dinner available; event starts at 7:30 p.m.

• American Legion Post 6 (96 Islington St., Portsmouth, 436-7575) Echo Brook performs rock covers at 8 p.m.

• Area 23 (254 N State St., Unit H, Concord, 881-9060) Smokestack Blues with Gardner Berry opening, 7 p.m.

• Ashworth by the Sea (295 Ocean Blvd., Hampton, 926-6762) Party with Midtown Horns, cash bar, hotel restaurant, midnight Champagne toast, and fireworks on the beach. $20. Starts at 8 p.m.

• Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn, 622-6564) Stoned Wasp plays “hippie style jam music” with raffles, drink specials and more, starting at 7 p.m.

• Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, ccanh.com) A tribute to America’s most extravagant nightclubs, inspired by the bold speakeasies of the Roaring Twenties and the iconic New York nightclubs of the 1970s, starts at 8 p.m. Tickets $45 to $90 plus fees.

• The Big House (322 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 767-2226) NYE bash featuring Eric Grant Band, Dylan Cooper and the Beer Belly Boys starts at 8 p.m. $20.

• Bonfire Restaurant & Country Bar (950 Elm St., Manchester, 217-5600) Martin & Kelly perform country rock at 9 p.m.

• Breezeway Pub (14 Pearl St., Manchester, 621-9111) Drag Roulette NYE hosted by Portia Chanel and Sasha Stone at 8 p.m.; DJ Topher B spins with showtime at 10 p.m. $10.

• Bridgewater Inn (367 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-3518) Catfish Howl plays blues downstairs, with a DJ upstairs all night long. $50 includes buffet (5:30 to 7:30 p.m.); $20 for party only, starting at 8 p.m. Hats, tiaras, noisemakers, beads and midnight toast.

• Brook Casino (319 New Zealand Road, Seabrook, 474-3065) Aerosmith tribute band Draw The Line performs at 7:30 p.m. $35.

• Buckey’s (240 Governor Wentworth Hwy., Moultonborough, 476-5485) Red Hat Band is back, an annual tradition, at 9 p.m.

• Castleton Banquet & Conference Center (58 Enterprise Drive, Windham, eventbrite.com) Ring in the new year with East Coast Entertainment, featuring DJ music, dancing, a three-course meal and an open bar, all starting at 7 p.m. $125.

• Cercle National Club (550 Rockland Ave., Manchester, 623-8243) Potluck dinner and appetizers with Off Duty Angels playing rock covers at this members club; the fun starts at 7:30 p.m. and there’ll be Champagne at midnight.

• Chen Yang Li (520 South St., Bow, 228-8508) 1950s style dance party hosted by DJ Kenny P at 8 p.m.

• Chop Shop (920 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-7706) AD/HD – The AC/DC Experience, a tribute act from Boston, at 6:30 p.m.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (707 Huse Road, Manchester, 232-4794) $30 for early comedy show starring Robbie Printz, Mark Scalia and Alex Giampana (7 p.m.), followed by Dueling Pianos show (separate $40 ticket) with Champagne at midnight.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (151 Coliseum Ave., Nashua, 880-8055) Comedy show starring Robbie Printz, Matt Barry and Dan Crohn at 7:30 p.m. $30.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub (150 Bridge St., Pelham, 635-7499) Comedy show starring Dan Crohn, Tim McKeever and Mark Scalia at 7:30 p.m. $30.

• Coach Stop (176 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, 437-2022) Rebecca Turmel plays an early set at 7 p.m.

• Common Man (88 Range Road, Windham 898-0088) Singer-songwriter Karen Grenier performs an early set at 6 p.m.

• Concord Holiday Inn (172 Main St., Concord, 224-9534) New Year’s Eve cocktail party at 8 p.m. to benefit Project S.T.O.R.Y. and a book launch.

• Copper Door (15 Leavy Dr., Bedford, 488-2677) A local musician plays from 6 to 9 p.m., with a special NYE prix fixe menu.

• Copper Door (42 S. Broadway, Salem, 458-2033) A local musician plays from 6 to 9 p.m., with a special NYE prix fixe menu.

• Covered Bridge Farm Table (57 Blair Road, Campton Lower Village, [email protected]) $10 Black & White Ball with Pete Downing and Mira George starting at 6 p.m., followed by Sly Richard at 9 p.m. $100 for a table for eight or $50 for four includes a complimentary bottle of Champagne and nibble board to snack on.

• CR’s (287 Exeter Road, Hampton, 929-7972) Live music from 5 to 10 p.m.

• Davignon Snowshoe Club (218 Wilson St., Manchester 623-8239) Brideau, Nichols, Westover play a no-cover show at 8 p.m.

• Derryfield (625 Mammoth Road, Manchester, 623-2880) Chad LaMarsh rocks the house. $25 a ticket includes admission to see the music, Champagne toast at midnight and party favors. Starts at 9 p.m.

• DoubleTree Hotel (700 Elm St., Manchester, headlinersnh.com) Transform into a Venetian dream at the Masquerade Ball, 6 p.m. cocktail hour with cash bar, 7 p.m. dinner, 8:30 p.m. comedy show starring Joe Yannetty, Jody Sloane, Rob Steen and Eric Hurst. Also separate Dueling Pianos show. Dinner and hotel packages available. $60 and up.

• Dover Town Hall (288 Central Ave., Dover, 516-6000) Black tie optional with dancing to Black Agnes Band, fireworks at 9 p.m., Champagne toast at midnight, hors d’oeuvres by Mezzanine Catering. Event starts at 6:30 p.m. $75.

• East Side Club (786 Massabesic St., Manchester, 669-1802) Cry Uncle (or maybe Synergy) plays rock covers at 9 p.m. with a potluck at 6 p.m. for members and non-members of this private club.

• Elks Lodge No. 146 (290 Granite St., Manchester, 623-9126) A Roaring 20’s New Year’s Eve Party starts at 9 p.m. and includes finger foods, the Jennifer Mitchell Band and a Champagne toast at midnight. $20.

• Flannel Tavern (345 Suncook Road, Chichester, 406-1196) Get an early start with Country Don from noon to 2:30 p.m., Joe Pero from 3 to 5:30 p.m. and Dave Graham from 6 p.m. until close. Drink specials, food and surprises all day.

• Fleming Center (formerly New London Barn Playhouse) (84 Main St., New London, 562-6710) Curated dinner menu, Champagne and an assortment of drinks. Entertainment includes Bethany Gwen Perkins, known for her role at the Barn Playhouse as Patsy Cline in Always…Patsy Cline, and Janoah Bailin, a circus and juggler entertainer. Table seating. $150. Starts at 7 p.m.

• Flying Monkey Movie House (39 Main St., Plymouth, 536-2551) Comedian Bob Marley is back, performing at 2, 5:30 and 8 p.m. Tickets start at $46.50.

• Fody’s (9 Clinton St., Nashua, 577-9015) ’90s alt rock stalwarts Smashing Cranberries perform at 9 p.m.

• Fody’s Derry (187 1/2 Rockingham Road, Derry, 404-6946) Pop Roks keeps it modern at this party starting at 9 p.m.

• Fratello’s (155 Dow St., Manchester, 624-2022) Clint LaPointe plays at 8 p.m.

• Giuseppe’s (312 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith, 279-3313) Bob Kroepel plays requests at the piano starting at 9 p.m.

• The Goat (50 Old Granite St., Manchester, 603-4628) NYE party with Seven Day Weekend starts at 8 p.m. at the newest member of this club franchise.

• The Goat (142 Congress St., Portsmouth, 658-4628) Mike Forgette plays at 9 p.m.

• Governors Inn Hotel & Restaurant (76 Wakefield Road, Rochester, 332-0107) $80 admission includes dinner with appetizers and dessert, along with dancing to classic rock and pop cover band Bad Penny. Starts at 7:30 p.m.

• Granite State Music Hall (546 Main St., Laconia, granitestatemusichall.com) Hollow Virtue with special guests Wired for Sound, along with supporting local acts, at 6 p.m. $15.

• Haluwa (44 Gusabel Road, Nashua, 864-8348) Red Line helms a two-day celebration at this beloved Chinese restaurant. Starts at 8 p.m.

• Headliners Comedy Club is hosting a New Year’s Eve gala at the Hilton DoubleTree in Manchester (700 Elm St.) on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. Ticket prices must be purchased by noon on Dec. 31 and prices start at $35 per person. Visit headlinersnh.com.

• Hen House (85 S. Main St., Newton, 382-1705) New Year’s Eve Bash with Stumpy Joe Band again hosting the party, at 9 p.m.

• Hermanos (11 Hills Ave., Concord, 224-5669) Singer and guitarist Mark Bartram plays covers and originals, 6:30 p.m.

• High Octane Saloon (1072 Watson Road, Laconia, 527-8116) Hell On Heels plays rock covers at this Lakes Region club celebrating a second anniversary, 8 p.m.

• Hillsboro Moose Lodge (15 School St., Hillsboro, 464-6024) Local Sound Development Band featuring WhoLeo and Jimmy playing classic rock, $10, event is open to the public. 8 p.m.

• Homestead (641 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 429-2022) Lou Antonucci performs at 6:30 p.m.

• Inn on Newfound Lake (1030 Mayhew Turnpike, Bridgewater, 744-9111) Annual gala starts at 6 p.m. and includes cocktail hour with appetizers, five-course dinner, Champagne toast, fireworks at midnight, live music and dancing, Champagne, cash bar. $125.

• Jade Dragon (515 Daniel Webster Hwy., Merrimack, 424-2280) DJ Mike Kelly entertains; tickets include dinner, dancing, party favors and a midnight toast. $20. Starts at 8 p.m.

• Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club (135 Congress St., Portsmouth, jimmysoncongress.com) Gatsby-esque New Year’s party with Scott Sharrard leading an all-star orchestra through the likes of Louis Armstrong, Ma Rainey, Mamie Smith and more to create an original evening of swing/jump blues music inspired by the Roaring Twenties, with buffet, passed hors d’oeuvres and midnight Champagne toast. Doors open at 7 p.m. There’s a 5 p.m. VIP reception in MONA. Tickets $375 to $425.

• L Street Tavern (17 L St., Hampton, 967-4777) Live band on the second floor with DJ Dubz playing dance and DJ Jeff doing karaoke, free appetizer buffet, no cover. 9 p.m.

• LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst, 672-9898) New Year’s Eve dinner starting at 9 p.m. with Freese Brothers Big Band followed by a stroll through the LaBelle Lights, $121.50.

• Luna Bistro (254 North Broadway, Salem, luna-bistro.com) Black Tie Cocktail Party starts at 6 p.m. and features The Hep Cats doing Sinatra and Rat Pack tunes. White glove passed hors d’oeuvres, dessert buffet, Champagne toast at midnight. Proper attire and advance ticket purchase required; cash bar available. $100.

• Martingale Wharf (99 Bow St., Suite W, Portsmouth, 431-0901) First Night – Fire & Ice has DJ music, eros photo booth and ice sculpture among other attractions. NYE menu with token payment system. Starts at 6 p.m.

• Masonic Temple (1505 Elm St., Manchester, 543-5072) MB Enterprises has an international cuisines cocktail party with DJ, Bollywood dancing, belly dancer show, passed appetizers, bourbon tasting from 7 to 9 p.m., and Champagne at midnight. $100. Starts at 7 p.m.

• Muddy Road Brewery (213 Middleton Road, New Durham, 767-5997) Singer-guitarist Chris Gowland entertains at 8 p.m.

• Murphy’s Carriage House (393 Route 101, Bedford, 488-5875) Comedy show with Jim Colliton, Mike McDonald and host Chris Cameron at 8 p.m. $30 or $65 (includes dinner).

• Murphy’s Taproom (494 Elm St., Manchester, scampscomedy.com) Comedy show with Jason Merrill, Dan Donahue, Francis Birch and Juan Cespedes at 8 p.m. $25 ($30 at the door).

• Music Hall (28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth, themusichall.org) Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra evokes the Roaring Twenties. John Page leads the orchestra, along with old-fashioned bubble machines and a real Champagne bar. 8 p.m. $30.

• Music Hall Loft (131 Congress St., Portsmouth, 433-3100) Following outdoor First Night festivities, high-energy string band Rockspring performs at 10 p.m., with a midnight Champagne toast. $35.

• Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588) Recycled Percussion is again home for the holidays. Two shows: 4 and 7 p.m.

• Party at the Peddler’s Daughter (48 Main St., Nashua) with the last ever performance of Take 4 for a New Year’s Eve Bash on Saturday, Dec. 31 starting at 4 p.m. There will be a set menu and a Champagne toast at midnight. Visit thepeddlersdaughter.com.

• Pasta Loft (241 Union Sq., Milford, 672-2270) Beloved cover band The Slakas returns; $10 admission includes Champagne toast at midnight. Event starts at 7 p.m.

• Pats Peak Ski Area (686 Flanders Road, Henniker, 728-7732) There’s dancing to The McMurphys in the Sled Pub starting at 6 p.m. and New Year’s fireworks (slopes close at 10 p.m.).

• Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St., Portsmouth, 436-8123) Take in a performance of First Night, a romantic comedy by the author of Moonglow, Jack Neary, at 10 p.m. Tickets $27.

• Polish American Club (15 School St., Nashua, 889-9819) DJ music, food, cheer and a midnight Champagne toast. Starts at 8 p.m.

• Portsmouth Book & Bar (40 Pleasant St., Portsmouth, 427-9197) Taylor Swift-inspired NYE celebration with themed karaoke, cocktails, snacks and dance party, starting at 7 p.m. $5 in advance, $8 at the door.

• Portsmouth Gas Light (64 Market St., Portsmouth, 430-9122) Boston Circus Guild’s Welcome to The Show, a Cirque du Soleil-inspired evening with live entertainment and DJ music, starting at 8 p.m. VIP packages available.

• Press Room (77 Daniel St., Portsmouth, 431-5186) Ski Party with DJ Chad Banks and Adrienne Mack Davis starts at 9 p.m. $40.

• Re/Mix Social Club (1 Pleasant St., Claremont, 504-4231) Alcohol-free party at a nonprofit downtown Claremont alternative to the typical club/bar atmosphere. Enjoy warm beverages from the coffee bar along with catered hors d’oeuvres as people share their experiences with overcoming addiction. (7 p.m.)

• Red’s Kitchen & Tavern (530 Lafayette Road, Seabrook, 760-0030) Jordan Quinn plays at a NYE Pajama Party; wear your favorite bedtime get-up for a night of live music, drinks, dancing, food, prizes, giveaways and more starting at 8 p.m.

• Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St., Manchester, 668-5588) Juston McKinney’s Year In Review comes to Manchester, show at 8 p.m., tickets $35 (also on Friday, Dec. 30).

• Riley’s Place (22 Mt. Vernon St., Milford, 325-2177) Old friends Aces & Eights ring in the new year. Starts at 9 p.m. $25 advance, limited number of seats for $10 at door.

• Rio Tequila Cantina (37 Bow St., Portsmouth, 433-8655) Music with Adam Forbes, performing acoustically at the newest addition to Portsmouth’s dining scene, at 6:30 p.m.

• Rockingham Ballroom (22 Ash Swamp Road, Newmarket, 448-8000) Dancing all night on the area’s largest dance floor starting at 8 p.m. with DJ host Johnny B Groovy. $30 and $40.

• Saddle Up Saloon (92 Route 125, Kingston, 369-6962) Casual Gravity plays fifth annual bash, $60 tickets include buffet from 7 to 9 p.m. and a late-night pizza buffet, Champagne toast and party favors.

• Salt hill Pub Lebanon (2 W. Park St., Lebanon, 448-4532) Adam McMahon Trio performs with complimentary Champagne toast at midnight. Starts at 9 p.m. $10.

• Salt hill Pub Newport (58 Main St., Newport, 863-7774) Tirade, featuring Toby Moore, plays the 14th annual bash at 9 p.m. $5.

• Sea Dog Brewing (9 Water St., Exeter, 793-5116) DJ Doug York plays from 9 p.m. to midnight; free appetizers at 11:30 p.m. with creative dinner selections from Chef Calvin.

• Shaskeen (909 Elm St., Manchester, 625-0246) Lock The Doors Bash is reprised with limited $60 tickets covering a food buffet, midnight Champagne toast, giveaways, Chris Bennett a.k.a. DJ Myth spinning, and open bar. The club will be closed to anyone without tickets. Event is 21+ only. 8 p.m.

• Side Bar (845 Lafayette Road, Hampton, eventbrite.com) Music from DJ CHN, a free pizza and app buffet, a free Champagne toast, drink specials all night long, starting at 9 p.m. $25.

• Sky Meadow Country Club (6 Mountain Laurels Dr., Nashua, headlinersnh.com) Comedy with Kevin Lee and Tim McKeever, along with DJ dancing, starting at 6:30 p.m. $75.

• Soho Bistro (20 Old Granite St., Manchester, 222-1677) Party Science with DJ Lefte at 9 p.m.

• Sol Southern Kitchen (111 State St., Portsmouth, 319-8175) Tim Parent & The Grim Bros Duo (with Tim and Ben Butterworth) NYE musical celebration starts at 9 p.m.

• Stone Church (5 Granite St., Newmarket, 659-7700) Idlewild: A Celebration Of The Allman Brothers Band and Not Fade Away Band join forces for Peach Lightning, an evening of Allmans and Dead tunes, at 6 p.m. $20.

• Strand Ballroom (20 Third St., Dover, 343-1899) Comedy with Mike Donovan and Amy Tee, followed by musical guests The Broken Heels. Starts at 7 p.m. Tickets $50 and up.

• Stumble Inn (20 Rockingham Road, Londonderry, 432-3210) New Year’s Eve bash featuring Last Kid Picked starts at 8 p.m.

• Sweeney Post No. 2 (251 Maple St., Manchester, 623-9145) Stuck In Time Band, with a potluck dinner; bring an app, favorite dish, or dessert to share. 8 p.m.

• Thirsty Moose (21 Congress St., Portsmouth, 427-8645) Eric Marcs & Solid Group rock the basement music space, while great beer flows on both floors. 9 p.m.

• Tokoss (1293 Elm St., Manchester, 486-1538) Food, drinks and music starting at 8 p.m. with DJ Kamix spinning. The first 50 people will receive a New Year’s celebration package. $20 and up. VIP table reservations are available.

• Tower Hill Tavern (264 Lakeside Ave., Laconia, 366-9100) DJ Tim hosts Karaoke NYE party starting at 8 p.m.

• Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100) Adam Ezra Group and opening band Billy Keane & the Waking Dream play at 7 p.m., with a four-course dinner at 5:30 p.m. for $95; 8:30 p.m. show only is $45, and all tickets include a Champagne toast.

• Tuscan Market & Village (9 Via Toscana, Salem, 912-5467) Silver Springs Fleetwood Mac tribute with Leaving Eden at 8 p.m.

• Veterans Club (118 John Stark Hwy., Newport, 863-3945) $10 for Talkin’ Smack, a popular cover band playing hits at 7 p.m.

• Village Trestle (25 Main St., Goffstown, 497-8230) The Full Bob Pratte Band performs at 5 p.m.

• Wally’s Pub (144 Ashworth Ave., Hampton, 926-6954) Popular cover band Pop Disaster performs at this party starting at 9 p.m.

• WSCA Radio (909 Islington St., Suite 1, Portsmouth, 430-9722) Exotic Family Records showcase, 21+ BYOB, starts at 7:30 p.m.

Featured photo: Karen Grenier is due to play at the Common Man in Windham.

Great movies for everyone

2022 offered sweet stories, beautiful animation and some excellent stupidity

Whether you define a great movie as an artistic achievement or as a movie so gleefully goofy that you cry from laughter, there were great movies in 2022.

Saying this almost feels counter-intuitive with all the stories about movies — especially non-franchise, non-sequel, non-existing IP movies — that didn’t do as well as hoped at the box office. On Dec. 21, Box Office Mojo showed a year-to-date top 10 consisting of two cartoons for kids, four Marvel movies, two movies based on DC Comics IP, the latest (last?) Jurassic movie and Top Gun: Maverick. (Avatar: The Way of Water had not yet clawed its way into the top 10 but I suspect by close of business on Dec. 31 it will.)

But other movies came out on screens big and small — often on the big screen followed quickly by the small screen, which probably isn’t great long-term for theatrical distribution but was helpful to the movie-lover who couldn’t make it to the theater in time. I still haven’t caught Aftersun, Spoiler Alert, Triangle of Sadness, Bones and All, The Fabelmans or Decision to Leave but these acclaimed films are currently available via VOD. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is on Netflix, along with Bardo. Other 2022 (or, you know, nominally 2022 movies) I haven’t seen yet include Women Talking, The Whale, White Noise and Babylon — so this isn’t quite a definitive list. But, of what I have seen, here’s where to find some of the great movies — whatever that means to you — of 2022.

• “2021” movies I saw in 2022: I always start the year watching all the movies that sort of touched base in a few theaters in the previous year but didn’t get a major release until later. Of that bunch, I enjoyed dramedy Licorice Pizza in spite of its problematic teen boy-older teen or twentysomething girl chaste-but-dodgy relationship and because of the solid performance by Alana Haim and the 1970s southern California of it all (find it on Amazon Prime, Paramount+ and for rent or purchase). Joel Coen’s black and white take on The Tragedy of MacBeth (Apple TV+) featured great performances by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. C’mon C’mon (Paramount+, possibly as part of some Showtime situation, who even knows anymore; maybe also Showtime and purchase) is a sweet movie with a likable performance by Joaquin Phoenix.

• About that top 10: Look, you wanna watch Top Gun: Maverick (2022’s No. 1 at the box office, as of last week)? That’s fine, we can still be friends; I also think planes are cool (movie is available for rent and purchase). But for me, the best movies of the moneymakers are The Batman (HBO Max or rent or purchase), mostly because I liked the municipal corruption aspect; Thor: Love & Thunder (Disney+ or rent or purchase), which is no Ragnarok but has some great moments (many featuring solid use of Guns N’ Roses); Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (still in theaters), which deals with personal emotions and global philosophical issues and has beautiful, thoughtful costumes, and Minions: The Rise of Gru (Peacock, rent or purchase), which had a fun Looney Tunes vibe that my kids really enjoyed.

• Animation for the kids: For the last few years, Netflix has turned out some solid animation with a mix of styles. Two this year: Wendell & Wild with kind of a marionette stop-motion look to its characters and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which has a whole different, very del-Toro-ish approach to stop-motion. I’d peg both of these movies at late tweens and up, both for themes and for unnerving visuals. My favorite animated film of the year is Disney’s Turning Red (Disney+ and for purchase), an absolute charmer that is sweet, hilarious and very pretty. It too is a tween-and-up film, in which an Asian-Canadian girl in the early aughts finds that emotional turmoil (over boys, her relationship with her mother, all the changes of being 13) turns her into a giant red panda.

• Animation for the PG-13 crowd: Joke density and surprise earnestness were my favorite things about The Bob’s Burgers Movie (HBO MAX, for rent or purchase). Even if you’ve fallen away from the series, it’s still an enjoyable watch.

• Animation with live action: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (rent or purchase) has fun with the shell-ness and acorn size of its lead character but also deals with big issues (grief, loneliness) with incredible sweetness.

• Another one for the kids: I have no nostalgic memories of the first Hocus Pocus so I found Hocus Pocus 2 (Disney+) rather delightful, with its silly-fun musical number and its hokey jokiness.

• Leftover Christmas cookies: We are living in a golden age of weird Christmas content, with every streaming service seeming to want to participate. I don’t understand it but each year I find a few movies that make me enjoy it. This year, I liked Disney+’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which really went for the goofy holiday special of old and made great use of a very game Kevin Bacon, and Apple TV+’s Spirited, a good-natured A Christmas Carol riff. The very gory, kinda sweet Violent Night (like, believe them; violent, not for kids) is still in theaters but you can also rent or purchase the movie.

• So dumb it’s genius: I might have had more fun watching Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Roku Channel) than any other movie this year. It is an absolute achievement of stupidity and an excellent approach to rock music biopic. I can’t recommend it highly enough; go watch it now.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (STARZ, rent or purchase) also featured performances of people willing to go to silly extremes, namely Nicolas Cage as an actor named Nicolas Cage.

• Girls through the ages: In medieval England, a girl tries to resist her father’s push to get married (in part to settle family finances) in Catherine Called Birdy (Amazon Prime). In fair Verona, a girl resists her father’s push to get married and gets dumped by secret boyfriend Romeo in Rosaline (Hulu). In Victorian London, a girl attempts to establish herself as an investigator rivaling her famous brother in Enola Holmes 2 (Netflix). Sure, these stories feature varying amounts of anachronism, but all three are charming and make some honest observations about the lives of young women.

• True love: Fire Island (Hulu) offers a delightful riff on Pride & Prejudice and features great performances from Bowan Yang, Joel Kim Booster and Conrad Ricomora, who joins the pantheon of great Mr. Darcys. Bros (Peacock) also offers solid performances from Guy Branum and Bowen Yang, a stand-out cameo by Debra Messing and truly sweet chemistry between romantic leads Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane.

• Dumb love: Am I here to argue that Marry Me (Prime Video, rent or purchase), a movie where Jennifer Lopez plays a pop star who marries a stranger on a whim after romantic embarrassment, is an Oscar-worthy achievement? Well, maybe yes if we’re talking about the Best Original Song Oscar. Otherwise, it’s more of a “great artistic achievement in cotton candy goofiness.” Ditto The Lost City (Paramount+, rent or purchase), which doesn’t go as goofy as I would have wanted with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum but does have enough fun to relax you after a long day.

• Heartfelt: People are going through it in the sweet but sincere and deeply felt Cha Cha Real Smooth (Apple TV+), a sort of quarterlife-crisis dramady; Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (Hulu), a series of conversations between Emma Thompson’s character and the man she hires to help broaden her sexual experience, and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Peacock, rent or purchase), Lesley Manville’s character’s breaking out of her shell to buy a Dior dress in the 1950s.

• What’s up, docs: This is also a golden age of doc accessibility — sure, many of them are true crime, but the various streamers do make documentaries on all subjects available. Three I liked from this year: The Automat (HBO Max), which I first saw as a part of the New Hampshire Jewish Film Fest and is a loving tribute (filled with excellent interviews, including from Mel Brooks) to the automat dining experience; Sr. (Netflix), a look at the life of filmmaker Robert Downey Sr. and his relationship with his son, and Descendant (Netflix), a look at the Black community in Alabama that can trace its ancestors to the ship Clotilda that illegally smuggled Africans into the pre-Civil War South.

• As advertised: In Beast (Peacock, rent or purchase), Idris Elba fights a lion — like, that’s it, that’s the movie. The Princess (Hulu) requires a warrior-trained princess to escape down a tower and then kick some more butt until she rescues her family. Sure, these movies have action and violence but their “what you ordered and nothing more” quality is kind of relaxing.

• Action and thrills with a kick: Of course, some action movies go above and beyond. Prey (Hulu), the latest entry in the Predator series, is a solid bit of suspense-action entertainment, with a young Comanche woman in the early 1700s facing off against a Predator. In Steven Soderbergh’s Kimi (HBO Max, rent or purchase) the spare but engaging thriller has Zoë Kravitz believing she hears a crime via the Alexa-like personal assistant she works on troubleshooting. The Northman (Amazon Prime, rent or purchase) is a wonderfully bonkers, super grisly Viking Hamlet. Is Nope (Peacock, rent or purchase) a Western, a sci-fi movie, a thriller or something else? I’m not sure I’ve decided but it is a great suspense movie from Jordan Peele with standout performances by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer.

The Woman King

• Bring the performances: Of performances that stood out this year, let’s start with Manchester’s own Adam Sandler in Hustle (Netflix) where he plays a scout for a basketball team and gives his character depth. In The Wonder (Netflix), Florence Pugh brings a whole well-rounded person to the role of 19th-century nurse who is sent to examine a girl in Ireland who isn’t eating but somehow isn’t starving. Causeway (Apple TV+) gives both Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry a chance to shine as two people who find comfort in a friendship. Tár (available for purchase) features a standout Cate Blanchett performance as a conductor whose ego has eclipsed ethical behavior and even rationality. In Till (purchase) Danielle Deadwyler does not let you look away from the grieving Mamie Till-Mobley, whose young son is murdered horribly in segregated Mississippi. Viola Davis gives just one of the great performances in The Woman King (rent or purchase), which tells the story of the female warriors of the African kingdom Dahomey.

• 2022’s best: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, multiverses, compassion, a rock with googly eyes, a raccoon chef, mothers and daughters — Everything Everywhere All At Once (Paramount +) actually has everything, taking place everywhere throughout different realities, all at once so Yeoh can hopefully save all of existence. It is smart, it is hilarious, it is empathetic. It’s, well, great.

2023 in movies

Here are some of the movies I’m looking forward to watching in the first half(-ish) of 2023. Dates are according to IMDb and who even knows anymore how solid any movie’s release date is until it actually hits screens.

• Magic Mike’s Last Dance (Feb. 10) Steven Soderbergh returns to direct this third movie in the Magic Mike (Channing Tatum) series.

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Feb. 17) The next Marvel entry seems medium promising — the trailers promise, if nothing else, a relentlessly likable Paul Rudd.

• Creed III (March 3) Michael B. Jordan directs and stars in this third outing of the Rocky spinoff series.

• Shazam! Fury of the Gods (March 17) DC’s whole movie situation seems like a hot mess but this follow up to the very likable 2019 film feels like a bright spot.

• John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24) I love this Keanu Reeves franchise beyond all reason. The trailer for this new entry features more “High Table” nonsense, more Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne and more John Wick casually wasting fools.

• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (April 28) The iconic Judy Blume novel gets a big-screen adaptation.

• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (May 5) Marvel’s traditional summer kickoff.

• Fast X (May 19) On the one hand, Charlize Theron’s exhausting villain Cypher returns to the Fast & Furiousverse in this the 10th outing, but on the other hand, IMDb lists Rita Moreno in the cast. If she has just half as much fun as Helen Mirren (also listed in this movie’s cast) has been allowed to have in this franchise, this should be good.

• The Little Mermaid (May 26) These live action Disney remakes have always been interesting. Plus you have Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One (June 2) This would be the animated Spider-Man universe, featuring Miles Morales. The 2018 first entry was, rightfully, that season’s Oscar winner for animated feature.

• Barbie (July 21) I am Team Greta Gerwig, who directs this movie and co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach. That and the super-winky (literally and figuratively) teaser trailer give me lots of hope for this movie.

• The Marvels (July 28) This movie, which features Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers as well as Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan (and, according to IMDb, Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau), is probably the 2023 Marvel outing I’m most looking forward to. In the meantime, watch Disney+’s Ms. Marvel, which is a fun time.

Featured photo: Everything Everywhere All AT Once

Food for thought

Trends, predictions and what’s to come for local food and drink in 2023

Another year is in the books for New Hampshire’s food scene. Here’s a look back on what local restaurateurs, business owners, event organizers and other notable figures contended with in 2022, plus a sneak preview of what’s to come in 2023.

An early surge

New Hampshire began the year amidst a winter surge of Covid-19, largely driven by the then-new omicron variant. Events responsible for bringing together large gatherings were once again canceled left and right, at a breakneck pace almost reminiscent of March 2020. The most significant? What would have been the anticipated return of New Hampshire Wine Week.

On Jan. 12 of this year — with two weeks to go until the Easterseals Winter Wine Spectacular — the New Hampshire Liquor Commission issued a statement canceling the celebration due to the rise in Covid cases.

What’s next for the future of Wine Week? A new name and a new time of year for 2023, said NHLC chief marketing officer Lorrie Piper. The large seminar-style tasting event traditionally serving as the week’s centerpiece has been rebranded as the New England Wine Spectacular and is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 15.

“Clearly over the past few winters, now that we have historical information on the pandemic, we know that we’re most likely looking at an uptick in Covid cases … and so when we kind of all got together and started talking about it, we just thought, ‘Why not June?’” Piper said of the NHLC’s decision to move the week. “It’s going to be great weather, I think people are going to be ready to get out there, and we won’t have the travel problems that maybe some people encountered during those winter months in New England. … So far, the conversations that we’ve had with the wine celebrities and the winemakers who come have been very positive.”

Details on 2023’s Wine Week are still being ironed out, but Piper said the plan is to keep the same format as in years past. The Spectacular will take place on that Thursday and will be surrounded by a week’s worth of other events like wine dinners at local restaurants and tasting and sampling events at several of the Liquor & Wine Outlet stores.

“I really want to have a very, very full calendar,” she said. “My own personal challenge is to make it really difficult for customers to pick which thing they would want to attend.”

Asked about trending products in 2022, Piper said the NHLC has been monitoring several — chief among them are wines and spirits in the ready-to-drink category, which overall enjoyed increasing sales at the nearly 70 Liquor & Wine Outlet stores. The number of ready-do-drink products available at each location increased by about 30 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to Piper.

“I think our customers love the opportunity to buy something that’s easy to prepare, that they are really just pouring over ice,” she said. “The makers of these products have recognized that there is a big need for it and our customers have certainly shown us that they love that ease of just being able to pick up a four- or a six-pack of canned cocktails. … We’re projecting that that’s going to grow even more in 2023.”

Low-calorie, low-alcohol and low-to-no sugar options — comprising what Piper called the “Better for You” category — have also become more popular, in addition to things like premium tequilas and mezcals, sparkling wines, spritzers and even barrel-aged whiskeys.

“I think kind of the overall trend that we’re seeing is more and more Earth-friendly processing and growing,” she said, “so we have customers that look specifically for organic wines and spirits. … The other thing that was happening was that, during the pandemic, a lot of the distillers and makers had some time to really think about reinventing some of the products or offering something really unique, and so now we see that coming onto the market.”

Food events return

A number of food festivals and events returned this year — in at least a few cases, for the first time since 2019. In downtown Manchester the Taco Tour was perhaps the most notable. The Greater Manchester Chamber worked closely with the City of Manchester’s Economic Development Department and Mayor Joyce Craig’s office to revive the popular street festival, which returned on May 5.

The event had the largest roster of participating restaurants — more than 70, many of which had not existed when the last Taco Tour took place. Firefly American Bistro & Bar took home the “Golden Taco” trophy after receiving the most votes by thousands of attendees — and a date of May 4 has already been slated for the Taco Tour to return in 2023.

“We are largely planning to replicate the event from last year, but we are looking for sponsors to support adding a concert to Taco Tour Manchester,” Cole Riel, member engagement coordinator for the Chamber, told the Hippo in an email. “We are sending out a message to restaurants and event partners soon with some updates.”

The Taste of Downtown Nashua, which allows participants to sample offerings from nearly two dozen restaurants, returned for the first time in three years in June, as did Merrimack’s Great American Ribfest & Food Truck Festival in July, and the Gate City Brewfest, also in Nashua, in August. In Concord we saw the return of the New Hampshire Brewers Association’s annual flagship festival in July, rebranded as the Keep NH Brewing Festival. That event has already garnered the support of more than two dozen participating breweries for 2023 and is slated to return on Saturday, July 8, at Kiwanis Waterfront Park.

And several new events joined the scene in New Hampshire in 2022. We saw the inaugural New England Coffee Festival in downtown Laconia in May, for instance, and the first New England Hot Sauce Fest at Smuttynose Brewing Co. in Hampton in July — they respectively brought together thousands of coffee and hot sauce aficionados with demonstrations, contests, vendors and giveaways. Both are due to return for the second year in 2023: The coffee festival is happening on Friday, May 19, and Saturday, May 20, and the hot sauce festival will return on Saturday, July 29.

Reached by email, coffee festival organizer Karen Bassett of Wayfarer Coffee Roasters in Laconia said the inaugural event drew more than 5,000 attendees to the area.

“We received so much amazing feedback and are excited to elevate the next festival,” Bassett said, going on to note that 2023’s event will feature a greater number of hands-on workshops and outdoor vendors, plus a “latte art throwdown” on the Main Stage of the Colonial Theatre in front of a grand audience.

A year of resilience

Concord welcomed a downtown restaurant serving brick-oven artisan pizzas, Bedford saw a new self-serve wine bar and Nashua became home to the first area establishment offering drinks made with the South Pacific root known as kava. In January, longtime Concord restaurateur Joel Harris of Dos Amigos Burritos opened his newest eatery on Main Street, the New Hampshire Pizza Co., following a renovation of the space the previous year. Other additions to New Hampshire’s food scene included Hare of the Dawg Bar & Grill, a family-friendly neighborhood restaurant in downtown Derry, in January; Bellissimo Italian Steakhouse, which opened in the former Fratello’s storefront on Main Street in Nashua in March; Vine 32 Wine + Graze Bar, a self-serve wine bar featuring Italian-made Enomatic dispensers, which also opened in March; and the joint retail shop owned by Loon Chocolate and 603 Charcuterie that opened inside The Factory on Willow facility in Manchester in February.

We also saw the arrival in March of Rambling House Food & Gathering, a Nashua restaurant with a seasonally rotating menu of locally sourced items and a craft brewery on site, known as TaleSpinner Brewery. Later in the spring, George “Rocky” Burpee of Shaker Road Provisions, a company specializing in homemade bacon, opened a storefront in Concord, and the summer brought us the Manchester vegan cafe The Green Beautiful; City Hall Pub, the newest venture of Mint Bistro and Elm House of Pizza owner Tim Baines; and Root Awakening Kava Bar in Nashua, which was touted as “New England’s first kava bar,” by owner Greg Gately, who noted at the time that only around 200 such bars existed nationwide.

In June, LaBelle Winery opened its long-anticipated sparkling wine tasting barn and vineyard wedding ceremony space at its Derry facility — its chief purpose, owner and winemaker Amy LaBelle said, is creating sparkling wine varieties via Méthode Champenoise, a classic French technique. While it’s perhaps probably the last major addition to the space for a little while — “I know my husband is excited because I promised him I wouldn’t build any new buildings,” she joked — LaBelle said she’s looking forward to the new year. On Saturday, Jan. 28, the Amherst vineyard is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a special masquerade gala, featuring a cocktail hour, a four-course dinner menu, and performers like jugglers and fire-breathers. The ALS Association, in addition to Empowering Angels, LaBelle’s own foundation promoting youth entrepreneurship, will be the event’s beneficiaries.

In the fall, we saw the opening of the Haitian eatery Ansanm in October, the latest venture of Top Chef alum Chris Viaud of Northern Comfort Hospitality — we should also note that, in February, Viaud was nominated as a semifinalist in the 2022 James Beard Foundation awards under the “Emerging Chef” category. We saw a rare milestone in October 2022 with the Red Arrow Diner’s 100th anniversary and just this month bid farewell to retiring longtime chef Edward Aloise and his wife, Claudia Rippee, owners of Republic Cafe and Campo Enoteca.

Asked about her thoughts on the hospitality industry in 2022 as a whole, LaBelle said that, while staffing challenges have loosened up at her two dining establishments — Americus Restaurant in Derry and The Bistro at LaBelle Winery in Amherst — inflation and rising food costs have been ongoing problems.

“Our staffing is in a much better spot than it was a year ago, certainly, so that’s helpful,” she said. “We’ve just had to ratchet up our labor costs, so we’re paying people more to get them … but the prices can’t really keep up with that, and so it’s a really tricky spot.”

Viaud also said rising prices have been among the biggest challenges his team has faced this year, but he added that staffing has improved. At Greenleaf, for instance, which celebrated its third anniversary in business in 2022, Viaud promoted chefs Justin O’Malley and Nick Breyare to oversee day-to-day operations in the kitchen, changing the menus within the growing seasons and leading the line cooks.

“For the most part we have absorbed the costs of the inflation of goods … without any disruption to service,” Viaud said in an email. “For Greenleaf specifically, I would have to say that we are in a much better position in terms of necessary staffing this year compared to last.”

One encouraging thing for LaBelle is that she hasn’t had a hard time filling seats.

“People are still going out and enjoying a good meal, and we’re grateful for that,” she said. “I think people are still willing to spend the money to go out, but they’re just being a little more choosy about it and making sure where they’re going to spend their money is top quality, and that’s what LaBelle can provide.”

A Year in the Kitchen: 2022 edition

The Hippo’s In the Kitchen Q&A series continued in 2022, featuring voices of New Hampshire’s food scene, from restaurant chefs and bakers to homestead business owners.

We like to ask these experts for their thoughts on the food trends sweeping the Granite State. Food trucks won out as the most commonly cited trend this past calendar year, but other themes were also commonly mentioned, including farm-to-table and plant-based cooking movements in many Granite State restaurant kitchens.

“Using local farms is so cool because I think it’s a great engaging point for the servers to talk with the customer … so they get to know where their food is coming from, but they also feel like they are putting value into the economy in their area,” chef Matt McCormack of the Granite Restaurant & Bar in Concord told the Hippo in February.

Some interviewees this year chose more specific menu items as leading trends, like smash burgers, charcuterie boards and sampler-sized offerings such as flights and tapas.

“Just any small amount of something that’s served on one plate. You’re seeing a lot of that now — burger flights, taco flights, you name it,” Weare native Joe Bernier of the Angry Hog Barbecue Co. food trailer told the Hippo in May.

Megan Kurs of The Yolk Grill in Pelham gave us a similar answer in March, saying that the term “flight” doesn’t necessarily pertain to just beers or cocktails anymore but rather to any type of food that can be presented in a sampler-style setting. “People like to have different things they can take pictures for and post them on social media and tag us and things like that,” she said.

A fun question we always ask during these interviews is either “What celebrity would you like to see eating at your restaurant?” or “What celebrity would you like to have a meal with?” For the third year in a row, the No. 1 answer was television chef Gordon Ramsay of, among many other popular cooking shows, Hell’s Kitchen. Saurav Goel of Raga Contemporary Kitchen in Nashuatold the Hippo in April he considers Ramsay to be “a mentor in many ways,” while George “Rocky” Burpee of Shaker Road Provisions in Concord said in September he considers himself to be a “die-hard fan” of the chef. Justin Hoang of Luk’s Bar and Grill in Hudson and Bellissimo Italian Steakhouse in Nashua told the Hippo in July that he regularly watches just about every show Ramsay is on.

“As intimidating as he comes off as in those shows, I think he’s a phenomenal chef,” Hoang said.

The runner-up for the most commonly given answer to this question came as no surprise — Manchester’s own actor and comedian Adam Sandler. Other celebrities that received two or more answers this year? Actors Jack Black and Matthew McConaughey and Food Network personalities and chefs Alton Brown, Guy Fieri and Jeffrey “Duff” Goldman.

Finally, asking our interviewees to give a shout out to their favorite local dining establishments in the Granite State always yields a diverse lineup of answers. The most common answer of 2022 was The Riverhouse Cafe in Milford — three people throughout the year told the Hippo that the popular breakfast and lunch spot on the Oval is among their favorites. Industry East Bar in Manchester, Revival Kitchen & Bar in Concord, Surf Seafood in Nashuaand the Stark House Tavern in Weare were among some of the other recurring answers this year.

Featured photo: Firefly American Bistro & Bar received the “Golden Taco” trophy for winning the 2022 Taco Tour on Thursday, May 5. Courtesy photo.

And a happy new year

New Hampshire rings in 2023 with a plethora of events

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

The Granite State will be partying it up on New Year’s Eve. Old or young, staying up late or going to bed early, there’s an event for everyone.

• The kids night at the Y theme at YMCA of Downtown Manchester (30 Mechanic St. in Manchester; 623-3558, graniteymca.org) on Friday, Dec. 30, at 4:30 p.m. will be a New Year’s pajama party. Kids ages 3 through 9 are welcome. A space costs $25 per single child; siblings are an additional $15. Register via the branch’s Facebook page.

• See First Night, a romantic comedy, at the Players’ Ring (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org, 436-8123) on Friday, Dec. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 31, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $27, $24 for students and seniors.

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St., Dover, childrens-museum.org) is hosting a family New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, from 9 a.m. to noon and from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., with a “countdown to midnight” during each session with noisemakers, hats and more. This is included in regular playtime tickets, which cost $12.50 per child with one adult, $10.50 per child with a senior age 65 and older.

• Charmingfare Farm(774 High St., Candia, visitthefarm.com) is hosting New Year’s Eve sleigh rides on Saturday, Dec. 31, starting at 10 a.m. The rides are sleigh rides to bonfires and holiday lights on a trail.

• Cowabunga’s (725 Huse Road in Manchester; cowabungas.com) is hosting a New Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased at cowabungas.com.

• Join the Concord Public Library (45 Green St. in Concord, concordnh.gov) for a Noon Year’s Eve party on Saturday Dec. 31. The party will start at 11:30 a.m., and kids and parents can count down the clock together to noon. Recommended for kids newborn to fifth grade.

• Derry Public Library (64 East Broadway) is hosting a Noon Year’s Eve party on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 11:30 a.m. There will be a parade and balloon drop at the stroke of noon. Visit derrypl.org for more information.

• Celebrate the new year at the First Night in Portsmouth on Saturday, Dec. 31, in Market Square. The celebration starts at 2 p.m. and will end with fireworks at 7:30 p.m. Visit proportsmouth.org.

• The Kensington Parks and Recreation Department is setting off New Year’s fireworks at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, in Sawyer Memorial Park (24 Trundle Lane). The Department recommends dressing warmly and bringing a flashlight.

• The Portsmouth City Orchestra is coming to the Music Hall’s Historic Theater (28 Chestnut St.) for a New Year’s Eve concert and Champagne toast on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $38 and can be bought at themusichall.org.

• Dave and Buster’s (1500 S. Willow St., Manchester) is hosting a Ring Ring Ring in the New Year party from 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31, to 1 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 1, with an unlimited appetizer buffet and unlimited play on select games. Tickets cost $69 and can be bought at daveandbusters.com.

• Pats Peak (686 Flanders Road, Henniker) is having New Year’s Eve fireworks on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 10:20 p.m. Get a reservation for skiing, snowboarding, or tubing to watch the show. Lift tickets start at $60 and can be purchased at patspeak.com.

• Seven New Hampshire state parks are hosting First Day hikes on Sunday, Jan. 1. The hike at Robert Frost Farm in Derry is already full; other locations include Greenfield State Park (954 Forest Road), Monadnock State Park (116 Poole Road in Jaffrey) and Odiorne Point State Park (570 Ocean Blvd., Rye). Check-in begins at noon. Advance registration is required; visit nhstateparks.org to register or for more information.

• The Apple Therapy and Derry Sports & Rehab Millennium Mile, a one-mile downhill race on Mammoth Road in Londonderry, starts at a forgiving 2 p.m. Registration costs $20 for 12+ and $10 for 11 and under, with the first 1,250 registrants getting a winter hat (if available, registration on race day costs $5 more). See millenniumrunning.com.

• Join New Hampshire Scot for a Hogmanay at LaBelle Winery (14 Route 111, Derry) on Sunday, Jan. 1, from 3 to 7 p.m. There will be traditional Scottish music, food, activities and more. Entry tickets cost $32 per adult ages 15 and older, $15 per child ages 6 to 14, and kids ages 5 and younger are free. Visit nhscot.org for more information.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 22/12/29

Fighting fentanyl

The Fighting Emerging Narcotics through Additional Nations to Yield Lasting (FENTANYL) Results Act, a bipartisan legislation supported by U.S. Senators and senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), has been signed into law, according to a press release. Part of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), annual legislation that authorizes defense programming, the FENTANYL Results Act will increase global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking. Two programs through the State Department have been authorized to build foreign law enforcement capacity to detect synthetic drugs and operate an international exchange program for drug demand reduction experts. “Fentanyl is driving the substance use disorder crisis and making this public health emergency more lethal than ever,” Sen. Shaheen said in the release. “It is a killer and we need to get it out of our communities. That effort needs to start with preventing it from crossing our borders. We know that fentanyl is primarily being trafficked from China and Mexico, so it is paramount that we address this issue globally, which is precisely what the FENTANYL Results Act will do.”

Grant funds

Gov. Chris Sununu and the Executive Council have approved an allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act resources for the Community Center Investment Program, which will be overseen by the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority. According to a press release, the program will provide $20 million in grant resources to eligible entities to support infrastructure improvements to community spaces across the state.

Housing

Funding for the construction and preservation of six multifamily housing developments through the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and other federal and state funding has been approved by the New Hampshire Housing Board of Directors. According to a press release, the projects will include Pembroke Road Apartments in Concord; CATCH Neighborhood Housing at Sheep Davis Road in Concord; Hillsborough Heights in Hillsborough; the first phase of The Apartments at 249 Main St. in Nashua; Coliseum Seniors Residence III in Nashua; and the third phase of Apple Ridge Apartments in Rochester. Once constructed, the buildings will provide 341 units to help meet the need for affordable rental housing for the state’s workforce and other residents.

Overdose prevention

The City of Manchester has been selected by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention as one of 20 communities across the country to receive $300,000 in funding to bolster overdose prevention efforts on the local level. According to a press release, Manchester recovery support worker and advocate Andrew Warner has been hired as Director of Overdose Prevention, a newly created position within the City’s Department of Health. Warner, who has experience in the field as a provider and program administrator in treating substance use disorders, will lead the City’s response in preventing drug-involved overdoses and fatalities. “My chief focus is to work with the array of resource providers in Manchester to create and implement a strategic plan to prevent drug-involved overdoses,” Warner said in the release. “It’s important to compile, monitor and use the real-time data in the city to help positively impact existing services and funding, improve planning and resource allocation, and ultimately track progress on key metrics.

St. Mary’s retirement

Ronald H. Covey Jr. will retire after 14 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Mary’s Bank, the nation’s first credit union, according to a press release. Covey served as the eighth CEO in the credit union’s 114-year history. During his tenure, he expanded St. Mary’s Bank’s presence with the construction of its Perimeter Road operations center, West Side headquarters, and new branches including Northwest Boulevard Nashua, Milford and Portsmouth. Under Covey’s leadership, membership increased from 60,000 to 98,000 and grew from $652 million in assets to approaching $1.5 billion in assets. His accolades include induction into the national Credit Union House Hall of Leaders earlier this year; Manchester Chamber Citizen of the Year for 2021; and being named one of the state’s 200 most influential leaders by New Hampshire Business Review in 2019 and 2021.

The City of Concord has approved the construction of a new five-story commercial building on Main Street, the Concord Monitor reported. The building will include a Friendly Toast restaurant — the third in the state — on the first floor; 15,000 square feet of office spaces on the second, third and fourth floors; and an event space operated by the Grappone Conference Center on the top floor. Construction is slated to begin in the coming months, according to the article.

New Hampshire Humanities presents a program, “Tangled Lives: Native People and English Settlers in Colonial New England,” at the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St.) on Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 6:30 p.m. According to a press release, storyteller and historian Jo Radner will discuss Native American oral traditions and share stories told by her own New England ancestors, exploring the complex relationships between English settlers and Native peoples during the 17th and 18th centuries. The program is free and open to the public. Visit nhhumanities.org.

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains will host an informational session, “Explore Girl Scouts,” on Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.). Girls in grades K through 3 and their caregivers are invited to learn about Girl Scouts and participate in sample activities, according to a press release. Walk-ins are welcome. Sign-ups for Girl Scouts are available year-round at girlscoutsgwm.org.

An interesting 2023?

There’s an old saying about living in interesting times and it seems fitting for this era. It seems more fun to read about them in history books than to live them. My guess is that in 2023 times will continue to be interesting. If any of my 2023 predictions come true, please do not call or email me. With that, here are my 2023 predictions.

• Gov. Chris Sununu has been increasing his national profile. For a growing number of Republicans he could look like the future of a party without former president Donald Trump. So what’s next in the national exposure tour? The Masked Singer. Yes, the guv sings the 1980s hit “Welcome to the Jungle.” You know you love it, Xer.

• Republican candidate for New Hampshire’s First Congressional District Karoline Leavitt decides politics just isn’t for her after losing to Democrat and incumbent Chris Pappas this past fall. So what’s next for one of the youngest candidates to run this past cycle? Poker, of course! Karoline signs up for the World Poker Tournament and does surprisingly well. So well that she’s invited to create her own reality TV show with the tagline “A better hand doesn’t always mean you win.”

• The Rochester February revote for Ward 3 that ended in a tie in November ends in a tie again; the legislature votes to seat both candidates on a rotating basis, so each gets 26 weeks a year and shares the $50-a-year salary.

• For a reason no one is able to explain, America’s Stonehenge in Salem starts to attract both domestic and wild cats from all over the region. So many cats come that town officials start calling it cat caves.

• House Majority Leader Jason Osborne opens a new business in downtown Manchester right across from City Hall called Orborne’s Free Hats. It’s a haberdashery specializing in brimmed hats.

• Shockingly, the Democratic National Committee, headed by South Carolina native and President Joe Biden supporter Jamie Harrison, strips New Hampshire of its first-in-the-nation primary in favor of South Carolina. Oh, wait, already that happened. Just to recap: Joe Biden won South Carolina and saved his presidential bid and lost New Hampshire in, like, fifth place. What did you think was going to happen, New Hampshire?

• Former WMUR sportscaster Charlie Sherman returns to public life in the Granite State by opening the nation’s largest sock store in Nashua, called Tubes for Everyone. Welcome back, Charlie! I’ll be by to get some socks.

• Tired of Maine attracting more visitors, New Hampshire’s tourism department announces a new advertising campaign for the state with the tagline, “Come for the cheap booze and smokes, stay for the ocean, lakes, mountains and sports betting.” Hey, whatever it takes.

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