Category: Outdoors

Books, prizes, golden tickets

Local shops celebrate indie bookstore day

According to Michael Joachim, the general manager of Balin Books in Nashua, what sets independent bookstores apart from corporate chain bookstores is the personal relationships they build with their customers.

“The bookstores I’ve worked at and run are very much connected to the community,” he said. We do a great deal of business with almost all the local school systems. There are dedicated people here who work with specific teachers and librarians to make sure they get the books they need at the best price we can get them. And we handle all the work of getting the books sorted, packed up, and delivered to the schools. Individuals will just call us personally and say, hey, here’s a list. Can you help me with this? Can you find out some information on these books that we need? And we take care of that for them.”

Joachim and his staff are ramping up for this Saturday, April 25, Independent Bookstore Day, which the American Booksellers Association (bookweb.org/independent-bookstore-day) describes on their website as a “national one-day party held the last Saturday in April to celebrate independent bookstores across the country, online, and in-store, through exclusive books and literary items, contests, cupcakes, and everything in between.”

Joachim said the day is a good chance to show customers some of the things independent bookstores like Balin Books can do for them.

“Having knowledgeable people in the store,” is important, he said, noting, “People who have their whole lives in book selling usually wind up in an independent store … and that goes an enormous amount of miles in results, in speaking to someone intelligently about finding a book you’re looking for, recommendations, or just how the store inventory is shaped to be responsive to the local community. All that comes out of experience.”

Erin Magoon, one of the lead booksellers at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, said Independent Bookstore Day is one of the most fun days of the year for book fans.

“There’s an Indie Bookstore Ambassador every year,” Magoon said. “This year it’s LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow, so we’re doing kind of like rainbow-themed decorations, some rainbow-themed search and find activities for kids over on the kids’ side of the store. We’ll have a golden ticket hidden somewhere in the store, and that’s redeemable for 12 free audiobook credits available for someone to find in the store. One of our booksellers, Kate, did a booth last year called Book Zoltar [named for the fortune-telling machine in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie Big]. She gives fortunes to adults and kids about what books they should read. And then, of course, we’ll have some local authors here to meet our customers and sign books.”

Manchester’s Bookery is also hiding prizes and a Golden Ticket audiobook voucher, said event coordinator Alex Pellerin. “This is a special ticket that’s going to be hidden around the Bookery,” she said, “and we’re going to be giving clues throughout the day as to where that ticket is. And whoever finds that ticket gets 12 free audiobooks for the year from Libro.fm, which is really fun.” There will also be visiting authors throughout the day, she said, and live music.

According to Pellerin, independent bookstores like Bookery are able to provide their customers with “curated” experiences. “[Independent bookstores] are all unique,” she said, “and a lot of our books reflect our communities. We take a lot of recommendations from our customers for books and we really personalize which books we carry. Our staff is able to work with everybody and offer personalized recommendations, rather than a list of what a corporation says to.”

Indie Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day is Saturday, April 25. Here are the plans at some local participating book stores. For a map of bookstores participating in Independent Bookstore Day activities, visit indiebound.org/independent-bookstore-day/map.

• At Balin Books in Nashua (Somerset Plaza, 375 Amherst St.), get exclusive Independent Bookstore Day tote bags and collectible pencils while supplies last, plus mystery grab bags of five books for a $5 donation to the Nashua Soup Kitchen. (A portion of the day’s sales will be donated to NSK.) Author Laura Knoy will be at the store at 11 a.m. for an event featuring her new book, The Shopkeeper of Alsace. p.s. There will be cake, according to the website. See balinbooks.com.

• Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord (45 S. Main St.) promises exclusive merch, balloon animals and a “Golden Ticket” for Libro.fm, source of indie audiobooks, as well as visits from authors Kari Allen, Patricia Zube, Jeff Lang and Sam Kelley Theodosopoulos; see gibsonsbookstore.com for details on their books.

• Manchester’s Bookery (844 Elm St.) is planning “prizes, discounts, live music, authors, and so much more!” according to their website, bookerymht.com.

• Wonderland Books and Toys (245 Maple St., No. 12, Manchester) will celebrate its second anniversary in conjunction with Independent Bookstore Day with a week of promotions, giveaways and family-friendly events. On Saturday, April 25, the store will have extended hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., featuring exclusive deals and interactive activities, according to a press release.

• At Water Street Bookstore in Exeter (125 Water St.), go on a blind date with a book, search for the Libro.fm Golden Ticket (worth 12 audiobook credits) and hidden gift cards, enter a literary trivia quiz (win a $50 bookstore gift card) and join other fun activities. See waterstreetbooks.com.

• In Portsmouth, the Book Nook is hosting an audio book walk to celebrate the day, starting with a free mini Loon chocolate bar in the store at 10 a.m.; see portsmouthbooknook.com for details.

Featured photo: A limited-edition tote designed by Tom Gauld, author of Physics for Cats, will be available at participating indie bookstores.

Timing matters in spring clean-up

Take notes now for a nice garden later

This was supposed to be my very last gardening column, but (spoiler alert) it is not. I started writing a gardening column in 1998 and wrote weekly for 25 years. Then in late 2023 I dropped down to once a month. I liked the extra time and freedom it gave me to do other things.

Recently I have been tempted to say, ”Adios, my friends” once I turned 80 this month (same day as Will Shakespeare, different year). But I have decided that I will continue on — as long as I can and still have readers who tell me they learn from the column. And so long as local newspapers, like this one, keep on being willing and able to pay me. Thanks to all of you for your enthusiasm and support.

Despite occasional snows, our gardens are awake in April. Flowering bulbs abound: Snowdrop and winter aconite have been blooming since March; early daffodils, glory of the snow, scilla (also called Siberian squill) and crocus are plentiful. Trees are awakening, too: Spring witchhazel is blooming and leatherwood (Dirca palustris) will bloom by the middle of the month.

Spring is a good time to determine where you should plant bulbs, come fall. Get some plant tags and place them where nothing is coming up, places that would look good with some daffodils or snowdrops. Come fall, most of us cannot remember exactly where we have clusters of spring-blooming bulbs.

Bulb flowers can last decades. My family had hundreds of daffodils that bloomed along the paths through our woods in Connecticut. The high canopy of mature maples was quite dense, but the daffies got enough sunshine to re-charge their energy before the maple leaves were big. I have some clumps of daffodils I moved from there, some 40 years ago. FYI: Planting bulbs under evergreens is not a good idea.

The timing of spring clean-up depends on the weather and where you live. We don’t cut back many of our tall perennials and grasses in the fall as they offer food for seed-eating birds, and some harbor eggs or larvae of pollinators in their hollow stems. We’ll wait until the weather is consistently in the 50s before we clean up and remove dead stems so insects can hatch. We’ll rake and remove debris from mid to late April.

close up of a tree trunk with a short brand stub coming out of the side, surrounded by a ring of bark
Don’t leave stubs, they have to heal back to branch collar

April is a good month for pruning fruit trees. Although there are entire books about pruning, the rules are fairly simple:

1. Never remove more than 20% or 25% of the live, leaf-bearing branches. This may mean spreading out your pruning over two or three years if a tree is badly overgrown. Pile up your branches as you work, so you can estimate more easily how much you have cut off.

2. Don’t leave short stubs of branches. Cut back to the swollen area called the branch collar. This is where it heals.

3. Remove all dead branches. They don’t count in that 25% threshold.

4. If two branches are rubbing, crossing or fighting for sunshine, remove one. Don’t be afraid to cut out large branches.

5. Remove all “water sprouts,” which are thin, pencil-like sprouts growing straight up. Do this every year. Remove any root sprouts, too.

6. Remove branches pointed toward the middle of the tree.

April is a good month for planning what you want to grow this year, and what you want to eliminate. I know people who refuse to cut down trees or dig out shrubs. Not me. If a woody plant is not performing well or is difficult to keep looking nice, I remove it. It opens up a place for something new.

This year Cindy and I plan to plant two more peach trees. I planted a good-sized ‘Contender’ peach in 2021, and although it has produced some peaches they have not been very tasty. So this year I will plant a ‘Reliant’ peach and a ‘Red Haven.’ Both are peaches that are tasty and hardy here in our Zone 5 garden. And I hope to convince Cindy we should remove the ‘Contender.’ She is much less ruthless than I am.

Pay attention to what pleases you in the perennial garden as spring moves along. Last year I planted a few common primroses (Primula vulgaris). They started blooming at the beginning of April this year, a striking bright yellow. I will plant half a dozen more since they bloom so early. They prefer part shade, rich soil and plenty of moisture. Another early primrose is the Drumstick Primrose (P. denticulata). It sends up a purple, blue or white cluster of florets vaguely in the shape of a chicken drumstick.

If you have a good location for primroses, think about obtaining some Candelabra Primroses (P. japonica). These beauties bloom on 2-foot stalks with rings of small trumpets in magenta, pink or white. They grow and produce a new set of flowers each week for four to six weeks starting in mid-May for me. And best yet: They produce lots of seeds and spread quite rapidly. They do best in rich, moist soil beneath mature apple trees. Buy three plants and before you know it you’ll have a dozen, then three dozen. Twenty-five years ago I was given seven plants; now I have more than 500!

I firmly believe that gardening keeps me fit and young. I always have to survive the winter to see what blooms well in the spring and beyond!

You can reach Henry with comments and questions at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or by email at henry.homeyer@comcast.net.

Featured photo: Drumstick primula is an early spring bloomer. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Kiddie Pool 26/04/16

Family fun for whenever

Wild!

• Discover WILD New Hampshire Day is Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the NH Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive in Concord, according to wildlife.nh.gov/dwnh. Described as a family-friendly event, Discover WILD New Hampshire is free to attend and will feature more than 100 education and experiential exhibits, according to the website.

Exhibits include live animals, big fish, trained falcons, archery, an air-rifle range, a retriever dog demonstration and wild craft activities, the website said. Attendees can also meet a Fish and Game biologist and a conservation officer, the website said.

There will also be a food truck alley including Bubble Bee Milk Tea and Dumplings, Koz’s Haute Box, Smoke Shack, The Pink House Food Truck and Wicked Good Wood Fired Pizza, according to the exhibitor map available on the website.

• To celebrate this year’s Concord Reads book — Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell by Sy Montgomery — the Concord Public Library is holding an event with Reptiles of New England that will feature a variety of reptiles including snakes on Saturday, April 12, at 2 p.m. at the City Wide Community Center auditorium, 14 Canterbury Road in Concord, according to concordnh.gov/1983/Library, where you can register for the event.

On stage

• Epping Community Theatre will present the “revoluting children” of Roald Dahl’s Matilda Jr. Friday, April 17, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, at 2 p.m. at the Epping Playhouse, 38 Ladds Lane in Epping, according to eppingtheater.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• The Palace Youth Theatre, with performers in grades 2 through 12, will present the Young@Part edition of Monty Python’s Spamalot on Tuesday, April 21, and Wednesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester. See palacetheatre.org for tickets.

Storytime

• Maine author and illustrator Alexandra Thompson will be at Bookery, 844 Elm St. in Manchester, for a storytime with her new book Hazel & Herbert! on Saturday, April 18, at 11 a.m. See bookerymht.com.

• Wonderland Books and Toys, Maple Valley Plaza, 245 Maple St. in Manchester, holds weekly drop-in Saturday storytimes at 3 p.m., according to wonderlandbooksandtoys.com.

Game time!

• The New Hampshire Fisher Cats began a six-game series against the Chesapeake Baysox on April 14 that continues through the weekend with games on Thursday, April 16, and Friday, April 17, at 6:03 p.m. and Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19, at 1:05 p.m. At Saturday’s game the team will play as the New Hampshire Space Potatoes, its first use of that alternate identity this season. After Friday’s game, stay for fireworks. See milb.com/new-hampshire for tickets.

Family movie theater fun

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub, 707 Huse Road in Manchester, has a few family events on the schedule. On Saturday, April 18, at 6 p.m. it’s family trivia night all about the Zootopia movies. Doors open an hour before trivia start time, according to chunkys.com, where you can purchase tickets. On Tuesday, April 21, it’s a special screening of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (PG, 2026) at 11:30 a.m. with a $5 admission price and the screening room lights slightly dimmed, according to the website.

Connecting writers and publishers

Derry Author Fest takes on a practical theme

Elizabeth Ives was a long-time supporter and trustee of the Derry Public Library, and she had a dream, said Erin Robinson, Reference Librarian and coordinator of the Derry Author Fest.

“She was great. She’s since passed away, but she wanted to have an Author Fest that would have MFA-style classes and would be beneficial for people who want to become writers and authors and illustrators. The idea was that they wouldn’t have to jump through a lot of hoops or pay to go to a conference. She wanted it to be free and open to the public.”

“So,” Robinson continued, “year after year we’ve held the Author Fest here at the Library. It was a little messy at first — you know, everything takes a little fine-tuning — but now we have it down to what we really want it to be, which is focused on writing and publication and a very straightforward one-day series of lectures. Each year we have a different theme, and this year’s Fest is Pathway to Publication.”

This year’s presentations will be geared toward the practical steps of producing a book, Robinson said.

“We’re going to have a publishing panel that tells us what happens behind the scenes,” she said. “We have an executive editor from Harper Collins and an agent from Calligraph [literary agency]. We’ll have someone from the Public Relations and Marketing department at Penguin Random House, specializing in young readers. They’re going to demystify the process of publishing for us. We also have a creative panel where people are going to talk a little bit more about just being creative, but also what that entails, how they carve out structure in their day, do they have a day job? That sort of thing. We’ll have an illustrator, a picture book writer, and a YA writer on that panel. We’ll also be talking about niche publishing — what is it like to work with small presses as opposed to going for a big, traditional press? What’s the difference? Finally, Rebecca Allen is going to talk to us about finding a community that can help you succeed, finding critique partners, and how you can encourage each other to make your work better,”

“It’s going to be a full day,” she said.

The keynote speakers will be mother and daughter New Hampshire writers Rebecca and Adi Rule.

“They both have very interesting backgrounds because they write very different things,” Robinson said. “Becky’s writing is very regional. Adi writes children’s, middle-grade and YA fiction. They are going to talk about publishing over decades and generations. That should be a really interesting conversation to kick off the day.”

Robinson said that in past years the people attending Author Fest have been writers in a wide variety of genres.

“It’s hard for us [when we plan the conference], because we have to decide, ‘Do we want to lean more into the adult writers and do we want to get more for the kids? We have a sprinkling of nonfiction writers. We try to even the day out — some people write for adults and some for kids. People don’t have to stay all day, so some people will come and they will stay all day because they are going to gather something from every lecture regardless and they’re happy to be here and learning, but some will pick and choose. During lunchtime we try to split up the groups. If people want to stay and hang out during that block, we have tables where people can gather together by genre or subject or interest, so we have like our nonfiction writers table, or our children’s book writers, and they can all group together and connect. It depends on the year,” Robinson said.

In addition to the day of speakers and panels, the library will host a book sale throughout the day provided by Gibson’s Bookstore, according to derryauthorfest.wordpress.com where you can see the full schedule and links to register.

2026 Derry Author Fest: Pathways to Publication
When: Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Derry Public Library, 64 E. Broadway, Derry, 432-6140, derrypl.org
More: derryauthorfest.wordpress.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 26/04/09

Family fun for whenever

A con for kids!

Kids Con New England, the annual comic book and pop culture convention for kids, will take place Sunday, April 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Sheraton at 11 Tara Boulevard in Nashua, and feature comics, workshops, children’s books authors and illustrators, games, costumed characters, gaming, a kids and family cosplay contest, a scavenger hunt and more, according to a press release.

Guests for this year’s event include Jeff Kline (publisher of Darby Pop comics and a TV writer/producer), Rick Keene (cartoonist and comic artist for Disney and DC Comics), Richard Maurizio (cartoonist and comic artist “known for work on Looney Tunes, Animaniacs, Space Jam, Tom & Jerry and more”), Adam & Makana Wallenta (father and son creators of the Punk Taco graphic novels), Tim Jones (cartoonist of Sour Grapes), Mark Parisi (graphic novelist and cartoonist of Off the Mark), Jennifer E. Morris (graphic novelist and children’s author and illustrator of the Flubby series and Maud the Koala), Gina Perry (children’s author and illustrator of The King of Books, Aven Green Sleuthing Machine and the Let’s Draw book series) and Dave London (graphic novelist and cartoonist of Pet Peeves), the press release said.

See kidsconne.com for tickets (kids under 5 get in for free) and for a list of all the artists, vendors and guests. The website also offers a schedule of the planned workshops (such as “Draw Monsters with Chris Gugliotti” at 11:15 a.m.; “Puppetry Workshop with Julio Robles, the Mainer with the Muppets” at 1:30 p.m., and “Manga-Me! Draw with Jack Purcell of SHP Comics” at 2:15 p.m.). Performances scheduled for the day include School of Rock Nashua concert at 10:10 a.m., “Saber Guild: Chandrila Temple Padawan Training Initiatives” at 11:50 a.m. and 1:35 p.m., and Sages Entertainment Magic Show at 11 a.m. and 2:10 p.m., the website said. The day includes a cosplay contest at 3 p.m. and a cosplay parade, the website said. The School of Rock will also host a musical instrument petting zoo and the event will feature a sensory-friendly space, the website said. A games room will feature tabletop and indie games and Gamers Sanctuary will have its mobile video gaming trailer on site, according to the website, where you can also find information about on-site food concessions and nearby restaurants.

Music and a parade

• Ralph Waldo Emerson School for Preschoolers is hosting a Week of the Young Child Parade and Celebration on Sunday, April 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the statehouse lawn in Concord. The event will feature a Teddy Bear & Stuff Parade with musical performer Mr. Aaron at 11:30 a.m.; a free concert and dance party with Mr. Aaron at 11:45 p.m.; storytellers after the end of the concert and more, according to a press release. See emersonschoolnh.org.

Big screen, less noise

• Chunky’s in Manchester, chunkys.com, will host a sensory-friendly screening of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on Tuesday, April 14, at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. See the website for tickets.

• O’Neil Cinemas at 16 Orchard View in Londonderry also hosts sensory-friendly screenings where house lights are higher and there are no loud noises, according to oneilcinemas.com. Next up is The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on Saturday, April 11, at 10 a.m.

Tendies at bat

The NH Fisher Cats become the Manchester Chicken Tenders for the Tuesday, April 14, game against the Chesapeake Baysox at 6:03 p.m. The game is the first in a six-game run against the Baysox, which a game on Friday, April 17, followed by fireworks and a Saturday, April 18, game when the Fisher Cats become the New Hampshire Space Potatoes for the afternoon. See milb.com/new-hampshire.

Kiddie Pool 26/04/02

Family fun for whenever

Showtime

• The Hispanic Flamenco Ballet will perform for students on Friday, April 3, at 10 and 11 a.m. at the Concord City Auditorium, 2 Prince St. in Concord, according to theaudi.org. Call 305-420-6622 for tickets.

• Ovation Theatre Company will present The Addams Family Musical, primarily featuring performers ages 13 to 19, on Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, at 7 p.m. as well as April 4 at 2 p.m. at the Derry Opera House, 29 W. Broadway in Derry, according to ovationtc.com, where you can purchase tickets.

• Cinderella will be presented by Southern New Hampshire Youth Ballet as their spring show on Saturday, April 4, at 1 and 4 p.m. See snhdt.org for tickets; the show takes place at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St. in Manchester, whose website says the show is 75 minutes long with a 15-minute intermission.

Easter fun

• Hunt for eggs at the Lions Clubs of Pinardville and Goffstown’s Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 4, with 9 a.m. (for ages 1 to 4), 9:45 a.m. (ages 5 to 7) and 10:30 a.m. (ages 8 to 10) start times at Roy Park in Pinardville. Find the clubs on Facebook.

• Carriage Shack Farm, 5 Dan Hill Road in Londonderry, will hold an Easter Bunny Party at the Farm on Saturday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to carriageshackfarmllc.org, where you can purchase tickets.

• Charmingfare Farm, 774 High St. in Candia, will wrap up its Egg-citing Egg Hunt, geared toward egg hunters ages 2 to 12, this Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, with entry times from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to visitthefarm.com.

Science!

• Retro-priced $3 admission continues at the SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, through Saturday, April 4, to celebrate the Center’s 40th birthday. The center opens at 10 a.m. (with a last admission at 3 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on weekends) and is closed Sunday, April 5, for Easter, according to see-sciencecenter.org.

• The monthly Super Stellar Friday at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord on Friday, April 3, is all about the nocturnal world of caterpillars and moths: “The Caterpillar Lab will present a photograph and video packed talk that explores the nighttime world of caterpillars, moths, and how to find them. … This special lecture will include time to meet a few special caterpillar specimens up close, try out blacklight flashlights, and chat with Caterpillar Lab educators about all things local caterpillar,” according to starhop.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. presentation, and a sky viewing will take place at 9 p.m., weather permitting, according to the website, where you can purchase admission tickets for the program as well as add-on tickets for the 8 p.m. planetarium show.

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