Here’s an idea for a first date: Break some glass. Then gather it up and fuse it into a work of art. It’s a great way to loosen up and find a creative impulse. That’s the idea at Art Escape, a Laconia walk-in studio offering everything from shattered glass and glass-blowing classes to working a pottery wheel, clay sculpture, ceramics and splatter painting.
Inviting your Bumble match to spin a clay bowl or paint and fire a ceramic fish not only has happened at Art Escape, but one such meetup led to an in-studio marriage proposal, owner Jean Cox recalled recently. Not only that; the couple later returned to celebrate their anniversary.
“This was his date’s favorite place to go,” she said. “He set it up with us ahead of time, so when she was in a paint class he walked in and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ We got it on video, it was very cool. Then they came back a year later to say, ‘Hey, we’re still married here.’”
Making art and memories is Art Escape’s mission. Cox and her husband, both Air Force veterans, opened a location near Laconia High School in 2007, and moved to Union Avenue 10 years later. The couple wanted a family-friendly studio for artistic creation, as existing spaces catered primarily to adults.
It’s become an intergenerational bridge, much to Cox’s delight.
“I’ve got a grandmother painting with her two grandkids right now,” she said. “It’s a way not only to spend time with the family, but one of the kids has a little ceramic axolotl she’s painting. Ten years from now they’ll look at it and remember doing it with their grandmother.”
Another popular attraction at Art Escape is the Splatter Room, where customers put on ponchos and shoe covers, then get their colors and a paint blaster with cups of paint. They stick the blaster in the cup, suck it up and spray it, not always aiming at a canvas. Jackson Pollock would likely be shocked, but it’s a great place to let off steam.
“You’re painting either a canvas or a shirt,” Cox said. “You literally throw paint at each other, or you throw paint at the canvas. It’s almost like family therapy if you come in with your kids … I mean, who doesn’t want to throw paint at their parents?”
When it debuted, Cox brought her two young sons in to test it out. “My son took a whole bottle of paint and threw it at me, and I was like, oh, this is how it’s going to go. We’re in there for I don’t know how long, and next thing you know, he’s like, ‘Gosh, mom, we never decorated our canvas.’ I’m like, ‘Well, let’s throw some paint on that.’”
It’s also a fun place for adults to unwind. Customers are allowed to bring food and beverages.
“Sometimes it’s a group of girls that just needs time off, since they work all week long. They just come in and hang out and bring wine. I had a group of them the other day. They brought a little charcuterie board, and wine, and stuff like that,” Cox said.
One thing it isn’t is a place for serious artists to work toward having a gallery someday.
“It’s not like fine art, it’s fun art, it’s a place to come with your grandkids or your girlfriends,” Cox said, while stressing that some of the higher-level classes that may seem daunting are surprisingly accessible.
“Everybody walks in thinking, I can’t do this, my project’s not going to look like hers, and when they leave, half the time, they’re better than mine,” she said. “They can customize them, and the projects come out so amazing. It’s nice that they’re going home with something that they can be proud of.”n front of a piece of artwork and whether you love it, or you don’t get it, or you hate it, you still have an opinion about it. It’s really interesting to me that people can get together and celebrate each other, discuss artwork, see where those ideas would come from. Part of my fun and part of my joy is making a space that’s really approachable and that is very welcoming…. So as much as it’s an experiment to showcase the artist, I also want to make sure that the patrons feel really supported and want to come in and check out and see what’s going on at See Saw,” Regan said.
Art Escape Where: 636 Union Ave., Laconia More: artescape.com
New Hampshire’s biggest wine event, New Hampshire Wine Week, will take place from Jan. 17 through Jan. 23, culminating in the New England Wine Spectacular, a wine expo featuring more than 1,700 different wines from around the world. According to Justin Gunter, a wine specialist with the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, New Hampshire’s influence in the wine industry has grown continually over the past 20 years.
“The first Winter Wine Spectacular took place with a few winemakers sitting around a kitchen table and some dining,” Gunter said. “And it’s grown to be one of the largest wine events in New England. We’ve got an amazing array of winemakers that are coming here to New Hampshire. What the [Liquor] Commission has done over the course of the past 20 years has not only strengthened its wine offerings for consumers but, you know, really caught the attention of the entire wine industry.”
According to Gunter, over the course of New Hampshire Wine Week, wine representatives will make appearances throughout the state, building to two central events.
“We have winemakers coming from all over the world — winemakers, wine personalities, owners, people from all aspects of winery coming to our state to visit for Wine Week. They’ll be crisscrossing the state that week for wine dinners and bottle signings and two really great signature events: the Viva la France event as well as the Winter Wine Spectacular. So this is really a story about the evolution of not only this event and the growth of the event but also the state of New Hampshire’s prominence in the world of wine and the offerings that we’re able to provide to consumers.”
One of the goals of Wine Week is to expose wine enthusiasts to as large a variety of wines as possible. There will be offerings from huge, well-established producers and from small family-owned vineyards. “For instance,” Gunter said, “Randy Ullom of Jackson Family Wines will be at our event. He’s an icon in the industry, the head winemaker for Kendall-Jackson Wines, a very big name in the industry. He’ll be working directly with his table, which will have the Jackson family wines along with a couple of side projects that the Jackson family wines are doing that he’s heading as well. So you’ve got somebody like that who is taking time out of his schedule, probably with worldwide demands. And then you’ve got folks like Maria Helm Sinskey from Robert Sinskey Vineyards, who’s been coming here for decades. And they’ve got a much smaller winery but a really high-quality product. The thing to note is that they’re head winemakers. They’re involved in the industry; they’re involved in their wineries. These people have their hands in the dirt. They’re farmers. They’re heavily involved in every aspect of wine. Everybody who comes to this event will have an opportunity to get to speak with them and talk to them about their wine specifically and really pick their brains and celebrate wine.”
Despite the level of expertise on tap at the Wine Week events, Gunter said they are for wine enthusiasts of all levels of experience.
“These events are perfect for someone just getting to know wines all the way up to an aficionado,” he said. “These winemakers are so passionate about what they do, and the products that they make, they’re more than happy to guide you and ask you [about] the types you know and the flavor profiles you like. It really offers something for anybody at any end of the spectrum.”
The Wine Spectacular will fill a lot of floor space. “There’s actually two rooms that we’ve used for the past few years,” Gunter said. “There’s one room that is the primary expo that will have the vast majority of the tables. There are more than 200 tables of wines to choose from with up to 12 wines per table. That’s how we can get so many wines available for people to try. We also have the Bellman Cellar Select Room, which is for some more refined, more higher-end offerings. And there’s about 40 tables in that room as well. Along with that, we have food that will be prepared by local restaurants. And ultimately it all comes back to this, it’s really all garnered in passion. Every one of these people that you will meet, it’s not about explaining nuances of wine; it’s a passion for the product.”
Richard Jacob is an account manager with Vinilandia NH, a wine import company in Portsmouth focusing on niche, organic, family-owned and generational vineyards around the world. In his view, New Hampshire Wine Week is a way for wine professionals and enthusiasts to keep up with what is available in a constantly changing wine landscape.
“It’s a chance for distributors in the area that work with the Liquor Commission to get an opportunity to showcase some of their products,” Jacob said. “It’s really exciting because the wine in people’s portfolios are constantly changing, so it’s important that these events happen so people can get a fresh taste of the new vintages or the newest wines that have been added to the state. It’s a good opportunity for people to learn and see the types of wines that are around the corner.”
Jacob clarified the term “portfolio.” “The portfolio is pretty much our book,” he explained. “It’s the list of the wines that we sell. Our portfolio at Vinilandia, just as an example, has about 480 wines.” That can make keeping track of wines in New Hampshire easy to lose sight of, he said. And that makes events like NH Wine Week important to industry professionals and consumers alike, he said. Although wine sales in general have fallen recently, “companies that sell more independent winemaker products, family-run wineries, wines that have a story and that are sustainable …[those] are doing much better. I feel like there is a shift in the culture because people are realizing that these sustainably produced wines can compete with the pricing of mass-produced wines.” And events that bring story-worthy wines to the public’s attention benefit everyone.
Emma Round, owner of Unwined Wine Bar in Milford, says those wines-with-stories help her give value to her customers.
Previous Wine Week. Photo by Timothy Courtemanche
“I think frequently people see what there is in the liquor store,” Round said, “and their imagination can be limited by that.” They see the prices that restaurants have to charge for a bottle of wine, and wonder why they should pay so much more for a bottle that they could buy much less expensively on their own, she said. “But many of the wineries that are well-recognized have smaller portfolios of restaurant-only wines. These events give you the opportunity to see those, which is really important and it’s really good. I highly encourage the public to go to these things to kind of broaden their horizons. I know some of the restaurants try to do that ourselves, but I think when [wine producers] do that on their own back is awesome, too.”
Genevieve Wolfe is the Wine Director for Vine 32 Wine and Graze Bar in Bedford. She said New Hampshire Wine Week’s timing is auspicious.
“It’s fun for the restaurant side of things to have Wine Week [now],” Wolfe said, “because, obviously, with dry January, typically [wine sales] slow down a little bit. So Wine Week being in January is always great for us. It’s just a little bit of a push. We love serving new people and especially ones who want to explore. Those who are attending any of the Wine Week events that usually are the ones who are willing to kind of go outside the box from what they know. Having 32 taps [at Vine 32] allows us to really help them out of their comfort zone and to try something new. So we always look forward to Wine Week.”
19th Annual New England Winter Wine Spectacular When: Thursday, Jan. 23, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Where: Doubletree Expo Center, 700 Elm St., Manchester, 625-1000 Tickets: There are three tiers of tickets available for the event: Bellman’s Cellar Select, which includes access to a VIP room, product samples, gourmet food pairings and early access to the main expo area, for $135; Grand Ballroom Advanced Entrance, which allows ticket holders early access to the main expo area, for $95 per person; and Grand Ballroom General Admission for $75.
Visit nhwineweek.com. Proceeds from the event go to support the New Hampshire Food Bank.
Sponsored by Pine State Beverage New Hampshire, the organizers of the Wine Spectacular will arrange for a safe ride home within 20 miles for any guest, free of charge.
French wine in the spotlight
The “Viva la France” wine tasting and panel discussion on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford will focus on French wines.
Three major importers and distributors of French wines will be on hand to lead guests through the breadth and subtleties of some of their favorite wines: Marnie Old, Director of Vinlightenment of Boisset Collections, Serge Doré, Wine Importer of Serge Doré Collections, and Dominique Giovine, SVP of iconic Moët Hennessy.
According to Justin Gunter, a Wine Specialist with the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, this event will be a special opportunity for wine enthusiasts to learn from experts.
“There’s going to be a cocktail hour,” Gunter said, “where we’ll be pouring two wines from each of these representatives and we’ll be able to mingle with and speak to the representatives and talk to them about these wines that they’ve brought. And then after that first hour at about 6:30 … they’ll be sitting at the front in a panel type of presentation and we’ll have hors d’oeuvres and some food pairings to go along with the different wines. These panelists will walk all of our guests through these expressions of these specific regions in France. And I’ve got to tell you they are pouring some powerhouse wines. In fact …I’ve received word that vintage Dom Perignon will be poured.”
Serge Doré will be one of the featured panelists. He is the owner of Serge Doré Collections, which specializes in importing boutique French wines. He is excited about this all-French event. “Well, ‘Vive la France,’ first of all, it’s a big statement,” he said, “because it is an expression that is very important. It’s a commitment. ‘Vive la France’ is like when we say over here in the U.S., ‘God bless America.’ It’s exactly the same thing, but Vive la France goes back to the revolution, and this goes to the best … of French wine.”
“The event on Thursday night is absolutely spectacular for the consumers,” Doré said, “because, when you prepare a dish, what do you do while you’re cooking it or baking it? You taste and you taste and you taste. There’s no other way to understand a product. It is the same thing with wine, but now with wine, you have to open a bottle to have a sip. So how many bottles can you open at night? There’s a limit to what we can do. But now when you go to an event like on Thursday, a public event, that’s the perfect time to come and understand or discover or confirm things that you know or things that you want to know. You go from table to table and you focus on something and you walk out of there and say, oh my God, I’ve tasted 62 different wines tonight and now I understand why I like this or why I don’t like that. Because at the end it becomes very personal. It’s a matter of taste.”
For Doré, French wines capture a celebratory approach to life, and this event is for people who have that same sort of outlook.
“As long as you have people that do enjoy wines, that’s all that matters,” he said. “People who enjoy life, that’s all that matters. People that enjoy time with family and friends at the table, that’s what we want to have. That’s what I want to see in front of me. Life is about being at the table, technically three times a day at the table. You don’t spend more time in your life anywhere else but on the table. When you sit down normally, you have guests at home, people are nice, they talk not too loud, but after a few sips of wine the sound goes up, down, the conversation is all over the place, one cuts the other one and it’s joy to joy of the moment. It is created by the wine, not by the food. You say cheers with a glass, not with a fork.”
Viva la France wine tasting and panel discussion When: Thursday, Jan.22, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Where: Manchester Country Club, 180 S. River Road, Bedford, 624-4096, manchestercountryclub.com Tickets: $65 at eventbrite.com
New Hampshire Wine Week events
Here are some of the events slated for NH Wine Week. See nhwineweek.com/events for updates.
Saturday, Jan. 18
Wine Dinner with Brian Pruett, Dry Creek Vineyards Winemaker from 6 to 9 p.m. at Wentworth By the Sea (588 Wentworth Road, New Castle, 422-7322, opalcollection.com/wentworth)
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Wine Tasting with Brian Pruett, Winemaker of Dry Creek Vineyards, noon to 2 p.m., NH Liquor and Wine Outlet, Portsmouth Store #38 (500 Woodbury Ave, Portsmouth Traffic Circle, Portsmouth, 436-4806, liquorandwineoutlets.com)
Wine Dinner with Brian Pruett, Dry Creek Vineyards Winemaker, 5 to 8 p.m., Martingale Wharf Restaurant (99 Bow St., Portsmouth, 431-0901, martingalewharf.com)
“Viva la France” Wine Tasting and Panel Discussion, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Manchester Country Club (180 S. River Road, Bedford, 624-4096, manchestercountryclub.com). See page 13.
Truchard Vineyards wine dinner at Prime at 6 p.m. Sky Meadow Country Club (6 Mountain Laurels Drive, Nashua, 888-9000, skymeadow.com)
Wine Tasting with Nicole Hitchcock, Winemaker of J Vineyards, 6 to 7 p.m., NH Liquor & Wine Outlet, Store #50 (Willow Spring Plaza, 294 DW Highway, Nashua, 888-0271, liquorandwineoutlets.com)
Wine Tasting with Battle Creek Winemaker Sarah Cabot, Winderlea Vineyard owners Bill Sweat and Donna Morris, and Peter Paul Wines Winemaker Mike Tracy, 6 to 7 p.m., NH Liquor & Wine Outlet,Store #69 (25 Coliseum Ave., Nashua, 882-4670, liquorandwineoutlets.com).
Wine Dinner with Joseph Spellman, Justin Vineyards and Winery Master Sommelier, 6 to 9 p.m., Coyote Grill (98 Valley Road, Waterville Valley, 236-4919, wildcoyotegrill.com)
Thursday, Jan. 22
19th Annual New England Winter Wine Spectacular. 6 to 8:30 p.m., Doubletree Expo Center (700 Elm St., Manchester, 625-1000), nhwineweek.com
Other wine happenings
Here are some other wine related events in January.
Wine on Main (9 N. Main St. in Concord; wineonmainnh.com) has several wine events on its January schedule. A Wine of the Isles class will be offered Tuesday, Jan. 14, and Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 6:30 to 8 p.m. and focus on wines of the islands off the coast of Italy, Croatia, France and more ($35 per person). A free wine tasting will be held during Winterfest on Saturday, Jan. 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. There will also be a Cupcake and Wine Pairing on with sessions Wednesday, Jan. 29, and Thursday, Jan. 30, 6:30 to 8 p.m. ($35 per person).
Global Flights & Bites Series at The Grazing Room at Colby Hill Inn in Henniker, colbyhillinn.com, running Fridays, Jan. 17 through Feb. 7, 4 to 8 p.m. For $59 per person, enjoy a flight of three wines presented with four appetizers. Each week will feature a region: Jan. 17 is Portugal, Jan. 24 is the Mediterranean, Jan. 31 is West Coast and Feb. 7 is Japan.
Cakebread Cellars Wine Dinner a five-course wine dinner with speaker Niki Williams at Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way in Bedford; bedfordvillageinn.com) on Wednesday, Jan. 22, starting at 6 p.m. Price is $125 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Find the menu and the listings of wines to be paired online.
Savor the Season: Big Reds and Bold Flavors, a tasting of seven reds, at WineNot Boutique (25 Main St. in Nashua; winenotboutique.com) on Thursday, Jan. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. Admission costs $45.
The 21st Annual Winter Wine Festival at Wentworth by the Sea (588 Wentworth Road in New Castle; opalcollection.com/wentworth, 422-7322) runs Friday, Jan. 17, through Sunday, Feb. 9. Happenings include a Big Tasting with MS Walker and Pine State on Friday, Jan. 17, 6 to 8:30 p.m. ($69.95 per person); a Vintner’s Dinner with Dry Creek Vineyards on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. ($99.95 per person); a Vintner’s Dinner with Jackson Family Wines on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 7 p.m. ($159.95 per person); a Vintner’s Dinner with Banfi Wines on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. ($149.95 per person); Vintner’s Dinner with Orin Swift Cellars & Winery on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. ($149.94 per person); and a Bubbles and Jazz Brunch on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ($69.95).
Wines to look for at NH Wine Week events this year
Here are some wines that the experts will be keeping their eyes on during this year’s New Hampshire Wine Week.
Justin Gunter, New Hampshire Liquor Commission “We definitely have some smaller vineyards represented. We have Donna Morris and Bill Sweat; they’re the owners of Winderlea Vineyards in Oregon, and they make some beautiful, beautiful pinot noirs. It’s a smaller operation. They’re not one of the giant conglomerates.” Another producer Gunter is excited about is “Christof Höpler and the Höpler Winery. It’s not a massive operation, but it is worldwide and we do import a fair amount and they concentrate on more of the Zweigelt and rieslings and a lot of the German varietals.”
Richard Jacob, Vinilandia NH “Recently we’ve had some wines that are from the northern part of Italy that we just brought on to our portfolio that are from this wonderful family with a fantastic [passion for] their culture and their history and their winemaking philosophy. Those kinds of connections are the things that help make a bottle of wine more special and not just, you know, a glass of alcohol. It just makes it good for conversation.”
Emma Round, Unwined Wine Bar “I favor a lot of South African wines. The flagship grape of South Africa is a pinotage. So many people have never tried a pinotage because they don’t know what it is. It’s a fantastic grape. It’s delicious and it pairs well with so much food. So I try and lead people down paths like that. It’s the same for a plavac mali from Croatia, which is very similar to a pinot noir but with just a little bit more, a little bit more flavor. It’s far and above been one of my most popular cider glass wines. And most people have never heard of it before, but you give them a taste and they’re like, ‘Oh! It’s fun; it’s exciting.’ And wine should be like that. Life should be fun and exciting. It should be about trying new things.”
Genevieve Wolfe, Vine 32 “We have all classic examples that people would normally come in and ask for. But then I also like wines from Croatia or Slovenia, something a little bit different. We’re changing over our menu again in January, so I’m always excited to bring in new stuff that’s a little bit different, a little bit off the beaten path, so I can bring in those who might be set in their ways and kind of show them something different.”
Emma Stetson, owner of Wine on Main “There is a wine importer called Massonais. They’re brand new to the state, and I’m looking forward to trying the new wines from them. They have a bunch of wines, but they specialize in eclectic, unique Italian wines. For example, they have a producer called Graci. They make Sicilian wines that are grown in volcanic soil, which is unique and fun. You can almost taste like that graphite, smoky character from the soil.”
Governor-elect Kelly Ayotte will get to drop the “-elect” on Thursday, Jan. 9, when she takes the oath of office at the Statehouse. On Jan. 6 she announced more of her staff members, building on her announcements in November that Christopher Connelly will serve as Chief of Staff and John Corbett will serve as Senior Advisor to the Governor. Additional hires include these:
Myles Matteson, who previously served as senior assistant attorney general and chief of the Criminal Justice Bureau at the New Hampshire Department of Justice, will be Legal Counsel.
Paul Dean, previously chief of police at the University of New Hampshire police department, will be Director of Citizen Services.
James Gerry, budget director for Gov. Sununu, will be Director of Policy and Finance.
Caroline Hakes, deputy campaign manager for Ayotte’s campaign, will be director of Communications.
Morgan Hughes, previously an associate attorney at Orr & Reno, will be Director of Appointments and Liaison to the Executive Council.
Consuelo Carver, a retired FBI agent and retired lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, will be the director of scheduling.
John Callaghan, field director on Ayotte’s campaign, will be policy and legislative assistant.
Alex Holderith, most recently a special assistant to Gov. Sununu, will be assistant director of policy and finance.
Donna Schoenfeld, a staff assistant in Sununu’s office, will be a staff assistant.
Virginia Drye, previously director of circulation for the Claremont Eagle Times, will be citizen services assistant.
Tyler Flanigan will be community engagement coordinator.
See gencourt.state.nh.us/house on Jan. 9 at 11:30 a.m. for a livestream of the proceedings.
U.S. Attorney resigns
Jane E. Young, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, announced her forthcoming resignation on Friday, Jan. 17, in a press release on Jan. 2. Young was nominated for the position in January 2022 by President Biden and has been in the position since May 2022. “Over the past two and a half years, law enforcement in the Granite State prioritized investigating those who illegally possessed firearms, made threats to government officials and schools, exploited our most vulnerable citizens, as well as defrauded pandemic-relief and other federal programs. I am particularly proud of the education we provided community members and the private sector on emerging frauds and scams, the expansion of the United States Attorney’s Office to include two additional prosecutors focused on civil rights and violent crimes, and the restitution orders obtained to make fraud victims whole,” Young said in the statement.
Conservation training
The University of New Hampshire Extension, New Hampshire Fish & Game and New Hampshire Division of Forest and Lands is accepting applications now through March 1 for its NH Coverts Project, according to a press release. “Started in 1995, the NH Coverts Project has trained over 500 volunteers in promoting wildlife conservation and forest stewardship throughout the state,” the release said. “In exchange for the training, participants commit to volunteer for at least 40 hours during the coming year and motivate others to become stewards of the state’s wildlife and forest resources. … Some lead field walks or organize volunteer workdays, while others serve on town boards or manage their own property for wildlife habitat.” There is a $50 registration fee and the training workshop is May 14 through May 17, the release said. See extension.unh.edu/blog/2025/01/application-period-opens-2025-nh-coverts-project-training.
Blood drive
The American Red Cross is looking for blood donors and offering a chance to win a trip to Super Bowl LIX. Donors who give through Sunday, Jan. 26, will be entered in a giveaway for a trip that includes tickets to the game, pre-game activities, round-trip airfare, three-night hotel accommodations and a gift card for expenses, according to a press release. See redcrossblood.org/SuperBowl for details. Upcoming local blood donation spots include:
NH Audubon McLane Center in Concord on Thursday, Jan. 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua on Thursday, Jan. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Goodale’s Bike Shop in Nashua on Friday, Jan. 10, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Boys and Girls Club of Greater Concord on Saturday, Jan. 11, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m
St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua on Monday, Jan. 13, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Bektash Shriners in Concord on Monday, Jan. 13, from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m.
St. John Neumann Church in Merrimack on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Great North Aleworks in Manchester on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from noon to 4:30 p.m.
White Birch Banquet Hall in Hudson on Tuesday, Jan. 14, from noon to 4:30 p.m.
LaBelle Winery in Amherst on Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The Ice Castles in North Woodstock is slated to open Friday, Jan. 10, at 3 p.m. with attractions including the Mystic Light Walk, the Polar Pub ice bar, the tubing hill and more, according to a press release. See icecastles.com.
Registration is open for the 23rd annual Rock’N Race, which will take place Wednesday, May 7, at 6 p.m. at the Statehouse in downtown Concord to raise funds for HOPE Resource Center at Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care, according to a press release. Earlybird registration, through March 1, costs $35 for adults and $15 for youth and the first 2,700 registrants will receive a T-shirt, according to a press release. See rocknrace.org.
Ed Brouder, Manchester Historic Association trustee and past president, will present an illustrated talk about The Ledge, a swimming attraction in a granite quarry near Derryfield Park that was created when granite was pulled from the quarry in the 1870s and 1880s for the city’s mill foundations and street curbing, according to manchesterhistoric.org. The talk will take place Saturday, Jan. 18, at 11 a.m. at the Millyard Museum in Manchester and is included with admission to the museum. RSVP by calling 622-7531 or emailing history@manchesterhistoric.org.
The NH Wolves Hurling Club will hold a Winter Gala Celebration on Saturday, Jan. 18, to “honor the achieves of the past season and to kick off the new year” according to the nhwolveshurling.com (where you can find details of the Wolves Indoor Hurling and Gaelic Football series, which starts Tuesday, Jan. 28, in Goffstown). The gala will take place at American Legion Post 98 (43 Baboosic Lake Road in Merrimack). Tickets start at $30 per person (plus fees). The evening will feature food by The Peddler’s Daughter, an award ceremony, live music and more.
orst nightmare of any parent and harness it toward helping others avoid a similar experience. Pizzastock began with a spring music festival followed by a winter battle of high school rock bands. It’s since grown to include open mic nights and, in an upcoming concert at Tupelo Music Hall, a multigenerational music showcase.
The organization is focused on assisting families and individuals with mental health issues. The effort was born from what Doug and Danielle Flood endured when their son died by suicide in 2016. Jason Flood was by all appearances successful. He was a recent and newly employed high school graduate, but the 18-year-old had a history of dealing with depression.
His parents did what they could to help. “He wasn’t a typical kid with the typical signs,” Doug Flood said in a recent joint interview. He’d talked with Jason about facing suicidal thoughts, telling him “even though you’re having a good day today … you still need to learn how to cope with the feelings when they come up.”
Danielle took another approach. “I’d ask, ‘When you go to bed and you wake up, what’s tomorrow?’ and he’d go, ‘It’s usually better,’” she recalled. “I thought that it was more of an environmental thing, not as much chemical or an actual disease. I thought he could control it that way. Those are mistakes I think I made.”
During his life, Jason was an avid musician, performing in bands with his Pinkerton Academy schoolmates. When he died, Doug and Danielle created the Jason R. Flood Memorial 501(c)(3) with a mission of “healing through music, connecting with community” and held its first festival in August 2017.
Jason’s band MKAO headlined, along with members of his other band, Floody & the BPs. Several other young performers were also there that day. “It was a bittersweet moment,” the Floods wrote on the organization’s website, “but also a joyous occasion, as Pizzastock raised over $2,200 for the Sonshine Soup Kitchen.”
After seven years of toggling between a festival and a battle of the bands, the format will change for 2025, a reflection of Pizzastock’s universal message. “Each generation has a different mental health challenge,” Doug said. “I thought if [each performer] took a few minutes to describe what mental health meant to them, it might resonate with each and every person in the audience … that’s kind of where this show started from in my mind.”
The show is also musically inclusive. Playing solo, Eddie Sands opens. “He’s been using a lot of high school and middle school kids to open for him in restaurants and bars,” Doug said, noting that Sands is in his 60s. “He’ll bring up one of the kids who’s off in college right now; she’s performed several times with us.”
Heavy metal cover band Oxidized follows for a reunion set. “I’ve been friends with the lead guitarist for many years, and I asked them if they’d get back together for us,” Doug said. “The next band is Lockjaw Smile, which is ’90s adult alternative, like Train or Three Doors Down; they’re all in their 30s.”
The Hand Me Downs follow with ska. They are a core band with a changing cast of musicians. “Our son always wanted to be part of a ska band, that was his favorite music,” said Doug. “His math teacher from middle school, someone we went to concerts with all the time, he’s the one that’s put this together … they’re just off-the-charts good.”
Vermilion closes. The young punk rock band is new to Pizzastock. “They started coming to our open mics last year,” Doug said. “I felt this was a really good way to reward them. Besides, they’re a punk rock band. It’s more my style and what I really like, with a sound somewhere between Hole and the Pixies.”
The Floods are pleased to hear about Pizzastock’s many positive outcomes, but also reluctant to take any credit for them.
“Doug and I, we just think that that’s weird, we’re not used to that,” Danielle said. “Parents of kids tell us, ‘You helped my son or daughter immensely.’ We’re like, ‘We didn’t do anything.’ We have these things, we tell our story, we provide some information. But helping them find their passion and giving them a reason to work through some of their struggles … we appreciate it, we just don’t know how to accept it.”
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988 or going to 988lifeline.org.
Honey Cup Cafe & Tearoom offers tea and a moment of calm
By John Fladd
jfladd@hippopress.com
If you ask Mara Witt, the owner of Honey Cup Cafe & Tearoom, what Manchester needs, she’ll tell you it’s a tea room. The tea is important, of course, but Witt said that a tea room fills a need many adults have: It’s a space to relax and spend time with other adults; to inject a little civility into their day-to-day routine.
“I think a lot of other women need something to be able to look forward to,” she said. “It just kind of elevates your daily life a little bit to be able to sit down and feel a little bit fancy with little sandwiches and enjoy a warm drink with someone. It’s nice to have something that’s not so alcohol-focused. There’s a lot to do that is alcohol-focused. It’s nice to have a way to go out with someone that you can do in the morning and not feel guilty about it that’s not coffee- or alcohol-focused.”
Since its formal opening in December, the Honey Cup has had a mixed clientele.
“I have definitely been pleasantly surprised with the amount of men,” Witt said. “It turns out that a lot of men really enjoy drinking tea. But they also like the tea room; they like the aesthetic. They find it a nice relaxing place to be.”
Although the Honey Cup serves coffee and even a few low-octane cocktails, the focus is on tea and tea-adjacent foods.
“We have a focus on vintage comfort foods,” Witt said. “The idea is a bit like a vintage lunch counter.” To that end, there are breakfast items, baked goods like scones, and finger sandwiches. “And then we do a formal tea on Saturdays and Sundays at two o’clock by reservation,” Witt added, “which is a full afternoon tea service.”
The Full Afternoon Tea is an example of curating a grown-up experience for Witt’s customers. “It’s modeled after a Victorian English version of afternoon tea,” Wit said. “We serve three tiers. The bottom tier is always finger sandwiches; we do chicken salad, deviled egg, [and] cucumber sandwiches of course, and then salmon — a lox sandwich. The second tier is always scones, so we usually have two kinds of scones to choose from. We serve that with authentic clotted cream, lemon curd, and jam to put on the scones. And then on the top we always have a [pastry] assortment — things like petit fours or macarons. Each person has a personal pot of tea and it’s a bottomless pot so they can try all the teas on our menu.”
Honey Cup Cafe and Tearoom. Photo by John Fladd.
A big part of creating a comfortable space has been building an aesthetic, Witt said.
“I guess I’m what you might describe as a maximalist. I think I identified with that. [Our look] is very vintage, floral, and a little feminine. I wanted it to feel kind of like a parlor, like you’re going to the parlor in someone’s house and enjoying tea time there, like they did in the olden days.” To that end, the wallpaper in both rooms in the cafe has a bold floral design. There are comfortable chairs to sit in, and even a sofa. Witt pointed to a floral spray in one corner of the tea parlor. “In my loan paperwork, I said I need $5,000 for a floral installation,” she said. “And my loan officer said, ‘Absolutely not.’ So I did them myself for not $5,000 and so far everyone likes my floral arrangement.”
While walk-in customers make up a sizable portion of the Honey Cup’s business, Witt’s strategy is to lean into events. “We can host private events after four,” she said. We’re closed at three, so we can do private room rentals for sure. And we have the catering as well. I think we’ll do well with the room rentals once the word is out about that.”
The space is perfect, she said, for small gatherings like book clubs and showers.
“We’re doing a ‘Blind Book Club’,” she said, “where I wrap all the books and nobody knows what book it is before they buy it. The first time we did it, it sold out in one week and we sold all the books. Readers love it; it’s like a blind date. We set a date, then meet to have a little tea and discuss the book. And the response is just like people love it, like blind date with a book … and then we’re going to meet here on Jan. 25 and have a little tea and discuss the book. I really wanted to have a community place for knitting clubs or book clubs or things like that or a place to just come in the morning and just sit and relax.”
Honey Cup Cafe & Tearoom 150 Bridge St., Manchester, 836-6008, honeycupnh.com Open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week. Catering and room rentals are available. Special events are listed on the Honey Cup website.
Featured photo: Mara Witt, owner of Honey Cup Cafe and Tearoom. Photo by John Fladd.
New Hampshire Antique Co-op will be presenting its exhibit “Light & Brush: Luminous and Tonal Paintings from the 19th Century to Present” until March.
“The show is on luminous and tonal paintings,” said Jason Hackler. He is the manager and co-owner of the Co-op. “The luminous movement, you know, was founded in the 19th century. The paintings themselves, these luminous paintings that were painted by the likes of Fitz Henry Lane, Albert Bierstadt, William Frederick De Haas, Asher Durand, some of the greats of the time.”
The artwork is electric. “The paintings really have their own inner sort of glow. I mean, some of them you feel like you need to put sunglasses on or they capture such a moment in the way they’re able to create the time of day, remember a sunrise, a sunset.”
“We’re also featuring contemporary artists, Erik Koeppel, William Davis and Dennis Sheehan. Their works capture a feeling, a time and place, and almost an emotion in a landscape. Some of the works you find very calming just standing in front of them. It’s sort of this kind of zen moment,” Hackler said.
Hackler talked about the styles’ history. “Tonal works really started in the late 19th century, where the luminous painting started a little bit earlier. There’s certainly crossovers with the two styles … we have examples of these done in like the Barbizon style, Impressionist style, and that earlier sort of Hudson River school, White Mountain school style.”
He also talked about the beginning of luminism. “The movement really started in Europe and then came to this country early on.”
Luminous art, especially the American version, is about the “wonder of nature, and the mystery of nature and our surroundings, pride of country … the early American luminous is really talking about the amazement and awe of our country, and looking at these grand scale landscapes,” he said.
One of Hackler’s favorites is a more modern piece titled “Autumn in the White Mountains.” “Erik Koeppel has one of the largest known paintings of this type. He was commissioned to do it for the Jackson Historical Society here in New Hampshire. Standing in front of the painting is pretty awesome…. The painting itself measures 78 inches by 135 inches.”
The exhibit is put forth through a community effort. “We’re fortunate to be able to network with collectors from all over the country and different ways to acquire these paintings.”
If one of these paintings lights up your world, you’re in luck. “All of the paintings are for sale. A number of paintings that have already sold … some will rotate in. There’s occasionally [a] new addition. We have a wonderful painting by Sanford Gifford. It’s a painting that’s been in the museum for a long time, which has sold, but we’ve been fortunate where he’s allowed us to keep it on exhibition. There will be some rotation in the show as some works sell. So it’s something that isn’t completely static.”
The entirety of the space is around 20,000 square feet and contains many pieces of art to get lost in. “There’s paintings and artwork throughout. The Tower Gallery holds approximately 40 paintings. The upstairs gallery has probably another 100 paintings on view,” he said.
“Each piece of each painting or sculpture or object that I have is something that I relate to. It might remind me of a certain time or place, something that was special in my life, might be an artist I have an association with, whether it’s a contemporary artist who I know and like very much or an artist from the 18th, 19th century who I’ve always admired or might have had and my art history and everything else. It’s just so enriching being surrounded in your own home with works of art,” Hackler said.
Light & Brush: Luminous and Tonal Paintings from the 19th Century to Present Where: New Hampshire Antique Co-op, 323 Elm St., Milford When: Now until March 2025. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Info: nhantiquecoop.com, 673-8499
