Category: Featured Content

The week of the Manchester Citywide Arts Festival

Meet some artists, learn some moves

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The weeklong Manchester Citywide Arts Festival is back, with free art exhibits, free dance lessons for kids, chances to meet artists, an open mic night, demos, tours, and, to cap it all off, a screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The festival runs Monday, Sept. 16, through Saturday, Sept. 21, at various locations, with two closing events on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Katie Lovell, Director of Operations at the Palace Theatre, talked about the festival that celebrates the community and its artists.

“This is our third year and it’s basically a week-long celebration of the arts in New Hampshire…. It’s a good variety, different things. All the arts are covered,” Lovell said. “We are trying to do community events to bring a lot of people downtown to show everyone all the amazing things that Manchester has to offer and bring in more families and family-friendly events as well.”

Classes and demonstrations throughout the week lead up to a big party on Saturday.

“The main event is the Street Fair,” Lovell said. “On that day we shut down Hanover Street in front of the Palace Theatre and we have over 50 art vendors that will be set up so people can walk around, view their art, make purchases … everything from knitted blankets to handmade stickers.” There will also be food trucks and a stage with live performances, she said.

Lovell said the street fair usually brings 8,000 to 10,000 people.

Before that, during the week, there will be plenty of events at dance studios and art galleries, some free, some not. Not all require signup in advance, but some do.

For visitors on Monday, it’s time to boogie and see some sculpting, with a free drop-in pottery demonstration in the afternoon at Studio 550 on Elm Street and two free dance lessons at Forever Emma Studios.

Tuesday, muralists get a spotlight. “In Manchester we have tons of beautiful murals that have gone up in the last few years,” Lovell said, “so we’re going to have some of the muralists come to the Bookery and Cat Alley and people will be able to meet with them.”

Dimensions in Dance will host a youth ballet class on Wednesday.

Then for Thursday evening, the libations begin to pour. “Dew Collective, which is a beautiful flower shop right on Hanover Street, they just opened up a few months ago, they’re going to host a meet-the-artist cocktail reception. They’ll have a bunch of local artists in the flower shop and then you’ll be able to make floral arrangements in there as well, have a drink and meet with colleagues and network.” That same evening, the Currier Museum of Art will have a free “Art After Work” session. “You can go to the Currier and walk around the museum and then everyone is going to meet after in the museum, have a cocktail, and chat with each other,” Lovell said.

A competition unfolds on Thursday as well: an open mic night at the Rex that Lovell described as “like a ‘Manchester’s Got Talent.’ Anyone can submit any talent and we’ll review the submissions. And it’s also a free event.”

For Friday, the day before the Street Fair, “the Manchester Arts Commision is going to host an opening cocktail party with the Palace Theatre in our Spotlight room,” Lovell said. “We’re going to invite all of our sponsors, the artists, and it’s going to be open to the community as well. The Pop-up Gallery will be open that night also…. You can kind of get a little preview of what you’ll see on Saturday, what you can purchase, and you can meet with them as well.”

Saturday night visitors should be on the lookout for the Foot Clan. “We’re hosting the 1990 version of the Ninja Turtles movie at the Rex Theatre on Saturday night with Granite State Comic Con and we’re going to have the original Ninja Turtles from that movie there for a Q and A as well. We’re all trying to support each other,” she said.

The Manchester Citywide Arts Festival is a great coming together of business and art.

“All the downtown businesses, we’re all trying to work together just getting more people downtown,” Lovell said. She called it “a very positive event and experience.”

Lovell is excited for the Festival and hopes to see everyone on the street. “I love Manchester. I’ve worked at the Palace now for almost 13 years and I just love to see it so busy and the city bustling and so much positivity around it.”

Manchester Citywide Arts Festival


When: Monday, Sept. 16 to Saturday, Sept. 21
More info: palacetheatre.org/manchester-citywide-arts-festival (Some of the Studio 550 Arts and Dimensions in Dance events may require sign-up)

Arts and Crafts Fair
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where; the Opera Block of Hanover Street

Arts Festival Schedule
Monday, Sept. 16
2 to 4 p.m.
FREE Pottery Demonstration
Studio 550 Arts Center (550 Elm St.) See how we make our Paint-your-own-pottery items for this live drop-in demonstration.
4 p.m.
FREE Intro to Dance (Ages 3-5) at Forever Emma Studios (516 Pine St.)
5 p.m.
FREE Dance Technique (Level 1) at Forever Emma Studios (516 Pine St.)

Tuesday, Sept. 17
10 to 10:45 a.m.
FREE Ballet and Storytime (Ages 2-4) at Dimension in Dance (84 Myrtle St.)
3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
FREE Art Ramp Painting
Studio 550 Art Center (550 Elm St.)
5 to 6 p.m.
FREE Meet the Muralists at
The Bookery (844 Elm St.)

Wednesday, Sept. 18
10 to 10:45 a.m.
FREE Ballet Class (Ages 3-5)
Dimensions in Dance (84 Myrtle St.)
10 to 10:45 a.m.
FREE Specialty Class
AR Workshop (23 W. Merrimack St.)

Thursday, Sept. 19
10 to 11:15 a.m.
FREE –Adult Ballet
Dimensions in Dance (84 Myrtle St.)
4:15 to 5:15 p.m.
Family Sculpting (All Ages)
Studio 550 Art Center (550 Elm St.)
5 to 7 p.m.
FREE Art After Work
Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St.)
6 to 8 p.m.
Meet the Artist Cocktail Reception at the Dew Collective (34 Hanover St.) Featuring Peter Noonan, Laura Braciale, Ron Lohse, Verne Orlosk, and Lauren Boisvert
7 p.m.
FREE Open Mic Night
The Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St.)

Friday, Sept. 20
3 to 5 p.m.
Dew Collective School’s Out Playful Art at Dew Collective (34 Hanover St.)
4:15 to 5:15p.m.
Family Pottery (Ages 9+)
Studio 550 Art Center (550 Elm St.)
6 to 9 p.m.
MAC Cocktail Party at the
Spotlight Room at the Palace Theatre (90 Hanover St.)

Saturday, Sept. 21
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
FREE – Street Fair
Opera Block of Hanover Street
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
FREE – Spotlight Room Pop-Up Gallery at the Palace Theatre (90 Hanover St.)
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
FREE – Positive Street Art Satellite Gallery at theManchester Chamber of Commerce (54 Hanover St.)
10 a.m.to 5 p.m.
FREE – Tours of 83 Hanover Street Red Oak Apartments (84 Hanover St.)
1 to 2 p.m.
FREE Glass Pulling Demonstration at Studio Verne (412 Chestnut St.)
7 p.m. Screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) as part of the Granite State Comicon, screening is at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St.)

Sunday, Sept. 22
10 a.m.to 5 p.m.
FREE – Spotlight Room Pop-Up Gallery at the Palace Theatre (90 Hanover St.)
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
FREE Closing Breakfast with MAC at the Spotlight Room at the Palace Theatre (90 Hanover St.)

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Comics, Turtles and a Power Ranger

Fans of all stripes will find fun at the Granite State Comicon

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Granite State Comicon is here with most of its action on Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, at the DoubleTree Downton Manchester and SNHU Arena across the street.

“When we started Granite State Comicon in 2003, we just used a small room at the hotel, and then over the number of years we’ve been growing, [we had] to take on a larger room and larger space. And then we went for two days. And then for the past couple years, we’ve kind of noticed, ‘hey, we’re getting really tight on space.’” said Chris Proulx, owner of Double Midnight Comics and con organizer.

“There’s things we want to fit in that we can’t fit in. The attendance was getting a little tighter, and we knew if we wanted to bring in more comic artists, more celebrities, and especially if we’re getting from bigger franchises, we would need more space,” Proulx said.

Which venue should be chosen for this quest?

“If you’re looking for more of the comic-centric things, you would kind of hang out on the hotel side, because that’s where all of our guest artists are,” Proulx said. Meanwhile, at the other venue: “And then if you’re looking for more of the celebrity and pop culture stuff, you’re looking at the arena. Both of them have vendors and lots of stuff to see. So there’s unique stuff at both venues. It’s definitely worth crossing Elm Street.”

Like with Gotham or Metropolis, the city itself is integral. “What we’ve been kind of talking about is referring to the third venue [as] downtown Manchester, trying to get some of the restaurants and bars involved, you know, whether it’s if they offer some kind of special drink or, you know, some kind of special menu or get dressed up,” Proulx said.

It’ll be a day for the arts on Saturday. “We’ll be promoting the [Manchester Citywide Arts Festival], so that way people can kind of cross-pollinate and just see the more positive sides of Manchester,” he said.

“We talked to the Rex because we wanted to do a screening of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s a beautiful venue and they agreed to partner with us on that and it’s going to be a fun night. We decided to go all in on it and celebrate it, or ‘shell-a-brate it,’ as they say. So we’ve got actors from the 1990 movie, the ‘87 cartoon, tons of artists and writers who have worked on the Ninja Turtles over the years, including Kevin Eastman,” he said. See palacetheatre.org for tickets to the screening, which starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21.

But those aren’t the only stars at the con.

”John Rhys Davies, you’ll be able to find him at the hotel. He’ll be doing signatures, professional photo ops, he might have some props with him for photo ops, like Gimli’s ax from The Lord of the Rings. My business partner has met him a bunch of times and he’s the sweetest, nicest guy, so we’re very excited to have him join us,” Proulx said.

“Amy Jo Johnson, she’s the original Pink Power Ranger. There’s been many many iterations of the Power Rangers over the years but she’s one of the the original cast members so we’re very excited to have her joining us. She recently wrote a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book mini-series. She had a couple of the artist guests that we have that had done covers for it, so it’s a pretty cool thing,” Proulx said.

“Then we have Kevin Nash, who was a two-time WWE Hall of Famer. He’s also been in a bunch of movie and TV projects, like The Punisher, and he was Super Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2. He was a nice crossover there.“

“We’ve got Nolan North, who is the video game voice of Deadpool, and Cal Dodd, who is the voice of Wolverine in X-Men, the animated series. There’s a lot of cool guests, plus we have the original four voices of the Ninja Turtles from the ’87 cartoon. It’s a big Turtle-centric thing this year because it’s the 40th anniversary of the Turtles. They’re created by Eastman and Laird in New Hampshire,” he said.

Be sure to check out the website for more information. “The full program is up there, so you can see all of our panels and workshops. There’s information on KidsCon, movie cars, all of the various features.”

The event even attracts fans from all over the world. “We never thought people would be coming from multiple countries to Manchester, New Hampshire,” Proulx said.

“We want to make sure people are having a good time…. Our show’s very family-friendly and entry-level so you’re not like, ‘oh man, if I want to go to Comicon I gotta go to New York, I gotta travel four hours, I gotta pay for a hotel, I gotta pay for this, everything’s more expensive,’” he said.

Patrons do not need to have read a single comic book to have fun at Granite State Comicon.“We always say everybody’s a geek over something. The people that play fantasy football, that’s geeky. We’re all geeks. So there’s literally something there for everybody. So whether you’re into anime or board games or comic books or costuming, there’s literally something for everybody and it’s a great time. We’re very affordable for a family trip. There’s lots of stuff for kids to do. So it’s a really good fun time and we feel like it’s a great fun event for Manchester,” he said.

Even as the convention grows, what makes Granite State Comicon special stays the same.

“A lot of people like our vibe. It’s not hyper stressful, it’s fun, we have that focus on the fans so people really dig that. We have a really good team and we want to continue to grow at a good pace without breaking who we are,” Proulx said.

Granite State Comicon
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, Sept. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree, 700 Elm St., Manchester, and SNHU Arena, 555 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: $20 to $125 (various packages)
More: Visit granitecon.com and doublemidnight.com. Email [email protected] or call 669-9636.

Featured image: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Telescopes and caterpillars

AerospaceFest 2024 brings all kinds of STEM

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Hippo recently spoke with Katie Marinoff-Silk, the Director of Development at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, about this year’s AerospaceFest, the center’s yearly family festival, which blasts off on Saturday, Sept. 21, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“AerospaceFest is our annual celebration of all things STEM,” Marinoff-Silk said. “So we bring various science and education organizations from around the state. We invite them to come set up booths at our museum, both inside and outside, just to share what they do with our community.”
Granite Staters will not need to spend a penny to get inside. “It’s the third Saturday in September every year. And admission is free. We do have a suggested donation of five to 10 dollars,” she said.
There is typically a good turnout. “Last year we had about 630 people come and that was during a hurricane. So we’re hoping that the weather will be nicer this year and that we’ll see even more people,” Marinoff-Silk said.
The New Hampshire Astronomical Society will be setting up telescopes, for those who want to look up at the sky. If you’d rather keep your gaze earth-bound, you can look at bugs: the Caterpillar Lab from Marlborough will be bringing some of their caterpillars.
“So we just have a bunch of different organizations doing all kinds of science coming,” Marinoff-Silk said. The Caterpillar Lab aims “to raise awareness about the animals you can find in your local ecosystem, particularly caterpillars, and how important they are to our local ecosystems,” she said.
An activity called Mad Science will introduce children to the principles of air and pressure as they watch a hovercraft in action, according to the event page.
A special guest yet to be announced will be in attendance as well. “That guest speaker will also present the winners of the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship,” Marinoff-Silk said. The scholarship was founded in 2000 in Memory of Alex Higgins of Bedford. Since 2001 it has helped more than than 50 New Hampshire children and teens attend the U.S. Space Camp & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for a week of simulated astronaut or pilot training, according to the website.
The planetarium will also be in full use, with a premiere of a new planetarium show. For that, you need tickets, which are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Show times will be at 11 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. The show, We Are Guardians, looks at how the world, its people and its ecosystems are connected and how satellite monitoring helps us see the effects of human activities and climate change, according to Marinoff-Silk

AerospaceFest
When: Saturday, Sept. 21, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, 2 Institute Drive, Concord
Tickets: Free, suggested donation $5-$10
Info: starhop.com

Last chance

Three area shows before Senie Hunt returns to Nashville

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

Since moving from Concord to Nashville a few years ago, Senie Hunt has found a lot of opportunities to grow as an artist. What was hard in New England, like driving two hours to pitch his percussive guitar skills to a new venue, is a lot more manageable in Music City.

“In Nashville, you walk down the street and find a place, and if they don’t get back to you, it’s just another walk down the road to go back and try it again,” he said by phone recently. “Trying to stay consistently active, but also trying to find gigs that I want to be doing more, is … easier.”

It’s also a hub to other Southern cities; Hunt has played in New Orleans and in Tennessee cities like Gatlinburg, Knoxville, Murfreesboro and Pigeon Forge, home to Dollywood. He still makes time to return home to play, and when he does it’s often to do a special show. That’s the case with a few upcoming gigs, his last in New England until next spring.

The biggest is a triple bill on Sept. 20 at Rockingham Ballroom in Newmarket. Hunt will perform backed by Amorphous Band, a venerable Seacoast group, with fiddler EJ Ouellette joining in. He has a full band, the electric Senie Hunt Project; it played last June at Concord’s Bank of NH Stage. But this will be the first time he’ll be backed by a band while playing his acoustic guitar and djembe.

“I’m really excited about that,” he said. “Normally if I do an acoustic song with my band, I have them step off and they come back for the electric set.”

However, those looking for a taste of Hunt’s blues rock material can see a trio version of his Project on Thursday, Sept. 19, at Penuche’s Ale House in Concord. Finally, Hunt will play an afternoon solo set at the Concord Multicultural Festival on Sept. 22 in Keach Park.

It’s a regular annual event for Hunt, who built his current schedule around it. When the festival debuted a few years ago, Hunt came away impressed. This year’s lineup includes Nepalese dancers Barranquilla Flavor, Suri Wang performing traditional Chinese music, Irish step dancers, Ruby Shabazz’s old-school soul and R&B, Bollywood from Varnika, and hip-hop and Afropop from Martin Toe, as well as Israeli dancing and Japanese Taiko drumming.

“It really opened my eyes up to how much diversity is in Concord that’s just kind of tucked away,” Hunt said. “Just to know that there’s so much diversity and culture around in their home neighborhood, bringing out the music and food and dancing all in a public space really gives anybody the opportunity to come up and really see for themselves how vibrant the community can be.”

Hunt will wrap up with shows in Rhode Island and Newburyport, Mass., before heading back to his new home. While here, he’s also adding guitar and vocals to “Harmony,” a song by his longtime friend Hank Osborne, at Rocking Horse Studio in Pittsfield.

“I’ve worked with Hank since pretty much Day 1 when I moved to Concord,” Hunt said. “When I heard Hank’s music, there were so many similarities between his and my style of playing. I’m a little rougher on my guitar than him, but he’s one of the few musicians in the town that plays a similar style.”

Then it’s back to Nashville, where Hunt’s original music is getting much-deserved attention.

“I get to play my own style, my own thing,” he said. “That’s something I didn’t know I would find while I was down here, because you go downtown and it’s all covers. But there are certain places that are a lot more open, not the country or rock scene, and they want to hear your own original stuff. I’ve been pretty well off with being able to find enough places that are interested in that … it’s keeping me active, that’s a big upside. I’m able to play the music I want to play.”

World Music for Peace – The Meter Maids, Amorphous Band w/ Senie Hunt & EJ Ouellette, and Big Blue World
When: Friday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rockingham Ballroom, 22 Ash Swamp Road, Newmarket
Tickets: $20 at coastalsoundsnh.com (21+)

Senie Hunt Trio appears Thursday, Sept. 19, at 9 p.m. at Penuche’s Ale House in Concord, and Senie Hunt plays solo at the Concord Multicultural Festival in Keach Park on Sunday, Sept. 22, at 3 p.m.

Featured photo: Senie Hunt.Courtesy photo.Photo by Christine Torrey (Birch & Fern Photography)

Art is an open door

Bookery talk fosters appreciation

By Michael Witthaus
[email protected]

Visual artist and critic Franklin Einspruch will appear at an upcoming Bookery Manchester event to discuss Aphorisms for Artists: 100 Ways Toward Better Art. Edited by Einspruch and written by the modernist painter Walter Darby Bannard, the book is a guide to seeing as much as a source for creating, and Einspruch’s talk will also appeal to non-artists.

Anyone who’s ever stared blankly at a wall of paintings in a gallery, or puzzled over an article packed with critical terms, will be relieved by the book’s simplicity. “Good art is good art. Period.,” it begins, followed by an explanatory page; this format continues for the rest of its 240 pages.

“Way down deep we are all the same,” Bannard writes. “Taste, if we have it, is what takes us down to where art lives.”

In a recent Zoom interview, Einspruch explained that his discussion at Bookery is a way in for anyone who’s had an unpleasant experience looking at art.

“This is for folks who’ve gone into a museum and just felt bewildered,” he said. “The refreshing message is you’re allowed to have your own experience. You must learn to trust that … because it’s yours.”

The inspiration to collect Bannard’s Aphorisms for Artists was born in the early 2000s, when Einspruch was a writer for Artblog.net, one of the first blogs about visual art. His old professor frequently responded to his articles, using an alias.

“He left all these jewels of wisdom in the comments section; I said, ‘We ought to assemble this into readable form.’” Over the years, “we went back and forth developing the aphorisms. It was all his creation, but I would give feedback on some of them and advice … once he was done, I wrote a foreword.” Sadly, Bannard, “Darby” to his friends, passed away in 2016 and wasn’t able to witness the first edition of his book sell out in 2022.

Bannard, whose works are in New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, was integral to Einspruch’s growth as a painter. He came to the University of Miami in the early ’90s with a newfound interest in abstract painting, sparked by seeing a Willem de Kooning work in a New Orleans museum.

“I tried to figure out what was going on by making abstract paintings in this very de Kooning mode,” he said. “Darby, who with Frank Stella was thrown out of de Kooning’s studio as a young painter, knew this material very, very well. I’d make a bunch of paintings, and he’d say, ‘OK, well, that’s your best one, and that one’s OK, the one next to that is no good, and

the fourth one will be fine if you rotate it 90 degrees.’”

He was right every time, Einspruch added. “The manner in which Darby could troubleshoot paintings was unbelievable.”

Those who don’t spend their days with a brush in hand shouldn’t be intimidated by the depth of this knowledge, however.

“Art is,” he declares early on, and it’s for everyone. One of the book’s key aphorisms is, “An ivory tower is a fine place as long as the door is open.” By that, Bannard meant that, like all specialties, art is elitist. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” he wrote. “Art may be for the privileged few, but they have earned the privilege and deny it to no one.”

A passion for helping others find their “eye” — a conduit to beauty — drove him as a teacher and creator. “There is no way to specify what good art is or how to create it,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. There was a caveat, however. “Certain principles, like gold in a pan, eventually wash clear enough to express in a few words.”

The many nuggets sprinkled on the pages of Aphorisms for Artists are a treasure for anyone hoping to connect with art.

“This is a book written by someone who knew very well how to make art, and he knew it so well that he could help other people,” Einspruch said. “That turns out to be a very rare skill, partly because his talent was of such extraordinary degree, but also he was able to articulate what he was doing.”

Franklin Einspruch discusses Aphorisms for Artists
When: Friday, Sept. 20, 5 p.m.
Where: Bookery Manchester, 844 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: Free; register at eventbrite.com

Featured image: Franklin Einspruch. Photo from Zoom call by Michael Witthaus.

Discover the Corn Maze Craze

Where to have fun on farms with a live action puzzle

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

In addition to filling totes with apples and picking out a pumpkin or two, at many farms you can extend your visit with a corn maze. These live-action puzzles offer an all-ages fall activity and another way for the farms to benefit from visitors during the harvest season.

At the Coppal House Farm in Lee, you’ll find a different design each year. “Every year our corn maze theme encompasses something that you would see in your own back yard, be it animal, plant, reptile, amphibian, or avian,” according to the farm’s website. “Our crops are rotated around the farm for the health of the soil, so our corn maze is a different experience every year. Depending on the weather, the corn maze has been planted by our Belgian Draft Horses and it is almost always harvested by them. Our corn is not of the human eating variety, instead it is a feed corn used for the nourishment of our sheep flock and our horses.”

At Elwood Orchards in Derry, they posted photos of green corn stalks in early July: “Corn maze construction is underway!” the post read, highlighting the multi-step process and long journey of turning corn to maze.

At Moulton Farm in Meredith, a post from fall 2023 also talks about starting the maze in the summer: “Our corn maze is planted every year in mid to late June, depending on the weather. The field is planted in both directions to create a grid. The maze is then designed by hand. ​An outline of the field is drawn on about 20 pieces of graph paper taped together. Each line on the graph paper represents 1 row of corn. Wes Thomas, who has worked at our farm since he was in high school, starts translating his design idea onto graph paper. This process alone takes one or two days and several erasers.”

At Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn in Hopkinton, the farm creates two unique corn mazes every fall. This 200-acre farm, under conservation and going back to 1771, is open every day until Thursday, Oct. 31, for corn maze fun until dusk. An admission price of $7 covers both mazes, and children 3 and under get in free.

Holly Kimball, one of the owners of the farm, is a former educator whose love of her family’s farm is apparent.

“This is a multigenerational farm, so we have the seventh, eighth and ninth generations running the farm,” Kimball said. Much of the farm is run and maintained by Holly as well as her son, Nate Kimball-Barr, and his wife, Hannah Kimball-Barr.

Besides corn mazes they have around 500 trees tapped for maple syrup, they raise pork, and there’s a menagerie of farm animals that include baby goats, sheep, lambs, peacocks, Shetland ponies and more.

“We have a wide array of farm animals that people love to visit,” Holly Kimball said. “Over 100 animals here, actually.” Beef cattle are a mainstay as well.

“We have a nice mixture of Black and Red Angus and then we have some Simmental blood mixed in there…. We were a dairy farm for 225 years, and the dairy cattle were sold in 1996. That’s when my parents decided to sell ice cream to keep the farm going,” she said.

Ice cream is as big a draw as the animals at Beech Hill, she noted. “So many times when I’m outside taking care of the plants I’ll hear people come and they’ll say, ‘Do you want to see the animals first or get the ice cream first?’”

As the weather begins to get cooler, fall becomes apparent. “We also grow acres of pumpkins so it won’t be long before we’ll start picking pumpkins and gourds … the barnyard is just a sea of orange once the pumpkins get ripe.”

The mazes opened on Aug. 1 this year, and although they start in the summer the mazes lead the farm into the new seasons.

Kimball’s background in teaching fuels each new maze theme.

“I want one that’s good for school-aged [visitors] and one that’s for everyone,” she said. “We come up with two fresh new themes each year and we come up with designs that complement the themes. I vary it each year so that the format is different. People can make it competitive or a team-building activity.”

These are not your typical mazes.

“I work on some kind of a scavenger hunt-style activity for each one,” she said. “That is hugely popular with people because they are not just walking through a maze. They actually have a piece of paper in their hand and they’re trying to solve a giant crossword puzzle or sometimes it’s a Jeopardy! game. I always try to have at least one that’s a game style.”

One of the themes this year is Museum Mixup.

“It’s based on the Smithsonian Museums that my family actually went and saw last January. I chose a lot of the artifacts that we saw from five different museums and then I turned that into a scavenger hunt where people need to find all of the items listed and match them to the museum that they are displayed in,” she said. These include the National Zoo, the American History museum and the Air and Space Museum. “It’s a lot of pop culture, things that are multi-generational and people will kind of get a kick out of.”

The concept is easy to follow, Kimball said. “What we do is we hide the signs in the maze, all throughout it, and if people can find all the items on the scavenger hunt list they know they’ve been through the entire maze.”

In honor of Hawaii’s 65 years as a state, the second maze is The Amazing Aloha State Maze. “That one’s a giant crossword puzzle. People really love the crossword puzzle. They’re finding signs in the maze that say one-across or 13-down, whatnot, and they fill in the puzzle as they go,” Kimball said.

Mazes have a little something for everyone.

“It appeals to all ages. The kids like to go in because they can spy all the signs and the older children that are reading, that becomes another level, and then the ones that want to do the crossword and check the answers as they go through, and some do it as a team, some as a family, it really makes for a fun fall outing for people,” she said.

Kimball is always figuring out new ways to maze.

“It’s always in the back of my mind. I do research. I look at every different angle…. It gets very tricky not to repeat,” she said.

How do Holly’s designs come to life? First is the planting.

“My son grows the fields, the acres of corn. He plants the corn very close together. It’s almost cross planted so it’s very dense, very close-growing stalks of corn in the field. We’re also using a hybrid corn that grows quickly and it grows tall,” she said. It has reached 10 feet.

The corn is not just for the mazes.

“First and foremost, we’re planting this corn anyway because we have 50 head of beef cattle here on the farm. That corn is 100-day corn that gets planted and it has nutritional value for our cows,” she said. “We have a lot of signs up that say, ‘Please don’t pick the corn,’ because that’s a food crop that is really essential for our farm.”

After agriculture comes the technology.

“Nate and his wife, Hannah, actually use Google Earth and a lot of math and figure out how to put that design and make it fit in the shape of that field,” Kimball said.

“The first step after that is the design. They draw out on graph paper, then they’re looking at Google Earth and they’re deciding which design is going to fit better on one piece rather than the other,” she said.

The shape of each plot is a deciding factor: “One is a little longer and thinner. The other one is a little more boxy, the acreage.”

The growth of the corn helps dictate when the structure gets crafted.

“There’s the old farmer’s saying, ‘knee high by the fourth of July’ — that’s when we start thinking about wanting to cut the corn because if you wait until the corn is eye level, it’s really, really hard to see where your next point is that you’re trying to go to,” Kimball said.

Farm engineering lends a hand as the maze is sculpted out of corn.

“They have to scale the dimensions of the design to the 4-acre plot. They use a GPS point finder and Nate is able to mow the path while his wife is standing and holding a surveyor stick,” she said. “He does an amazing job because his designs come out with a lot of symmetry and that is not easy to do. He’s done an octopus, he’s done a cow, a beehive, some Olympic medals, and it’s remarkable how precise he can be just using your own basic tools like an old beater lawn mower. You have to go over all the paths in the maze several times until it’s just dirt…. It’s very labor-intensive.”

How long is this path? “We do know that it takes 30 to 40 minutes to do each maze. That’s finding the signs, stopping, writing in the answer. People like that too because they don’t want to go in there and get really lost. You still can’t see over your head but the size is very doable.”

After Halloween the corn is siloed. “It will feed our cows all the way through the winter up until April. Not many people that have corn mazes actually do something with the corn, and ours go to the cows.”

How did the maze craze start? Kimball was with her father around 25 years ago in Vermont and saw either a brochure or bumper sticker that sparked the interest. “There’s a maze they call the Great Vermont Maze, and I said to my dad, ‘I think we can do that,’ and over the winter we tried to think of everything that would be involved and what we would have to do…. That’s what started it, a maze in Vermont.”

The belief in themselves has sparked a new tradition at this old farm, Kimball said: “We get a little better each year, I think.”

Where to corn maze

Here are some of the area corn mazes. Call before you go to make sure the maze is open that day as availability can change based on weather and other factors. Know of a maze not mentioned here? Let us know at [email protected].

• Applecrest Farm Orchards (133 Exeter Road, Hampton Falls, 926-3721, applecrest.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost: $9 per person and free for ages 5 and under. This 8-acre corn field features a maze of twists and turns that typically remains open through Halloween or early November depending on weather conditions. Applecrest, which features pick your own apples, also hosts a fall festival every weekend through the end of October with live music, tractor rides and food for sale, according to the website. On Sunday, Oct. 20, it’s the annual Great Pumpkin Carve from noon to 4 p.m. when the master carver creates a many-hundred-pound jack-o’-lantern, the website said.

• Beans & Greens Farm (245 Intervale Road, Gilford, 293-2853, beansandgreensfarm.com) Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; a night maze is offered Friday and Saturday from 7:30 to 10 p.m. with last entry at 9:15 p.m. Cost: $14 for adults and $10 for kids 9 and younger Monday through Friday. $16 for adults and $12 for kids 9 and under for Saturday and Sunday. The cost for the night maze is $24 according to their website; it is anticipated to open Friday, Sept. 20. On Saturday, Sept. 28, the Notch Biergarten by Beans & Greens Farm will hold its second annual Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (with activities such as a sausage toss at 1 p.m., chicken dance-off at 2 p.m., a beer stein holding contest at 3 p.m., a kids’ fun park and more) and a Harvest Festival on Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with live music, a kids’ fun park, candy cannon, craft fair, hayrides and more, according to the website.

• Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn (107 Beech Hill Road, Hopkinton, 223-0828, beechhillfarm.com) Hours: Daily, noon to dusk. Cost: $7 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn has two 4-acre corn mazes, and $7 gives you access to both. This year’s themes are “Museum Mixup” and “The Amazing Aloha State Maze,” and maze-goers search for signs with clues in a scavenger hunt style. Complete the puzzles to navigate through. The mazes are open daily through Oct. 31. In addition to the ice cream and homemade waffle cones, Beech Hill offers pumpkins, mums and more in its Gardner’s Barn. On Sunday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m., author Matt Forrest Ensenwine will sign copies of his picture books; his new book Tractor Dance is for sale at the ice cream barn, according to the farm’s Facebook page.

• Brookdale Fruit Farm (41 Broad St., Hollis, 465-2240, brookdalefruitfarm.com) Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $4 per person. The corn maze is among several family-friendly activities that will be available at Brookdale Fruit Farm this fall, along with hayrides and apple picking. The farm also features an ice cream stand and a wide variety of local products in its farm stand, including the farm’s own honey, canned vegetables and jellies and more, according to the website.

• Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, brookfordfarm.com, 742-4084) Corn maze hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission costs $8 for everyone 3 and over; free for kids 2 and under. This coming weekend, the farm’s pick-your-own offerings include raspberries and pumpkins, according to the website, where you can find the picking schedule through the end of October and purchase corn maze tickets. The weekend of Saturday, Oct. 12, through Monday, Oct. 14, is Pumpkins and Puppets, which will feature pumpkin picking, Wicked Witches of the Lakes Region (on Oct. 12 at 11 a.m.), marionettes (Oct. 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m), feed the pigs, cow parades, farm basketball, hayrides, puppet show, build your own scarecrow and more, according to the website, where you can purchase tickets for a day’s admission.

• Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road, Lee, 659-3572, nhcornmaze.com) Hours: Monday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entrance is at 4:30 p.m.). Columbus Day hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $10 for adults, $8 for kids ages 5 to 12 and for students, seniors and active military service members, and free for kids ages 4 and under. This year’s theme is the 2024 Anniversary Moose Corn Maze to celebrate 20 years of Coppal House Farm. There are also three nighttime maze dates that are open to the public, scheduled for Sept. 28, Oct. 12 and Oct. 26 (general admission is $15 per person; online ticketing only) — bring your own flashlight. The farm’s farm stand is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and offers meats, local maple syrup and more, according to the website. A Harvest Weekend celebration will be held Saturday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, Sept. 22, with events including horse-drawn wagon rides, fairy house building (Sept. 21 from 1 to 3 p.m.), acorn scarecrow building (Sept. 22 from 1 to 3 p.m.), wildlife encounters (Sept. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and farm animals, according to the website. Catch live music both days and food will be for sale from Crescent City Kitchen, Refuge BBQ and Ken’s Corn, the website said.

• Elwood Orchards (54 Elwood Road, Londonderry, 434-6017, elwoodorchards.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entrance is at 5 p.m.) Cost: $12 per person and free for kids ages 5 and under. The 15-acre corn maze at this family-owned and -operated farm and orchard is open now and typically through the first weekend of November. In addition to pick-your-own apples, the orchard offers “delicious treats at the farm stand” and fall decorations, according to the website.

• J & F Farms (124 Chester Road, Derry, 437-0535, jandffarmsnh.com) Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost: $10 per person. The corn maze is Fall-themed in September and Halloween-themed in October at this longtime family-run farm and is open to the public now through the end of October. Also at the farm, you can visit and feed the animals at the petting farm and buy some fresh produce and honey, according to the website.

• Lavoie’s Farm (172 Nartoff Road, Hollis, 882-0072, lavoiesfarm.com) Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cost: Free. At the family-owned and -operated Lavoie’s Farm, visitors can traverse the 3-acre corn maze. Visitors in the fall “can … enjoy hay rides, a corn maze, a corn boil, and apple cider — all free with any produce purchase,” according to the website. Pinky’s Traveling Smokestack is expected to be selling barbecue at the farm on weekends in September and October, according to a Facebook post from the Farm.

• Mack’s Apples (230 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, macksapples.com, 432-3456) Corn maze is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays Mack’s also has weekend Bee Train rides from noon to 5 p.m. and hayrides around the orchard from 1 to 5 p.m.

• Moulton Farm (18 Quarry Road, Meredith, moultonfarm.com, 279-3915) Corn maze hours: 8 a.m to 4 p.m. daily. The cost is $10 per person, $6 for ages 3 to 6, free for under 3, the website said. The corn maze opens for the season on Saturday, Sept. 21, which will also see the opening of pumpkin picking (which will run through Oct. 14), according to the website. Other events include a view of the baby goats (called “New ‘Kids’ On the Block”), horse drawn carriages and live music some weekends (starting Saturday, Sept. 28) and face painting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, through Monday, Oct. 14. The farm also features Sal’s Fresh Seafood Thursdays through Sundays; baked goods, salads, meals, soups, sandwiches and more for sale at the farm market; Cider Bellies cider doughnuts Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Moutlon’s Hay Wagon food truck Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and fresh produce from Moulton’s and other farms in the market, according to the website.

• Riverview Farm (141 River Road, Plainfield, 298-8519, riverviewnh.com) Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cost: $8 per person and free for kids ages 4 and under. Artist and illustrator Emily Zea comes up with new themes each year for Riverview Farm’s corn maze, and visitors this year will see monsters and folklore, a similar theme to last year but with a whole new path. The Farm Store is open through October, offering doughnuts, cider, jams, honey and more; visitors can bring a packed lunch to eat at the picnic tables on the lawn.

• Trombly Gardens (150 N. River Road, Milford, 673-0647, tromblygardens.net) Hours: Daily, from 9 a.m. to dusk. Cost: $9 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. Bringing in a canned good will result in $1 off entry (one can per person) and the item will be donated to a local food bank. Visitors can also “grab an ice cream and visit the animals while you are here,” according to a recent Facebook post from the Gardens. Starting in October on Friday and Saturday there will be a night maze whose times vary based on the schedule of The Dark Woods (thedarkwoodsnh.com), which is a haunted trail on the other side of the farm, through Halloween.

• Washburn’s Windy Hill (orchard 66 Mason Road, Greenville, 878-2101, washburnswindyhillorchard.com) Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cost: $5 per person and free for kids ages 3 and under. The 5-acre corn maze at Washburn’s Windy Hill Orchard is open daily, rain or shine, through the end of October. Visitors can visit farm animals and browse the gift shop; there are picnic tables and a play area for children.

Featured Photos : A previous maze at Beech Hill Farm. Photo by Jody Reynolds.

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