Category: Outdoors

Every now and then it comes around

By Zachary Lewis

[email protected]

Unless you have been living on the far side of the moon, you are aware that a total solar eclipse on April 8 will be visible across a slice of the country from Texas to Maine including New Hampshire.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord is ready. Amanda Leith, an education coordinator at the Discovery Center, spoke about plans for the event.

“On the day of the eclipse we are going to be open from 12 to 5 p.m., prime time for eclipse viewing in the afternoon,” Leith said. “We’ll be doing some cyanotype sunprints, which is just light-reactive paper, UV-reactive paper using sunscreens … so people can make … designs and things like that and lay them out in the sun to see how those different SPFs protect the paper from the UV sensitivity.”

“We’re also making pinhole projectors,” Leith said. “We’re going to have some telescopes and other ways to view the solar eclipse on our lawn as well. We are waiting on a large-scale floor mat that shows the different layers of the sun and we have a floor puzzle of the moon … a 9-foot-wide puzzle so when you build the puzzle on top of the sun it will create what a solar eclipse would look like and you’ll see the corona around the outside with the Moon right in the middle, and an accessible version on the table as well for people that can’t get on the floor.”

The New Hampshire Astronomical Society will bring telescopes and help out with the festivities.

If the weather is less than favorable, the Discovery Center has a contingency plan. “All the activities will be the same, except for the sun prints — we need the sun for that, unfortunately,” Leith said. There will be “planetarium shows focused on the eclipse and ways that you can view it. It should still be a fun day regardless.”

The solar eclipse itself “will start at about 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon here in Concord,” Leith said. “That will be what we call first contact…. Then, the maximum for here in Concord will be about 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon. Fourth contact, or the end of the eclipse, will be at about 4:45 p.m. So it will be over the course of about 2 and a half hours and we’ll get to see varying levels of the moon covering the sun.”

The amount of eclipse you experience depends on where you are in the state.

“Everywhere in New Hampshire will at least experience 94 percent,” Leith said. There will be 96 percent totality at the Discovery Center. “It won’t go completely black. We’re not going to be able to see the stars in the middle of the day, unfortunately, but it should get darker as if we are heading into the evening hours.”

“North of Lancaster,” Leith said, “you are going to see totality. A total eclipse. No matter how you view an eclipse, whether it’s a partial solar eclipse or a total, they are all really special. This is the most coverage of the sun that we are going to get here in the state no matter where you are until 2079.”

What exactly is a solar eclipse? “A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun,” Leith said. “The physics and orbital mechanics of our solar system makes this a very unique event for us on Earth. But when it [the moon] is at its closest point to the Earth, that’s when it does cover the entire surface and we can see that total solar eclipse, so that’s why we are getting one in April.”

Kelly Thompson, a visitor experience coordinator at the Discovery Center, is watching solar eclipse glasses fly off the shelves. “We keep kind of continuously selling out,” Thompson said. “I should be shipping them out until March 31. I’ll stop orders at that point. Those can be purchased over the phone for $3.50 a pair.” Glasses not being shipped can be purchased at the Discovery Center for $2.50.

Do not look at the eclipse without the glasses! Their special film is crucial in keeping your eyes protected from the sun, Leith explained. “The lenses of our eyes are very similarly shaped to magnifying glasses. I am sure many people as kids took magnifying glasses outside and tried to light things on fire and burned ant hills … the same thing would happen to the back of your eyes. It would damage your eyes irreparably.” The glasses do have an expiration date of around three years. “If anybody has them from 2017, definitely throw them away.”

NASA will be closely monitoring the event, Leith noted, because “the sun’s energy impacts our atmosphere in really unique ways, so they are actually sending up weather balloons all across the country.” NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project includes a balloon in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, that will be sent up by teams from Plymouth State University.

The University of New Hampshire’s Space Weather Underground (SWUG) will be “deploying magnetometers to understand our atmosphere as well during the eclipse,” Leith said. “There are quite a few things happening here in our state.”

The solar eclipse is “a fun opportunity to connect with people,” Thompson said. “Gosh, we hope the weather is going to be great.”

Eclipse viewing party
McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
2 Institute Dr., Concord, 271-7827, starhop.com
Eclipse glasses: $3.50 a pair to have glasses shipped (until March 31), $2.50 a pair in the Science Store
Eclipse day: Monday, April 8, open noon to 5 p.m., general admission ranges from $10 to $13, free for members and ages 2 and younger; discounts on memberships available on eclipse day

A partial totality of eclipse events!

• The New Hampshire Astronomical Society presents “What to Expect from a Solar Eclipse” on Wednesday, March 27, at 6:30 p.m. at Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway, Derry, derrypl.org, 432-6140); register to attend at the library’s website. See nhastro.com.
• Plymouth State University professor and planetarium director Dr. Brad Moser will present “Lunch and Learn” on Tuesday, April 2, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Puritan Backroom (245 Daniel Webster Highway in Manchester). Tickets cost $15 per person, and includes a lunch buffet and a pair of solar eclipse viewing glasses. Get tickets at plymouth-usnh.nbsstore.net/lunch-and-learn-eclipse.
• The UNH Department of Physics and Astronomy welcomes the public to a free informal all-ages event, “The Science of Solar Eclipses,” on Wednesday, April 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the UNH Durham campus. See extension.unh.edu/eclipse for details and eclipse-related resources.
• The SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester) will host an eclipse viewing event at Arms Park in Manchester from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 8, with music from WZID and activities to explain eclipse science. Eclipse simulation videos online as well. SEE’s gift shop has eclipse glasses for $2 per pair with extended gift shop hours on Wednesday, April 3, and 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. Visit see-sciencecenter.org.
• Interested in heading north for the festivities? Check out visitnh.gov/solareclipse for viewing tips, event listings, and lodging information.

How the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival picks its slate

By Zachary Lewis

[email protected]

As co-chairs of the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival, Patricia Kalik and Ross Fishbein did a lot of movie-watching to put together this year’s event.

“We watched 60 movies this year to pick the 13 that we are showing during the festival,” Kalik said.

The 16th annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival begins Thursday, April 4, and runs through Sunday, April 14, with a bonus virtual week beginning that same Sunday, April 14, and ends Sunday, April 21.

Kalik has chaired 12 of the festival’s 16 years and makes sure to watch every minute of every film during this multi-month project.

“That’s a lot of hours of screen time, that’s for sure,” Kalik said. “And I have a rule: Once I start a movie I finish it … even If I don’t think it’s a great movie, because I know someone spent a lot of hours to create this piece of art…. I want to give everyone their fair share of time.”

The entire enterprise echoes that sentiment.

It’s “a labor of love and a community effort,” Fishbein said. He has been co-chair for the last four years. “Luckily, we have a lot of volunteers that are tremendously helpful in making sure that the event is put on and successful.”

Fishbein noted that selecting films “is a challenge.”

“We have about 20 people on the various screening committees. That’s about 20 different opinions that have to be juggled,” Fishbein said. “Our mission is to find a diverse selection of films. We try to make sure that we have comedies, we have dramas, we have English language films, we have foreign films that are subtitled, we have Israeli films, we have films about Jewish life generally. … It’s balancing that with the quality of the film and whether we think it would appeal to our audience.”

Once all the movies are watched, deliberation begins.

“At the end of the whole screening process we do have one final meeting where we vote,” Kalik said. “We take the votes on everything and we rank the films and we see if the top 12 have a balance, and if not we go down a level to get a balance. Because let’s say this year four of our top films were [about the] Holocaust. We choose not to show half of our shows being Holocaust-related.”

Kalik noted, “This year in particular we have [films from] a lot of different countries. We have a French film, one from Belgium, Hungary, several from Israel, a few U.S.A. films, but a nice smattering of films.”

In-person discussions and virtual screenings are part of the festival.

Call Me Dancer is a film about the journey of Manish Chauhan, a young street dancer from India who becomes a ballet dancer in New York. Chauhan will be attendance at the screening on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres in Concord.

“His dance instructor was an Israeli dance instructor,” Kalik said. “They did spend some time in Israel. We’re really honored that he is going to be at our screening…. And then he is going to spend some time with the dance students at St. Paul’s Ballet Company. I think that’s exciting.”

There are even sometimes free concessions.

“In some of the venues we actually … give people popcorn as they enter the movie,” Kalik said, noting that the festival is “a way to bring the community together.”

“If it’s a controversial topic, [or] even if it’s not, after the film people mill around in the lobby of the theater and talk about the film, and it builds community. I think especially in today’s day and age that’s important,” Kalik said.

Fishbein was in agreement.

“It is one of those rare events that is truly community-focused,” Fishbein said. “It’s really a great way to be part of the Jewish community and be part of the larger New Hampshire community, without having a religious connotation to it.”

New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival

Thursday, April 4
5:15 p.m. opening night gala reception in the Spotlight Room at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester), $18
7 p.m. Remembering Gene Wilder at the Rex Theatre (23 Amherst St. in Manchester)

Sunday, April 7
3 p.m. Hotel Transylvania at PJ Library at the Jewish Federation of New Hampshire (273 S. River Road in Bedford), free
4 p.m. Children of Nobody at Southern New Hampshire University, Webster Hall, Mara Auditorium (2546 N. River Road in Hooksett)
6:30 p.m. The Boy at Southern New Hampshire University, Webster Hall, Mara Auditorium (2546 N. River Road in Hooksett), free

Tuesday, April 9
7 p.m. Bella! at Southern New Hampshire University, Webster Hall, Mara Auditorium ( 2546 N. River Road in Hooksett)
7 p.m. All About the Levkoviches at Peterborough Community Theatre (6 School St. in Peterborough)

Thursday, April 11
7 p.m. Call Me Dancer at Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord)

Sunday, April 14
1 p.m. The Monkey House at Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord)
3 p.m. Matchmaking at Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord)
5:30 p.m. wrap party at Red River Theatres (11 S. Main St. in Concord)

Other film screenings in Hanover (Nugget Theaters) and Portsmouth (3S Art Space).

Virtual screenings

Thursday, April 4 – Sunday, April 21

These films will be available for 18 days except 999 (four days). Films are available for 48 hours once unlocked.

999: The Forgotten Girls of the Holocaust (only available April 11–April 14)
Home
Rabbi on the Block (virtual post-film live discussion Wednesday, April 10, at 7 p.m. with Rabbi Tamar Manasseh and director Brad Rothschild)
The Story of Annette Zelman

Virtual screenings bonus week Sunday, April 14 – Sunday, April 21
All About the Levkoviches, Bella!, Call Me Dancer, Children of Nobody, Matchmaking, The Boy, The Monkey House and The Way to Happiness

Tickets
$12 in-theater
$12 per virtual household
$18 opening night reception
Ticket packages range from $44 to $200

Advance purchase for all screenings is suggested. Purchase online at www.nhjewishfilmfestival.org, by phone at 627-7679, or at the Jewish Federation office, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Additional tickets for in-theater screenings may be available at the door prior to the show.

Where to find egg hunts and Easter Bunny visits

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

If Santa spans the globe by reindeer-powered sleigh, and the Tooth Fairy has her wings, then how exactly does the Easter Bunny travel? By airplane, of course. On Saturday, March 23, at 9 a.m., the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire in Londonderry (27 Navigator Road) welcomes the Easter Bunny into the Granite State as he lands a two-seat light sport aircraft, an RV-12iS, constructed by students from the Manchester School of Technology.

“We’re thrilled the Easter Bunny has chosen to arrive in an airplane built by students right here in New Hampshire,” said Jeff Rapsis, the museum’s executive director. “It’s a great honor to have such an important celebrity make use of this aircraft [and] not just have him hop around but arrive in spectacular fashion.”

The Manchester Airport Fire Department will create a grand water arch to greet the plane. In the event of inclement weather, the Easter Bunny will meet families and friends inside the museum’s workshop.

During the visit, the Easter Bunny will take photos with visitors and hand out candy. The Granite State Candy Shoppe has “donated lots of chocolate,” Rapsis said. The Common Man Roadside will provide free apple cider, coffee and other treats.

From 9 to 11 a.m., museum entry will be free with activities where kids can design hot air balloons and create pilot licenses, and there will be areas for coloring and Legos. The museum ask thats families arrive no later than 8:30 a.m. to be able to park and safely make it to the landing on time.

Around 11 a.m. the Easter Bunny will ride off in a Manchester Airport Fire Department fire truck.

After 11 a.m., regular admission applies to the Aviation Museum: $10 for ages 13 and up; $5 for ages 6 to 12 and ages 65 and up, and veterans/active military; kids 5 and under are free. Visit aviationmuseumofnh.org

Here are some more Easter-related area events:

• An Egg-Citing Egg Hunt will be hosted at Charmingfare Farm in Candia (774 High St.) on Saturday, March 23, and Sunday, March 24, as well as Saturday, March 30, and Easter Sunday, March 31, with various times between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Children age 2 to 12 will have the chance to hunt for a dozen eggs, each filled with fun surprises and perfect for taking home after a day of fun. See visitthefarm.com.

• Another Egg-citing Egg Hunt will be hosted at Joppa Hill Farm in Bedford (174 Joppa Hill Road) on Saturday, March 23, at two ticketed time slots, 10 a.m. and noon. Visitors may gather 15 eggs containing nut-free candy and toys. According to the website, participants have a chance to find a golden egg that grants a special prize as well as getting to meet and take a picture with the Easter Bunny. Tickets are $20 for ages 1 through 12. There is no fee for adults. See theeducationalfarm.org.

• The Governor’s Easter Egg Hunt will take place on the Statehouse Lawn in Concord on Saturday, March 23. Mr. Aaron performs live from 10 to 11 a.m. There will also be face painting, balloons, prizes, refreshments, the Easter Bunny and his friends, and lots of fun, according to a press release. The Egg hunt begins exactly at 10 a.m. The governor asks that you please bring your own basket.

• The Well Church’s annual free Easter egg hunt will be held at Greeley Park in Nashua (near the bandstand, 100 Concord St.) on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. Their website welcomes participants to see the Easter Bunny, hunt some eggs, and enjoy face painting, among other festivities. The Well Church asks that participants bring their own baskets, only reserve tickets for children, and notes that certain times are only for younger kids only. Visit thewellnh.org/egghunt.

• The 32nd annual Easter egg hunt for Merrimack residents at Wasserman Park in Merrimack (116 Naticook Road) is happening on Saturday, March 23. Their events page mentioned a total of 6,500 Easter eggs ready to hand out between five different egg hunt groups. Times are: special needs at 10:10 a.m.; ages 1 to 3 at 10:30 a.m., ages 4 and 5 at 10:50 a.m. ages 6 and 7 at 11:10 a.m., and ages 8 to 10 at 11:30 a.m. They ask that children bring their own baskets. The Easter Bunny will be available for photos at the basketball court from 10 to 11:30 a.m. This free event is open to Merrimack residents only. Visit merrimackparksandrec.org/easter-egg-hunt.

• The Salem Community Easter Egg Hunt hosted by Rockingham Christian Church will take place at Hedgehog Pond in Salem on Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bags will be provided for the two egg hunts. The first is at noon for kids 5 and under and the second at 12:30 p.m. for kids 6 to 11. The Rockingham Christian Church mentioned on their event page that the event will be a day of egg hunting and activities for the family like face painting, crafts, raffles, pictures with the Easter Bunny, and a visit from the Salem Fire Department. They ask participants to register for the event to give them a head count. Parking is located next door at the Bus Company or across the street at the Ice Center. Visit rccsalem.com/events or email [email protected].

• The Saint Anselm College Alumni Association invites Granite Staters to its 28th Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Saint Anselm College (100 Saint Anselm Drive in Manchester) on Palm Sunday, March 24, at 12:30 p.m. Registration opens at 11 a.m. and the Easter egg hunt commences exactly at 12:30 p.m. Admission is $25 per family, which includes a $5 donation to the Saint Anselm Fund. The website mentions that there will be snacks, coffee, a petting zoo, crafts for kids, and pictures with the Easter Bunny. Visit alumni.anselm.edu/annual-easter-egg-hunt.

• The Easter Bunny Party is back at Carriage Shack Farm in Londonderry (5 Dan Hill Road) on Saturday, March 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can spend time with the Easter Bunny and friendly farm animals. There is an Easter Bunny trail where kids can collect Easter egg treasures. There will be opportunities for Easter egg decorating, dancing and bubbles, and the Olde Schacht’s Mining area will be open for additional fun, according to the website. The animals at Carriage Shack Farm include a Tibetan yak, bearded dragons, baby doll sheep and a 100-pound Sulcata Tortoise named Homer. Tickets are $12.95 for ages 16 and over, $11.95 for seniors and military, $10.95 for ages 15 and under. Children 1 and under are free. Adults must be accompanied by another adult or child. No pets of any kind are allowed, for the safety of the farm’s animals. Tickets can be purchased at the gate. Visit carriageshackfarmllc.org.

• Hudson’s Best Easter Egg Hunt will be Saturday, March 30, at Inner Dragon Martial Arts (77 Derry Road in Hudson) with times at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon featuring more than 5,000 eggs, pictures with the Easter Bunny and more. Reserve a spot at funnels.hudsonmartialart.com/egghunt-2024.

Featured Photo: The Easter Bunny NH Aviation Museum of New Hampshire. Courtesy photo.

LeUyen Pham talks book illustrating, touring

On Friday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, readers of all ages can meet LeUyen Pham, part of the multiple award-winning writer and illustrator duo of the newest Kitty-Corn story, Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn. The book is the latest in the series illustrated by Pham. and authored by Shannon Hale (who will also be at Gibson’s). Pham, an illustrator and a writer herself, has inked more than 140 stories and received a Caldecott honor in 2020 for her illustration of Bear Came Along. In an interview, she spoke about the partnership, life as an artist, and the connections forged on book tours.

“When we started doing the Kitty-Corn series,” Pham said, “it was kind of an experiment between me and Shannon. We were talking about how writers and illustrators never get to come together to write books, it’s just the way the industry is designed.” Pham and Hale wanted to change that paradigm. “What if we didn’t have the medium of the editor in between and could we still come up with good stories?”

This was the genesis of the first Kitty-Corn book, a New York Times bestseller and Cybil’s Award Finalist.

“I was able to contribute as much to the story as Shannon did,” Pham said, “and vice versa with the illustration.”

Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn, the fourth installment of the series, came about through a conversation during travel.

“I do believe we were running through an airport,” Pham recalled, “and I had mentioned how I really wished I could do a mermaid story. I don’t want to do just a typical mermaid story because I don’t know how to swim, and so it would have to be something where it was a mermaid, maybe, that couldn’t swim, and that was the seed for this particular story.”

Their friendship over the years through multiple collaborations allowed Hale to pen their newest story.

“She knew what I was trying to do or what my fear was behind that story, the fear of the water, and because she understood me so well … she pretty much wrote that one on her own and brought it back and I remember laughing, thinking that’s exactly the story I wanted to do, and that’s where Bubbly Beautiful came from.”

“You gotta be excited about what’s on the horizon and not where you currently are. You’re constantly trying to agitate the pool that you’re in because if you’re comfortable then you are doing something that you have already done before. Like, you always have to be slightly uncomfortable to be growing in some way.”

Pham enjoys the challenge of expanding a story through images from what an author has put into words. “I think that is why I like to illustrate manuscripts so much … because I really enjoy that process of picking a manuscript apart and figuring out why it works and what’s the story that’s being told and the alternate story being told.”

For Kitty-Corn, “I do everything digitally,” Pham said. “I made this specifically digital because it was a lot easier to communicate with Shannon that way.” Although computer-based illustration works perfectly for the series with Hale, who is based in Utah, Pham is partial to other forms. “My favorite medium is watercolor. If I could do every book in watercolor, I absolutely would,” and added, “I love to ink. I love, love, love, to ink.”

Most of her work is completed inside her home studio in California. While Pham shares the studio space with her husband, artist Alexandre Puvilland, who has worked on such feature films as Prince of Egypt and Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Pham looks forward to the promotional journey. “The part of the tour I like the best is actually spending time with the writer because they are usually my friend.” Pham is also a big fan of “going to bookstores and meeting with owners.”

“I always like to remember that at the end of my pen, that’s what’s happening. Every piece of art that gets created goes into the hands of one of these people,” whether it is a bookstore owner, librarian or teacher. “It makes me want to make sure I appreciate that process and that what they’re getting is the best of what I can offer.”

Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
What: book launch author visit for Bubbly Beautiful Kitty-Corn
When: Friday, March 29, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St., Concord
More: gibsonsbookstore.com

Featured Photo: Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham. Photo by Alex Puvilland.