Cousins Jay Parajuli and Bik Basnet love trying new kinds of craft beers and had often talked about how to turn that hobby into a business. Then one weekend last fall, Parajuli said, he was en route to another cousin’s home in Hudson when he noticed construction of the town’s new Flagstone Crossing retail plaza.
“We saw the ‘for lease’ sign … and literally jumped into it right there,” he said. “I was working at a family business, a convenience store down in Massachusetts, and with Covid and everything it was tough to stay afloat. The overheads were high to maintain employees. … So we got out of that business and just kind of said this was the right time to get into something we like doing.”
Hudson Brews, which opened on April 16, is New Hampshire’s newest spot to get local and regional craft beers, ciders and hard seltzers, with a constantly rotating selection, Parajuli said, based on both seasonal supply and customer demand.
The shop’s interior is custom-built, featuring two sets of coolers near the front that are dedicated just to single-serve cans and bottles. Beer lovers who want to try single selections of more than one type of craft brew can also create their own custom four-pack carrier at a discount.
“I’m a buyer myself, and I will go to a store and try a four-pack if they don’t have singles … [but] I don’t want to end up spending $20 on something that I didn’t like,” Parajuli said. “So that was the concept. We put out singles of every possible thing that we have … so that people can try it, and if they like it, then they’ll go for the four-pack.”
Past the single selections are dozens of additional offerings in an aisle running near the back of the shop. Most of the coolers are labeled by their state of origin — beers from New Hampshire and Massachusetts make up several of them, including ones from popular local breweries like Concord Craft Brewing, Henniker Brewing Co. and 603 Brewery in Londonderry, as well as harder-to-find selections like from Coos Brewing Co. in Colebrook. Beers from other New England states are available, and there are coolers designated for regional and international options, and craft ciders and seltzers. In addition to its many beers, Hudson Brews sells a limited selection of glassware, canned cocktails and energy drinks, as well as cigars and CBD products.
Parajuli said he’s already had conversations with customers about what types of beers they want to see at the shop.
“We want to talk to people, [and] we want to get involved in the community,” he said. “It’s fantastic when you see people are happy that you have a product they are looking for.”
Hudson Brews Where: 6 Flagstone Drive, Unit C, Hudson Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. More info: Find them on Facebook and Instagram @hudsonbrews, or call 417-5528
After a lost festival year for local food truckers in 2020, a new event will bring more than half a dozen of them to Hampstead this weekend. The inaugural “Hampstead Eats” food truck festival will be held outside Hampstead Congregational Church on Main Street on Saturday, May 1, also featuring a full afternoon schedule of live music and a food drive to support the New Hampshire Food Bank.
Event coordinator Roxanne McGaffigan said attendees ages 5 and up pay an admission fee to gain entry to the event, with food selections then priced per item. The festival is being held in part as a fundraiser for the renovation and upkeep of the town’s Congregational Church.
“People can bring their own blanket or bring a chair … and hang out and listen to music, or go back to their car,” McGaffigan said. “We are following all of the CDC’s guidelines, so we are asking people to wear a mask or a face-covering when they’re not eating … [and] we’ll also have hand sanitizer stations.”
The trucks, McGaffigan said, will be diverse in their menu offerings. Each will be parked on the driveway just to the left of the church, with lots of open grass nearby for blankets and chairs.
For Christy and Nick Ortins of The Hungry Caterpillar, this will be their first food truck festival since launching their plant-based comfort concept last June. The couple’s original plan had been to secure bookings at festivals, but the pandemic caused them to pivot to contacting nearby business owners about potential parking spots. Their most prevalent location happens to be just a few miles away from the church, in the parking lot of Hampstead Health & Fitness.
Menu items from The Hungry Caterpillar, Christy Ortins said, will likely include Buffalo cauliflower bites, hand-cut french fries, and a sandwich known as the “Patty Mayonnaise,” which features homemade breaded seitan with lettuce, tomato and a plant-based mayo.
“This is very new for us and very exciting,” she said of the festival. “We’ve done a few busy events, but we haven’t had a chance to do a festival yet where we’re with other food trucks.”
Another local vendor that will appear at the festival, Chef Koz’s Crescent City Kitchen, offers scratch-made Cajun, Creole and Caribbean-inspired items. Owner and longtime chef Chris “Koz” Kozlowski, who will likely serve options like fish tacos and chicken jambalaya, only just pulled the 22-foot mobile trailer out of its winter hibernation last week.
“I took my first summer off in 31 years of cooking last year,” Kozlowski said. “Then we got a call for an event on Labor Day weekend, and so we decided we can’t be bogged down forever.”
Kozlowski would go on to generate more sales in three months from September to November than almost two-thirds of the year in 2019. With the help of his wife, he also ran Koz’s Haute Box, a second smaller food trailer serving New England regional comfort foods, in the winter.
This season, he said, he expects the food truck to continue to be mostly a family affair.
“It’s going to be a different structure,” he said. “Most of the gigs we have booked right now are days my wife has off, and I’ve got two kids that help out too.”
Kona Ice, which offers multiple flavors of tropical-themed shaved ice, will be providing free cup upgrades for festival-goers who bring an item to donate to the New Hampshire Food Bank. McGaffigan said the Food Bank will be accepting donations of nonperishable items.
Featured live performances throughout the afternoon will include Let’s Play Music from noon to 2 p.m., followed by The Sons of the Solstice from 2:15 to 3:15 p.m., and Michael Wingate and Chris Cyrus of the band Slack Tide from 3:30 to 5 p.m. McGaffigan said church members and volunteers will also be selling flowers ahead of Mother’s Day.
“Hampstead Eats” food truck festival When: Saturday, May 1, noon to 5 p.m. Where: Hampstead Congregational Church, 61 Main St., Hampstead Hours: $5 admission fee for ages 5 and up (cash or check only); foods are priced per item More info: Search “Hampstead Eats” on Facebook, or call the church office at 329-6985 Event is rain or shine. CDC social distancing guidelines will be observed.
Participating vendors Boogalows Island BBQ (boogalowsbbq.com) Chef Koz’s Crescent City Kitchen (find them on Facebook @crescentcitykitchennh) Chubb’s Fries & Dough (find them on Facebook @eddiemencis) The Hungry Caterpillar (find them on Facebook @thehungrycaterpillarnh) Kona Ice (kona-ice.com) The Traveling Foodie Cart (jrmcateringllc.com) The Whoo(pie) Wagon (thewhoopiewagon.com)
Feautred photo: The “Patty Mayonnaise” sandwich, featuring homemade breaded seitan with lettuce, tomato and plant-based mayo, from The Hungry Caterpillar plant-based food truck. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.
Felix Alvarado Jr., better known on the job as Mr. “A,” is a professional educator and director of Straight “A” Academy, a college preparation education service in southern New Hampshire.
Explain your job and what it entails.
January through April, my job is all about working directly with students, helping them improve their SAT and ACT prep scores. … Then there’s a period of time where I’m able to focus more on business and professional development, staying on top of the latest trends and what’s new with the testing and college admissions process. … Late summer through October is another big testing season, so I’m back to primarily working with students.
How long have you had this job?
I’ve been a professional educator for 35 years, but I started focusing on test prep and college admissions and launched Straight “A” Academy in 2008.
What led you to this career field and your current job?
I started out in pre-med. … After a couple of years at [college], I was doing a lot of soul-searching, and I took one of those skills tests, and it told me, ‘teacher.’ I looked at it and said, ‘That resonates. … That’s what I’ve known all along.’ … I transitioned out of pre-med into education. … I had been a classroom teacher for 20-some years when I decided to launch a tutoring center in Bedford. I … started specializing in SAT and ACT test preparation, because there was a strong demand. … I ended up getting enough business after that first year that I had to leave the classroom.
What kind of training did you need?
In terms of being a test prep or college admissions coach, there’s not a specific certification out there. The training that I found was most important to me as a test prep coach was … my professional training in education in college, but beyond that, just experience [teaching] … and learning how to … read my students to find the best way to help them understand.
What is your typical at-work attire?
Business-casual to casual. I try not to be too formal with my students because one of my objectives is to make them feel comfortable.
How has your job changed over the last year?
Believe it or not, all the Covid [changes] have been seamless for me. I’ve been using platforms like Zoom to work with students around the world … for many years. The biggest change for me is that I had to totally close down my physical office in Merrimack last year, and now all my work is done in cyberspace. … I’m waiting to find the right time and place to reopen a physical office, but honestly, I don’t know that I really need to, because … I’m as effective in my Zoom room as I am in my office.
What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?
I wish I had known about all of the opportunities in education other than just [being a] classroom teacher. … I would have specialized [in college prep coaching] sooner.
What do you wish other people knew about your job?
I think some people have this feeling that tutors are [educators who] weren’t good enough to be a classroom teacher, and that’s obviously not fair or true. I wish people knew that tutoring is, in many ways, much more challenging. You have to be very skilled to do it well … and you feel more pressure to help your student succeed when it’s just you [one-on-one with] your student.
What was the first job you ever had?
The summer after seventh grade, I worked in a restaurant, busing tables, cleaning bathrooms and sometimes helping in the kitchen.
What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?
Specialize in one thing, and be the best you can be at that one thing
Five favorites Favorite book: The Bible and A Tale of Two Cities. Favorite movie: The Man Who Knew Too Little. Favorite music: Handel’s Water Music and, being Latino, I have to give a nod to salsa, merengue and bachata. Favorite food: Mexican food. Favorite thing about NH: The proximity to a wide array of activities.
From the 1981 classic On Golden Pond to parts of this year’s Oscar-winning Sound of Metal, New Hampshire has been a filming location for a number of movies. Since 1998, the New Hampshire Film Bureau has assisted filmmakers eyeing the Granite State for their films, serving as the connection between them and the state government and communities. But if the latest state budget proposal is approved, that resource may not be around for much longer. People from the New Hampshire film industry discussed what’s at stake if the Film Bureau is dissolved, and why New Hampshire is a film destination worth fighting for.
The reel deal
Gov. Chris Sununu’s proposed state budget for 2022-2023 includes the defunding and elimination of the New Hampshire Film Bureau, currently allocated a $123,000 annual budget.
The budget proposal has been passed by the House and now heads to the Senate, which is scheduled to meet on June 4. If it’s approved, New Hampshire will become one of only five states without an official state film office.
Matt Newton, the New Hampshire Film Bureau’s director and only employee, declined to comment on the office’s future and directed media inquiries to the Division of Travel and Tourism Development, which emailed a statement on behalf of Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell:
“While the workload of the Bureau of Film and Digital Media has declined for the past several years, the Governor’s budget proposal ensures that the Division of Travel and Tourism Development will retain sufficient resources to meet the needs of New Hampshire’s film industry,” the statement said. “Further, this consolidation of services ensures a more comprehensive approach, spearheaded by the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, to promote the development of New Hampshire’s travel and tourism industry.”
Jack Northcott, a Hollis resident and senior director of sales at Avid Technology, a media production software company in Burlington, Mass., said he is skeptical that the Division of Travel and Tourism Development will continue the Film Bureau’s work.
“That claim … is very disingenuous, because they aren’t articulating whether or not the Film Bureau will remain in name and the Film Bureau website will still be supported,” he said. “Will there be somebody there who actually cares?”
When the Hippo pressed the Division of Travel and Tourism Development for confirmation that the “consolidation of services” would mean the elimination of the “New Hampshire Film office” in name and as a direct point of contact for filmmakers, Division of Travel and Tourism Development communications manager Kris Neilsen replied via email, “Correct, [filmmakers] will reach out to the NH Travel and Tourism office.”
Tim Messina of Studio Lab, a video production studio in Derry, also expressed concern about the Department’s ability to take over the Film Bureau’s role.
“[How is] someone from the Travel and Tourism department, who doesn’t have any experience in our industry … going to [answer] very industry-specific questions that come up?” he said.
Trigger House commercial shoot for Hisense using volume from Studio Lab in Derry. Photo courtesy of Studio Lab.
The benefits of having a film office
Tim Messina of Studio Lab said he utilized the Film Bureau a few weeks ago when a filmmaker friend of his asked him where to get permits for shooting at Mount Washington.
“The Film office … told me exactly where to go and who to talk to,” he said. “It was a less-than-five-minute conversation.”
Tyler York, senior producer at Big Brick Productions in Manchester, works on commercial and brand video content and short form documentary-style videos for regional, national and international clients, such as New Hampshire Lottery, iRobot, Hasbro Gaming, Red Bull, ESPN, Fox Sports, Chobani and more. He said state film offices are “crucial” to his job as they provide a connection between the film industry and state legislators, municipalities, police forces and town and city officials.
“We do productions all over, and when we’re shooting [in another state], we traditionally reach out to that state’s film office for help with sourcing location permits and things like that.”
Chris Stinson, a producer and line producer at the Portsmouth-based film production company Live Free or Die Films, said he also has depended on the services provided by state film offices for his work. Stinson worked as the line producer for the 2020 film Sound of Metal, which includes a driving scene shot on New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway. The film was nominated for six Oscars and won two — one for Film Editing and one for Sound — at the April 25 awards ceremony.
Stinson recalled a time when representatives from the Massachusetts Film Office joined him at a meeting where he pitched Massachusetts as a shooting location for the 2019 film Knives Out.
“[The filmmakers] were considering shooting it in London, but we convinced them to come to Massachusetts,” he said. “If the Massachusetts Film Office hadn’t helped, that movie definitely would have gone to London.”
In the 2018 Hippo story “Going professional: How to take your creative hobby to the next level,” Newton explained how the Film Bureau assisted and advised filmmakers in hiring a crew, securing a shooting location, and marketing and distributing their films. The Bureau also maintains an online directory of local hireable film crew and film services, including camera operators, directors, editors, casting and talent resources, hair and makeup and wardrobe professionals, sound specialists, stunt people, production managers and assistants, payroll and production accountants, public relations and more.
The Bureau’s primary job is acting as the official liaison between filmmakers and New Hampshire communities and state government, to help filmmakers find shooting locations and acquire permits necessary for road closures and access to public spaces.
“If you have a small film, closing a road might sound like a big deal,” Newton said in the 2018 story, “but working with [the Film Bureau] lends more credibility to your project. We can open doors that you might not be able to open by yourself.”
Losing a NH booster
Northcott said the state has offered little explanation about the reasoning behind the proposal to eliminate the Film Bureau.
“We just haven’t been able to get a lot of feedback or dialogue from them,” he said.
Having worked with more than 30 state film offices over the course of his career, Stinson said he sees no reason New Hampshire wouldn’t be able to maintain its film office.
“A lot of these other states’ film offices don’t have a big budget either; a lot of them are one-person offices, too,” he said, “but they’re still incredibly enthusiastic about bringing productions to their state. New Hampshire doesn’t even offer that.”
Ian Messina, director of virtual production at Studio Lab (and Tim Messina’s nephew), said he, too, is at a loss.
“New Hampshire has so many different pockets of small businesses, and filmmaking is one of them, so why shouldn’t it have the same resources that other businesses have?”
York said he believes a lack of awareness is to blame.
“Many people, [including] legislators, don’t know that there’s a film industry happening here and that there’s potential and opportunity for the film industry to grow here,” he said.
Losing the Film Bureau would be detrimental to the state’s film industry in a big way, Tim Messina said.
“Without [a film office], we just lose our sense of direction as a state in the film world,” he said. “We can make it work [independently] to an extent, but the state is still a big part of it.”
A fear being echoed by many people in the New Hampshire film industry is losing credibility that comes with having an official state film office.
“It’s so much cleaner when you can say, ‘I’m calling from the New Hampshire Film office,’ as opposed to, ‘Hey, I’m Joe Schmo off the street, and we have a production coming to town,’” York said.
Eliminating the Film Bureau may also disadvantage young and aspiring filmmakers looking to stay in New Hampshire, Northcott said, or prompt them to move to another state that has more opportunities and a more prominent support system for filmmakers. As a member of the advisory committee for a Nashua-based film education program for high school students, Northcott said he’s seeing it happen already.
“You have all these students who are just dying to get into television and film production, but there’s no outlet for them locally, or they’re very limited in what they can do,” he said. “WMUR can only hire so many people.”
Location, location
While New Hampshire remains largely untouched by out-of-state filmmakers, its southern neighbor boasts one of the most active and fastest growing film landscapes in the country.
“There are four or five movies and TV shows filming in Massachusetts as we speak,” Stinson said. “It just seems crazy to me that New Hampshire gets zero of that action.”
One of Massachusetts’ biggest selling points as a film destination — and the reason New Hampshire is often overlooked — is the 25 percent tax credit it awards filmmakers, Stinson said. New Hampshire, though it offers no tax incentives, has other perks that filmmakers would value just as much as, if not more than, Massachusetts’ tax credit, he said, but most filmmakers never take the time to research New Hampshire or never even consider New Hampshire as an option in the first place.
“They see ‘25 percent tax credit’ and that’s all they’re focused on,” Stinson said.
While filming Knives Out in Massachusetts, Stinson said, the crew stayed in a mansion for three weeks, costing them $500,000. If they had been filming in New Hampshire, he said, he is “absolutely sure” they could have found a comparable mansion for between $50,000 and $100,000.
“By going to a cheaper location you’ve saved 50 percent more money than [you would have saved] with the 25 percent tax credit in Massachusetts,” Stinson said, adding that lodging in New Hampshire usually costs 30 to 50 percent less than in Massachusetts.
Crews would also save money on permitting fees and on parking, which could cost up to $3,000 or $4,000 in Massachusetts, compared to between $500 and $1,000 in New Hampshire.
Massachusetts’ robust film office is also a major contributor to the success of its film industry, York said — and New Hampshire should take notes.
“With Massachusetts performing at the caliber that they are, it’s disappointing and, in my opinion, shortsighted,” York said, “for New Hampshire to forego a film office at this point.”
Shooting on the moon with virtual production volume at Studio Lab in Derry. Photo courtesy of Studio Lab.
Banding together
According to Tim Messina, more than 100 people who work or have an interest in New Hampshire’s film industry have signed on to a grassroots effort to preserve the state film office in some capacity, including acclaimed documentary filmmaker and New Hampshire resident Ken Burns.
“If it does have to [merge with] another department, one of the best solutions would be to create a board of directors — people who are in the industry and understand it — that can help administrate what that [merge] would look like and how it’s going to function,” Tim Messina said.
Some members of the group have been volunteering their time and resources to improve the Film Bureau since before it was at risk of being eliminated.
Stinson, for example, has spent more than a year independently creating a visual database of filming locations in New Hampshire — a project normally shouldered by a state film office, he said.
“When a filmmaker is considering shooting in a state, they go to that state’s film office website to look at film location pictures, so having a location database is huge,” he said, “and if I have to do it on my own, I’m willing to do that.”
Northcott said the group has even gone so far as to offer to fund the film office themselves.
“There are a lot of people who are interested [in] and supportive of the Film Bureau,” he said. “I know we could raise the private funding easily.”
The Division of Travel and Tourism Development “gave no response and had no interest” in the proposition, Northcott said. (Reached shortly before press time, a spokesperson for the Division said they would need time to formulate a comment and couldn’t do so by press time.)
Tim Messina is also seeking the general public’s support in preserving the Film Bureau. On the Studio Labs website (studiolab.community/post/helpsavenhfilm), he outlined a four-point strategy that includes reaching out and advocating to the governor, the Senate Finance Committee, local senators and film and media organizations in the state. He urged advocates to explain how the issue affects them and include financial data about the film industry’s contribution to the state’s creative economy.
New Hampshire film highlights Here’s a look at some of the most notable movies that were filmed or partially filmed in New Hampshire, according to IMDB and Wikipedia.
• The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968, starring Steven McQueen and Faye Dunaway, scenes filmed in Salem • On Golden Pond, 1981, starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn and James Fonda, scenes filmed at Squam Lake in Holderness • The Good Son, 1993, starring Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood, scenes filmed at Mirror Lake in Jackson • Jumanji, 1995, starring Robin Williams and Kirsten Dunst, scenes filmed in Keene • The Skulls, 2000, starring Joshua Jackson and Paul Walker, scenes filmed at Dartmouth College in Hanover • The Brown Bunny, 2003, starring Vincent Gallo and Chloë Sevigny, scenes filmed in Keene • Live Free or Die, 2006, starring Aaron Stanford, Paul Schneider and Zooey Deschanel, shot in Claremont • Sound of Metal, 2020, starring Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke, scenes filmed on New Hampshire’s Kancamagus Highway. Chris Stinson of Portsmouth served as line producer for the film.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Covid-19 news
During the state’s weekly public health update on April 22, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan reported that New Hampshire has averaged about 350 new infections of Covid-19 per day, while the test-positivity rate was at 4.5 percent.
Over the last several weeks, the number of active infections in the state has hovered around either side of 3,000, while the total number of positive cases since the start of the pandemic last year is creeping toward 100,000.
According to Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, roughly 47 percent of the state’s population (about 637,000 people) have received at least their first shot as of April 22, while 28 percent of the population (about 387,000 people) has been fully vaccinated. “We continue to receive around 50,000 first doses of vaccine each week, between the doses that are allocated to us at the state, as well as our pharmacy partners,” she said. “We still have thousands of open appointments available … at over 200 different locations where you can get vaccinated.”
Thousands more people received their shot at a mass vaccination site at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on April 24. Unlike previous sites at the Speedway, this one was only held by appointment for people to receive their second shot.
Later during the press conference, Gov. Chris Sununu said that the state would likely resume administration of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine “in a matter of days.”
The following day, April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food & Drug Administration issued a joint statement lifting the recommended pause of the vaccine, saying that its “known and potential benefits outweigh its known and potential risks in individuals 18 years of age and older.” Federal health officials had recommended a pause of states’ usage of the vaccine on April 13 following six reports of a rare blood clot disorder, a condition the CDC is now calling “thrombosis involving the cerebral venous sinuses, or CVST (large blood vessels in the brain).”
Re-election campaign
On April 27, Mayor Joyce Craig announced that she will be running for re-election for mayor of Manchester. She is currently serving in her second term and is the first woman to serve as mayor in the Queen City, according to a press release. “Manchester is a city on the rise. When the pandemic hit, our progress was interrupted, and we focused our efforts at City Hall on keeping our community safe while still providing essential services,” Craig said in the release. “I’m running for Mayor in 2021 to ensure our city fully recovers from this pandemic, builds upon our progress and comes out of this stronger than before.” This announcement comes after Victoria Sullivan announced her run for mayor last week. According to a press release, Sullivan is a former New Hampshire state representative and assistant majority leader who served two terms on the House Education Committee.
Unemployment
The work search requirement for people getting unemployment benefits will be reinstated starting May 23, Gov. Chris Sununu said in a press conference on April 22, so anyone receiving benefits after that date will have to show proof that they are looking for work. The requirement has been waived during the pandemic, but Sununu said that the state now has a 3 percent unemployment rate, one of the lowest in the country. “Our economy is very, very strong,” he said during the conference. “And it also unfortunately means that we’re, if anything, facing a workforce shortage. … There are tens of thousands of high-paying jobs across the state available today.” The state has hosted 15 virtual job fairs since last summer to help employers find employees, he said, but there haven’t been nearly as many potential employees attending these fairs as there are jobs. Several more job fairs are planned, including one on Thursday, May 6, aimed toward veterans, and one Monday, May 10, for students and recent graduates, as well as one on Thursday, May 13, for those in the construction industry. Sununu encouraged anyone seeking employment to get details about those and other upcoming job fairs at unemploymentbenefits.nh.gov. Meanwhile, he said, all NH Works Centers will be back open to the public by May 10.
Virtual urgent care
Instead of traveling to an emergency room or urgent care clinic, people who need non-emergency care can now connect with a provider by phone or by video on their laptops or mobile devices with the new D-HH Virtual Urgent Care. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health’s Connected Care and Center for Telehealth has partnered with MDLIVE to launch the new service, which provides patients with 24/7 access to urgent care by fully licensed providers from Dartmouth-Hitchcock or MDLIVE-affiliated physicians who are board-certified, licensed, telehealth-trained and have an average of 15 years of experience, according to a press release. Once they sign on, patients can wait for an available provider — the wait time is usually less than 15 minutes — or schedule an appointment for later that day for common health concerns like cold, flu, and other upper respiratory illnesses, allergies, bug bites, rashes, gastrointestinal issues, urinary tract infection and more. They can get prescriptions sent to their pharmacy, if necessary, the release said. The cost is $59 per visit, and the service is currently available to those with private insurance or those who can self-pay. In accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), patient and visit details are shared only with the patient’s primary care physician, the release said. Visit go.d-h.org/virtualurgentcare.
Stock your backyard ponds with rainbow and brook trout, available in 6- to 8-inch and 10- to 12-inch sizes from the Merrimack County Conservation District in Concord, according to a press release. The order deadline is Tuesday, May 11. Any trout sized 6 to 8 inches can be picked up on Sunday, May 16, from 1 to 1: 30 p.m. at 10 Ferry St. in Concord, while the larger trout will be directly delivered to your pond. Call 223-6023 or order at merrimackccd.org. Anyone from any county can participate.
The Manchester Board of School Committee has been named the 2021 School Board of the Year by the New Hampshire School Boards Association, according to a press release. “In addition to its response to the pandemic, the board has maintained its focus on implementing a long-term strategic plan,” the release said.
The Upper Room and the Marion Gerrish Community Center in Derry are relaunching the On My Own Series, a virtual way for teens to explore skills such as cooking, painting, drawing and yoga. According to a press release, the program will be offered Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., and all classes are free. Visit urteachers.org to register.
The Friends of the Plaistow Public Library are asking gardeners to consider splitting some of their perennial plants and donating them to the library’s upcoming plant sale, proceeds of which will benefit the Friends of the Library. Donations should be in pots and labeled with the plant name; they will be accepted beginning Monday, May 3.
Even as I write these words, some professor at some college is planning a course for the fall semester that will deal with the pandemic. Virtually every academic discipline will have some segment or unit that addresses what we have been (and still are) going through. Literature classes will have their own version of A Journal of a Plague Year. From Art to Zoology, scholars will draw upon the events of these days to develop retrospectives on how the pandemic came about, how it has been handled, who it’s affected, what it’s cost, the statistics of infection, hospitalizations, recoveries and deaths, social, racial and economic injustices, political dimensions, military strategic implications, and economic, psychological and cultural impacts. The list is seemingly endless.
Whatever the courses or programs the professionals develop to parse the significance of this almost unprecedented event, each of us will have our own story. Perhaps, if any of us lives to be old enough, our grandchildren or even great-grandchildren may someday ask, “What was it like back then?” How will we answer? That question occupies me very much these days as I find my longtime practice of daily journal writing has nearly ground to a stop. Quite simply, I do not know what to write now, especially as I imagine one of my descendants someday thumbing through the stack of leather-bound books I’ve been filling up since the early ’60s, noting all my adventures and impressions, and then coming to a blank for most of this year. Will she or he wonder why the hiatus?
In truth, the isolation imposed by the pandemic has meant many of us have been alone with our own thoughts this last year more than ever before. While Zoom and FaceTime can close the loneliness gap somewhat, each of those is a really a kind of planned encounter, an “appointment.” What has been missing is that range of unexpected stimulation that comes from simply being in the presence of other people, whether at the workplace, grocery shopping, dining, or just being out and about. Social distancing has truly made us socially distant and as a result, as David Brooks recently noted, our “extroversion muscles have atrophied while [our] introversion muscles are bulging.”
Early on in the pandemic, there were signs everywhere proclaiming, “Together, we’ll get through this.” We are getting through it. My hope is that now, if we can do it safely, getting vaccinated and wearing our masks as appropriate, we can get back together. Perhaps my journaling will pick up again.
