Category: News

This Week 24/11/7

Thursday, Nov. 7

Leah Dearborn, author of Grenier Air Base: A Beacon On the Home Front, will speak and sign copies of her book tonight at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, 669-4820, aviationmuseumofnh.org). The book explores the history and significance of Grenier Air Base, a military facility that occupied the site of today’s Manchester-Boston Regional Airport from World War II through the Vietnam era. Admission costs $10 per person. Copies of the book, which is priced at $35 per copy, will be available at the discounted price of $25 per copy for attendees

Friday, Nov. 8

Cirque Kalabante’s Afrique en Cirque, a show by Yamoussa Bangoura inspired by daily life in Guinea, will take place tonight at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) at 7:30 p.m. This performance shares the beauty, youth and artistry of African culture.Tickets start at $48 through the Capitol Center’s website.

Saturday, Nov. 9

Art ’Round the Room is a speed-dating-style event geared toward adults but about art not dating. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit timed stations around the room and experience oil paints, acrylic paints, watercolor, pastels, charcoals, collage, cross-stitch and printmaking with guidance from professional artists. It will take place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. at Derryfield School (2108 River Road, Manchester, 669-4524, derryfield.org). Tickets cost $40. Visit creativegutspodcast.org.

Saturday, Nov. 9

After two private playtests, New Hampshire startup business Novel Antics has announced the first public playtest of its live-action medieval siege game For King and Castle, today beginning at 1 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Field (275 S. Taylor St., Manchester). Teams of four will take territory progressing toward storming a castle before a rival team can storm theirs. This event is free and open to the public. Visit novelantics.com.

Saturday, Nov. 9

The Giles Series will present a Veterans Day Concert by the NH 39th Army Band tonight at 7 p.m. at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com).This event is free, but reservations are highly recommended.

Monday, Nov. 11

The Manchester Veterans Day Parade will take place this morning. According to the Manchester Police Department, the official start time will be 11 a.m., but road closures will begin around 9:30 a.m

Tuesday, Nov. 12

Cartoonist, musician and educator Marek Bennett will present “Rally Round the Flag: The American Civil War Through Folksong,” at the Salem Historical Society (310 Main St., Salem) today at 7 p.m. Through camp songs, parlor music, hymns, battlefield rallying cries, and fiddle tunes, Bennett will examines the folksong, according to nhhumanities.org.

Save the Date: Friday, Nov. 15
The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus is coming to the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 16, at 11 a.m. and 3 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 17, at noon. Witness a fast-paced, action-packed production with modernized acts on a scale never seen before creating real connections between audiences and performers. Tickets start at $19.

Featured photo: The Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Quality of Life 24/11/7

Nashua parking blues

In an Oct. 1 press release the City of Nashua announced that it is raising the price of parking in a metered space as well as the cost of tickets for parking violations. “Parking meter rates will see an adjustment across the three existing zones and the addition of a fourth zone,” the press release read. The new rates will range from 75¢ to $4 per hour. Parking violations will cost anywhere from $15 for an expired meter to $250 for a handicapped parking violation. The press release quoted Parking Manager Jill Stansfield: “These updates are designed to improve the overall parking experience for residents, businesses, and visitors.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: The changes will take effect on Jan.1, 2025.

It’s a good sign

It’s a fun election story! As reported in an Oct. 30 online story by WMUR, Goffstown resident Andy Brown’s lawn has been sporting a campaign-style sign that reads, “Andy Brown, not Running for anything, just wanted a sign.” Brown told WMUR that the sign wasn’t expensive, so he ordered it on the spur of the moment.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “The initial sign was partially a prank on Brown’s wife, Erin Marchal,” the story read. “I don’t actually know how long it was [up],” she told WMUR. “I’m told it was weeks.”

Still 603

As reported in an Oct. 31 press release by the Governor’s office, “Governor Chris Sununu announced that following his “Don’t Overload the Code” Executive Order, federal regulators have updated the projected exhaustion date for the 603 area code to the third quarter of 2029.” This extension was part of the Governor’s “Don’t Overload the Code” initiative. He directed the State Department of Energy to look into strategies to preserve the current area code, and directed the Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) to complete a study on the costs of implementing a new area code.

QOL score: +1

Comment: “The 603 area code has incredible symbolic and economic value for New Hampshire and we have taken tremendous strides to protect it,” the Governor said in a statement.

A moving picture

The Yankee Flyer Diner mural has found a new, indoor home in the Nashua City Hall Building, according to a Nov. 1 article on Nashua Ink Link. The mural, a 10- by 28-foot elaborate still-life of the Yankee Flyer Diner, which was a fixture in Nashua from 1930 to the mid-1960s, was painted in 1997 by Nashua native James Aponovich, the article said. Aponovich and his wife Beth restored the seven-panel mural over the summer.

QOL score: +1

Comment: This is the second restoration for the mural, which was last refreshed in 2015, according to the report. After its first restoration, the mural was returned to Main Street across from City Hall, where the original diner was located. This time the mural has been moved indoors, to a wall in the City Hall Auditorium, the article said.

QOL score: 77

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 79

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

Let us know at [email protected].

The week that was

The Big Story – Dodgers Win World Series: With the Dodgers and the Yankees facing each other for a record 12th time and having the season’s two biggest stars in Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, images of epic-ness were dancing in our heads. That didn’t turn out to be the case, but there still were some major notables, which we’ll outline a bit later.

Sports 101 – Name the only teams to play their home games in a dome stadium during the season they won the Super Bowl.

News Item – Education of Drake Maye: In a boring 20-17 loss strewn with penalties and bad O-line play there were some good and bad moments for the rookie QB. The bad included three turnovers, where a strip sack handed Tennessee field position for their second TD and his second interception came on a bad decision that ended the game. Not throwing it down field enough, thanks to curious play calling, as evidenced by DeMario Douglas only gaining 35 yards on 7 catches, led Maye to having just 206 passing yards. However, his scrambling was superb in running for 95 yards on eight carries and he again led a drive ending with a TD on the final play to send it to OT. Overall, C+.

News Item – World Series Takeaways

For hitting the first walk-off grand slam to win Game 1 and becoming the first person to hit homers in six consecutive Series games Freddie Freeman clearly was the MVP.

NY’s fifth-inning defensive meltdown in Game 5 when Aaron Judge made the worst Series error since Bill Buckner in 1986 and Gerrit Cole forgot to cover first on a ball hit to Anthony Rizzo was indicative of why they lost. They just couldn’t make a play when needed.

The oddest stat L.A. had from Freeman’s slam on is that they only outscored NY 25 to 24.

Hey, John Henry, if you want to win, spending money matters.

Thanks to the power of L.A.’s two Japanese stars, Game 1 drew more TV viewers in Japan (15.1 million) than in the U.S. (14.75).

What a colossal mistake letting Mookie Betts leave Boston was.

By going just four for 23 Judge was hardly the first star to have a bad World Series. Ted Williams hit .200 with no extra-base hits and one RBI in 1946. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner called Dave Winfield “Mr. May” after he was 1 for 22 in 1981. And the great Willie Mays hit just .230 in four World Series with no homers and just six RBI. It happens.

The Numbers:

0 – catches Sunday for Ja’Lynn Polk to make it just 10 in nine games for the Patriots’ second-round pick.

16 – rushing yards vs. Tennessee on 10 carries for Rhamondre Stevenson, though he did score both Patriot TDs.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Bob Costas retires: He hangs up his baseball announcing mic after 40 years. Of the many high-profile sports people I’ve worked with he was the nicest, most accommodating and real of them all. Well done, young fella.

Thumbs Down – The Yankees and MLB: For not banning the nitwits who ripped the ball out of Mookie’sglove forever from Yankee Stadium.

Random Thoughts:

Hard to imagine anyone more in love with the sound of their own voice than Mark Schlereth was doing Sunday’s Patriots game on Fox.

Grant Williams, what exactly were you trying to do purposely bulldozing Jayson Tatum while not making any normal defensive play on Friday?

Sports 101 Answer: The three dome team SB winners were the (St. Louis) Rams (1999), Colts (2007) and Saints (2010).

Final Thought – Fox Broadcasting Malpractice in World Series: Hey, Joe Davis, career postseason home runs are not the same as career World Series homers. Thus when Fox showed a graphic for career postseason home runs that had Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle way down the list you should have made a distinction between the two. There were no playoffs when they played, thus while he trails Bernie Williams’ 22 all of Mantle’s 18 came in the Series, while the three postseason leaders, Williams, Derek Jeter and Giancarlo Stanton, have just five, four and two respectively. Mantle’s Series record 18 are followed by the Babe (15), Yogi Berra (12) and Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig with 10.

Then there was saying “Walker (Ferris) Buehler joined Sandy Koufax as the only Dodgers pitchers to not allow runs in consecutive postseason starts” when departing Game 3. True, but Buehler going four scoreless against the Mets and a gut-wrenching five vs. the Yanks wasn’t close to what Koufax did, which was throwing complete game shutouts in Games 5 and 7 vs. Minnesota in 1965 when he threw 134 pitches in Game 5 and 130 in Game 7 on two days’ rest. So to compare what Buehler did to what Koufax did is misleading and silly. Come on, Joe.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

News & Notes 24/11/7

Chief heads to Easterseals

Manchester’s police chief, Allen Aldenberg, who recently announced his plan to retire in November, has been named chief military and veterans officer for Easterseals NH & VT, according to a release from the organization. “In this new role, Aldenberg will oversee the operations of the Easterseals New Hampshire Military and Veterans Campus now under development in Franklin, New Hampshire, and expected to open in summer 2025,” according to the press release. In addition to serving in local law enforcement since 1998 (first with Goffstown and then in Manchester), Aldenbreg “has served in the Army National Guard for over 30 years, and he currently holds the rank of Colonel,” the release said. About the Franklin campus, Easterseals NH said “the campus will provide affordable housing; a retreat center which includes a hub of services of veteran service organizations, 22 hotel-style rental bedrooms, and a rentable conference center … and recreation activities for service members, veterans, and their families as well as first responders.” See eastersealsnh.org.

Nominate all-stars

Steven Abraham, previous head football coach at Salem High School, and Kip Jackson, head coach at Merrimack High School, will be the Team East and Team West coaches respectively in the 2025 Dartmouth Health Children’s New Hampshire East-West High School All-Star Football Game on Friday, June 27, at 6 p.m. at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, according to a press release. More than 80 of the state’s top high school football players play in the fundraising game, tickets for which go on sale in February. Chelsea Dennis, director at East Celebrity Elite Londonderry and coach at Londonderry High School; Jada Belt, head coach at Souhegan High School, and Karissa Edelstein, Windham High School coach, will coach the All-Star Cheerleading Team. See chadallstarfootball.org for updates. High school coaches in the state can also submit football player and cheerleader nominations to the website, with players drafted in early December, the release said.

Fair for the trades

The New Hampshire Bringing Back the Trades & Tradeapalooza Career Fair will take place Friday, Nov. 15, at NHTI-Concord’s Community College, according to a press release from Merrimack County Saving Bank, a sponsor of the event. A free career fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and “offer the opportunity to speak to companies in many different trades from construction to automotive to manufacturing and more,” according to nhbringingbackthetrades.org. The day will also feature an interview with Dirty Jobs’ Mike Rowe; see the website for the ticket options for that position of the event.

Donate from home

Goodwill Northern New England will offer donation pickups in New Hampshire starting with people near stores in the Amherst, Concord, Hooksett, Hudson and Manchester areas, according to a press release. ReSupply will offer a fee-based pickup service to donors and will take any items Goodwill cannot take to other charities, the release said. Clothing and household items can also be brought to Goodwill stores for donation for free. Visit goodwillnne.org/donate or call 361-264-1467 to schedule a donation pickup and ReSupply will reach out to coordinate the pickup within 24 to 48 hours, the release said.

Historic spots

The New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places has 10 new properties on its list, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources.

The new spots are the Upper Deerfield Road Causeway and Culvert from 1777 in Deerfield; the Ashuelot Manufacturing Company Boarding House in Winchester built in two phases in the 1800s; Eaton Center Church built in 1879; First Universalist Church in Jaffrey from 1845; West Milan Methodist Church from 1897; District 4 School/Lockehaven Schoolhouse from the early 1800s and Enfield Center School from 1851, both in Enfield, and properties in Randolph, the release said. See nhdhr.dncr.nh.gov for the register and for information on how to nominate a property.

Gleaning

United Way of Greater Nashua and Hillsborough Country Gleaners held the third annual “Gleaning United” to harvest fresh produce for 26 sites such as food pantries, senior centers, shelters and other locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to a press release. The United Way of Greater Nashua reported that 74 volunteers collected 5,780 pounds of apples and 2,600 pounds of pumpkins from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, Mass. For more on the United Way’s hunger relief programs, see volunteergreaternashua.org.

Craft fair season

Multiple craft fairs have been scheduled for this weekend. Check out the Arts listings on page 14 for a rundown of some fairs. Know of an upcoming craft fair? Let us know at [email protected].

The Business and Industry Association will hold BIA’s 2024 New Hampshire Energy Symposium on Thursday, Nov. 7, 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Grappone Conference Center (70 Constitution Ave. in Concord). Admission costs $150 in advance at biaofnh.com or $175 at the door if there is availability.

The Peterborough Town Library will host presentations about Medicare and other benefits available to seniors in the Monadnock Region by Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services — “Know Your Benefits: Options for Care and Reimbursement” at the library (2 Concord St. in Peterborough) on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at noon and 5:30 p.m. Go to peterboroughtownlibrary.org or call 924-8040 to register.

A ribbon cutting and grand opening for 75 Canal, a residential apartment community at 75 Canal St. in Manchester, was slated for Wednesday, Nov. 6.

Milford’s Veterans Day Parade will commence at 10:45 a.m. and begin and end at the American Legion, 15 Cottage Street, traveling to the Milford Oval and then to the World War I, World War II and Korean War memorials, according to milford.nh.gov.

Ethan Tapper will discuss and sign copies of his new book How to Love a Forest at Balin Books (375 Amherst St. in Nashua; balinbooks.com) on Friday, Nov. 8, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Find more about the Vermont-based forester and author at ethantapper.com.

This Week 24/10/31

Friday, Nov. 1

The 24th Annual Merrimack KOC Craft Fair will take place tonight from 5 to 9 p.m. and tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at James Mastricola Upper Elementary School (26 Baboosic Lake Road, Merrimack). There will be more than 40 crafters offering a wide variety of handmade crafts as well as a bake table, chance auction and a food counter. Admission is free.

Saturday, Nov. 2

Join the Manchester Historic Association today from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for an interactive, family-friendly STEM-based program for all ages focusing on the science of fabric and clothing production from the 1700s to present at the Millyard Museum (200 Bedford St., Suite 103, Manchester, 622-7531, manchesterhistoric.org).

Saturday, Nov. 2

Classic ’80s band Duran Duran will play the SNHU Arena tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m. The band’s hits include “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Ordinary World” and “Rio.” Tickets start at $46.50.

Saturday, Nov. 2

The Nashua Historical Society is inviting writers to the Write at the Museum — specifically the Florence H. Speare Memorial Museum (5 Abbott St., Nashua, 883-0015, nashuahistoricalsociety.org/florence-h-speare-memorial-museum) for a day of writing today, from 9:30 a.m.to 3:30 p.m. Whether staying for the day or stopping in for a paragraph, enjoy the historic ambiance with your current writing project.

Saturday, Nov. 2

Emo Night Brooklyn, a late-night DJ-based dance party, will play the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) tonight, starting at 8 p.m. They will blast favorite emo and pop-punk jams. There will be screaming, moshing and dancing. Tickets start at $21. This is a general admission, open floor show. Ticketholders must be 18+.

Wednesday, Nov. 6

The Walker Lecture Fund will present “A Visit To New Zealand” at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St., Concord, 228-2793, theaudi.org). This travelog program will cover the major natural and cultural attractions, as well as many lesser-known but fascinating destinations around the North and South Island. This event is free; there are no tickets required. Visit walkerlecture.org.

Wednesday, Nov. 6

All Elite Wrestling comes to Manchester with an action-packed night of professional wrestling as AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage invades the SNHU Arena (555 Elm St., Manchester, 644-5000, snhuarena.com) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $25.

Save the Date! Friday, Nov. 8 – Cirque Kalabante
Afrique en Cirque , a show by Yamoussa Bangoura inspired by daily life in Guinea, will take place at the Capitol Center for the Arts (44 S. Main St., Concord, 225-1111, ccanh.com) Friday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. This performance shares the beauty, youth and artistry of African culture. A colorful show beyond its scenery, costumes and staging, it makes any theater vibrate with energy and represents the strength, agility and life’s joys of young Africans. The audience will see acrobats execute gravity-defying moves and human pyramids, accompanied by the contemporary sounds of live Afro-jazz, percussion and kora. Tickets start at $48 through the Capitol Center’s website.

Featured photo: Duran Duran.

Quality of Life 24/10/31

Air and water

Air quality took a dip in southern New Hampshire on Monday, Oct. 28, with readings that night for Manchester and Londonderry in the merely “acceptable” range of the US EPA Air Quality Index according to PurpleAir.com. A map at AirNow.gov showed “moderate” air quality from Concord north to the White Mountains. The Boston Globe on Monday reported that wildfires in eastern Massachusetts were blanketing that region with smoke, and NHPR reported online that the National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning for southern New Hampshire on Oct. 27.

QOL score: -1

Comment:According to the National Integrated Drought Information System at drought.gov, 57.2 percent of New Hampshire is “abnormally dry” and 10 percent (a chunk in the southeastern part of the state) is in “moderate drought.”

Books and bragging rights

“The Nashua Public Library has been named the state’s 2024 Large Library of the Year by the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association,” an Oct. 21 press release from the library announced. The press release reports that the Library was recognized for its “impressive growth in services and programs, enhanced equity work, and strong partnerships with dozens of local organizations, city departments, and other libraries.” Over the past year the Library redesigned its online presence, worked to meet the needs of neurodiverse patrons and was a partner in hosting Nashua’s recent Multicultural Festival.

QOL score: +1

Comment: In its fall newsletter the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association named the Meredith Public Library its Small Library of the Year, and Beryl Donovan of the Gaffney Library in Wakefield its Library Director of the Year.

NH civic health is in decline

A recent report by the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire revealed that the state’s civic health — behaviors, beliefs and actions related to public life — has declined since 2020. An Oct. 8 press release from UNH stated, “Researchers found long-term data suggests that there have been declines in areas that need attention — including how much people trust each other, attend public meetings, vote and help neighbors, with more than a 30% decline in how New Hampshire residents feel they matter in their own communities.” According to the study, “the share of residents across New Hampshire who do favors for neighbors fell by half. Only 1% of residents reported that they trust the national government all the time and 49% almost never trust the national government.“

QOL score: -2

Comments: Read the report at carsey.unh.edu/publications.

Was it you?

In an Oct. 22 press release, The New Hampshire Lottery Commission announced that a $1.475 million winning lottery ticket was sold in a convenience store in Derry. The ticket was “for the drawing on Saturday, October 19, 2024,” the press release read. “The winning ticket was sold by the Speedway Convenience Store.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the State’s Megabucks website (nhlottery.com/Games/Megabucks) the odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 4,496,388.

QOL score: 78

Net change: -1

QOL this week: 77

Tell us what’s affecting your Quality of Life at [email protected].

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