Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
Covid-19 news
On April 25, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the Covid-19 treatment Veklury (remdesivir) for younger children, according to a press release. Before now, Veklury had only been approved to treat Covid-positive patients ages 12 and older. Pediatric patients 28 days and older and weighing at least 7 pounds can now receive the treatment after being hospitalized with Covid, the release said. The only approved dosage form for Veklury is via injection — the antiviral medicine can also be administered to non-hospitalized pediatric patients who “have mild-to-moderate Covid-19 and are at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19, including hospitalization or death,” according to the release.
In New Hampshire, health officials reported 173 new Covid cases on April 25. The state averaged 323 new cases per day over the most recent seven-day period, a 20 percent increase compared to the week before. As of April 25 there were 2,444 active cases statewide and 22 hospitalizations.
DOC jobs
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections has created a new website to help fill its many vacancies in Concord and Berlin. According to a press release, interested candidates can go to jobs.nhdoc.nh.gov to see open positions, which include corrections officers, chefs/cooks, nurses, counselors, teachers, logistics and administrative staff. The website includes salary and benefits information, and candidates can begin the application process as well by filling out an initial interest form. “It’s a great time to start your career at the Department of Corrections,” Commissioner Helen Hanks said in the release. “We offer a variety of positions that will propel your professional career while suiting your needs. We offer a competitive compensation package with outstanding benefits. Working at the Department of Corrections is a rewarding career, one which you will be proud of, and we look forward to speaking with you about our opportunities.”
STANDUP
Last week U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan hosted a roundtable at the Manchester School of Technology, leading a discussion on youth suicide prevention. According to a press release, Hassan talked to Granite State students, educators and mental health and suicide prevention advocates about the STANDUP Act, a new law that requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to give priority for grants that implement evidence-based suicide awareness and prevention training policies in states, tribal governments and local educational agencies. Roundtable participants then talked about the continuing efforts to prevent and respond to youth suicide and mental illness in the state, including students providing peer-based support to Manchester-based Makin’ It Happen, a nonprofit organization seeking to create a coordinated community response around improving youth mental health. “The feedback I got today was so important. What it tells me is that we have young people in this state who are very aware that mental illness is a real problem and they’re very concerned about their friends. They are also very aware that there are tools out there that can keep each other safe,” Hassan said in the release.
Restaurant support
The Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery has launched the Local Restaurant Infrastructure Investment Program, a new Covid-19 relief program that aims to help address workforce issues and overall restaurant safety challenges that small, local restaurants across the state have experienced. According to a press release, the program is funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds and will provide awards of up to $15,000 to local restaurants seeking reimbursement for eligible equipment, infrastructure and technology purchases. The deadline to apply for the program is July 13, though review of applications will begin prior to the deadline.
School heroes
United Way of Greater Nashua’s “Ribbons for School Heroes” project, created to show appreciation for local school staff, is underway, and Greater Nashua residents are invited to tie a ribbon in their town’s high school colors on their mailbox or tree. According to a press release, ribbons are currently available at local libraries in the colors of the area’s high school (Hollis residents may pick up their free ribbons at the Lull Farm instead of the library), or at the United Way of Greater Nashua office located at 20 Broad St. in Nashua. This new campaign stems from the “United With School Heroes” school staff appreciation project that took place earlier this year, which thanked all faculty and staff in local schools for their hard work over the past three years. The ribbons are an additional way to express gratitude, the release said. Anyone interested in participating can pick up a complimentary ribbon at the library in Amherst, Brookline, Hudson, Litchfield, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua or Wilton or Lull Farm in Hollis in addition to the United Way office, which is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.
Energy assistance
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Annie Kuster and Chris Pappas recently announced that New Hampshire has been awarded $2,881,938 to help families cover the costs of home energy expenses through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. According to a press release, the total amount of LIHEAP funding allocated to New Hampshire over the past year is now $64,347,626. “As working families struggle with surging energy costs, I’m pleased to welcome $2.8 million to the Granite State to help households afford their energy bills. LIHEAP is an important program that helps lower heating and cooling costs so families aren’t forced to face an impossible decision between paying for these expenses or paying for food or medicine,” Shaheen said in the release.
Bee data
The NH Beekeepers Association is asking all beekeepers in the state to help it collect data on 2021-2022 winter beehive survival. According to a press release, this data, along with data collected in five previous surveys, is being used to understand why New Hampshire’s winter hive loss has been higher than the national average, and what management practices have been helping improve survival. The survey takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete and is available online until April 30 at surveymonkey.com/r/NH2022HiveSurvey. It is open to all beekeepers in the state, not just Association members. The survey analysis and results will be available in mid-June, the release said.
On April 22, 17 dogs and handlers from across the country came to the New Hampshire Fire Academy in Concord for a demonstration of the training that arson dogs and their respective handlers get to find evidence at fire scenes, including accelerants such as gas, oil or fuel used to start fires. According to a press release, the media event was hosted by The New Hampshire Department of Safety, Maine Specialty Dogs and State Farm Insurance, which funds the national Arson Dog Program.
The bi-annual National Take Back Day will be held on Saturday, April 30, and Manchester residents can drop off their unused or expired prescription medications between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Manchester Police Department at 405 Valley St., at Elliot at River’s Edge at 175 Queen City Ave. or at the NH National Guard Armory at 1059 Canal St. According to a press release, pills, patches, vaping devices and cartridges will be accepted, but liquids, needles and sharps will not.
Temple Beth Abraham and Rivier University in Nashua will host a presentation for Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Dion Center at Rivier. According to a press release, Tom White, coordinator of Educational Outreach for the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, will present “Remembrance, Education and Resiliency” and discuss the relevance of Holocaust and genocide education.
I worked for over seven years to increase awareness of an important health condition that warrants everyone’s attention as 1 in 10 of us have it, and 1 in 3 of us are at high risk of developing the mostly preventable version — diabetes.
Every year as November approached, we would see and begin the preparations for Diabetes Awareness Month, and yet I would think to myself: “Every day is diabetes awareness day!” Thus my mixed feelings toward awareness days even as I knew that 1 in 5 people with diabetes don’t know they have it, and more than 8 in 10 individuals with prediabetes are unaware. This for a health condition that has the potential for significant improvement or control, and potential prevention — if we have the understanding of how to care for ourselves and manage our diabetes or prediabetes.
There are other kinds of awareness events, such as National Wear Red Day (on Feb. 4, this year), which raises attention to heart disease being the No. 1 killer of women, and all of February being American Heart Month; June being Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and Sept. 5 to Sept. 11 being National Suicide Prevention Week. The calendar is now full with these kinds of awareness events and it’s difficult to register their existence, let alone keep track of them. Which has helped me now realize there actually can be a benefit to focusing much-needed attention, and has me wondering: As all of us are touched by one or more of these health issues, how do we support and amplify each other’s concerns so that we can all, together, contribute to building a healthier future?
Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. And we have long considered the United States to be the land of opportunity. Yet our current standing among developed countries as having the worst maternal mortality — where most maternal deaths are preventable — reminds us that we face a significant threat to the opportunity for all to thrive and contribute to this country’s future prosperity. There are many contributing factors for our current situation — some relate to individuals, many relate to our living conditions, and even more relate to systemic factors such as the availability of health insurance coverage, access to health care, bias that may be built into how things are done and more. Thankfully, more attention is being focused on helpful policy solutions that impact how care is provided in the clinical setting as well as the supports that can help all birthing people have healthy and positive perinatal experiences and contribute to community well-being.
This year April 11 through April 17 marked Black Maternal Health Week — I hope we will all be curious to learn why we should all care enough to be aware.
‘American Pie’ marks 50 years with Don McLean show
As Don McLean began a phone interview in advance of a performance marking 50 years since “American Pie” debuted, Dolly Parton had just asked the Rock and Hall of Fame to withdraw her nomination. The songwriter who’d cataloged the saints of rock in his iconic song was pressed for his thoughts.
“I will take any award that is given to me; I don’t have the kind of character it would take to turn [them] down,” McLean answered with a wry chuckle, adding that early on, “a certain religious quality, fostered by Rolling Stone, made for a very good Hall of Fame … but now they’ve run out of people. How many times can Paul McCartney get in?”
When “American Pie” hit the airwaves in 1971, it caused a sensation unlike any song that came before. Scholars analyzed it and fans obsessively pored over each line for hidden meaning. McLean gave listeners plenty to sift through, but said his epic tune began like any other, with him alone in a writing room.
Near the same time, The Beatles were working their way through “Let It Be,” but he didn’t have the luxury of tossing around ideas with bandmates.
“In my situation it’s all me,” he said. “My brain, my heart, my memory and my thoughts … I know exactly what I want to do. It’s very hard for me to work with people.”
In the studio, that became a problem.
“It was rehearsed for weeks,” he said. “The boys that did the record now brag about it, but they couldn’t play it to save their ass.”
Only Paul Griffin’s rousing gospel piano was able to transform it into the song he’d heard in his head while toiling at home.
The first line he came up with was “a long, long time ago” — to describe an event barely 10 years on. The rest followed quickly.
“I had a melodic concept, then I got a rock ’n’ roll chorus, then I figured out all I had to do was speed up the slow part and write the rest of the song,” he said.
He had fun burying multiple meanings in the lyrics. It’s one of the reasons he laughs at anyone trying to divine his intent.
“The problem people encounter with this song is that it goes along seeming like it’s rational, then it will reach a metaphor or a symbol of some sort that’s two or three things at the same time,” McLean said. He may be talking about John Lennon, or Vladimir Lenin. As to the identity of the jester, king and queen, “I could have said Elvis instead of James Dean. I say he lost his thorny crown, but only Christ had a thorny crown.”
McLean’s musical achievements extend beyond creating one of the 20th century’s most lauded songs. “Vincent” is a classic, a deep cut that leapt into the charts on the strength of “American Pie.” A cover of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” as the ’80s dawned was also a hit.
Finally, McLean may be the only musician whose strength as a song craftsman inspired someone else to pen a hit about him. Lori Lieberman began writing “Killing Me Softly with His Song” after seeing McLean in concert.
He continues to make music, and his upcoming show will range across dozens of albums and hundreds of songs. McLean also has a new long-player coming called American Boys.
“I wrote some songs with my guitar player, and I wrote a bunch of songs by myself,” he said. “So that’s a brand-new album.”
The upcoming disc follows up 2018’s Botanical Gardens; he’ll also draw from 2009’s Addicted to Black in Laconia.
He’s aware many fans will be impatient for him to play favorites but said, “I treat every song with respect; I don’t trot it out like, ‘Oh, here’s the famous one.’ There’s no difference in my attitude toward ‘American Pie’ or something from a lesser-known record.”
“I explain stuff to people and talk about whatever occurs as I’m going along,” he said. “I have this weird ability to be able to sing a song like ‘Vincent’ and be completely immersed in it. At the same time I’m thinking about what I’m going to say next after I’m through, and then what two or three songs I’m going to play [later] in my mind at the same time … I’m giving it my undivided attention. … I’ve been doing this my whole life.”
Don McLean When: Sunday, April 24, 7:30 p.m. Where: Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia Tickets: $40 to $99 at coloniallaconia.com
Featured photo: Don McLean. Photo Credit 2911 Media
A timed cooking challenge involving four “mystery” ingredients — think Food Network’s Chopped — the Fire & Fusion executive chef competition pits local chefs against one another to create their best dishes in under 30 minutes before a live audience. The event returns for its ninth year on Wednesday, May 4, at the Alpine Grove Banquet Facility in Hollis, and will also feature a People’s Choice appetizer challenge.
Fire & Fusion was last held in person in 2019, although a virtual iteration of the cooking challenge featuring pre-recorded video of the chefs in action did take place in the fall of 2020.
“We’re super excited to have it back in person,” said Judy Porter, director of marketing, communications and development for the Nashua Senior Activity Center, which hosts the event. “People just love to feel the energy in that room. They want to see what the chefs are doing and they want to smell the food … [and] if they’ve never gone before, they’ll just be blown away.”
Courtesy photo.
Each of the nine participating chefs currently works in senior, long-term care or assisted living facilities in the area, and that’s by design, Porter said. Six are taking on the timed challenge, while three additional chefs are competing in the People’s Choice round only.
“That was really the genesis of this event, was to show and let the public taste the food from the health care community,” Porter said. “I think back in everyone’s memory, we have this image in our minds of health care food not being very good or having a ton of flavor … and so we wanted to show people that things have changed. … Especially amongst assisted living, you want to have really top-notch food, because for a lot of people it’s a high point of their day.”
The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a wide selection of both hot and cold appetizers provided by each of the chefs, who are encouraged to bring cuisine as part of this year’s theme, “A Night in Monte Carlo.” Guests can meet the chefs, sample various items and vote on their favorite to win the People’s Choice Award. The unveiling of the mystery ingredients, courtesy of celebrity judge Nicole Barreira of Great New Hampshire Restaurants, will then take place at 7 p.m.
The ingredients themselves are kept a secret right up until the night of the event, Porter said, but will typically consist of one meat and some other uncommon items. The chefs have 30 minutes and must incorporate all four of them into their dish to serve to the judges.
“We’ll have it all being broadcast on two big screens, plus people can get up and walk around the outside of the table areas [to] see what the chefs are doing and ask them questions,” she said.
Courtesy photo
This year’s roster includes both new and returning contestants. Rejean Sheehy of The Courville at Nashua, a previous Fire & Fusion champion and three-time People’s Choice award winner, is back this year, and so is Guy Streitburger of The Arbors of Bedford, who was awarded “Top Chef” in the 2020 virtual competition. James LeBlanc of Bedford Falls, Bailey Bocci of Bridges by Epoch at Nashua, Celina Saccardo of Nashua Crossings, and Jim Younce of the Hunt Community will each also be showcasing their culinary creativity.
Longtime radio personality and author Mike Morin is returning as the event’s host. Judges, in addition to Barreira, will include WMUR anchor Sean McDonald, New Hampshire Magazine columnist Susan Laughlin and meteorologist and Realtor Josh Judge.
Raffle tickets will also be sold throughout the evening for the chance to win one of more than two dozen deluxe themed gift baskets. Prizes include everything from sports memorabilia to vacation getaway tickets, gift certificates, specialty food items and more.
9th annual Fire & Fusion executive chef competition When: Wednesday, May 4, 6 to 9 p.m. Where: Alpine Grove Banquet Facility, 19 S. Depot Road, Hollis Cost: $50 per person, or $450 for a reserved table of 10 (early admission VIP tickets are $60 per person and $550 per table of 10 and get you into the event at 5:15 p.m.) More info: Visit nashuaseniorcenter.org, or call the office at 816-2642 to purchase tickets
When Tracey Dahle Carrier of Bedford created her first illustrations for a kids’ booklet for Bedford Presbyterian Church, it never occurred to her that two decades later those illustrations would be back at the church for a whole different purpose — raising money for Families in Transition via an art auction.
The auction is being held online and in person now through April 30, featuring nearly 50 of Carrier’s original illustrations and artist proofs from her children’s books — she’s illustrated five, including Digby in Disguise.
But the project that started it all was the small booklet she created for the church at the request of her friend and co-author, Ruth Boling.
Copyright and courtesy of Tracey Dahle Carrier.
“The Bedford Presbyterian Church was merging their church service to include children [and the church wanted to create] a booklet to help kids understand the service and what to expect,” said Carrier, who at the time was working from home doing freelance work, illustrating for different companies. “I ended up donating the illustrations and the design.”
Carrier said she wanted to make the booklet attractive to kids, and relatable.
“Kids are squirmy and they’re wiggling around in their seats and making noises,” she said. “I wanted to take the child’s perspective into account.”
So she created characters that have similar qualities: mice.
“Mice are seldom welcome and are squirmy and hard to manage,” Carrier said. “They were the perfect spokespeople for this job.”
The booklet was picked up by Geneva Press, and after it was published, John Knox Press asked for more, similar children’s books from Carrier and Boling.
“It was quite a successful little venture,” Carrier said.
The pair decided that when the first JKP book was released, all proceeds would go to Families in Transition, an organization that the church as well as Carrier and her husband support.
Copyright and courtesy of Tracey Dahle Carrier.
Fast forward 20 years to when Covid hit. Carrier — who is the membership manager at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester — started working from home.
“We had to work extra hard to stay connected to the art-loving community,” she said.
During her lunch breaks, she and her husband would talk about how there were so many in the community who were devastated by Covid, some even unable to pay their rent.
“When I was thinking about what to do [to help], it was hard to know because I couldn’t really get out and about,” she said.
But then she thought back to the donations that she and Boling had made to Families in Transition so many years ago and figured it wouldn’t hurt to approach the church to see if there was a way to help FIT with support from Bedford Presbyterian.
“There are people who might still have some feelings for these mice,” Carrier thought.
The church agreed and suggested they include some of Carrier’s other pieces that she’s illustrated over the years. There’s a poster that she created for the NH Reading Program when its theme was “treasure reading,” so it features mice scrambling off a pirate ship to find books. There are also pieces from Digby in Disguise and Digby Finds a Friend; those books feature a little bear.
There are other animal illustrations too: “There’s a lot of fur in these drawings,” she laughed.
One is a drawing of a black lab, and as with all of her animals, Carrier said she tried to capture its personality and spirit.
“I had a Bernese mountain dog for 12 years, and I was asked by Silent Moon Press to illustrate a book about Bernese mountain dogs,” Carrier said. “I knew [my dog] wasn’t going to be around much longer, so it was a tribute to her.”
Carrier stopped illustrating in 2012, as she was juggling work at the Currier — part-time, at that point — and doing commissioned work for McGowan Fine Arts Gallery in Concord, and teaching at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. When the Currier offered her a full-time position, she took it, and she has been there ever since. She’s thinking about retiring soon, though, and might go back to doing some artwork.
For now, the best chance to see Carrier’s work is at the church or online. One hundred percent of the proceeds of the auction will go to Families in Transition.
“If anyone wants to take a look at the art and see if there’s anything that appeals to them … or if they don’t have a lot of wall space and just want to make a donation, that would be great,” Carrier said.
Art Auction Bidding for Tracey Dahle Carrier’s artwork runs through April 30. All items are on display and can be viewed in person at Bedford Presbyterian Church (4 Church Road in Bedford) during regular office hours Monday through Friday, or find the auction link online at bedfordpresbyterian.org. Call ahead at 472-5841 to arrange viewing times. There is a “Buy Now” option for all pieces to bypass the bidding process, and 100 percent of proceeds will benefit Families in Transition.
Featured photo: Copyright and courtesy of Tracey Dahle Carrier. Courtesy photo.
Traverse local cities on two wheels for fun, exercise and maybe even a speedier way to get around
Sharing the road
Plans and projects to improve city biking conditions
By Matt Ingersoll
mingersoll@hippopress.com
Whether it’s a newly paved rail trail or a busy downtown street, local city officials, transportation planners and nonprofits have all worked together to make New Hampshire’s roads increasingly more bicycle-friendly. Here’s a look at how biking is getting safer as a regular means of transportation.
Manchester
Last month Jason Soukup of Manchester led the launch of a “bike school bus” pilot program, which encourages city kids in grades K through 12 to ride their bikes to and from school. The route runs the entire length of Elm Street, about four miles each way — now through the end of the school year, kids decked out in high-visibility reflective vests are led by parents and other adult chaperones and volunteers along the street’s bike lanes to school. It’s one of the several initiatives of Manchester Moves, a local nonprofit of which Soukup is the board secretary.
In addition to the bike school bus, Manchester Moves has a lending library program for all kinds of outdoor gear and equipment, including bicycles, which can be borrowed for up to one week.
The “bike school bus” pilot program, which encourages kids to ride their bikes to school. Photo courtesy of Manchester Moves.
“It’s just really cool to imagine a world where kids can ride their bikes to school again, so we’ve been trying to remove the obstacles for that,” said Soukup, whose own kids participate in the program. “I just returned from a trip to Europe … and it’s just a night and day difference the way that bikes go across the cities there compared to here. So we have a big culture shift that needs to happen within New Hampshire and Manchester and we’ll do just about anything we can.”
Manchester Moves works closely with the city’s Department of Public Works, which developed a bicycle master plan about five years ago with input from the city biking community.
“There are bike routes … that the city has been working to label with painted bike lanes,” Soukup said. “They call them sharrows. You see them in the middle of the roads; it’s a white painted lane with a [marking of] a little bike guy on it. That’s called a sharrow, meaning the cars are sharing the road with an arrow that says these are where bikes go.”
Owen Friend-Gray, Manchester DPW’s highway chief engineer, said that bike lanes and sharrows have been added to several of the city’s major roads all within the last couple of years, including multiple sections across Elm Street and Mammoth Road, as well as on both Maple and Beech streets between Bridge and Webster streets toward the North End.
“We also just completed a rail trail project that was just over a mile long to help improve one of the last segments of the Rockingham Rail Trail, which runs from Manchester out to the Seacoast,” Friend-Gray said. “Then we have other trails … that we’re working on parts and pieces of, like the South Manchester Rail Trail, to connect from the southern portion of the city down through Londonderry, Derry and eventually into Nashua … … So we’re doing quite a bit, especially with the rail trails, to try to get better connectivity and rideability throughout the city.”
Concord
In November 2010 the City of Concord released its first bicycle master plan. Craig Tufts of the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission was its chief author.
A Concord resident, Tufts is also co-chair of a bicycling subcommittee through the citywide Transportation Policy Advisory Committee, which met for the first time two years earlier.
The plan outlined several infrastructure projects throughout the city with input from members of the biking community, many of which have been completed in the ensuing years.
“When we did that plan, we did a lot of public outreach and we learned a lot of things about what people wanted,” Tufts said. “We’ve developed great procedures for lane striping, which we didn’t have back then … [and] we also have a lot more miles of shoulders and bike lanes now.”
The longest bike lane runs along the Route 3 corridor, Tufts said, from the Fisherville Road and North State Street areas of Penacook all the way to downtown.
“That whole stretch of road there all has a lane now for bikes … and that was something that wasn’t there back before 2010, so that was a big improvement,” he said. “[Before] the Main Street project, Main Street used to be two lanes of car traffic in each direction, and it was just so much space dedicated to cars, and they redesigned it for wider sidewalks and better biking.”
On some city roads like Pleasant Street, the shoulder line was restriped to effectively widen the space for bicyclists and keep them away from passing cars. There has also been a switch to more improved detection technology for riders who stop at traffic lights on certain intersections.
“The switch to video detection … is gradually happening as old signals are replaced,” Tufts said, “but in the meantime, we have put out markers showing where a bike needs to stop to get a green [light]. … We did a lot of signals in the downtown area near the Statehouse.”
Right now, Tufts said, the most energy in improving biking across Concord involves connecting many of the rail trails in and around the city. Plans are in the works to eventually bring the Northern Rail Trail, which currently stretches from Lebanon all the way down to southern Boscawen, into the Capital City, while the Merrimack River Greenway Trail, a 12.7-mile trail running from Pembroke to Boscawen, has also been proposed.
“Pan Am Railways owns a railroad bed that runs from the Boscawen town line up in Penacook all the way to Horseshoe Pond,” Tufts said. “The Friends of the Merrimack River Greenway Trail … have been working really hard to get the city or the state to purchase that property, so that once it’s in public hands, it can be used for a trail.”
Nashua
While the overall bicycle infrastructure within Nashua can be considered limited compared to Manchester and Concord, there are a number of initiatives underway right in the heart of the city.
Among the most widely used bike and pedestrian pathways is the Nashua Heritage Rail Trail, said Jay Minkarah, executive director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission.
“It runs from Main Street to Simon Street, parallel to West Hollis Street, so it’s a pretty long run … and in a location that allows it to be a real transportation alternative,” he said. “It goes through some of Nashua’s highest-density … areas and is used pretty heavily by bicycles.”
The City received funding to extend the Heritage Rail Trail all the way east to Temple Street, which Minkarah said would effectively double its length. Officials are also working on a riverfront improvement plan that would increase bike accessibility along the Nashua River.
“There’s also funding … to develop basically a multi-purpose path along Spruce Street directly east of downtown,” Minkarah said. “That would link the planned extension of the Heritage Rail Trail to the riverfront, so that’s really exciting.”
Safety first Here’s a look at some of the statewide bicycle safety laws. See dot.nh.gov for more details. • Bicycles are considered vehicles — therefore, bicyclists must stop at stop signs and red lights, yield to pedestrians and ride on the right side of the road with traffic. • Riding on sidewalks or riding the wrong way on one-way streets is prohibited. • Stop for pedestrians in all crosswalks. Don’t pass cars that are stopped at a crosswalk. • Helmets are required by law for cyclists under 16 years of age. • Bicyclists must wear at least one form of reflective apparel, such as a vest, jacket or helmet strip, during the period from a half hour after sunset to a half hour before sunrise. • When riding after dark, you must use a white front headlight and a red rear light or reflector that is visible from at least 300 feet away. Source: New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian program
Joy ride
Urban areas offer fun cycling experiences
By Angie Sykeny
asykeny@hippopress.com
New Hampshire has many locales for a leisurely bike ride, and its three biggest cities — Manchester, Concord and Nashua — easily make that list.
“Every bike ride offers a single story to add to the chapters in your life,” said Janet Horvath, recreation and enterprise manager for the City of Manchester. “An urban destination like Manchester is a great choice for a unique change of pace.”
Cyclists have “a tremendous array of choices” to enhance their ride in the Queen City, Horvath said. Hit some of the main attractions in downtown with a ride from West Side Arena to the Millyard and the Fisher Cats stadium, or a ride to Livingston Park via Maple Street, which has bike lanes north of Bridge Street, where you’ll find a hiking trail, Dorrs Pond, athletic fields and other amenities.
Biking at Mine Falls Park in Nashua. Courtesy photo
“Parks offer a chance to commune with nature in the largest urban area in the state,” Horvath said.
In the south end, take a destination ride to Crystal Lake Park, which features a beach, a playground and a pavilion. On the west side, Horvath said, Rock Rimmon Park is “the destination park to see.”
“Cool off at Dupont Splash Pad, take a hike to the top of the ‘Rock,’ or read a book from the book nook,” she said. “Play on the playground, join a pickup game of basketball or pickleball and check out the skateboard features to round out your visit.”
Other bike-friendly features of Manchester, Horvath said, include bike lanes on popular routes, like Elm Street, as well as bike racks and bike repair stations throughout the city “to help out if your trip doesn’t go as planned.”
In Nashua, Mine Falls Park is the prime spot for a bike ride.
“There’s a huge trail system there, with miles and miles of trails that are all accessible to bikes,” said Jeff DiSalvo, Nashua’s recreation program coordinator. “The trails are nice and wide and well-kept, some paved, some dirt, and it’s just a really open area, so people can make [their ride] whatever they want it to be.”
The park rewards cyclists with a variety of natural scenery, including forests, open fields and wetlands.
“It’s just nice to be kind of secluded from the rest of Nashua and separate from the busyness of it,” DiSalvo said.
Concord’s trail systems offer all kinds of cycling experiences, assistant city planner Beth Fenstermacher said, from advanced mountain biking to easy street riding.
“There are a bunch of trails and loops out in the woods with different levels of difficulty, and then there are opportunities to connect to some of the more rural routes that go through Concord for on-street biking,” she said.
A painted bike path runs through downtown, where cyclists can enjoy the city’s shops and restaurants during their ride.
“It’s nice to be out on a nice day in that urban setting, and to be around other people,” Fenstermacher said. “You can stop and get a drink, or get an ice cream, or visit one of our breweries, and take advantage of all those amenities that urban areas provide.”
Horvath said the same of Manchester — that the city’s many activities and attractions are what make it an attractive place to bike.
“You can incorporate a variety of experiences easily in one day,” she said. “Ride to a park, swim in a pool, ride to a museum, see a matinee show and eat international cuisine all in one day.”
Jason Record
QC Bike Collective is a nonprofit organization that works to make biking safer and more convenient for people who live, learn or work in Manchester. It provides space, tools and equipment for community members to repair their bicycles at minimal cost and accepts donated bicycles to salvage useful parts and recycle them, or return them to working order and sell them at an affordable price. A few people who are involved in QC Bike shared their thoughts on city riding.
QC Bike Board of Directors and volunteer, both in the shop and for community outreach. Hooksett resident and shop user.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Mostly fun, but I did bike commute before Covid shut down my office in the Millyard.
What do you love about it?
I love the perspective and awareness of your surroundings that you just don’t get in a car. There are some many great street art pieces, statues, parks, and other features in the city that go easily unnoticed zipping by at 30 mph.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
Definitely the rail trails, especially the refurbished Rockingham Rail trail. Lake Shore Drive is a favorite public road.
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
Cars and distracted drivers
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Front and rear flashing lights, high-visibility clothing, and a rear fender
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
Get out there and explore, challenge yourself little by little, and enjoy the ride!
Tammy Zamoyski
Former QC Bike staff, currently Community Partner and volunteer. Manchester resident and shop user.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Transportation.
What do you love about it?
Everything is so close; it rarely takes more than a few minutes longer to bike somewhere vs. drive.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
I most often take the Piscataquog Trail. It’s a less direct route to my destination, but it’s worth it to not have to be on the road with vehicles.
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
I’m still pretty new to this city, so navigation can be difficult. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your route if the speed [or] volume of vehicular traffic isn’t what you were expecting. Also, the street signs around here can be hard to read, or even find!
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Properly dressing for the weather can make or break your ride!
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
I’d highly recommend finding a “bike buddy” or riding mentor to ride with until you feel comfortable hitting the road on your own.
Florian Tschurtschenthaler
QC Bike Board of Directors and volunteer, both in the shop and for community outreach. Manchester resident and shop user.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Both.
What do you love about it?
Biking is an efficient and fun alternative to driving around the city. Most of the distances within the city are short enough to be biked easily and especially around the center of the city it can be faster to bike than to take the car. Also it has obvious health and environmental benefits.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
Elm and Chestnut streets are the best north-south passages. The footbridge by the Fisher Cats stadium is by far the best way to get across the river.
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
Many of the streets, especially east-west, don’t have bike paths and the sidewalks are too poorly maintained to be a good alternative, especially in the winter when the snow doesn’t get cleared.
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Bright bike lights.
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
The most important thing when sharing the road with drivers is to be predictable. Use hand signs and act as if you were driving a car. Take the lane if you need to. … It’s often safer than to squeeze on the side of a narrow road.
Scott Silberfeld
Long standing QC Bike volunteer – fundraising and for community outreach. Manchester resident and shop user.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Fun.
What do you love about it?
Good exercise, get to see what is going on around the city.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
Through Elm Street and down Calef Road to South Manchester Bike Trail.
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
Drivers are not as considerate to bike riders as many other cities.
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Helmet.
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
Use bike lanes as much as possible and ride defensively.
Kim Keegan
QC Bike Board of Directors and volunteer. Manchester resident.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
I bike for fun mostly. If I have an event or appointment where I think I may be able to bike there safely and it’s not raining or too cold, I’ll ride my bike.
What do you love about it?
Freedom from trying to find a parking place when I get to my destination, and the added exercise.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
I stick to my neighborhood, primarily. Smyth Road, Hillside Middle School, Currier Art Museum.
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
I don’t really feel safe in many parts of the city when I’m on my bike. I am an older rider and not in such great shape. Wouldn’t take much for some younger person to jump out and unseat me, and take my bike — or worse.
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
A safety yellow jacket or safety vest, good brakes, well-inflated tires, water bottle, and of course a helmet!
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
Drive the routes first and be observant of road conditions, traffic and speed of cars, and personal safety in the areas. There are areas that would be great to bike to, if you didn’t have to go through bad areas to get to them. Do your research online first and plan your route accordingly.
Dave Rattigan
QC Bike volunteer and rider contact of Jason Record’s. Manchester resident.
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Fun (retired), but easy transportation also, which is fun.
What do you love about it?
Being able to upkeep a machine that takes you places by your own power … but mainly coasting and maintaining a good rhythm.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
Bedford to Lake Massabesic. I’ve been city riding on a mountain bike for several decades, on tar and dirt cut-thru’s
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
Crossing the bridge of death (Queen City), or worse, the Amoskeag bridge.
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Wearing a diaper and a single-speed mountain bike.
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
Ride aggressively and find cut-thru’s to stay off main streets.
Kevin Kingsbury
Rider contact of Jason Record’s
Do you bike city streets mainly for fun or as a means of transportation?
Bike in the city for fun.
What do you love about it?
What I love about it is feeling like a kid again. Riding everywhere as an adult I did as a kid.
Any favorite routes in Manchester?
Favorite routes are any! But riding through airport terminals at night is great, and inner-city back alley loops are super fun!
What’s the most challenging part of biking in a city?
The challenging things are like Dave said, bridges, and also surprise pot holes and people the wrong way in the bike lanes.
What’s one of your must-haves for biking gear?
Must have a spare tube, and a mid-ride beer!
What’s one thing you would recommend to newer city bikers?
Recommend riding with groups until you get comfortable riding the streets on your own. And find/make your own cut through sand shortcuts!
Brian (Beast Of The East) Cray
Rider contact of Jason Record’s
I avoid the city because of road conditions.
Featured photo: The “bike school bus” pilot program, which encourages kids to ride their bikes to school. Photo courtesy of Manchester Moves.
