News – Page 98

Peace of mind

Broderick discusses mental health book, webinar series

John Broderick, senior director of public affairs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and former Chief Justice for the New Hampshire Supreme Court, discussed his new book, Back Roads and Highways: My Journey to Discovery on Mental Health, coming out at the end of this month, and a year-long webinar series about mental health called “Heads Up,” which he is organizing in partnership with Dartmouth Health.

What is the Heads Up Series?

The Heads Up series was started during Covid … [to talk] to the New Hampshire community about Covid-related mental health issues, for children, for families, for the elderly. It was very successful. … For the next year, we’ll be focusing on mental health issues … covering a number of topics. … There will be some virtual forums on these various topics that will be available to the public at no cost. Some of those forums will have Dartmouth Health people on them and many other folks, too. … The goal of this series is really to increase awareness and start a different conversation around mental health.

What topics will it cover?

A lot of it will be focused on adolescents. … Some of it will relate to social and cultural pressures that young people are feeling before, during and after Covid. We’re going to talk about social media, athletics, stress. … There will be a number of topics that I think will hit a broad audience over the next 12 months.

How did you determine those topics?

They’re topics that I’ve raised in the book I [have been writing] for the last six years with the help and support of Dartmouth Health. … I’ve been traveling all over New England and talked to 100,000 young people in grades 6 through 12 in 300 gyms and auditoriums about mental health awareness. Of those kids, probably 4,000 of them have talked very privately and confidentially to me about what they’re seeing and experiencing, not just during Covid, though a lot of it has been exacerbated [due to Covid].

What is your personal interest in mental health?

It comes from my own lived experience with my family. … I’ve been very open about my family’s journey. … Two decades ago, while I was in public life, I didn’t understand mental health at the time, and I didn’t see it in my own family for what it was. I made mistakes; I see them now. It took my family on a really hard public journey that I wouldn’t wish on another living soul. The good news is, my family came through it. We’ve healed, and we’re in a very different place now. … The reason I’m doing what I’ve been doing is because of my own ignorance and the unintended harm it had in my own household. … Over the last six years, [mental health] has become acutely personal in a different way. … When I go to the schools, I’m honest with [the kids]. I’m vulnerable in sharing my family’s journey. I’m asking for their help to change the culture and the conversation which we have avoided for generations, and kids respond to that.

What is the book about?

The book is not really autobiographical or a story of my family. That story is already public; I share it every time I go and speak. The focus of my book is … everyone else’s family. I wrote the book because I wanted people to come with me at my elbow, into the [school] gyms and auditoriums all across New England, and to feel and experience what I felt and experienced. I want people to realize the nature and scope of the problem, and to understand that we can fix it, but only if we talk about it. … My book really is [meant] to drive a new discussion about the needed change in America’s mental health system, and to say to people that treatment works; it’s not hopeless. We just need to expand the system and allow people to access health care when it relates to something going on above the neck.

How can mental health be improved in New Hampshire?

The numbers of families and people dealing with mental health and substance [issues] is enormous, and we don’t have a system in this country to deal with either problem. … We don’t have enough psychiatrists … or nurse practitioners who deal with mental health issues. We don’t have enough psychiatric social workers … or mental health counselors. It’s not because people wouldn’t go into those careers; it’s because we don’t incentivize it. We don’t pay them. Psychiatrists, for example, are among the lowest-paid members of the medical profession. … Also, [mental illness] is still stigmatized. People are still ashamed. I know because the kids have told me that. They don’t feel that way when they have a broken ankle or a bad back. [Kids] feeling like they’re letting someone down or are defective in some way because they have a mental health problem is on all of us. … We need to let people know that it’s an everywhere, everyday problem, and not the result of some personal deficiency or weakness.

Featured photo: John Broderick.

News & Notes 22/06/09

Covid-19 update	As of May 27	As of June 6
Total cases statewide	324,373	327,358
Total current infections statewide	4,544	3,658
Total deaths statewide	2,534	2,542
New cases	3,331 (May 21 to May 27)	2,985 (May 28 to June 6)
Current infections: Hillsborough County	1,257	1,593
Current infections: Merrimack County	403	525
Current infections: Rockingham County	1,063	1,330

Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Students march

Students from Nashua North and South high schools will join hundreds of student groups across the country in the March for Our Lives protest, a nationwide event planned for Saturday, June 11, in response to the recent string of shootings throughout the U.S., to raise awareness about gun violence and advocate for gun control legislation. According to a press release from the organizers, the peaceful protest will take place in downtown Nashua, starting at 1 p.m., at The Soldiers and Sailors Monument. The students will then march to Greeley Park, where local high school students and Rep. Laura Telerski will speak about their experiences and opinions surrounding gun violence and gun legislation, starting at 1:45 p.m. March for Our Lives is a national student-led movement formed in 2018 in support of stricter gun control laws following a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. See “March For Our Lives Protest in Nashua” on Facebook for updates on the local effort.

Racing history

What was previously known as the North East Motor Sports Museum in Loudon has been officially renamed the New England Racing Museum as of June 2, according to a press release from the Racing History Preservation Group, the nonprofit that owns the institution. The 10,000-square-foot museum features race cars, motorcycles, photographs, artifacts, books, racing helmets, trophies and racing uniforms from throughout the history of motor racing in the New England region. The reason for the name change, the press release said, is to more accurately reflect the museum’s focus, which has become more specific to the six New England states than to the larger Northeast, and to racing than to the broader realm of motor sports, than the museum’s board of directors had originally anticipated when plans for the museum were first drafted more than 12 years ago and when the museum opened its doors in 2017. “You tell me we’re going to see motor sports and I’m not interested,” museum trustee Mike Smeriglio said in the press release in regard to the name change. “If you want to go see racing, I’m on board.” The museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer, Saturdays during the winter, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with expanded days and hours when there are racing events at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Admission costs $10 and is free for children under age 12. Visit nemsmuseum.com.

Space news

The University of New Hampshire has been selected as one of 14 universities in the U.S. to receive a portion of more than $10.4 million in funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, WMUR reported. The funds are to be used for research and special projects being conducted at the universities in partnership with NASA. In February, UNH announced that a group of researchers and engineers from the university’s Space Science Center had been recruited by NASA to study particles streaming to Earth from the edges of interstellar space as part of NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe mission, expected to launch in 2024. According to the UNH website, the mission will further understanding of the heliosphere and how the sun impacts the atmospheric space surrounding the Earth, which may ultimately help to provide better protection for astronauts and satellite technology.

The cane tradition

The Warner Selectmen will award long-time Warnerresident Phil Lord the Boston Post Cane at the United Church of Warner on Saturday, June 25. The tradition was introduced in 1909, when the now defunct Boston Post newspaper presented gold-headed walking canes to many New England towns to award to their oldest residents. Lord, who celebrated his 96th birthday on Feb. 4, will be the 32nd recipient of Warner’s cane. According to a press release from the Warner Historical Society, Warner is one of the last communities to still have its cane and continue the tradition. The cane will be preserved at the Warner Historical Society after the ceremony. The event runs from 2 to 4 p.m., with the main presentation at 2:45 p.m., and is free and open to the public. Visit warnerhistorical.org.

Deceased New Hampshire residents who served in the National Guard or as reservists during their lifetime can now be buried in the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen. According to NHPR, the cemetery previously only accepted burials for New Hampshire residents who had served on active duty as members of the military. The Executive Council voted unanimously for the change in policy.

Those grieving the loss of a loved one will no longer have to worry about paying road tolls in New Hampshire when they are part of a funeral procession. Gov. Chris Sununu signed the new executive order on June 6 which states that if the lead car in a funeral procession stops at a toll booth and informs the attendant of how many of the following vehicles are in the procession, the attendant will allow those vehicles to pass without having to stop or pay, according to a press release from the Governor’s office in Concord.

The Merrimack Rotary Club is holding an Electronics Reycling Fundraiser on Saturday, June 11, from 8 a.m. to noon at Merrimack Town Hall (6 Baboosic Lake Road in Merrimack), according to a press release. Drive by and pay a donation fee to drop off telephones, cables, video games, speakers, radios, computers, televisions and air conditioners, the release said. See merrimackrotary.org.

This Week 22/06/02

Big Events June 2, 2022 and beyond

Thursday, June 2

Catch the third of six games between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Portland Sea Dogs at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in downtown Manchester tonight at 6:35 p.m. Tonight’s game (as well as the game on Saturday, June 4) will feature post-game fireworks. Tomorrow’s game starts at 6:03 p.m. as part of “603 night” honoring the 603 (Friday will also feature a foam NH State giveaway). The team will also play a game Sunday, June 5, at 1:35 p.m. Saturday’s game will also feature an appreciation for Manchester’s culinary history when the team rebrands for one night as the Manchester Chicken Tenders, according to milb.com/new-hampshire.

Thursday, June 2

The Nashua Silver Knights will play the second of four consecutive home games at Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St. in Nashua) tonight at 6 p.m. against the Brockton Rox. Like the F-Cats, tomorrow’s Silver Knights game will also start at 6:03 p.m. (they will face off against the New Britain Bees and the game will feature post-game fireworks). The game on Saturday, June 4, against the Westfield Starfires starts at 6 p.m. See nashuasilverknights.com.

Friday, June 3

The Palace Theatre presents Legally Blonde, the, like, totally Tony-nominated musical based on the 2001 film, starting tonight at 7:30 p.m. The comedy musical, which tells the story of sorority girl Elle Woods, who heads to law school at Harvard after being dumped by her boyfriend, runs through Sunday, June 26, at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org). The show runs on Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at noon.

Saturday, June 4

Today is Free Fishing Day in New Hampshire. Fish in freshwater or saltwater without a license and see if angling is for you. Season rules and bag limits still apply, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Website (wildlife.state.nh.us), where you can find a listing of fish stocking locations and the current fish seasons.

Saturday, June 4

It’s another Saturday in plant sale season!

Today, head to the Derry Garden Club’s sale starting at 9 a.m. at Robert Frost Farm (Route 28 in Derry). Pick up some annuals, perennials, used tools, raffles and advice from two master gardeners, according to a press release, which discussed the methods the club has used to “eliminate any chance of ‘jumping worms’ being transferred.”

The Hooksett Garden Club is also holding its plant sale from 9 a.m. to noon at R&R Public Wholesalers (1371 Hooksett Road in Hooksett). In addition to annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs and houseplants there will be a garden-themed yard sale, raffle items, master gardeners available to answer questions and a children’s table, according to an email from the club.

Mt Kearsarge Indian Museum (18 Highlawn Road in Warner; indianmuseum.org) is holding its plant sale to correspond with Herb & Garden Day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Herb & Garden Day (see nhherbalnetwork.wordpress.com/herbday) will feature workshops, vendors and more. All-access admission to Herb and Garden Day costs $35; admission to the market only costs $5.

Admission to the museum’s plant sale is free to attend.

Save the Date! Saturday, June 18
The Brooks Young Band will play the Bank of NH Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Saturday, June 18, at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets in advance cost $15 general admission, $25 for reserved balcony (plus fees); tickets are $2 extra at the door. Valerie Barretto opens.

Featured photo. Legally Blonde. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 22/06/02

Record funds raised to fight homelessness

“Better Together” was the theme of the Front Door Agency’s largest fundraiser, the Gourmet Festival & Auction, which returned in person for the first time since 2019 and raised more than $238,000 in net proceeds, making it the most successful fundraiser in Front Door Agency’s 35-year history. According to a press release, the event was held May 15 at the Nashua Country Club, and more than 300 people turned out to bid on hundreds of auction items and enjoy food from local restaurants and chefs. Proceeds will help the agency fight homelessness in Greater Nashua this year, including through its Transformational Housing Program for single mothers who are working to become self-sufficient.

Score: +1

Comment: At the event, Tasha, one of the mothers in the Transformational Housing Program, was awarded a $10,000 scholarship to pursue her degree in Safety Management, the release said.

Earning bikes for an active summer

One hundred forty elementary school students in Manchester can now have healthier, more active summers, after receiving either a new refurbished bicycle package or an athletic equipment package. According to a press release, the Earn-A-Bike Program was created in 2015 by the Manchester Community Schools Project in collaboration with QC Bike Collective, Gossler Park Elementary School and Beech Street Elementary School, allowing students to earn bikes by demonstrating academic achievement and leadership skills. Last week, fourth- and fifth-graders had the chance to pick out a bike, a helmet, lights and a lock; those who already had a bike could get a sports package that included either a soccer ball or a basketball, a pump and other sports items.

Score: +1

Comment: The Manchester Police Department participated in the program by providing bike registrations for all the bikes, the release said.

Yep, it’s tick season

Deer ticks, which carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, are already making themselves known this season. According to a press release from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire residents are reporting finding ticks outside, on themselves and on their pets, so it’s key to know what the potential signs and symptoms of Lyme disease are. “The classic Lyme disease symptom is an expanding, flat rash that often looks like a bull’s-eye,” Jeffrey Parsonnet, M.D., a physician at Dartmouth, said in the release. “Other symptoms are flu-like — aches, stiffness, fatigue — and might develop five to seven days after receiving a bite. More advanced disease might cause swollen joints, infection of nerves responsible for heart rhythm regulation, or neurologic disorders like Bell’s palsy … pain in limbs or, rarely, brain infection.”

Score: -2

Comment: There are ways to stay safe, including staying covered with long pants, long sleeves and socks when outdoors; using bug spray containing DEET; doing checks of your entire body after being outdoors; and removing ticks immediately, the release said.

QOL score: 76

Net change: 0

QOL this week: 76

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

C’s in a golden state!

Phew! That was a close one.

Try as they might to give away the last two games with repeated sloppy play and disappearing stars in crunch time the Celtics managed to hold on to win Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals 100-96.

Outside of the final two games, it wasn’t all bad. But beating the Heat in Miami was not easy.

It earned the C’s their first trip to the NBA Finals since 2010. But before we get to the three-time champion Golden State Warriors here’s a quick review of surviving the seven-game series with Miami.

Give Miami Credit for Toughness: With Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry limping, they looked dead in the water after a Game 5 Celtics beat down. But somehow they pulled it together, which is what admirable teams do, to be a missed Butler 3 from being in the lead with under 30 seconds to go. Ditto if an eagle eye at the scorers table hadn’t disallowed a crucial Max Strus 3 after seeing his heel catch the sideline in an after-the-play review to see if it was a 3 or a 2.

Tatum’s Hall of Fame Berth Back On Hold: While he’s certainly had some high highs, he didn’t deserve the MVP, because the play in this series was so erratic. And as I said before the playoffs you only get into the Top 10 players group if you dominate in the playoffs. But in Game 6 he disappeared in the fourth quarter and in Game 7 he had the softest 28-point (with at least four missed lay-ups) game I’ve ever seen. Fortunately he has the Finals to erase that. Word to the wise: Ditch the Kobe wristband, ’cause he looked like Kobe when he shot 40 percent from the field and 31 percent on 3’s in the 2010 Finals.

Why Let Marcus Smart Take The Last 5 Shots With Game 7 Slipping Away? Because with Tatum shrinking from the moment somebody had to take them and as ineffective as he was, Marcus had the stones to take them. Plus he was wide open on the 3’s.

That’s The Derrick White We Were Sold: He’s had his ups and downs since arriving in February. But he was the best guy off the bench vs. Miami in making huge defensive and offensive contributions in games 4 through 7.

Bravo – Jimmy Butler: He played through pain. Put his team on his back to score 47, 41 and 35 in the way many expected Tatum to and Tatum didn’t. I’m fine with the 3 he took in the final minute. Strength or not he broke Boston’s backs in Game 6 with 3’s. Standing O for Jimmy.

The Main Event: What to expect from the Warriors.

Previous 2021-22 Games: GS won a tight one in Boston before the January turnaround and C’s blew them out in March in SF in the game Curry got hurt.

Players to Watch

Steph Curry: After all the early playoff hoo-ha over Kyrie Irving, we get to see the real deal here instead. A two-time MVP, three-time champ and the best shooter who ever lived. He kills you with 3’s and off the dribble is a leader and a winner. All the things Kyrie ain’t. So watch out for this dude.

Klay Thompson: After two painstaking years rehabbing tears of an ACL and Achilles that cost him two seasons he’s back to form shooting 38 percent from deep and averaging 20.4 per. The only really bad thing to say about Klay is his father, Mychal, played for the Lakers in the ’80s heyday.

Jordan Poole: He’s their version of Rob Williams. A low first-round pick who came on strong in Year 3 to average 18.5 per game and can go for 30 on any given night.

Who Should You Boo: This is a pretty hard team to not like. So thank goodness for Draymond Green. Loud, abrasive, nasty and borderline dirty. Guaranteed he will raise the ire of Celtics Nation more than once for sure. And, oh yeah, he’s very good, which is what makes his act most annoying.

Best Match-up: Marcus Smart vs. whoever he guards. Because they have a lot of guys who can score and he can cover all of them. Just not at once.

Issues

3-Point Shooting Battle: Both teams can blow you out shooting 3’s. GS takes 40 3’s a game and makes 36 percent. Draymond shoots under 30 percent, so be my guest.

The Boards: GS rebounds collectively as a team with team leader (with 596) Kevon Looney the only one who can hurt the C’s on the offense glass consistently.

Strategy

Celtics on Defense: Tight, tight, tight D to make the GS guards put it on the floor and take it inside the line. Even if it means them scoring off the dribble, because giving up two is better than getting blown up with a barrage of 3’s, which they can do when Curry and Thompson get it going. The D can get away doing that with Al Horford and Lob it to Rob Williams back there protecting the basket.

Celtics on Offense – Who To Attack: The GS guards. The Warriors are not a big team and have no real shot blocker, so Tatum and Jaylen Brown need to use their size advantage to shoot at the rim and get the foul shots that come with that.

Key Stat: The Celtics hold opponents to shooting 31.9 percent from deep, while for Golden State it’s 36 percent. If that stat holds, edge to C’s because it will throw GS a bit off its game.

Golden State Wins: If the Celtics let the secondary players capable of doing real damage like Poole and Andrew Wiggins have big scoring series to supplement what Curry and Thompson generally do.

Boston Wins: If they control it offensively and defensively around the basket, consistently force GS deep shooters to put it on the floor, while Tatum plays Curry even and Brown outscores Thompson.

All smiles

NHTI dentistry student receives national recognition

Brieana Comeau of Nashua, a soon-to-be graduate of NHTI’s Dental Assisting class of 2022, has been awarded the American Dental Assistants Association’s Student Achievement and Merit Scholar Awards.

What drew you to the dentistry field?

I carry around this little hygiene kit with me everywhere I go, and one day, when I was still trying to decide what I wanted to do, my friend said, ‘You should go into dentistry. You’re so passionate about telling me about how important it is to floss.” I looked into careers as a dental hygienist and as a dental assistant, and I really enjoyed the description for dental assistant, so I applied for the [Dental Assisting] program [at NHTI] … after I got my associate’s degree … in science and general studies with a concentration in health.

How did it feel to receive these awards?

When I heard about the first one, I was overwhelmed with happiness, and it was definitely a proud moment for me. I didn’t actually expect to receive it. Then, when I heard that I had won both awards, it was just so wild to me. When you work hard, you don’t expect to be recognized all the time, so receiving these awards meant a lot to me because it showed me how much my efforts were seen, and that felt really good.

What are you doing now?

I’m done with all my classes, and I graduate on June 25. Right now, I’m doing what we call an ‘externship.’ … I work as a dental assistant at Nashua Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry. I started out as a sterilization technician for processing instruments. I’ve been working there for a year, and I’ve loved every minute of it. They’ve helped me grow and have taught me so many things. They’ve been patient with me. It feels like a home, and I’m really excited about that, because I was scared, going into dentistry, that it wasn’t going to be something that I felt right doing, but after working there, I know it’s exactly what I want to do.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

The biggest challenge is definitely knowing all of the little things that you have to do. There are a lot of different types of materials; a lot of things that you have to remember about each patient; a lot of steps in each procedure; a lot of knowing what the dentist wants to have next and knowing what is best for the patient’s needs.

What do you enjoy most about being a dental assistant?

I enjoy talking with the patients and getting to know them. … I fell in love with dentistry because each patient has this problem that they come in for — either something that causes them extreme pain or something that they just don’t like the way it looks — and you get to work with them, whether it’s in just one appointment or over multiple appointments, and see that joy on their face when they finally get that problem fixed. Some of them just have this overwhelming gratitude, and it’s so nice to see that we can make a change in people’s lives like that. … I also just love working at the office that I currently work at. I love my coworkers and my employers. They’re just so supportive and sweet. … I just feel really lucky to have found something that I’m so passionate about.

What is your personal approach to your work?

I just believe that every patient comes in with valid problems. Whether they’re afraid of the needle, or they’re really upset because something in their mouth is hurting, I just tried to put myself in the patient’s shoes and make sure that they’re the most comfortable they can be, and that they’re getting their point across and communicating properly and being heard. … You have to speak up for the patient when they can’t speak up for themselves. … I think that dentistry is about more than just fixing crooked teeth; it’s about [giving people] confidence, as well.

What are your future plans?

I want to work at Nashua Cosmetic and Restorative Dentistry for as long as they’ll have me. Eventually, after a couple of years, I would like to go for my Expanded Functions Dental Assisting certificate. That would allow me to do a couple more things than a regular dental assistant can do, like making sure all the decay is gone after the dentist has carved the cavity, and placing the restorations on and shaping them up on my own so that the dentist can move on to the next patient.

Featured photo: Brieana Comeau.

Category: News