Category: Outdoors

Kiddie Pool 24/04/18

Family fun for whenever

Earth Day at the Museum

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; 742-2002, childrens-museum.org) will hold an Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 20, with sessions from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. The planned activities include Earth-friendly crafts, planting, a scavenger hunt and more. Reserve spots online for a session in advance; admission costs $12.50, $10.50 for seniors.

Art camp!

• The Currier Museum of Art’s (150 Ash St., Manchester) April Vacation Art Camp: Sailors and Sea Monsters runs Monday, April 22, through Friday, April 26, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Currier’s exhibit “Stories of the Sea” is the impetus behind this camp, which will include a variety of exciting multi-media art-making experiences, guided museum tours and gallery activities, according to their website. Three cohorts will be composed of kids ages 6 and 7, ages 8 to 10 and ages 11 to 14. An exhibition of their artwork will be held Thursday, April 25, at 3:45 p.m. Registration is $375 for non-members, $337.50 for members, with tuition discounts available, and all art materials will be provided, according to the website. Visit currier.org or call 518-4922.

Teddy bears!

• Manchester City Library (405 Pine St., Manchester) is hosting its annual Teddy Bear Picnic on Tuesday, April 23, at 11:30 a.m. Participants will gather with their teddy bears in the children’s room and then, when everyone is ready, parade through the library and out to the side lawn for a picnic, according to the website. Participants should bring their own bag lunch and beverage to enjoy at the picnic. At noon Mr. Aaron will be on the south lawn for a foot-stomping concert, according to the same site. Registration is not required. Call 624-6550, ext. 7628.

Experiment!

• Later that same day, Tuesday, April 23, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Manchester City Library will host Elementary Experiments. This activity is for anyone in grades 1 through 6 and includes activities and crafts with a STEAM focus (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math). Participants can join in at the library or watch the video online; this week’s theme is food science. If you want to attend in person, register in advance so there are enough supplies. Elementary Experiments takes place in the Winchell Room. To register, visit manchester.lib.nh.us or call 624-6550, ext. 7628.

No small parts!

• Shakespeare for Youth, a nonprofit homeschool theater group that rehearses in Nashua and Milford, has four performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Amato Center (56 Mount Vernon St., Milford), on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27, at 2 and 7 p.m. on both days, according to their website. This is the group’s third year of performing Shakespeare’s works with a cast made up of kids approximately ages 6 to 18 from all over New Hampshire and Massachusetts, according to a press release. Tickets online are $6 for individuals, $5 for seniors, and $25 for family tickets for parents and up to four kids. Call 399-9609 or visit bit.ly/sfytix.

Meet the wildlife

Animal rehabilitators at Discover Wild NH Day

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The Millstone Wildlife Center in Windham provides an unparalleled service in the Granite State with its devotion to mammal rehabilitation. Executive Director and Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator Frannie Greenberg and her husband, Michael, who holds a master’s degree in animal science, have dedicated their lives to creatures large and small. They will be at Discover Wild New Hampshire Day in Concord on Saturday, April 20, to educate the public on the hard work they do with the help of animal ambassadors.

Discover Wild New Hampshire Day is a day of educational exhibits and wildlife-related activities for kids and families, including archery, casting and more, hosted by New Hampshire Fish and Game.

Striped skunk. Courtesy of MWC.

“We operate from our home,” Greenberg said. “We are not funded by state or federal government. Everything we receive is from donations from kind individuals that either have brought us an animal or corporations who believe in our mission.” That mission is to rehabilitate as many critters as possible.

“We’re serving almost 1,400 animals a year,” Greenberg said. More and more of our space becomes animal space…. This is quiet time for us. At 42 animals, this is a piece of cake. In the summer we have up to 150 animals here. When some of those eat every two hours, we’re hopping.”

These animals range “from the tiniest little voles all the way up through coyotes,” she said. “We don’t do bear. We don’t do deer and moose. Beyond that, if we are available we take them. Sometimes we are full to the gills with raccoons and I have to find somebody else to take them. Things like a raccoon might be here for six months. They’re a tough one in that they eat a lot, they need to be dewormed, they need to be vaccinated, they need vet care. So there comes a point where we’re out of cage space for them…. We don’t do birds by choice. We don’t have the space.”

Adult red fox. Courtesy of MWC.

MWC has helped bobcats, bats, porcupines, coyotes, foxes and more. Different animals require different care.

“Things like little eastern cottontails stay with mom three weeks,” said Greenberg, “so we’re talking a month, maximum, if we get a newborn. It’s a whole lot easier to go through many, many, many rabbits in a year and … they take up less room, they take less resources, and last year we served 722 Eastern cottontail rabbits that came through our door, so many, many, many.”

Their rehabilitation efforts are not a guise for pest removal, Greenberg said. “I am not here just to take all the things you do not want. People call and say, ‘I have a woodchuck and it just ate all my lettuce.’ That’s not a service we provide.”

Growing up, Greenberg always cared for animals.

Virginia opossum. Courtesy of MWC.

“I was a little kid who brought home every animal from wherever,” she said. “From the schoolyard, from the backyard, from a field trip. If there was an animal I brought it home. Luckily I had parents who indulged this. I had a dad who would build a cage or help me figure out how to get it help…. My background is animal science education. I got licensed in 2015 and we’ve grown since then. The plan initially was to start small, have a few animals because I was still doing science education consulting.”

Greenberg is licensed by New Hampshire Fish and Game as a rehabilitator and their home is classified as a permitted facility by the USDA.

“We also raised three little human animals. When my daughters were out of the house, all at college or beyond, was when I said, ‘OK.’” Their full-time rehabilitation mission soon began. “It became apparent very quickly that there’s a huge need in this state, there still is, there are not enough people, understandably because you must give your home, you must give your money, you must give your time. It’s 365 days a year, there’s no vacation, no sick days. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas … any day of the year, any time of the day….”

A large part of the work involves education.

“The more we educate people the more people realize we’re here … when they might have otherwise either tried to do it on their own, which is, one, illegal, two, dangerous for the animal…,” she said.

Discover Wild New Hampshiire will have a stage where MWC can do some show and tell with animals.

“We take animals that are registered. We are … licensed by the USDA to keep ambassadors, those animals that are deemed not to be releasable and that can educate the public. Right now we’re planning to bring — and I say we’re planning because with animals you just never know — we are planning to bring our Virginia opossum; she will be in the big area for our 1:30 general presentation,” Greenberg said. “When we bring her out we always try to teach by example and wear gloves so people see that you should always wear gloves, or if you don’t have gloves you use a barrier.”

That isn’t all. “We will also bring along a snake and a turtle,” Greenberg said. “If they’re nervous, we put them back; if they’re comfortable a snake can just sit on us.”

Discover Wild New Hampshire Day
When: Saturday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Fish and Game Headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord
Admission: Free. Trained service dogs only.
More: wildlife.nh.gov

Millstone Wildlife Center
millstonewildlife.com
320-0941

Featured Photo: Woodchucks. Courtesy of MWC.

Scotland indoors

Enjoy pipe bands and much more

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Scotland lies about 3,050 miles to the slight northeast of New Hampshire, as the crow flies if crows fly across the Atlantic. A shorter trip is to the 21st Annual New Hampshire Indoor Scottish Festival on Saturday, April 20, at Salem High School, where you will feel as if you had made that trans-Atlantic journey.

The New England Scottish Arts Centre, the organization behind the event, was founded in 1984 and this is their festival where they showcase the cultural history of Scotland. Traditional Scottish dance, pipe and drum music, and representatives from various clans will fill the area with the sights and sounds of the Scottish Highlands, minus the sheep and caber-tossing, for this massive competition.

Scottish Arts also holds classes year-round on Highland dance, piping and fiddle, and even hosts a kilt-making workshop in the winter months as well as other events and festivals.

“It’s the largest indoor contest in North America,” said Lezlie Webster, founder and director of Scottish Arts. Webster is the head piping instructor as well as a Highland dance instructor.

“A lot of people from all over New England, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are coming up, and New York. It’s a huge competition … 14 pipe bands from New York all the way through to Maine. Highland dancers, same thing,” Webster said. More than 100 soloists for piping and drumming are competing as well.

The festival starts with dance.

“The dancing is in the morning only and that’s … on the main stage in the big theater…,” Webster said. “Solo piping and drumming are down the hall, around the corner, and they are starting at 8 a.m. … because there are so many of them and they go through till about 1.”

“In the middle of that,” Webster said, “the pipe bands start arriving around 10, 10:30, and they go upstairs to classrooms and they start warming up there and in hallways, and every nook and cranny, so the building is alive by noon hour just with so much stuff going on … and it’s free. Very free.” Brave participants will even get a chance to try the Highland Fling themselves.

As the dancing dwindles, the music heads to the forefront. “The pipe band competitions will take over the stage [at] about 1:30 and they’ll go till 4. The end is a little recital by a couple of our piping judges that are world famous, some of the top in the world.” These include Bruce Gandy, Derek Midgley and Andrew Douglas.

Claire MacPherson, president and coordinator of clans and societies for Scottish Arts, who is originally from Grantown-on-Spey in the Highlands of Scotland, expands on the activities of the day and advises participants to “start with the clans because … everything in the games will make sense if you go to the clans and particularly if you are looking to trace your Scottish heritage, your clan might not be there, but these people are so incredibly knowledgeable, they’ve been doing it for decades.”

Food trucks will be outside as Celtic clothing, artwork, jewelry and face painting will be available on top of learning about Scottish heritage from the various clans, clan associations and societies.

One such society is the Scots’ Charitable Society — “they were formed in 1657 by former Scots prisoners of war,” MacPherson said. Those prisoners are highlighted in John D. Demos’ workshop called “The Seventeenth Century Scottish Prisoners of War in New Hampshire and Maine.” Demos, former archivist for Old Berwick Historical Society in Maine, will go over in precise historical detail their odyssey of capture in 1650 by Oliver Cromwell during the English civil war.

Demos said, “Cromwell and the English decided they were going to try to get rid of the rest and send them away where they couldn’t cause anymore trouble and they ended up packing off 150 to New England who came into Boston…. Many of those ended up at the Saugus Iron Works.”

These historical roots established a Scottish heritage in the Granite State. “I discovered my culture,” MacPherson said, “I think, from the descendants of Highlanders who are here in New England, and that’s really amazing, I think, personally. It’s very touching, it’s very humbling.”

Rain or shine, The Scottish Highlands will be alive in Salem on Saturday, April 20.

“The weather can do what it likes,” MacPherson said, “but people can be comfortable in a nice seat in this building that was purpose-built for the sound and just enjoy a big pipe band. It’s a really lovely treat.

21st Annual Indoor Scottish Festival
When: Saturday, April 20, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Salem High School (44 Geremonty Drive in Salem)
Admission: free
More: nhssa.org

Featured Photo: Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 24/04/11

Family fun for whenever

Boogie!

• Musical play group is held at the Arlington Street Community Center (36 Arlington St., Nashua) every Friday at 10 a.m., where you can make music with your little one, meet new friends and learn new songs. Attendance is free. Visit nashuacms.org or call 881-7030.

Bounce!

• Fun City Trampoline Park (533 Mast Road, Goffstown) has all the jumping your kids need, with a special toddler time on Fridays from noon to 3 p.m., in their 60,000-square-foot facility, according to their website. There is a 250-pound weight limit. Fun City also offers laser tag and bumper cars. For kids age 6 and under prices range from $14 to $20 for a 90- to 120-minute jump, and for those over the age of 6 prices range from $23 to $32 for a 90- to 120-minute jump. Jump socks are required for those over age 6 and are $3. Fun City Trampoline Park is open Monday through Thursday from 3 to 8 p.m., Friday from noon to 10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit funcitytrampolinepark.com or call 606-8807.

Bend!

• Vibe Yoga & Aerial Moon (85 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 759-8432) will host a four-week family yoga series with Lauren Young on Saturdays, starting June 1, from 10:15 to 11 a.m. You’ll learn yoga poses, breathwork and mindfulness through books, songs and games together as a family, according to their website. The class will end with snuggly relaxation in this series that’s ideal for adults and children between the ages of 3 and 8 but younger and older siblings are welcome, according to the site. The cost is $80 for one adult plus one child and $20 for each additional person up to four people total. The class series is limited to six families. See vibeyoga603.com.

• Slightly older yogis can join Lauren Young for kids’ yoga for children between ages 5 to 12, according to the same website, right after family yoga on the same Saturdays, from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. This is a drop-off program where kids will learn and practice yoga postures, breath work and mindfulness through games, songs and art; once your child is dropped off you can enjoy an hour at the coffee shops and stores in downtown Nashua. Registration is $80 per child. Visit vibeyoga603.com.

Boil and bake!

• The Culinary Playground (16 Manning St., Derry) is offering cooking classes for mini-chefs from 3 to 6 years old, with a Pasta Primavera course on Friday, April 19, and Sunday, April 21, at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., according to their website. These classes are designed for kids to work independently or with their caregiver close by if needed. They will prepare a recipe or two, usually with two servings, and read a book while it cooks, according to the website. Registration is $20 per child. Visit culinary-playground.com or mail [email protected] or call 339-1664 for details or to register.

Be entertained

• The Lorax (PG), the 2021 animated movie based on the Dr. Seuss book and featuring the voices of Zac Efron, Danny DeVito, Taylor Swif tand Ed Helms, will screen Chunky’s in Manchester (707 Huse Road), Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.) and Pelham (150 Bridge St.) on Friday, April 12, at 3:45 p.m. Reserve seats at chunkys.com.

Be artistic

• The Creative Studio at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) will celebrate Slow Art Day on Saturday, April 13, “ described as “a global event that aims to help more people discover the joy of looking at — and falling in love with — art,” according to a museum newsletter. The day will feature slow-looking activities and more, the newsletter said. As the second Saturday, this Saturday also features free admission to New Hampshire residents. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Kiddie Pool 24/04/04

Family fun for whenever

See a show

• Southern NH Youth Ballet will perform “Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly” along with “The Princess & The Pea,” the Hans Christian Andersen classic, at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St in Manchester) on Sunday, April 7, at 1 and 4 p.m., and guests can enjoy tea time with Fancy Nancy and her friends 45 minutes before each show, according to a press release. This performance is appropriate for children and young ballerinas of all ages and lasts approximately 90 minutes. Each special pre-performance Tea with Fancy Nancy is $20 per person, must be purchased separately, and is limited to only 50 guests, according to the release. Tickets range from $20 to $25. Visit palacetheatre.org or call 669-5588.

• Hear New Hampshire’s own Adam Sandler in his role as protective-dad Dracula in a screening of Hotel Transylvania (PG, 2012) on Sunday, April 7, at 3 p.m. at the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire in Bedford. The event is part of the New Hampshire Jewish Film Fest, which is slated to start Thursday, April 4, and is free. Register to attend at nhjewishfilmfestival.com/2024-films.

• The Capitol Center for the Arts’ Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St., Concord) presents Pete the Cat in “Pete’s Big Hollywood Adventure” on Wednesday, April 10, at 10 a.m. as part of their education series, according to a press release. Pete the Cat and his buddy Callie get lost in the world of movies when they sneak into the Hollywood Studios with Ethel the Apatosaurus and Robo-Pete in this new musical adventure that features “Cavecat Pete,” “Pete the Cat and the Treasure Map”and“The Cool Cat Boogie,” according to the release. The show is 60 minutes long and recommended for children in pre-K or kindergarten. Doors open at 9 a.m. and tickets are $8. Visit www.ccanh.com.

Story time

• Meet Pete the Cat at the Books Alive! event at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org) on Friday, April 5, at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. and Saturday, April 6, at either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. On both days, play sessions are from 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m. (the Friday also features “First Friday” play time from 4:15 to 7 p.m.).Admission costs $12.50 for adults and kids over 12 months old, $10.50 for 65+

• Derry Public Library hosts a recurring story program for children ages 3 to 5 and their caregiver, for sharing books, songs, puppets and a preschool craft, according to the library’s website. The next one is Monday, April 8, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. A second session is held from 1 to 1:45 p.m. every Monday as well. Since space is limited, registration is required for each storytime, but only children need to be registered, not adults, and registration opens two weeks before each storytime. Visit derrypl.org or call 432-6140.

Totality!

• The big eclipse is finally here — Monday, April 8, with the highlights roughly between 2 p.m.-ish and 4 p.m.-ish. See our story on page 33 of the March 28 issue of the Hippo (find the e-edition at hippopress.com) for more on local happenings including the happenings at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord (2 Institute Dr., 271-7827) which will have eclipse activities included with general admission from noon to 5 p.m., such as making a pinhole camera, eclipse puzzles and lunar phases wheels. In Manchester, SEE Science Center will host an eclipse viewing event at Arms Park from 2 to 4:30 p.m. with music from WZID and activities to explain eclipse science. Visit see-sciencecenter.org for eclipse simulation videos and more. Both location’s gift shops sell eclipse glasses (including, at SEE, Thursday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday, April 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Monday, April 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., when the center is closed for its annual fundraiser).

Horses and health

• The new Girls Rule program at UpReach Therapeutic Equestrian Center (153 Paige Hill Road in Goffstown) offers a unique opportunity to specifically address mental health and wellness for girls, according to a press release. This curriculum-based program helps girls learn self-advocacy, build confidence, feel empowered, learn how to establish and assert healthy boundaries, develop a body-positive image and make empowered choices, according to the press release. The release stated that this unmounted program happens in a fun, safe, supportive environment with horses and ponies and is designed for girls ages 11 to 14. The program runs from Monday, May 6, through Monday, June 17. Tuition is $200, and financial aid is available. Visit upreachtec.org or email [email protected] or call 497-2343.

Kiddie Pool 24/03/28

Family fun for whenever

Egg hunt updates & more

• The Easter Bunny’s visit to the Aviation Museum by student-built airplane has been postponed to Saturday, March 30, at 9 a.m. due to inclement weather. Visit aviationmuseumofnh.org or call 669-4820.

• The Well Church’s annual free Easter egg hunt at Greeley Park in Nashua(near the bandstand, 100 Concord St.) will be Saturday, March 30, at 10 a.m. Visit thewellnh.org/egghunt or call 978-419-1756.

• The Salem Community Easter Egg Hunt hosted by Rockingham Christian Church at Hedgehog Pond in Salem will now take place on Saturday, March 30, from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. Visit rccsalem.com or call 894-5228.

• The Joppa Hill Educational Farm (174 Joppa Hill Road in Bedford) now has two ticketed time slots for their Egg-citing Egg Hunt at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 30. Each ticket is $20. Visit theeducationalfarm.org.

• The Egg-Citing Egg Hunt continues at Charmingfare Farm in Candia (774 High St.) on Saturday, March 30, and Easter Sunday, March 31, with various times between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. See visitthefarm.com.

• Hudson’s Best Easter Egg Hunt is also Saturday, March 30, at Inner DragonMartial Arts (77 Derry Road in Hudson) with times at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon. See funnels.hudsonmartialart.com/egghunt-2024

• The Easter Bunny Party at Carriage Shack Farm in Londonderry (5 Dan Hill Road) is on Saturday, March 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets cost $12.95 for ages 16 and over, $10.95 for ages 15 and under. See carriageshackfarmllc.org

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