Category: News

This Week 25/11/20

Thursday, Nov. 20

“Roses are Red, Violets are Pink, Yellow, Purple” is the topic for the Manchester Garden Club’s November meeting, to be held at noon today at St. Hedwig Parish Hall (147 Walnut St., Manchester). Guests are welcome to attend to learn about the club (a small donation would be appreciated). Visit manchesternhgardenclub.weebly.com.

Thursday, Nov. 20

There will be a live recording of th podcast Granite Goodness tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Rex Theatre in Manchester. Co-hosts Andy DeMeo and Corinne Benfield will lead a discussion with guests Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander; Steve Turner, founder of Bring Back the Trades; and Shana Brunye, COO of Bring Back the Trades. See palacetheatre.org for tickets.

Thursday, Nov. 20

Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) host Holiday Recs with Publisher Reps tonight at 6:30 p.m.. Representatives of book publishers will be on hand to share the titles they are most excited about.

Friday, Nov. 21

The Community Players of Concord will perform The Addams Family Musicaltonight at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St., Concord, 228-2793, theaudi.org) at 7 p.m., with additional performances tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2 pm. Tickets are $22 for adults, and $20 for juniors to age 17 and seniors 65+, online at communityplayersofconcord.org. Community Players pictured; Danielle Martin (Grandma), Nora McBurnett (Morticia), Bennett Schriver (Lurch), Christopher Graham (Gomez), Emmett Smith (Pugsley) and Annie Lelio (Wednesday). Courtesy photo by Michael von Redlich.

Friday, Nov. 21

Country music star Randy Travis will perform this evening at 7:30 p.m. at the Chubb Theatre (Chubb Theatre at CCA, 44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com). Tickets start at $58 .

Saturday, Nov. 22

The Picker Artists, 3 Pine St. in Nashua, will host their annual holiday open house on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. , according to pickerartists.com.

Saturday, Nov. 22

The New Hampshire Master Chorale (nhmasterchorale.org) presents a concert of spiritual music for a secular age tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Paul’s Church (21 Centre St., Concord, 224-2523, stpaulsconcord.org). General admission tickets are $33.

Saturday, Nov. 22

The Nashua Chamber Orchestra (809-7245, nco-music.org) opens its 2025-’26 season tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Nashua Community College (505 Amherst St., Nashua, 578-8900, nashuacc.edu), with an additional performance tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 23, at 3 p.m. on the Milford Oval. See nco-music.org for tickets.

Save the Date! Saturday, Nov. 29
Brookford Farm (250 West Road, Canterbury, 742-4084, brookfordfarm.com) will host Christmas with the Cows, a celebration of the Farm’s animals returning to their winter housing from their green pastures. Get into the holiday spirit with family-friendly DIY crafts, delicious food, holiday music and specialty gifts. General admission tickets (13+) are $14 through eventbrite.com or $15 at the door. Children’s (4-12) tickets are $9 on Eventbrite or $10 at the door, and very small children are admitted free.

Featured Photo: Pilot and author, Shirley Phillips. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 25/11/20

Light show

As reported by WMUR in a Nov. 12 online article, the northern lights were visible in many communities across New Hampshire last week. “News 9 received photos from viewers in Nottingham, Holderness, Merrimack, Plainfield, Danbury and Milford,” the story read. The lights, were visible farther south than usual because of “two coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, from the sun that hit the Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field at the same time. A CME can be produced by a solar flare or other intense activity on the sun,” the article read.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Find visibility forecasts at swpc.noaa.gov.

Oil be there for you

According to a Nov. 12 press release from community service organization Manchester Proud (manchesterproud.org), “Teachers and staff at Gossler Park Elementary School received a well-deserved boost of appreciation last Thursday and Friday during parent-teacher conferences, thanks to Grappone Ford’s Mobile Oil Change Service.” The Bow-based service provided free oil changes to the school’s employees while they put in an extended day meeting with parents.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “Grappone Ford generously offered their mobile oil change service as a donation event, providing service for up to ten vehicles per day and offering to return for future multi-day events to reach even more school staff,” the release said.

Adam Sander Jr.

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation has announced on its website (dot.nh.gov) that submissions are being accepted for its second annual Name A Plow Contest. “This is a unique opportunity for New Hampshire residents to engage with our snow-fighting fleet,” the announcement read. “We’re inviting you to help name a snowplow and join in the fun as our hard-working team prepares for winter storms. Each named plow will be a part of our ongoing mission to keep New Hampshire’s roads safe, clear, and ready for travel in even the toughest conditions.” To submit name suggestions, visit the NHDOT webpage and click on the “Name a Plow Contest” graphic. Submissions will be accepted until Dec. 12.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to a Jan. 13 post on the DOT’s Instagram, last year’s contest winners were CTRL-SALT-DELETE, Tomie DePlowa, Live Free and Plow, Adam Sander, 6 Snow 3, The Big Leplowski, and Fritz Plowerbee.

Head-banging educational support

The Community College System of New Hampshire announced in a Nov. 10 press release that its trades programs have received a $50,000 grant from the heavy metal band Metallica. “The band’s All Within My Hands Foundation” the press release read, “a non-profit philanthropic organization, was created in 2017 by the members and management of Metallica that is dedicated to creating sustainable communities by supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger and other critical local services.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: This is the second year in a row that CCSNH has received this funding, the press release said. Visit allwithinmyhands.org.

QOL score last week: 68

Net change: +4

QOL this week: 72

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Pats keep rolling

The Big Story – Pats Tied for Best Record in NFL: They remind me of the 2013 Red Sox, who had me saying all through the year, “how are they doing this?” And I kept doing it right up until they won the World Series. And even then, I still found it hard to believe they did it. And with The Pats 9-2, we’ll see if history can repeat itself.

Sports 101: You’ll see in The Numbers the whopping number of shots missed by Detroit’s Cade Cunningham in a game last week. Who was the last NBA’er to miss more than that?

News Item – Patriots Down Jets 27-14

Key Stat – 9-2: They’re now about two wins from making the playoffs.

Improvement – Winning While Not at Their Best: Maybe I’m back in 2001-2019 mode, but having done it three weeks in a row, the Pats are back to winning when they don’t have their A game.

Backslide: Since it’s happened seven times in 11 games it’s not a backsliding exactly, but what’s the deal with the bad guys scoring so often on the first possession of the game?

Game Ball: TreVeyon Henderson or Drake Maye. Hmmm. A three-TD performance and a so-so 69 rushing yards. Or a mistake-free game for 281 yards, one-TD game and another 70%-plus completion percentage game. It’s Maye because Henderson only got his after Maye took them up and down the field to put him in position to score.

Next Up: On to Cincinnati with all wondering if Bengals QB Joe Burrow will play.

News Item – Big NFL Stories as the Stretch Run Starts

Patriots Revival: Nobody, not even the all seeing Nostradamus saw a 9-2 start coming.

Jonathan Taylor: The Indy tailback leads the MVP chatter thanks to his league-leading 1,132 rushing yards, 6.0 yards per carry average and 15 TD’s after 10 games, which projects to 1,924 and 26 TD’s.

Chaos in New York Football: The Giants HC and Jets GM got fired in the same week. The stopgap QB the G-Men brought in got benched after two games, and the Jets traded/dumped their two best players at the deadline. In the words of the late great Vince Lombardi, who the Giants once let get away to GB, “What the hell is going on out there?”

Denver Broncos: Did not give much thought to now 9-2 Denver when the year started. But after watching them in Sunday’s win over KC, they’re really dangerous because (1) QB Bo Nix is the real deal, (2) their defense is really fast all over, and (3) with their most in the league by far 49 sacks (second best is 34) they can really rush the passer.

The Young QB’s From 2024 Draft: The play of Maye (3), Nix (12) Jayden Daniels (2, now hurt) and Caleb Williams (1) is saying no draft misses here.

News Item – Player of the Week – Josh Allen: Last year’s MVP put the struggling Bills on his back by running for three TD’s and throwing for three more in Buffalo’s 44-32 win over Tampa Bay.

The Numbers:

16 – jaw-dropping steals to go along with 44 points (on just 25 shots) by Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo in ND’s 85-58 trashing of Akron.

45 – Mark Ferdinando-like number of shots taken by Detroit’s Cunningham when he put a 46-12-11 triple double on Washington in a 135-132 OT win. Oh, in making just 14 shots he missed 31 for a 31% FG percentage.

500,000 – bail in U.S. dollars for Cleveland pitcher Luis Ortiz, on charges accusing him of game fixing, according to ESPN.com.

… Of the Week Awards

Alumni News: Yes, folks, that was ex-Patriot Kyle Dugger getting a 73-yard pick-six for Pittsburgh in its 34-13 win over Cleveland.

Rarity: Victor Wembanyama (31-15-10) and Stephon Castle (20-10-10) became the fifth NBA teammates to record triple doubles in the same game. But sorry, since Wemby’s final assist was a garbage time alley-oop with .02 seconds left in the Spurs’ 125-120 loss, it’s a bogus stat.

Random Thoughts

While baseball’s merchandising greed over tradition is vomit inducing, at least the Red Sox’ two city edition uniforms would be appealing for an expansion franchise. But what does the Pats wearing boring grey ones vs. the Jets have to do with Patriots football, Roger Goodell?

Sports 101 Answer: Cunningham’s missed 31 shots were the most since RickBarry went 17-50 in the 1966-67 game.

Final Word – Red Sox 2026 Decisions: If I were charged with untangling the Red Sox 2026 infield puzzle, I’d move Trevor Story to second and put Marcelo Mayer at shortstop. It doesn’t make sense to have the SS of the future playing out of position when the 33-year-old Story has demonstrated he’s a solid second baseman already. Then I’d go hard after Pete Alonso in free agency because they need a potential 50-homer bopper for the middle of the line-up a lot more than they do a return of the valuable but very overpriced Alex Bregman ($40 million per) at third.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 25/11/20

Toys

The New Hampshire State Police will collect new, unwrapped toys through Friday, Dec. 12, as part of their annual support for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Campaign, according to a press release. Toys can be donated to state police collection sites and at special toy collection events, both of which can be found in the press release at nhsp.dos.nh.gov. Events before Thanksgiving include Friday, Nov. 21, 4 to 7 p.m. at The Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem; Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 a.m. to noon at Walmart in Epping, and Sunday, Nov. 23, 8 a.m. to noon at Walmart in Rochester, the release said.

$10K bonus

According to a Nov. 13 press release from the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, the department has launched “a $10,000 recruitment incentive for new full-time Corrections Officers, as part of its ongoing effort to attract qualified applicants and strengthen the state’s public safety workforce.” “Eligible candidates who successfully complete the 127th New Hampshire Corrections Academy will be eligible for the bonus,” the release said. See jobs.corrections.nh.gov for minimum requirements and details.

Oral health

The New Hampshire Oral Health Coalition’s 2025 Annual Forum will take place Friday, Dec. 5, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 172 N. Main St. in Concord, with the theme of “Advancing Equity Through Oral Health,” according to a press release. Register at nhoralhealth.org, under the “News & Events” tab. “Join us as we learn the latest on community- and school-based oral health programs, integrating dental into overall health and wellness, progress of NH’s Medicaid Adult Dental Benefit, and who is the 2025 winner of the Skip Homicz Jr. Legacy Award for NH’s Oral Health Champion,” the website said.

Historical activist

The Pembroke Historical Society will host the program “Jennie Powers: The Woman Who Dared” with Jennifer Carroll on Monday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. at the Pembroke Town Library, 313 Pembroke St. Powers “was a pioneering activist in the early twentieth century, who took a stand against social vices in New Hampshire and Vermont, as the Humane Society agent in Keene…. She documented animal cruelty, family violence, and widespread poverty in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region and beyond,” according to a press release. The presentation is free and open to the public, the release said. For more information, contact the Pembroke Town Library at 485-7851.

The annual Concord Christmas Parade will take place Saturday, Nov. 22, at 9:30 a.m. starting at Hazen Drive and running to Loudon Road, Canterbury Road at Pizza Hut and ending at Pembroke Road, according to the event’s Facebook page.

The Concord Makerspace, 197 N. Main St. in Boscawen, has upcoming events including “Community Knife Sharpening for Thanksgiving,” which will take place on Monday, Nov. 24, from 5 to 8 p.m, according to concordmakerspace.org, where you can register in advance.

Tickets are on sale now for the Salem Animal Rescue League’s Winter Carnivale and $2,500 Holiday Shopping Spree Raffle, which will be held Friday, Dec. 5, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Castleton Banquet & Conference Center in Windham, according to a press release. The event will include a chocolate tasting with Loon Chocolates, food and drink, games, dancing and more, the release said. See sarlnh.org/wintercarnivale to purchase event and raffle tickets.

Mike Morin will discuss his book If These Walls Could Talk: Celebrating 100 Years of the Red Arrow, America’s Most Beloved Diner on Saturday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. at Balin Books, Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St. in Nashua, balinbooks.com.

This Week 25/11/13

Thursday, Nov. 13

The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org) will host a presentation and book-signing at 7 p.m. tonight with Shirley Phillips (pictured), pilot and author of the new memoir How Not to Fly an Airplane. Admission is $10 per person.

Thursday, Nov. 13

The Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) will host 360 Allstars tonight at 7:30 p.m. Featuring BMX, basketball, breakdancing, acrobatics, drumming and more, this is a physical performance exploring all forms of rotation, according to the website, where tickets start at $20.

Friday, Nov. 14

Ovation Theatre Company will present Freaky Friday: A New Musical, the tale of a mom and her teenage daughter who magically swap bodies, tonight at 7 p.m. and tomorrow, Nov. 15, at 1 and 7 p.m.at the Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway in Derry, according to ovationtc.com, where you can purchase tickets.

Friday, Nov. 14

S**t-Faced Shakespeare: Hamletwill be performed tonight at 8 p.m. at the BNH Stage (16 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com). Tickets cost $40 in advance, $45 at the door, the website said.

Saturday, Nov. 15

The 2025 Craft Fair at Manchester Community College will take place today from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the college’s all-purpose room, 1066 Front St. in Manchester, according to a Facebook page for the event. The event will feature more than 50 vendors, the post said. Find more craft fairs this weekend and beyond in last week’s (Nov. 6) issue of the Hippo, available in our digital library at hippopress.com. Know of a craft fair not listed? Let us know at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Saturday, Nov. 15

Speaking of last week’s issue, in the Nite section you’ll find a profile of Ian Galipeau, who is currently touring in support of the release of his album Something About a Horse. Read the story and then catch him tonight at 7 p.m. at The Listening Room at Prayers of Nature in Wilton. See prayersofnature.com for ticket information.

Sunday, Nov. 16

New Hampshire arts organization Creative Guts will hold its Third Annual Art Around the Room event at the Derryfield School (2108 River Road, Manchester) today from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Adults will have the opportunity to explore a variety of art media at timed stations with guidance from professional artists. Tickets are available for $40 atcreativeguts.org/events.

Sunday, Nov. 16

The iconic Glenn Miller Orchestra will perform two shows at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com) today, at noon and 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $47.

Save the Date! Friday, Nov. 28
A modern tradition, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra will perform its musical celebration and light show on Friday, Nov. 28, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.at the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) as part of its Ghosts of Christmas Eve tour. Tickets start at $55.

Featured Photo: Pilot and author, Shirley Phillips. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 25/11/13

Cuuubes … innn … spaaaace

According to a Nov. 6 press release from the University of New Hampshire, as you read this, a mini satellite known as a CubeSat designed and built by a team of UNH undergraduates has launched into space. Probably. “The small-but-mighty satellite is set to launch on a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California no earlier than Nov. 10, 2025 at 10:19 a.m. PST,” the announcement read. “It will head to the outer reaches of the atmosphere to study the solar wind, which will help scientists in their quest to improve space weather forecasting and better protect technology in space and on Earth — such as communication networks, power grids and GPS — from potentially damaging large solar flare events.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: “CubeSats are a specific subset of satellites that are small and standardized,” the announcement said, “and provide a cost-effective way to study space science. It is about the size of a loaf of bread and offers a simpler way to start building and operating than larger satellites, making it an ideal piece of equipment for students to hone their skills outside of the classroom.” Visit eos.unh.edu/3ucubed.

Festive painted windows

Mosaic Art Collective (66 Hanover St., Manchester, 512-6209, mosaicartcollective.com) has launched a new community initiative, The Painted Holiday Windows, in downtown Manchester. Working with downtown businesses and corporate sponsors Stonyfield Farm and Members First Credit Union, Mosaic has commissioned artists to paint festive holiday-themed images on street-facing windows. “[By] bringing color and joy to downtown this November and December, we’re reminded once again how powerful it is when our community comes together to celebrate art and imagination,” Mosaic announced in a Nov. 7 statement.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The depictions on business windows range from traditional images of reindeer and candy canes to pop culture icons, like the Rankin Bass characters Snow Miser and Heat Miser, who are painted on the windows of the Thirsty Moose Taphouse.

Still a drought, but at least it’s a damp drought

“The latest U.S. Drought Monitor report shows that parts of Grafton, Carroll and Coos counties remain in severe or extreme drought,” WMUR reported in a Nov. 6 online article, “while Hillsborough and Cheshire counties continue to experience moderate drought. Even with more frequent rain showers, overall rainfall totals have stayed low.” A Boston Globe story on Nov. 10 described reports of wells going dry around the state, particularly in the north, and noted that “Nearly half of the state’s residents get their water from a private well, according to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: “While New Hampshire state officials said recent rain has decreased wildfire risk, it didn’t replenish surface water or aquifers,” the Globe reported, and the WMUR story said, “While the drought hasn’t worsened, New Hampshire will need much more rain to make a significant impact.”

QOL score last week: 67

Net change: +1

QOL this week: 68

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

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