Category: Outdoors

Ka-boom!

Independence Day celebrations across the Granite State

Compiled by Katelyn Sahagian

ksahagian@hippopress.com

Whether it’s a cookout, parade or celebration, towns and cities across New Hampshire want to make sure their residents have their Fourth of July go out with a bang.

• Amherst Fourth of July celebration Two days’ worth of celebration and entertainment, featuring fireworks, a festival on the town green, and a parade with classic cars competing for awards. When: Monday, July 3, festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with fireworks. A second day of festivities, including the parade and festival, begins Tuesday, July 4, at 9 a.m. Where: July 3 events at Souhegan High School, 412 Boston Post Road. July 4 parade leaves opposite the Wilkins School, 80 Boston Post Road. Visit: amherstnh4th.org

• Brookline fireworks uesday, July 4, around 9 p.m. Where: The fireworks will be over Lake Potanipo, Max Cohen Memorial Grove, 3 Mason Road. Visit: brookline.nh.us

• Canobie Lake Park fireworks Stick around after a day at the amusement park for fireworks over the lake. The fireworks show is timed to patriotic music and the amusement park recommends viewers watch them by the daVinci’s Dream ride.When: Friday, June 30, through Tuesday, July 4, 9:15 p.m. Where: Canobie Lake Park, 85 N. Policy St., Salem Visit: canobie.com

• Derry fireworks Tuesday, July 4, approximately 8:45 p.m. Where: Best viewing areas are Hood Commons, Crystal Avenue and Tsienneto Road Visit: derry-nh.org

• Hopkinton Fourth of July Family Fun Day Featuring a kiddie and main parade, family games, live music and a cookie bake-off When: Tuesday, July 4, cookie competition dropoff is from 9 to 11 a.m., kiddie parade begins at 11:30 a.m., main parade begins at noon and competition results are at 2 p.m. Where: Parades begin at Hopkinton High School (297 Park Ave., Contoocook), then proceed through Fountain Square toward Contoocook Village Cemetery. Other festivities held at Houston Park, 41 Houston Drive, Hopkinton. Visit: hopkintonrec.com

• Laconia celebration and fireworks Laconia will be holding a parade and a festival full of vendors and live music on top of the spectacular fireworks show. When: Sunday, July 2. The parade will start at 4:30 p.m., the band will start playing after, and fireworks will begin at 10 p.m. Where: The parade will start at the Laconia High School, 345 Union Ave., and end at Opechee Park, 915 Main St. Visit: laconianh.gov

• Manchester Independence Day celebration Enjoy fireworks, live music and food vendors. When: Monday, July 3. Live music starts at 7 p.m.; fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m. Where: Arms Park, 10 Arms St. Visit: manchesternh.gov

• Merrimack Fourth of July festivities A weekend-long celebration featuring fireworks, live music, a road race, a pancake breakfast and much more. When: The Merrimack Concert Association’s annual Patriotic Concert in the Park will be held Monday, July 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The annual Merrimack Sparkler 5K Road Race will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4. The Merrimack Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. A parade will begin at 1 p.m. and fireworks will begin at 9 p.m. Where: Holiday concert at Abbie Griffin Park. Road race begins and ends at Merrimack High School, 38 McElwain St. Pancake breakfast and fireworks are also at Merrimack High School. The parade will start at the Commons Shopping Plaza, 515 Daniel Webster Hwy. Visit: merrimackparksandrec.org

• Milford Star Spangled 5K Deck out in red, white and blue to show your patriotism at this race. There’s also a free fun run for kids ages 12 and younger. When: Saturday, July 1. Race starts at 8:30 a.m., check-in at 7:30 a.m. Where: Keyes Memorial Park, Elm Street Price: registration costs $30 for those 13 and older, $10 for 12 and youngerVisit: milford.nh.gov

• Nashua Fourth of July celebration Fireworks, live music and hall of fame inductions. When: Tuesday, July 4, children’s activities from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., concert at 6 p.m. featuring The Slakas. Fireworks begin at dusk. Where: Holman Stadium, 67 Amherst St. Visit: nashuanh.gov

• New Boston Fourth of July celebration Featuring a parade, live music, a barbecue, ax throwing and the firing of the historic Molly Stark cannon. When: Tuesday, July 4, parade begins at 10 a.m., fairgrounds will open at 4 p.m., opening ceremonies are at 5 p.m., and the fireworks will start at 9:30 p.m. Where: Parade begins at the top of High Street and will end at the grounds of the Hillsborough County Youth Center Foundation, off River Road. Visit: newboston4thofjuly.org

• Raymond Fourth of July celebration 21th annual Fourth of July parade will have floats, horses, antique cars, clowns and more. When: Tuesday, July 4, parade at 9:30 a.m. Where: Parade proceeds from Route 27 (Epping Street) to the Raymond Town Common, onto Old Manchester Road and to Wight Street. Visit: raymondareanews.com

• Salem Independence Day celebration Featuring live music, food trucks, face painting, fireworks, a beer garden and more.When: Monday, July 3. Kids’ activities and food trucks will be open from noon to 9 p.m., fireworks will start at dusk. Where: The event this year is taking place at Tuscan Village, 9 Via Toscana. Visit: townofsalemnh.org

• Weare patriotic celebration fireworks Enjoy fair food, live music, and carnival rides before the fireworks start. When: Fireworks begin at 9:15 p.m. Where: Center Park, North Stark Highway, Weare Visit: fb.me/e/2VVetdx9S

• Windham fireworks The Windham High School band will play a patriotic concert and there will be a selection of vendors selling all kinds of wares before the fireworks light up the sky. When: The parking lot opens at 5:30 p.m., the band starts at 7:15 p.m., fireworks at 9:30 p.m. Where: Windham High School, 64 London Bridges Road. Visit: windhamnh.gov

Kiddie Pool 23/06/22

Family fun for the weekend

Festival time

• The Nest Family Café (20 Orchard View Drive, Londonderry) is hosting Nest Fest! on Saturday, June 24, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be live music, games and crafts for the kids, a variety of vendors, a picnic area and a fire truck visit. The event is free to attend with any purchase at the café. For more information, visit the café’s website at thenestfamilycafe.com.

• Summerfest by the Wilton Main Street Association is back on Saturday, June 24, at 10 a.m. There will be an arts market, live music, food, street vendors, and fireworks in the evening. In the morning there will be a pancake breakfast. The rain date is Sunday, June 25. For more information visit visitwilton.com/summerfest.

• Independence Day is coming early to Pelham for its annual Independence Day celebration on Saturday, June 24, starting at 6 p.m. There will be fair food like hot dogs, hamburgers, kettle corn, fried dough, strawberry shortcake and more. There will also be plenty of entertainment in the form of games, live music, face painting and, of course, fireworks. For more information about this event, visit pelhamcommunityspirit.org.

Movie night

• Regal Cinemas (282 Loudon Road, Concord) is starting its Summer Movie Express series this week. There will be discounted movie screenings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from now until Sept. 6. The next movies in the lineup are Sonic the Hedgehog (2020, PG) and Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019, PG), will both screen on June 27 and June 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $2 per person. Purchase at regmovies.com.

Outdoor fun

• Monday, June 26, is the first day of Greater Derry Track Club’s Kids Summer Fun Runs. These fun runs will be held behind the Londonderry High School (295 Mammoth Road), with start time at 6:30 p.m. The series will continue every Monday through July 31. Registration deadline is Saturday, June 24, and it is free to register. Bib pickup will be earlier in the evening on the night of the first race. Kids 3 and younger run 50 yards, ages 4 to 6 run 200 meters, ages 7 and 8 run 300 meters, ages 9 and 10 run 600 meters, and ages 11 to 13 run the cross-country mile. Runners 14 and older do not need to register but can run the open mile after the younger runners are done. To register, visit runsignup.com/Race/NH/Londonderry/GDTCkids.

• Construct a palace fit for royalty at the Sandcastle Building Contest at Max Cohen Memorial Grove (3 Mason Road, Brookline) on Tuesday, June 27. Builders can begin construction whenever they choose, but must have finished their castles by 1 p.m. Winners will be announced at 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit brooklinenh.us.

Moving plants

You don’t need a van, just a wheelbarrow

Once, a long time ago, I was sitting on a porch overlooking a landscape with an acquaintance. I commented that if she removed or thinned a line of tall pine trees, she would have a lovely long view.

“Great idea! I’ll have them moved,” she said. Even though she was a woman of means, I explained that it wouldn’t be possible to move 60-foot white pines. She should either live with them or cut some down.

On the other hand, I move shrubs and perennial flowers regularly. When it’s done right, a plant barely knows it’s been moved. I have a number of reasons for moving a plant.

First, if the plant is not growing well. Perhaps the tag on it said, “sun or part shade.” Well, what is part shade? I define full sun as five or six hours of afternoon sun. Morning sun is less hot, and a sun-lover might want some afternoon sun in addition to the morning sun.

shovel with long, think head, sitting on grass
This drain spade is good for transplanting perennials and shrubs

Why else move a plant? We all change our minds. Or plants grow and start to crowd out their neighbors. We get new plants and decide to plant one where something else is already growing. Moving plants is a normal part of gardening.

I have a lovely shrub called Carolina sweetshrub or Calycanthus floridus. My reference book by Michael Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, suggests planting it in sun or shade in deep moist loam. I planted it in full sun in deep, moist loam and the leaves burned that first summer. I assumed it had been grown in a shady place at the nursery, so figured it would be fine in Year 2. It was not. Its leaves burned again. So that fall I moved it to a shady spot.

For the next three years or more my sweetshrub did not burn up in summer, but neither did it flower much. I wanted those deep burgundy wine-colored blossoms, each more than an inch across. So I finally moved it again, this time under a pear tree that allowed filtered sunshine. Perfect! It has bloomed magnificently ever since.

My technique for moving a shrub is simple. I decide where it should go, and get the area ready by removing grass or plants and loosening the top layers of soil. Then I go to the plant in question with a drain spade that has a blade 16 inches long and only 5 inches wide. I slide it under the shrub on all four sides by thrusting the blade into the soil at a 45-degree angle. On each side I give the spade a gentle downward push to lift and loosen the shrub a little. By the fourth thrust it should be ready to lift out by sliding my two hands under the root ball.

I move the shrub into a waiting wheelbarrow and bring it to its new home. I measure the depth of the root ball and dig out a hole deep enough so that it will sit at the same depth it was at originally. I dig a wide hole so that the area around the shrub will be nicely loosened and ready for roots to grow in it once I backfill the hole. I water well that day and regularly all summer.

When I water a plant I have moved, I add something to the water: a capful (half a teaspoon) of something called “Superthrive” in a watering can of water. It was developed some 70 years ago and uses seaweed extracts and plant hormones to lessen transplant shock. I find it really helps. A small blurt of Neptune’s Harvest Fish and Seaweed fertilizer in the water adds some quick nutrition. I use both liquids on all my vegetables as I plant them, too.

Any plant that you planted this year can be moved now without damaging it. It takes several weeks before roots move far from their root ball. I don’t bother with a spade when moving new things. I use my CobraHead weeder, which is shaped like a long curved finger. It gets under the root ball easily, and by wiggling it around I can loosen the plant and gently lift it out, pulling from below with my CobraHead.

When I am moving an established perennial, I am more careful. Over the years, from experience and readings, I have learned much about the root systems of common perennials. You probably have, too. Some have roots near the surface while others are more like tubers that go deep.

Peony roots go deep and are not easy to move without breaking their fleshy tubers. Peony experts say to move them in the fall, when they are going dormant. But I once moved a hedge of peonies in June with about 50 plants, and not one showed ill effects.

It is best to move established perennials in the early evening, or on a cool or drizzly day. Some plants go into shock if disturbed in the heat of the day, so avoid doing so if you can. Others, like daylilies, don’t care at all about being moved on a hot dry day.

I recently was planting my front walkway garden and noticed a rudbeckia called ‘Prairie Sun’ that was too close to another plant, so I moved it at 11 a.m. on a hot day. After lunch the leaves were limp and it was in distress. My solution? I gave it another drink of Superthrive and placed an umbrella over it to provide shade. By the next morning it looked like it had never been moved!

So go ahead, move plants. Other than big trees, there are very few you can’t move.

Featured photo: Calycanthus or sweetshrub is a shade-loving shrub that I moved twice to find it a happy home. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Make way for Market Days

Three-day street festival returns to downtown Concord

By Maya Puma

listings@hippopress.com

Back for a 49th year in downtown Concord, Market Days, the three-day street festival featuring vendors, musicians, a beer garden and a variety of other special events, is bigger than ever. It will run from Thursday, June 22, through Saturday, June 24, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, along Main Street and connecting side streets.

This year there will be some new festivities, including a free photo booth, an inclusive art project and recycling. The art project is happening on Thursday and Friday on Capitol Street and all attendees are welcome to participate.

“Everyone can join the project and make a little picture, and just make an effort to do some positive messaging and be inclusive of everybody,” said Jessica Martin, executive director of Intown Concord, which organizes the festival.

Recycling is also new to the event this year, and there will be a sustainability effort represented through three recycling stations and vendors to do composting.

Nearly 200 street vendors are participating, including the Concord Arts Market, which will be on Pleasant Street. Several vendors will be serving food, like Temple Street Diner, Twelve 31 Cafe, Eatxactly Sweet Cafe and fan favorites Yankee Farmer’s Market Buffalo and Let the Dough Roll.

Over the course of the weekend more than 75 live local performances will take place on three separate stages. According to Martin, this is the second year that performers will be paid, thanks to a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

The Club Soda Band, for example, is a Concord-based cover band playing a mix of pop, rock, classic rock and some country music from the 1960s to now. A mainstay of Market Days over the last 30 years, the group will perform on the Main Stage on Thursday at 7:45 p.m.

“I just like being part of this event. There’s a history to it,” Club Soda Band keyboardist Carl Smith said. “I’m a lifelong resident of this town … so it’s one of those days that I look forward to every year.”

Other events to take place throughout the duration of the festival include balloon animal demonstrations by Lollipop the Clown, a drum circle courtesy of the Concord Community Music School, a dog show from Pawskies, salsa and champeta dancing from Barranquilla Flavor and even a roller derby demonstration.

Worthy Mind and Movement, an alternate fitness studio based in Concord, will host a Buti yoga class and zumba class. Buti yoga incorporates dynamic movements, biometrics and yoga poses. The studio aims to make fitness fun and accessible for all people, according to owner Cassie O’Brien.

“We’re excited to showcase what we do and it should be a fun time,” she said. “Market Days is always a good time.”

Market Days Festival
When: Thursday, June 22, through Saturday, June 24, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Where: Main Street and neighboring streets, downtown Concord
Visit: marketdaysfestival.com

Statehouse lawn
Thursday, June 22
– Concord Public Library storytime: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
– Concord Community Music School storytime and Music and Movement: 2 to 3 p.m.
– Girl Scouts offering face- and arm-painting, as well as tattoos: 3 to 6:30 p.m

Friday, June 23
– Storytime with Miss New Hampshire Brook Mills: 10 to 11 a.m.
– Concord Public Library storytime: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
– The Friends Program makes friendship bracelets and buttons: noon to 5 p.m.
– Worthy Mind and Movement Zumba class: noon to 12:30 p.m.
– Worthy Mind and Movement Buti yoga class: 12:30 to 1 p.m.
– Girl Scouts offering face- and arm-painting, as well as tattoos: 12:30 to 6 p.m.

Saturday, June 24
– Boy Scouts of America: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Music & Movement with the Concord Community Music School: 10 to 10:45 a.m.
– Girl Scouts offering face- and arm-painting, as well as tattoos: 10:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
– Concord Community Music School Folk Jam Session: 11 a.m. to noon
– Concord Community Music School drum session: noon to 1 p.m.
– The 501st and Rebel Legions – The Star Wars Fan Costuming Group: 2 to 6 p.m.
– Granite State Roller Derby games for kids: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

City Plaza
Thursday, June 22
– Element Booth Company takes pictures with friends and family: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Music & Movement with the Concord Community Music School: 10 to 10:45 a.m.
– Lollipop the Clown and balloon twisting: 3 to 6 p.m.
– Darbster Rescue adoption showcase: 5:30 to 8 p.m.

Friday, June 23
– Element Booth Company takes pictures with friends and family: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Music & Movement with the Concord Community Music School: 10 to 10:45 a.m.
– Pawskies dog show: 2 to 4 p.m.
– Cumbia dancing with Barranquilla Flavor: 4:30 to 5 p.m.
– Salsa dancing with Barranquilla Flavor: 5 to 5:30 p.m.
– Cardio sculpt classes with Thrive Fitness: 6 to 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 24
– Element Booth Company takes pictures with friends and family: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Champeta dancing with Barranquilla Flavor: 10:30 to 11 a.m.
– Salsa dancing with Barranquilla Flavor: 11 to 11:30 a.m.
– Cardio sculpt classes with Thrive Fitness: 1 to 2 p.m. and 5 to 6 p.m.
– Granite State Roller Derby demonstrations: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Learning from other gardens

Gather ideas from great green spaces

One of the best ways to learn how to create a lovely garden is to see others. Visit good gardens of neighbors, great gardens near and far. I recently visited three great gardens and, as always when viewing other gardens, they gave me much to consider. The gardens I visited were Bedrock Gardens in Lee, N.H., Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

All these gardens had significant areas of lawn or meadow. I realize that lawns are not in favor, generally, among the pro-pollinator and bird crowd. But if you provide plenty of plants that support pollinators, I do not see lawns as bad. Each of these gardens has plenty of flowering trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Something is always in bloom, including both native plants and exotic ones.

So what does lawn accomplish? It provides contrast — a simple green palette — to show off the plants. Expanses of green are soothing to the eye. I can only focus on so many amazing plants before I get visually fatigued, much as I do when I visit an art museum.

Lawn also allows you to stand back to see the landscape from a distance. For trees, that is important. In a forested area, and all three of these gardens have them, individual trees are sometimes hard to see. They blend in with the others. But I need to stand back to look at a majestic beech or oak that towers 100 feet above me.

Bedrock Gardens only recently was deeded over from the original owners, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger, to the nonprofit that manages the property. Jill is an amazing sculptor who for over 30 years has created art to surprise and delight visitors to this 20-acre garden. Much of her art is painted welded steel that will delight visitors for the century ahead. She is the modern Alexander Calder of gardens.

Although I am not an artist, I do purchase and create art and whimsy for my own gardens, and you can, too. Look around at what you can use: a brass headboard from an abandoned bed; the rim of an old wagon wheel, a collection of stacked stones or a single tall standing stone buried in the ground. Stone always enhances a garden. Walls are expensive but almost worth their weight in gold.

Pathways are important to a great garden, too. They lead the visitor from one area to another. Placing art or even a bench at a distance pulls viewers forward, luring them to see what is ahead. Chanticleer has wonderful pathways through the woods that appear to be wood chips embedded in rubber. Very soothing to knees and feet.

My late sister, Ruth Anne Mitchell, taught me long ago when viewing art or gardens, “If you see a place to sit down, sit down.” So I do, and I find it enhances the experience of the garden. Not only am I less tired; often gardens surprise us with something special near a resting point. Perhaps you can design a special feature near a bench: rare and dainty plants or a small water feature.

All three of the gardens I visited made much use of water in the landscape. I am lucky enough to have a small stream that runs by my gardens. I built a bench near it, so I can listen to the burble of the water. And you can tune your brook: Place stones that hold back water, allowing it to cascade over them. Different drops create different sounds.

Years ago, for a New York Times article, I interviewed by phone the designer of the gardens at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Robert Irwin. He created a recirculating stream that crossed a path through a woodland area seven times. He told me he tuned it so that at each little bridge visitors would hear a different aquatic tune. Think of that if you have a stream on your property.

Color is very important in designing good or great gardens. I only got the eight-color box of crayons as a boy; my sister Ruth Anne got the 64-crayon box. But I have learned to appreciate all the nuances of color and how they go together. The best explanation of how colors go together — or don’t — is a book by garden writer Sydney Eddison: The Gardener’s Palette: Creating Color in the Garden (Contemporary Books, 2003, $30 in hardback). Get it if you can find a copy.

Great gardens like those at Longwood, an old DuPont family residence originally, recognize that color is important all year. But most shrubs and perennials only bloom for a few weeks. So they choose trees and shrubs that are not only sculptural in form but also have nuanced colors in their leaves. Green is not one color but many. Choose wisely.

Lastly, another way to present color all spring, summer and fall is to use annual flowers liberally. Many of these will keep on blooming in an effort to create seeds. Pots of annual flowers are used frequently in these great gardens. Pots place flowers closer to the viewer’s eye and can also be replaced with other pots if the flowers finish their displays or look a bit bedraggled.

So do visit other gardens this summer, whether at a local garden club tour or one of the fine gardens I mentioned here today.

Henry is a garden consultant and the author of four gardening books. He speaks often to garden clubs and library groups. Reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

Featured photo: Formal use of lawns and water at Longwood. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Kiddie Pool 23/06/15

Family fun for the weekend

Play ball

• Saturday, June 17, is Cats-Con Night as the theme for the Fisher Cats game at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium (1 Line Drive, Manchester) is Granite State Comicon. The night will celebrate comic pop culture with heroes and villains out on the concourse, and visitors will get a free comic book before the game. After the game there will be a firework show. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Tickets cost $10 to $17 and can be purchased at milb.com/new-hampshire.

Outside fun

• The YMCA of Downtown Manchester (30 Mechanic St.; graniteymca.org) will hold a Rock the Block party Saturday, June 17, from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Mechanic Street. This free family event will feature games, a bounce house, live DJ and music, arts and crafts, food and more, according to a social media post about the event.

• Celebrate all things that make children amazing at the 41st annual Somersworth International Children’s Festival on Saturday, June 17, with a special pre-festival celebration at Somersworth High School (11 Memorial Dr.) on Friday, June 16, at 6 p.m. The pre-festival celebration will have live music, food and fireworks to enjoy. The festival day will be packed with food, craft and retail vendors, educational exhibits and talented street performers. There will also be free activities provided for children by local businesses. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit nhfestivals.org/festival-day.html.

• Head to the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire for the Annual Fly In Barbecue on Saturday, June 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event will be at the hangar of Nashua Jet Aviation (83 Perimeter Road at the Nashua Airport). There will be all kinds of food to choose from, and access to watching the planes land and get ready to take off. Tickets for the barbecue cost $30 for adults, $25 for museum members, $10 for ages 6 to 12. Tickets for just access to the ramp cost $10. Kids under 5 years old are free in both cases. For more information visit nhahs.org.

• On Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18, Charmingfare Farm (774 High St., Candia) is giving free entrance to dads coming to the farm with kids 12 or younger. The farm will have all its usual exhibits open, including the hands-on petting area, tractor train rides, horse-drawn rides, visits with the farm animals, and the North American wildlife exhibits. Tickets for not-dad adults are $22 and can be purchased at visitthefarm.com.

• See Studio Two, a Beatles tribute band, at Greeley Park on Tuesday, June 20, at 7 p.m. The band will play the greatest hits at the outdoor band shell. The rain date for this event is Wednesday, June 21. For more information about this event visit nashuanh.gov/546/SummerFun.

Inside activities

• Have a Parents Night Out thanks to Snapology (826 Central Ave., Suite 1, Dover) on Friday, June 16. Kids ages 5 to 9 can participate in Mini-Figure Mania from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and kids ages 7 to 14 will create Prehistoric Robots from 6 to 8:30 p.m. In addition to doing fun STEAM activities, kids can enjoy a pizza dinner with drinks and desserts included. Spots cost $29; to reserve a spot, visit snapology.com/location/dover.

• The creepy and kooky Addams Family Musical is opening on Friday, June 16, at The Strand (20 Third St., Dover) by Break a Leg Legally. The show follows the eldest child of the Addams family, Wednesday, as she grows up and finds love with a normal boy, much to her parents’ concern. Showtime is at 8 p.m., with two more shows, on Saturday, June 17, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 18, at 2 p.m. Tickets to the show cost $20. More information is available at thestranddover.com

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