Vegan coffee and breakfast cart launches in Manchester
When Madeline Rossi and her wife Olivia Lenox bought a small mobile food trailer over the summer, their original plan was to bartend at weddings. That all changed when the Manchester couple learned about a new food truck park and residency being planned for The Factory on Willow, a newly unveiled apartment complex from an old Queen City shoe factory.
Breakfast “buzzito,” featuring house made plant-based maple “sausage,” tofu scramble and house made cashew cheddar. Photo courtesy of New Roots Coffee Cart.
New Roots Coffee Cart, now open Monday through Friday, became the first vendor to sign up for the pilot program. Rossi and Lenox partner with several local businesses to create a menu that’s 100-percent vegan, featuring coffees and teas, pastries, and breakfast and lunch options made from scratch. It’s also an extension of their plant-based meal prep business, New Roots Meals, which offers weekly deliveries of items from a rotating menu.
Rossi and Lenox are no strangers to food trucks — though both are New England natives, the pair met while working at a food truck pod in Portland, Oregon, where Lenox at the time had co-owned Flourish Plant-Based Kitchen with a friend. They launched New Roots Meals in late 2020 after returning east to be closer to family members.
All of their meals are cooked on Sundays at Jerome’s Deli in Manchester, which Rossi and Lenox continue to rent out as a commissary space. Orders placed by Friday at 8 p.m. through their meal prep business are delivered on Mondays within a 30-mile radius of Manchester and on Tuesdays on the Seacoast, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day. The menu changes bi-weekly.
“We do coffee strictly at the truck, and then have two constant breakfast items. Those are prepped every week at Jerome’s and brought to the truck, and they are also on our breakfast menu for meal prep,” Rossi said. “Our lunch specials are also prepped at Jerome’s but then those are only at the food truck. So basically there’s a bit of crossover in both areas.”
Orange cinnamon oat milk matcha latte, with vegan cranberry orange scone sourced from Seacoast baker Nommunism. Photo courtesy of New Roots Coffee Cart.
The truffle hash, one of the regular breakfast options available on the cart and among its top sellers, features tempeh “bacon” from BOStempeh of Somersworth, along with truffle russets, black beans, pickled red onions, chives and a cilantro-garlic aioli. You can also order a breakfast “buzzito” that’s available all the time, which has plant-based maple “sausage,” a tofu scramble and a house-made cashew-based cheddar wrapped up in a flour tortilla.
“The lunch specials always change … and it’s just whatever we decide we want to make for that week,” Lenox said. “It’s always a panini because we have a panini press.”
In preparation for the cart’s launch, Rossi and Lenox received training from A&E Coffee & Tea, whose drinks they now carry with oat, soy and coconut milks and several house-made syrups.
“[A&E] helped us pick a house blend, which was really cool,” Lenox said. “We also started wholesaling from The Local Moose. They just started to roast their own beans too.”
The cart’s menu also features bagels sourced from Bagel Alley of Nashua, and a variety of croissants, scones, doughnuts and more from Nommunism, a Seacoast-based pastry company.
Rossi said their next step is to expand New Roots in the form of a brick-and-mortar cafe by next spring. They envision offering espresso drinks and more vegan menu items at that space, and even possibly hosting open mic nights, vegan documentary screenings and other events.
“We’ve definitely fallen in love with coffee … and so I think we’re looking to do kind of like a cafe vibe, but more with a lot of food options,” Rossi said.
New Roots Coffee Cart
Where: The Factory on Willow, 252 Willow St., Manchester Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (online ordering for pickup also available) More info: Visit newrootsmeals.com/coffeecart or follow them on Facebook and Instagram @newrootscart
Featured photo: Peppermint mocha, with house blend A&E iced coffee, house made peppermint and mocha syrup, plant-based milk, coconut whipped cream and a cacao nib and candy cane topping. Photo courtesy of New Roots Coffee Cart.
Skydiving without a plane, surfing the indoor waves and other ways to get outside your comfort zone.
Looking for adventure? This week, our reporters go outside their comfort zone to get the thrill of new experiences.
Actually, some of these adventures started way before this week. Matt and Angie first started looking into their subjects way back in early 2020 and this story was slated to run in the issue of March 19, 2020 — an issue which ended up focused on a whole different type of new experience.
But now, nearly two years later, who couldn’t use a little adventure that is purely fun? So this week, Matt Ingersoll brings you skydiving and surfing — without leaving Nashua. Angie Sykeny takes a more daring (and physically challenging) approach to fitness. And Meghan Siegler gets to break stuff.
THE SKY’S THE LIMIT
Indoor skydiving and surfing at Nashua’s SkyVenture
By Matt Ingersoll
I’ve never jumped out of an airplane, nor hung ten on a surfboard — two basic facts about myself that made a trip to SkyVenture NH in Nashua seem fitting for this assignment.
SkyVenture opened in 2006, first offering indoor skydiving before adding indoor surfing in 2013 (under the name Surf’s Up NH). The top of the facility is visible from the bustle of Daniel Webster Highway, and while I had driven by thousands of times but had never set foot inside prior to writing this story, I have to admit that it had always intrigued me.
Owners and founders Laurie and Rob Greer told me their customers are usually one of two significant pools of people — experienced skydivers (or surfers) who are looking to improve their skills, or anyone who has ever been curious about what it’s like to try either one. I’m in the latter. I grew up always being around the water, and while I don’t exactly love heights, I’d be lying if I said I’ve never wondered what skydiving is like (not enough to actually do it, mind you, but hey, I’m game to try a safe, not-so-far-from-the-ground simulated version).
A wave of nervous excitement passed through me as I arrived in early March 2020 to try out skydiving and surfing. The staff highly recommends booking your sessions in advance, due to the time slots filling up fast, and also asks that you show up at least 30 to 45 minutes beforehand to complete a preliminary safety class.
When I reported to the front desk, I was directed to a series of touch-screen tablets mounted in the lobby, where all participants must sign a waiver (or, if you’re under 18, the parents of the child sign it). For safety reasons, there actually are a fair number of restrictions for both skydiving and surfing. For example, you must weigh under 250 pounds to skydive (275 pounds to surf), you must not be under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, and you must not be pregnant — none of which disqualified me. There is an additional attraction next to the wave machine called the “fish pipe,” or a large rotating barrel you climb into that simulates the feeling of a very fast and endless water slide. Because of the motion associated with it, the fish pipe is not an activity for people with high blood pressure, prior head injuries or epilepsy. This is all part of the waiver that customers need to read carefully before they can participate.
Sky high
After I signed the waiver, I headed upstairs for my skydiving session, which began with the safety class. It was here where I met Kevin Drivas, my instructor, who has more than a decade of skydiving experience (you know, the real, jump-out-of-an-airplane kind) to his credit.
Drivas explained to me that because he and I wouldn’t be able to hear each other over the sound of the wind in the tunnel, we would communicate with each other through a few hand signals. If I forgot the signals, a teleprompter was also there to provide instructions during my flight. Drivas then demonstrated the way I should position my body as I entered the tunnel — holding both arms out in front of me, with my hands flat and my legs straight. It was also important that I not jump into the wind tunnel, but rather slowly lean into it as I let the force of the wind carry me up.
Because I was the only one participating for this particular session, the class only took a few minutes before it was time to get into my “skydiving” gear. Drivas handed me a pair each of elbow and knee pads that I dutifully put on, followed by laced sneakers, a heavy purple and black jumpsuit that I comfortably wore over my clothes, a helmet, a pair of safety goggles that replaced my glasses, and a pair of earplugs. I was ready to learn how to fly.
I followed Drivas a few feet away to the enclosed wind tunnel, and that was when that wave of nerves rose in my stomach again. I think it was the fact that I wasn’t going to be attached to any harness or mechanism that made me the most nervous — just suspended literally in midair inside a 40-foot tunnel by recirculatory winds rushing at more than 100 miles per hour. According to the Greers, professional skydivers must train in an indoor facility such as this one to prepare for competitions, so I think it was that fact in and of itself that racked my nerves a bit.
Insert the cliched phrase “don’t look down,” as that definitely applied here. I found myself actively trying not to do just that as I leaned into the rushing air with my arms out in front of me.
A split second later, I felt my body rising until suddenly my feet were off the ground. I felt Drivas’s hands around my torso as he steered me to the center of the wind tunnel.
Now admittedly, it took a few tries before Drivas could let go of me completely. He would later tell me that this was due to my nerves kicking into overdrive the second I entered the tunnel. He gave me the hand signal to straighten my legs, but for some reason my brain thought this meant I had to also keep them together, causing my whole body to flip until I was on my back like a turtle on its shell. Another hand signal required me to relax my arms, but I was applying so much tension that they were almost stonelike when Drivas attempted to move them. Because of this, the first two times I entered the tunnel, I had to exit a few seconds later.
But you know what they say — third time’s a charm. Somehow, it just clicked for me after that. With my legs straight and my arms up over my head, Drivas was eventually able to get me into a neutral body position inside the tunnel before releasing me. I was flying on my own (albeit for just a few seconds)! It really did feel more like a sensation of floating, rather than free falling. I felt weightless as the wind furiously blew against my face and body, letting it just carry me.
During the last few seconds of my flight, Drivas held on to me again and the air tunnel controller revved up the speed, causing both of us to float even higher up to the top of the wind chamber. Remember that scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory when Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe start to float after trying the Fizzy Lifting Drinks? That’s what it reminded me of (except there was no exhaust fan at the top and we didn’t have to burp our way down, of course).
This was the longest duration of time I was in the wind tunnel, so when I was guided out for the last time, I immediately noticed how dry my mouth was and how out of breath I quickly became. Video of my ascent was captured on a nearby television monitor, and it wasn’t until I viewed it just then that I realized how high I had actually gone up — let’s just say a scary height.
As I began to take off my gear, Drivas reentered the wind tunnel for a little demo. Within a few seconds, he was doing front flips and backflips in midair like it was second nature to him. Watching him do tricks inside the wind tunnel was, quite honestly, almost as much fun as going in there myself.
Surf’s up
My skydiving session over, I went back down the stairs into the lobby and through a door on the opposite end to the SurfStream wave machine. After changing into my swimsuit and packing my belongings in a locker, I met with Danny Hyatt and Dave Cormier, two of the surfing instructors.
Hyatt asked me if I had ever surfed in the ocean before, and when I answered “no,” his response was “that’s good,” the reason being that, while the Surfstream is designed to make numerous types of waves, it’s not exactly the same as surfing a natural ocean wave. In the words of Hyatt, whose uncle taught him to surf out on the waters of Hampton Beach when he was a child, “in the ocean you ride the wave, but here, the wave rides you.” I understood what he meant once I climbed on my board for the first time. Unlike the ocean, where you’re waiting for a wave to form, the SurfStream requires you surf on a wave of already flowing water, making your stance and weight distribution on the surfboard that much more critical. Hyatt also demonstrated the way I should position myself when I fall off the board, by crossing my arms over my chest in an “X,” and with my fingertips touching my shoulders once I knew I would be going down.
Matt Ingersoll gets a little support from instructor Danny Hyatt. Photo courtesy of SkyVenture NH.
Just like for my skydiving experience, I put on a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads. While I was getting prepared, Hyatt and Cormier queued up the SurfStream, and that filled up with rushing water within seconds. According to the Greers, it’s the first machine of its kind to be available in North America and the largest in the world, moving 240,000 gallons of water in a minute. It also has several different settings, accommodating everything from boogie boarding to wakesurfing.
When I was ready to hit the water, I followed Hyatt and Cormier to one side of the Surfstream. Cormier placed my surfboard flat onto the water while Hyatt took his own board out on the waves next to it. My task would be to place my feet onto the board, take Hyatt by the arms and pull myself up to a standing position. He would then guide me out to the middle of the Surfstream and let go of each arm one at a time while I attempted to balance on the waves.
Maybe I just don’t have the greatest sense of balance, but this turned out to be quite a difficult undertaking. The first time I got on the board, I was able to stay on it for about 30 seconds before wiping out (almost taking Hyatt down with me in the process). I immediately realized just how important the placement of each foot on the board really was.
Despite the shallow water levels, falling off the board really didn’t hurt much at all as long as you followed the instructions. I will say, though, that every time I did fall, I increasingly became more and more determined to get out there on my own hands-free (only to fall again). Let’s just say the instructors made it look so much easier than it really was.
My session was 15 minutes total, with the ability to divide that time up in order to try out different settings on the Surfstream. That doesn’t sound like a ton of time, but it actually does afford you quite a bit of opportunities to master balancing yourself on the board.
I decided to try boogie boarding and, as it turned out, even that required a little bit of skill and balance. Getting into the water was the most difficult part (it felt as though I was preparing to jump into a pool from a high diving board). Once I was in, Hyatt and Cormier taught me to firmly grip the boogie board and simply move from one side to the other by leaning into the water and putting more weight on that side. It proved to be an effective way to maneuver around, but trying to stay on the board was still a challenge.
I got to watch the pros in action once again after my session ended. The most important thing I learned from them? Remember to relax and breathe. Too often when I tried to balance on the surfboard, I did not focus on my breathing when I should have, causing my body to tense up.
I knew before my SkyVenture visit was over that I had to try the fish pipe (which, according to the website, is currently not running). I followed Cormier to the large rotating barrel in the back corner of the room, where he began to get it ready for me by checking the air and adding several gallons of water. As he did so, he explained that the barrel spins for 90 seconds, gradually getting faster before reaching a maximum speed of just under 20 miles per hour. You can choose to either stand or sit, but running on foot for the entire 90 seconds is much easier said than done.
When the fish pipe began spinning, I was able to stay standing for all of about three seconds before falling (it gets extremely slippery once the water has time to travel up and down the sides). By the time I attempted to get back up, the fish pipe had already started moving so fast that I could barely move on my own beyond a sitting position. Picture going down one of those extremely steep water slides you might have encountered if you visited a water park last summer — that’s what this was like, but with the added effect of constant rotation, making me feel dizzy but also extremely exhilarated once it stopped.
Adventure recap
My visit winding down, I reentered the lobby after changing back into my regular clothes. Everyone’s skydiving and surfing experiences are captured in the form of photos and videos that are available for purchase once you finish. Using the same tablets I signed my waivers on, I was able to get everything sent to my email with the help of the front desk staff.
Would I try any one of these activities again? Absolutely. Would I recommend indoor skydiving, surfing or fish pipe sliding to my friends or anyone looking to “jump” outside their comfort zone? You bet. Both were much more difficult than I was anticipating, but I never felt like I wanted to give up trying to balance on the surfboard, nor did I ever feel too terrified of heights to get back into the wind tunnel. As Drivas told me: “If you’re thinking about doing it, then do it.”
SkyVenture New Hampshire
Where: 100 Adventure Way, Nashua (formerly 3 Poisson Ave.) Hours: Current hours are Wednesday through Friday, 2 to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., for both skydiving and surfing (the fish pipe is currently not running). Reservations for all activities are highly recommended; call or book online Cost: Rates vary depending on which activity you want to do and for how long, but generally will start at $55 per two-minute skydiving session and $45 per 15-minute surfing session. More info: Visit skyventurenh.com, follow them on Facebook and Instagram @skyventure and @surfsupnh, or call 897-0002
ALL THE RAGE
Emotions and breakables fly at Rage Cage NH
By Meghan Siegler
Going to Rage Cage NH in Nashua for this story was not my idea. Two coworkers, separately, emailed me links for the place and somewhat emphatically suggested that I go. I’m not sure what that says about me, but I was game.
I was nervous but not especially angry when I walked into the Rage Cage, and I wondered how my rage session would go sans rage. As it turns out, smashing stuff is fun even if you’re not particularly upset.
But for people like me, who come in without a specific thing to rage about, owner Tedd Cherry said he’s found that it’s not all that hard to coax out some emotions.
“I kind of try to break people down psychologically when they come in,” he said. “We really want people to stop masking [their emotions].”
Perhaps because I was writing a story about my experience, Tedd didn’t mess with my head (next time, Tedd, next time). He said he likes to get a feel for where people are at as he’s explaining what they’ll be doing, and he has no problem swearing to see if anyone is offended. I brought my son Ben with me; he’s 16 (the minimum age allowed to rage), and the first time Tedd swore he checked in to make sure we were OK with it. (We were.)
Tedd clearly loves his job and is excited about the psychological benefits it offers. It’s a healthy way to deal with negative emotions, he said, a better alternative to alcohol or drugs or physical violence. He’s had people come in after break-ups and bad days at work, and people who just need to let out long pent-up emotions.
His enthusiasm was contagious. I will admit that I was a little sketched out when we first got to the Rage Cage; the space is located in a building on West Hollis Street, and when you open the door you walk into a large room that’s pretty dark and filled with, well, trash that’s waiting to be destroyed. But Tedd apologized and said it was a bit messier than usual, with inventory waiting to be put away.
Meghan Siegler at Rage Cage NH. Courtesy photo.
“We’ve grown so fast that I’m having trouble keeping up with it,” Tedd said — he just opened in February and the response has been good. “I think the pandemic helped us quite a bit.”
To get us started, Tedd had us sign waivers, because of course there are waivers — you’re using bats and sledgehammers to destroy breakables and furniture in a small enclosed room. He then gave us a list with the number of items we could pick from various size categories; the number and sizes depend on the package you choose. There’s a whole wall of shelves, many of which are filled with glass: bottles, vases, drinking glasses. He said that three weeks ago he bought 17,000 pounds of glass, and at that point there was only about 2,000 pounds left. There were also small appliances, dishes, furniture and computer monitors, much of which he gets from thrift stores and nonprofits. For Ben and me, Tedd picked a variety of items for us, but typically he has people choose their own stuff so they can have some kind of emotional connection to it — say, a person who is frustrated with their desk job might find it freeing to smash a monitor with a baseball bat.
While Tedd filled a shopping cart with junk, Ben and I put on our safety suits, gloves and helmets, then headed into the “cage,” a small room with concrete walls and floors and just enough room for the two of us to take turns raging without worrying too much about getting hit with flying debris. We let Tedd choose the music — he likes to give customers options, from death metal to mildly scream-y. Ben and I couldn’t think of any good mad music, but Tedd is a pro and picked the perfect mix of loud, angry, but not obnoxious music.
Here’s my takeaway: Throwing glass at walls is fun. Beating a chair to smithereens with a baseball bat is extremely satisfying. Smashing computer screens is something most of us have wanted to do from time to time, and it feels good. Wielding a sledgehammer feels powerful. And watching my incredibly chill son show some aggression was pretty amusing.
I would love to go back when I truly need to let off some steam. I very much enjoyed all the smashing, but I was more worried about writing the story and taking pictures (which I did a terrible job of) than fully giving myself up to the experience the way I would if I went there specifically to release some frustration. I feel like it could save me from some serious yelling when my 13-year-old daughter is determined to break me down with her eye rolls and attitude.
Rage Cage NH
Where: 10 West Hollis St., Nashua Hours: noon to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays Cost: Prices vary depending on the number of people, amount of time in the smash room and the number and size of items you want to smash. For example, “The Quickie” 20-minute smash session is $20 while the “Ultimate Showdown” for four people for an hour is $130, with several options in between. Glow smash is also available.
Paint a mess!
Rage Cage NH also features a soon-to-be-expanded paint splatter room that’s open to all ages — and every Thursday is kids’ day where the vibe changes from heavy metal to a little more mellow. Have a glow paint party with ultraviolet black lights, bubble and fog machines and whatever music you want for $25 per person for an hour, with up to eight people per party allowed in the current space. A regular paint splatter party without the glow is $15 per person. Rage Cage NH will be open during school vacation week for paint splatter only, Dec. 21 through Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 through Dec. 30.
GO FOR A SPIN
Get fit, have fun with pole dancing classes
By Angie Sykeny
As an on-again off-again fitness enthusiast who gets bored easily, I have been-there done-that with a variety of group fitness classes and physical activities, from my humble beginnings following the same 2003 Tae Bo workout DVD in my living room to my experimental phase in college attempting ballet and Taekwondo, and finally to a series of trendier classes offered at my gym, like Zumba, BODYPUMP and Pilates.
In early 2020, I reached out to Juel Sheridan, owner and instructor at New Perspectives Pole and Aerial, which offers numerous pole fitness and pole dancing classes for all experience levels, as well as aerial, lyra (aerial hoop) and trapeze classes. At the time, the studio was located in a small space in Manchester’s Millyard and had six chrome poles.
In a recent conversation I had with Juel over the phone, she told me New Perspectives has moved to a larger studio in Hooksett to allow for social distancing. The new studio has two class spaces, with seven poles in each, including a few stainless steel poles to accommodate people with an allergy to chrome.
“It’s more spread out and open by design,” she said. “We can fit more people — we can run two classes at the same time — but even with more people, there’s more space, so people can feel safer when they come in.”
When I reached out back in 2020, I asked Juel if she had any open spots for the Intro to Pole class. She said the classes had been nearly booked up for about a month but she could squeeze me into a Monday morning session.
Everything needed for the class — mats, spray bottles, rags — is supplied at the studio. No special apparel is necessary; “anything you would wear to the gym” is fine, Juel said.
Angie Sykeny. Courtesy photo.
It had been a while since my activewear drawer had seen the light of day, but I managed to dig out a loose athletic top and some workout leggings that still fit and headed to the studio.
As soon as I walked in and introduced myself to Juel, she had me fill out a short form with some basic information about myself and an emergency contact.
Four other people showed up, all of whom appeared to have been there before and knew the ropes. I followed their lead and made my way from the reception area to the main floor, where the poles were. I had a small moment of panic after the back row of poles was quickly occupied. “You only live once,” I thought, reassuring myself as I timidly claimed the front-and-center pole.
At the start of the class, we each grabbed a mat and laid it down next to our pole. Juel led us in some simple stretches for around five minutes; then we rolled up the mats and took to the poles.
Over the course of the hour-long session, Juel demonstrated and had us mirror various movements based around the pole. The skills involved in performing those movements consisted mostly of footwork, hand positioning and a correct distribution of body weight. We learned different ways of gripping the pole with our hands, hooking our legs around the pole and engaging our core to generate enough momentum to complete a full spin — ideally, multiple spins — around the pole.
We would practice a series of three or four different movements, and then Juel would show us how to use transitions to string the movements together into one sequence. It took me many repetitions before I was able to carry out a sequence that was even remotely graceful. I shudder to think of how I looked: a befuddled expression on my face, clumsily grappling with the pole and the only person in the class sweating buckets and fighting to catch my breath. I found solace when I scanned the room and realized that everyone was entirely focused on themselves.
After what felt like much longer than an hour, we returned to some stretches to close out the class.
As I reflect on the experience, I’ve come to several conclusions. The first is that, based on the word “intro,” I significantly underestimated how physically demanding the class would be. My muscles were sore for the next three days after the class, which leads me to my second conclusion:
Pole is a comprehensive workout. It works every part of your body, and if you aren’t feeling it during the class, you will undoubtedly feel it the next morning. Lastly, I ask myself if I would take a pole class again, and my answer is, absolutely. Not only is it an effective way to build strength, flexibility and muscle tone, but it’s also fun, and a great option if you’re looking for a fitness class that breaks the mold. With more than a dozen different advanced pole classes offered above the intro class, there is a ton of opportunity for growth, and I believe that for someone with dedication this exercise medium could blossom into a hobby.
Pole and aerial fitness classes
• Aerial Moon Yoga Studio (85 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 321-2275, aerialmoon.com) Aerial yoga. • Center Stage Fitness & Aerial Arts (2 Paul’s Way, Unit 2, Amherst, 801-3032, centerstagedancefitness.com) Pole and aerial. • Kama Fitness (250 Commercial St., Suite 3007A, Waumbec Mill, Manchester, 339-8253, kamafitnessnh.com) Aerial and trapeze. • New Perspectives Pole and Aerial (35 Londonderry Turnpike, Suite GH, Hooksett, 775-3136, newperspectivesnh.com) Aerial, pole and trapeze.
Featured Photo: Hippo reporter Matt Ingersoll gets a feel for skydiving, with a little help from instructor Kevin Drivas. Photo courtesy of SkyVenture NH.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
Covid-19 news
During a Dec. 8 press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the state will be deploying 70 members of the National Guard in the coming weeks to assist hospitals in managing their current Covid surge, helping out with everything from food service to clerical tasks. Hospitals in New Hampshire are continuing to see record numbers of Covid patients since the start of the pandemic — a total of 479 were reported on Dec. 9, an all-time high.
About 12,000 Granite Staters received their booster doses on Dec. 11 as part of the state’s “Booster Blitz” initiative, according to a report from WMUR. Shots were administered at 15 locations statewide, the largest of which was in Stratham. According to the report, officials are planning to host a similar event in January, on a date to be determined.
On Dec. 13, state health officials identified the first known detection of the omicron variant in a New Hampshire resident. According to a press release, the infection is in an adult from Cheshire County who traveled out of state and was exposed to another person with the variant. The resident, who was considered fully vaccinated but was not yet boosted, had a mild illness and has since recovered during home isolation. No public or occupational exposures to the variant have been identified. Since it was first reported in South Africa on Nov. 24, the omicron variant has spread to several dozen U.S. states and more than 70 countries worldwide. Ninety-nine percent of Covid infections in the state are currently due to the delta variant, but according to the release, the omicron variant is likely more infectious and may become the dominant strain.
Affordable housing
The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen has approved $2.3 million to develop affordable housing units in the Queen City using funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME program. According to a press release, three organizations will use the funds to build or upgrade 152 affordable housing units. Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority will construct 48 one-, two- and three-bedroom units in two 24-unit buildings on the Kelley Falls apartment campus. Neighborworks Southern New Hampshire will rehabilitate and upgrade 101 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units of existing affordable housing units in the Elm Street brownstones and the Straw Mansion apartments. And Waypoint was approved to renovate the former Employment Security building to create three studio apartments for at-risk adults ages 18 to 25. “With these projects, we’re focusing on addressing homelessness and making sure families, seniors on a fixed income, and those with disabilities have access to safe, affordable housing,” Mayor Joyce Craig said in the release.
Cancer in Merrimack
An analysis of data from the New Hampshire State Cancer Registry has found “a higher than expected number of people with kidney and renal cancers in Merrimack between 2009 and 2018 than would typically be observed in a town of similar size in New Hampshire,” according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. The analysis is an update to the 2018 DHHS Report on Cancer in Merrimack that was conducted in response to concerns following detection of PFOA in the Merrimack Village District Public Water System. According to the release, the new data does not provide sufficient information at this time to “draw any conclusions about the individuals who have kidney and renal cancer in Merrimack and any specific exposure.” The analysis is part of a multi-step process with the residents of Merrimack and the state Department of Environmental Services to better understand cancers in their community. An upcoming meeting (details TBA) will allow community members to share further information. “While this preliminary data does not necessarily indicate the presence of a cancer cluster, any data that points to the possibility of increased illness in our communities warrants closer examination,” Division of Public Health Director Patricia Tilley said in the release. “We will be seeking input from individuals affected by these cancers, community leaders and members of the Commission on the Environmental and Public Health Impacts of Perfluorinated Chemicals as we continue with our investigation.”
House meeting
The New Hampshire House of Representatives will meet off-site for their constitutionally required meeting in early January, according to a press release. The meeting, which starts Jan. 5 and is expected to last three days, will be in the exposition center in the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown. The 30,000-square-foot space will allow legislators to be seated in a socially distanced floor plan, with sections for those who want to wear masks and sections where masks are optional. The space is bigger than the UNH location where the legislators met in 2020; the NH Sportsplex in Bedford, which served as the legislature’s temporary session location in 2021, is not available for the January meeting.“With hospitalizations at record levels and community transmission still high, the responsible thing to do is to maintain health and safety protocols for our legislators and hold off on returning to the House chamber, at least for now,” Speaker of the House Sherman Packard said in the release.
Build Back Better
Manchester has been named as a finalist for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration Build Back Better Regional Challenge, which was created to help communities throughout the country “build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks,” according to a press release. Manchester’s application takes advantage of the region’s investments in the life sciences and aerospace industries by securing two job tracks, Tissue Engineering and Advanced Aerial Mobility, which have the potential to create 7,500 to 15,000 jobs and increase the rate of GDP growth by more than 30 percent, the release said. The city would be working in partnership with the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, Southern New Hampshire University, the University of New Hampshire Manchester, the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport and the Manchester Transit Authority. It is one of 60 projects that made it into the final round out of 529 projects that were submitted, the release said. Each finalist will get approximately $500,000 to further develop their projects and will then compete in Phase 2, which will award 20 to 30 regional coalitions up to $100 million each to implement anywhere from three to eight projects that support a specific industry.
The Manchester Health Department is now holding free walk-in Covid-19 vaccination and booster clinics. According to a press release, all three vaccines will be available during the clinics, which are Mondays from 9 to 11 a.m. and Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. No appointments are necessary. The department is also bringing mobile clinics to priority populations most days this month, and there is free drive-up or walk-up Covid testing at Hunt Pool (297 Maple St.), seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the release said.
A Tri-State Megabucks ticket sold at the Circle K on 185 First NH Turnpike in Northwood was a $1.825 million winner in the Dec. 8 drawing. According to a press release, the winner will get either a one-time cash payout of $1,320,068 or graduated annuity payments over 30 years, and Circle K will get $18,250 for selling the winning ticket.
A man from Michigan is dead after the turboprop plane he was piloting crashed along the Merrimack River in Bedford around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 10. According to a press release from the Bedford Police Department, the plane was transporting medical supplies from New Jersey and was headed to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, and the pilot, who was flying alone, reported engine trouble just before the crash.
Following closely the end of daylight saving time comes my recognition of just how much shorter are the passing days. Activities are now more narrowly confined to daylight hours and for some of us even the prospect of driving much after dark is less and less attractive. As soon as those realities set in for me, I begin to long for spring. Call it the foolishness of a native Californian now living for more than 50 years in New England, but truth to tell, I do feel a kinship with those peoples across time who found ways of bringing light into these darkened days.
I write this on the first Sunday of Advent, which at sunset is also the beginning of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Both Christians and Jews light candles — the Advent wreath and the menorah respectively — (and again respectively) to prepare for the birth of Jesus at Christmas and to commemorate the rededication of the Second Temple.
In these days, also dark owing to the persistent lingering of the pandemic, those ancient traditions and observances carry even more significance and appeal. They can bring some sense of order to a very disordered time. How often do we hear ourselves say we hope for a return to normalcy? We are impatient for things to be set right, to have a kind of springtime in which we can carry on as we were able to do before.
In some religious traditions, symbols have such power that they actually bring about what it is they symbolize. Such are called “sacraments.” The word comes from Roman antiquity and refers to the oath a new soldier took, while grasping the Roman standard, the swearing itself making him “sacer,” “given to the gods.” In our own times as well, gestures can bring about what they symbolize: the placing of a wedding ring, for example.
I wonder if the religious ceremonies of lighting Advent candles or Hanukkah candles can be for us our individual attempts to bring order, hope and peace into our lives and those of others. We know the visual impact of hundreds, if not thousands, of individual lights held aloft at a concert. Might our own lightings be illuminative of our way — individually and collectively — into a brighter time? It would be a beginning. As the poet John O’Donohue says so beautifully, “We are never alone in our beginning as it might seem at the time, A beginning is ultimately an invitation to open toward the gifts and growth that are stored up for us.”
Black Violin earned a Grammy nomination for its 2020 album, Take The Stairs — a fitting title, given the band’s challenging journey to success.
Led by Kev Marcus on violin and Wil Baptiste on viola, the group mashes up classical music and hip-hop. They invented their innovative genre years before YouTube, Twitter and TikTok virality existed, when making it in the world of music came from wearing out shoe leather, not web clicks.
Their first big break came as the new millennium was unfolding, and it’s illustrative. Hoping to perform at basketball star Allen Iverson’s birthday bash, they got a meeting with the promoter of Teasers nightclub in Miami.
“He laughed us out the door,” Marcus said in a recent phone interview. “He said, ‘What am I gonna do with violins?’”
Their irate manager responded by opening the back of his Ford Expedition, cranking up the sound system, and instructing the pair to play on the sidewalk in front of the club. A crowd quickly formed that soon included the shocked promoter. He got it, and agreed to hire them — as long as they promised to stay in flow.
“We needed to create a set for the DJ to mix in [so] our music didn’t stop everyone dancing,” Marcus said. “It’s the same kind of hip-hop music, except now you’re hearing violins, and you’re like, where is that? Then once they see us, they start crowding around. That was sort of the beginning.”
A couple of years later, they earned a spot on Showtime At The Apollo, a talent contest famous for unforgiving audiences.
“They boo you off the stage if they don’t like you,” Marcus said. “I mean, they are legendarily ruthless.”
The two waited in the green room as four acts went out ahead of them and were quickly dispensed by the crowd.
“A guy called the Sandman jumps from his box, hits the stage, and starts tap dancing you off,” Marcus said. “I remember being underneath … and just seeing the dust fall from the green room ceiling.”
Staring down at their violins, the two feared they’d been set up. But that feeling soon vanished.
“We walk on stage and we never lose,” Marcus said. “We won four straight competitions, we got standing ovations. It was the ‘we call home and quit our jobs’ moment. … If this crowd is gonna take us, then any crowd is gonna take us.”
The spark for their unique sound came when Marcus and Baptiste were in high school together — via a Sony Ericsson cell phone.
“Before ringtones, you could program notes,” Marcus said. “Busta Rhymes took the theme from Psycho and made a hip-hop beat, and it was the No. 1 song in the country…. I thought that was cool, so I created the notes for it and put it in my phone.”
When it rang in orchestra class, Marcus’s teacher predictably confiscated it, but not before his intrigued fellow musicians started replicating the digital sounds on their own instruments.
“The violinist next to me started playing the notes from my phone, and he went, ‘What if the violinist played?’ The next thing you know, the whole orchestra is playing,” he said.
Although Black Violin’s first Grammy nomination came for Best Instrumental Album, there’s an uplifting lyrical message throughout Take The Stairs, particularly on “Impossible Is Possible” and “One Step.” The latter song was made into a hard-hitting video, reminiscent of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”
C&I Studio CEO Joshua Miller wrote a short film that touched on racial profiling, the immigration crisis, and the scourge of gun violence in schools.
“We wanted it to be really controversial,” Miller said in a ‘making of’ video. “Our whole pitch was really telling the story of what’s happening in America right now.”
“One Step” had been written two years earlier, with a different message in mind, Marcus explained, but they also felt a need to update it for the present moment.
“Everything you see in the video … we’re dealing with directly,” he said. “We wanted to show our reality, and if we can’t do that within our own art then we’re in the wrong business.”
Black Violin
When: Sunday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St., Concord Tickets: $35 and up at ccanh.com
A girl growing up in a magical family with a magical house tries to find her place in the world in Encanto, a lovely new animated movie from Disney.
Mirabel (voice of Stephanie Beatriz) is a member of the “magical Madrigal” family, whose members all live together in a large house in an idyllic Colombian valley. All of the adult members have their own superpowers that they call their “gift.” Mirabel’s mom, Julieta (voice of Angie Cepeda), can heal people with her cooking. Her sister Luisa (voice of Jessica Darrow) has superhuman strength. Her “perfect” sister Isabela (voice of Diane Guerrero) can make gardens of beautiful flowers grow and bloom at will. Her aunt Pepa (voice of Carolina Gaitán) can control the weather. Pepa’s children, Mirabel’s cousins, Dolores (voice of Adassa) and Camilo (voice of Rhenzy Feliz), have superhearing and shape-shifting powers, respectively. Only Pepa’s and Julieta’s husbands (voiced by Mauro Castillo and Wilmer Valderrama) are non-magical, having just married into the family.
Abuela (voice by María Cecila Botero) is in charge of the house and the family and her power seems to be having the triplets — Julieta, Pepa and Bruno (voice of John Leguizamo), “we don’t talk about Bruno” is the family’s position about that brother — that kicked off the family’s magic and caring for the family and the town that grew up around the house.
The house, which has a magic of its own, responding to voice commands and occasionally being a little sassy, and the family get their magic from a long-burning candle that became charmed as a sort of miracle after the death of Abuela’s husband long ago. He died helping his wife and children — and the people who became the townsfolk — escape from the bad guys on horseback who had chased them out of their former hometown and into the jungle. His sacrifice leads to the miracle of the magic-giving candle and a forest that grows to create a hidden valley where the people can live safely.
Abuela is determined to keep the house, the family and the magic going so that they can all stay safe in this green, beautiful and, it’s implied, somewhat hidden valley. But as the years go by, Mirabel never develops her gift. When she starts to see some cracks in the house, Abuela secretly fears that the house, the magic and the family could be falling apart but is determined for the town to see only the strong, magical family they’ve always been.
Mirabel’s quest — because these movies always have a quest — is to figure out what is putting the magic in danger and to save the family’s miracle. To do this, she sets out to find clues about Uncle Bruno, whose power was seeing the future and who vanished years ago.
Encanto is a truly beautiful movie — beautiful all the way around, beautiful music, beautiful songs that play with South American musical elements, beautiful jewel-toned visuals, beautiful characters that display a wide diversity of the people you might find in one Latin American family. And it has some really beautiful messages about being yourself, figuring out your place in the world, loving and celebrating family not for the image we want to project but for what it and its members truly are. And it has a fair amount of humor. There isn’t a wisecracking dragon or snowman but the cousins bring plenty of their own quirky senses of humor to the situation.
I feel like there is a lot here that I appreciated initially and that I will only grow to enjoy more with subsequent viewings (and I’m sure there will be subsequent viewings, as this movie comes to Disney+ on Dec. 24).
But — and it kills me that there’s a “but” — there is also something off about Encanto, like a cake where one layer is way too thick and one layer is way too thin and the whole thing is leveled off with large frosting patches. The movie takes a long time to get to the central problem — and I’m still not entirely certain I understand what that problem was — and rushes through things such as Isabela’s discovery that she can make things other than soft, rose-like flowers and Luisa’s stress at having to carry so much weight all the time. Bruno is a really well-developed and intriguing character that the movie doesn’t always seem to know what to do with. I would have loved Mirabel as a child, with her curly hair and her glasses and her lack of a discernible Thing, and she’s a great character to build an adventure around but, as with so many other elements in this movie, her whole arc seems rushed. We see her worry A Lot about her place in the family if she is not gifted like everyone else but the resolution of this comes very fast and feels unfinished. Maybe there are so many good characters, so many ideas, that the movie spends too long setting up all its pieces and leaves not enough time to play out their stories? So many times it feels like a really interesting point or a fairly big character development is sort of sewed up with one very fast line of dialogue.
I feel like I need to watch Encanto again to really figure out how I feel about this movie. But I guess the best recommendation I can give for it is that I look forward to another viewing. I may not have always understood what Encanto is doing but it’s such a lovely world to spend time in. B
Rated PG for some thematic elements and mild peril, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and co-directed by Charise Castro Smith with a screenplay by Charise Castro Smith & Jared Bush, Encanto is an hour and 42 minutes long and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in theaters (and on Disney+ starting Dec. 24).
Red River Theatres 11 S. Main St., Concord 224-4600, redrivertheatres.org
Regal Fox Run Stadium 15 45 Gosling Road, Newington regmovies.com
Rex Theatre 23 Amherst St., Manchester 668-5588, palacetheatre.org
The Strand 20 Third St., Dover 343-1899, thestranddover.com
Wilton Town Hall Theatre 40 Main St., Wilton wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456
Shows
• House of Gucci (R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 3:30 & 7 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 16, at 6 p.m. (vaccinated guests); Friday, Dec. 10, through Sunday, Dec. 12, at noon, 3:30 & 7 p.m.
• Elf (PG, 2003) 21+ screening at all three Chunky’s locations on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
• Straight Is the Way (1921) This silent crime drama set in New Hampshire will screen Thursday, Dec. 9, at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. (for vaccinated guests) at Red River Theatres with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis.
• The Polar Express (G, 2004) will screen multiple times at all three Chunky’s locations Friday, Dec. 10, through Thursday, Dec. 16. Tickets cost $5.99.
• Belfast (PG-13, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres on Friday, Dec. 10, at 1 & 4 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 12, at 4 p.m.
• The French Dispatch(R, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres on Friday, Dec. 10, through Sunday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
• Winter Starts Soon (NR, 2021) screening at Red River Theatres in Concord on Saturday, Dec. 11, and Sunday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m.
