Category: Outdoors

Exeter-terrestrial

The Exeter UFO Festival is back to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the Exeter incident

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

Whether or not they are real, aliens will be the talk of the town in Exeter on Saturday, Sept. 3, and Sunday, Sept. 4, during the return of the annual UFO Festival, run by the Exeter Kiwanis Club. The festival celebrates all things alien, with 10 guest speakers, UFO-related activities, and tours to the different sighting locations that make up the Exeter incident.

The festival, which was canceled for the past two years due to Covid-19, is back and larger than ever, said Kiwanis Club president Robert Cox.

“We’re actually celebrating the Exeter Incident, the sighting of the UFO in Kensington,” Cox said. “It’s famous. It’s been published in different books and magazines.”

According to the Exeter UFO Festival’s website, on Sept. 3, 1965, 18-year-old Norman Muscarello was hitchhiking in Kensington, about 5 miles away from Exeter, when he saw five flashing lights. He initially thought they belonged to a fire engine, but when he got closer he saw that they were hovering in the sky.

Muscarello stopped a car on the highway and caught a ride to the Exeter police station. He told the night duty officer what he saw, and they returned to the location where the lights were. They were met there by another on-duty officer. When the three arrived at the wooded area, they saw the red lights attached to a large structure as it rose into the sky and disappeared.

While this is only one of the sightings that makes up the Exeter Incident, Cox said that he felt it was the most convincing.

“You had two police officers that went back out with the kid Norman Muscarello,” Cox said. He said that he’s not a complete believer in UFOs but added that “you have to have a little faith in [the officers’] credibility as well … with the amount of people who have seen this then it’s hard to dismiss [the incident].”

The festival will have a map for visitors to drive out to the different sighting locations on their own, or they can purchase a ticket for a trolley ride that will go out to all the hot spots. The trolley will only be available on Saturday.

Merchandise, like posters, T-shirts, and hats, depicting the famous scene with Muscarello and the two policemen will be for sale throughout the weekend. The artwork for the merchandise was provided by Dean Merchant, a local ufologist and originator of the festival.

A group of 10 expert speakers will give presentations about aliens, UFOs and intelligent life on other planets throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, Cox said. Saturday evening, there will be a meet and greet and Q-and-A with the speakers.

Kids can make their own flying saucers at the UFO crash site, and there will be hand painting (the Covid-19 friendly alternative to face painting), decorating rocks, and more fun activities for them throughout the weekend.

Cox said he is excited to see this event come back after being on hiatus for two years, and he knows that he isn’t the only one.

“The regular attendees are really anxious to get back,” Cox said. “I think we’re going to have quite a large crowd this year.”

Exeter UFO Festival
Where: Exeter Town Hall, 9 Front St., Exeter
When: Saturday, Sept. 3, and Sunday, Sept. 4, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Price: Free, with trolley and speaker meet and greet costing $5 and $30 respectively
Visit: exeterufofestival.org

Featured photo: Photo courtesy of Robert Cox of the Exeter Kiwanis Club.

Kiddie Pool 22/08/25

Family fun for the weekend

To the Moon

• The Manchester library is hosting an out-of-this-world talk via Zoom called Apollo to Artemis: NASA’s Most Recent & Next Missions to the Moon on Wednesday, Aug. 31, at 11 a.m. The talk will focus on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 17, NASA’s last manned mission to the moon, and the upcoming return mission to the moon, Artemis. The talk will be led by former high school teacher and NASA Solar System Ambassador Len Rabinowitz. Contact librarian Caitlin Dionne at 624-6550, ext. 7620, or by email at [email protected] for more details. Register online at manchester.lib.nh.us.

Outdoors, trucks and owls!

• Have a blast at the Field of Dreams Family Fun Day at Field of Dreams Inc. (48 Geremonty Drive Salem) on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be everything from obstacle courses and inflatable games to a petting farm, live music and local vendors. Tickets are $5 per person, children age 2 and younger are free. Visit fieldofdreamsnh.org.

• Learn all about farm equipment at the Touch-a-Tractor hosted by J&F Farms (124 Chester Road, Derry) on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Derry fire and police departments will have trucks and cop cars out in addition to the farm equipment. There will be live music from noon to 3 p.m., hayrides, food trucks, a petting farm, and more. Visit jandffarmsnh.com.

• This is the last week for All Things Owl at the New Hampshire Audubon. The photography exhibit at The McLane Center (84 Silk Farm Road, Concord) will close on Wednesday, Aug. 31. The exhibit features the work of Howard S. Muscott, a wildlife photographer who has been shooting for more than 45 years. The photographs feature owls from the North, include several species indigenous to New England. The exhibit is open during the museum’s regular hours, Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit nhaudubon.org.

Showtime!

• The last showtimes of Frozen Jr. at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester; 668-5588) are Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. Follow Queen Elsa as she is crowned and comes out of hiding for one day, only to have her secret magic exposed. Her younger sister, Princess Anna, must help save their kingdom from the icy spell Elsa casts and bring her older sister home. Tickets cost $10 and are available at palacetheatre.org.

Biennials: worth the effort

Quiet the first year, spectacular the second

Biennials are some of the least planted flowers we can grow. Why? The year they are planted by seed, they generally do not flower. They only have a clump of low-growing leaves. The second year, they send up a flower spike, bloom, and then die. That’s right. They have done their job of producing seeds, and then die. Gardeners prefer quick-blooming annuals, or long-lived perennials. Biennials are the least favored puppies of the litter.

On the other hand, some are worth the effort, or the wait. I love purple foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea). In the past, I was able to buy first-year plants in six-packs at a nursery, and planted them two years in a row. After they were finished blooming, I cut down the tall stems and shook out tiny black seeds over a flower bed that had been weeded, loosened and raked smooth. I patted down the seeds but did not cover them with soil. The tiny seeds just fell into crevices and waited for spring, when they started the growing cycle again.

It is important to know what the leaves of a first-year biennial look like so that seedlings do not get weeded out before getting established. I do that by trying to remember the color, texture or shape of the leaves. Often, color is my cue. So, for example, the biennial rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) has a distinctive gray leaf. I recognize the first-year plants, often growing in a cluster, and dig up some to divide and plant where I want them the following year, and to give them more space to grow.

Rose campion flowers are deep magenta, a truly spectacular color. The blossoms are an inch wide and are very profusely produced. Well worth planting if you can find plants for sale, or buy some seeds and wait for second-year blossoms.

Often biennial flowers are in the same genus as perennial plants. Closely related plants are grouped in the same genus (equivalent to your last name). The second name is the species (equivalent to your first name). So Lychnis is like “Jones” and coronaria is like “Susan.”

So for example, our common purple and pink foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) has relatives in the Digitalis genus. I grow two kinds, D. grandiflora and D. lutea. Both are yellow and both often start new plants by seed, so I have plenty. The latter one has smaller blossoms than the former one.

A biennial wildflower I just love is Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota). As the species name, carota, implies, it is in the carrot family. The tap roots are not as big as carrots, but the fragrance is about the same. But the root is white, while most carrots we eat are orange, though white, yellow, purple and red varieties are available. Anyhow, Queen Anne’s lace stands up tall (to 3 feet) and has an umbel or flat-topped cluster of tiny white blossoms, with purple ones in the center. It is a great cut flower in a vase. Young second-year plants are occasionally sold in six-packs in garden centers, and some of those are pink or even dark purple. Lovely.

Another way to get Queen Anne’s lace is to dig up first-year plants and transplant them on your property. They are commonly seen along the roadside and are free for the taking on rural roads. Mature Queen Anne’s lace has a tap root and is difficult to transplant.

Please note that poison hemlock is a related carrot-family plant. But unlike Queen Anne’s lace, it has smooth stems, not fuzzy ones, and has no purple center to the flower. It has purple blotches on the stems. The sap of hemlock can cause rashes when exposed to sunlight.

Perhaps my favorite biennial is angelica. Again there are biennial and perennial forms, but the biennial is the best. Its scientific name is Angelica gigas. It has huge purple or burgundy globes of small flowers, each globe 4 to 8 inches across. The plant stands up 4 to 6 feet tall with strong stems and big leaves.

The best thing about the plant is this: It is an absolute gem of a pollinator plant. When I last grew it, it often had three or more bees on it at once. Unfortunately, it is hard to find in plant nurseries, and when I have found it, it was a big second-year plant in a 2-gallon pot that cost me at least $15. Yikes. I tried planting seeds after blooming, but did not save any for spring planting. I got no plants from my meager efforts, but I will buy seeds now and try starting some plants next spring.

Most plant books list hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) as biennials, though some consider them half-hardy perennials. One plantsman told me that the plants with leaves the shape of fig leaves are more perennial than others. This is a tall plant, sometimes 6 to 8 feet tall, that has open-throated 2- to 3-inch blossoms that come in a variety of colors from white to pink, red, yellow and nearly black, often with a yellow center.

Hollyhocks do best in rich, moist soil in full sun. But they will also grow in part shade. They open their buds in sequence up the stem over a period of four to six weeks. When they’re done blooming, cut them to the ground immediately. I believe that makes them wonder if they have produced seeds, and come back the next year to finish the job. They do show up uninvited in the garden, and I always welcome them.

Featured photo: Purple Foxgloves bloom from bottom of the stem to the top. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

Back to the beginning

Jamaican musician returns home to the Granite State

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

Music is the heartbeat of the world — at least that’s what Luke “DJ Luke” Davis-Elliott believes. The 18-year-old Manchester-born musician is due to play his final show of the summer on Thursday, Aug. 18, at Long Blue Cat Brewing Co. in Londonderry before heading back to the Jamaican capital of Kingston for his fall semester of college.

“In Jamaica, I brought myself up to a level, but I wanted more,” said Davis-Elliott, whose mother moved to Manchester with her family when she was eight, then moved back to Jamaica with her son’s father after he was born.“So I decided to go international. I was born here, so this was the first place I thought of.”

Davis-Elliott is more than just a hopeful musician. He’s been live mixing music at dance halls in Jamaica since he was 10, and now he attends Alpha School of Music, one of the country’s most prestigious music schools. Davis-Elliott’s mother and manager, Charmaine, said that he has been playing music his whole life.

“He speaks to us with his music,” she said. “It means a lot to me. I feel so proud.”

Davis-Elliott has received invitations to play in other states, coast to coast from New York and Florida to California, but he had turned those ideas down. He said that he wanted to come back to where he was born, to where many members of his maternal family still lived, and to bring his passion for live-mixing to New England.

“Let’s go kick it off where we come from,” Davis-Elliott remembered saying. “Let’s start with our local people, let them know us and love us.”

Charmaine said that this won’t be the last time she and her son come back to play in New Hampshire — in fact, she said there have already been people asking if they would book him again next year. Despite that, she said there is a chance she and DJ Luke could be headed to reggae festivals in Europe in the summer of 2023.

Davis-Elliott used this trip not only to build connections in the New England music scene, but also to earn money to buy recording and music production equipment. His dream, beyond playing in nightclubs in Ibiza, is to start producing music and DJ on the side.

For now, Davis-Elliott said that he’s “going to show them what I’m made of.”

The Aug. 18 show at Long Blue Cat Brewing Co. will be the first one that Davis-Elliott has free rein over. The other eight shows he played across Maine and Massachusetts have all been more traditional reggae stylings.

“I’m looking forward to the fun energy of [the show],” Davis-Elliott said. “I like how the music and that vibe especially brings everyone together.”

DJ Luke
Where: Long Blue Cat Brewing Co., 298 Rockingham Road, Londonderry
When: Thursday, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Cost: $10 at the door (21+ only)
Visit: longbluecat.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Days of old

Hillsborough’s History Alive celebrates town’s 250th

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

This year’s History Alive event in downtown Hillsborough is going to be even more special — the town will celebrate its 250th anniversary with reenactments featuring various members of society, from leaders of the Abenaki tribe to mill workers of the 19th century, during the weekend of Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21.

“We’ve got quite a diverse and interesting history and there’s always something new to learn,” said Marian Baker, the chair of History Alive.

Baker said that last year they had chosen to look at the people who were present before the settlers came. They worked with the Abenaki tribe and were pleased to see that they were willing to rejoin this year as well. They’ll present demonstrations on everything from how to build birch bark canoes to basket weaving and pottery.

Guest speaker Michelle Sherburne, author of Slavery & the Underground Railroad in New Hampshire, will give a presentation on how Granite Staters helped slaves escape to freedom before and during the Civil War.

One of the most important parts of the festival this year will be documenting oral histories of locals. Baker said that a local historian will be recording the stories of people who remember growing up working in the mills and what life was like when they were young.

“We’re trying to gather a more complete history of this area,” Baker said. “We want to not be just one person’s or one demographic’s viewpoint.”

As in previous years, there will be reenactors demonstrating the daily life of settlers, as well as live music from the colonial period through the jazz age. On Sunday, an old-fashioned version of baseball will be played by a group of volunteers. The rules vary in a number of ways — the most notable, Baker said, is that there is only underhand pitching, like in softball.

“This is about the history of the ordinary person, not the wealthy or military, but the person who does a lot of hard work throughout the town,” Baker said.

History Alive
Where: Multiple locations across Hillsborough, including Hillsborough Center (27 E. Washington Road), Kemp Park (21 River St.) and 44 Jones Road
When: Saturday, Aug. 20, and Sunday, Aug. 21; most activities take place between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. See website for full schedule.
Cost: $8 in advance and $10 at the gate. Kids ages 16 and younger are free with an accompanying adult.
Visit: historyalivenh.org
Shuttle buses will operate between all three locations throughout both days.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 22/08/18

Family fun for the weekend

Family fun

• Get kids interested in Manchester’s mural-creating event Community Canvas, which runs through Sunday, Aug. 21, at the Block Party held by My Turn and Arts Builds Community on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the rear of 50 Bridge St. in downtown Manchester, according to a post on Arts Builds Community’s Facebook page. The event will feature face painting and activities for kids as well as an opportunity to meet the artists involved in making the murals, the post said. Find out more about the Community Canvas event in the story on page 15 of the Aug. 11 issue of the Hippo. Go to hippopress.com to see the e-edition.

• The Elliot is holding a Summer Fest on Sunday, Aug. 21, from 10 am. to 2 p.m. at The Hill Bar & Grille at McIntyre Ski Area (50 Chalet Court in Manchester). The event, hosted by the Elliot Community Ambassador Circle, will feature field games, face painting, music and a buffet lunch (with hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue chicken, cookies, brownies and more), according to https://bit.ly/3QLZtAd, where you can purchase tickets for $15 per person or $50 for a family of four (children under 12 get in free).

Beach week

• The Hampton Beach Children’s Festival continues through Friday, Aug. 19, with daily events on the beach. On Thursday, Aug. 18, the lineup includes DrumatiX (a tap dance and percussion performance) at 10 a.m.; Showtime Steve (juggling) at 11 a.m.; Hampton Beach Casino daily raffle at noon; Wayne from Maine (musical sing-along) at 1 p.m., and paint with Alyssa Pine at 2 p.m. On Friday, the week finishes off with a children’s parade at 11 a.m. (meet at 10:15 a.m. wearing a costume to participate), a grand finale with every child receiving a prize at noon at the Seashell Stage and a musical performance by Mr. Aaron, and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus at 1 p.m. Find the full schedule at hamptonbeach.org.

• And if you are near Hampton Beach on Monday, Aug. 22, head to the beach across from the playground for an outdoor screening of Sing 2 (PG, 2021) at dusk (approximately 7:34 p.m., according to the website). The screening is the last of the scheduled Movie Night Mondays of the summer season (the next week’s film is Space Jam: A New Legacy). Admission is free and bring your own blanket or chairs.

Trip to the farm

• Sunfox Farm (127 Mount Delight Road in Deerfield; sunfoxfarm.org, 244-9888) continues its Sunflower Festival through Sunday, Aug. 21. The farm is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; entry costs $10 per person on weekends and $8 per person on weekdays (children under 10 get in for free). Take pictures among the flowers and pick your own flowers for $2 per stem, according to the website. The weekends feature vendors and live music; this weekend’s lineup is Brad Myrick (10 a.m.), Rebecca Turmel (12:30 p.m.) and Joel Begin (3 p.m.) on Saturday, Aug. 20, and April Cushman (10 a.m.), John McArthur (12:30 p.m.) and Sam Hammerman (3 p.m.) on Sunday, Aug. 21, according to the website.

• Shop for some farm-fresh eats at Friday Family Fun at J&F Farms (124 Chester Road in Derry; jandffarmsnh.com, 437-0535) on Friday, Aug. 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. The evening will feature music from a Beatles tribute band, a food truck, hayrides, a corn maze, ice cream and the opportunity to meet and pet the farm’s animals, according to a post on the farm’s Facebook page. For $5 you can purchase a cup of grain to feed the animals, according to the website. Admission to the corn maze, which opened earlier in August, costs $10 per person, according to the website.

• Take the kids to meet some farm animals and climb on some tractors at the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Hwy. in Milton; nhfarmmuseum.org) for Truck and Tractor Day on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tractors, trucks, wagons and antique cars will be on display and tractor rides will take you around the farm to visit the cows, sheep, goats, horses, rabbits and chickens. Meet the blacksmith working the forge, purchase eats for a farm picnic and listen to music from Lance Maclean and the Moose Mountain String Band, according to the website. Admission costs $10 for adults, $7.50 for 65+ and $5 for ages 4 to 17; admission is free for kids under 4 and for active military, the website said.

On stage

• The Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) finishes up its 2022 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series with two more plays on the schedule.Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs runs through this week: Thursday, Aug. 18, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. Disney’s Frozen Kidsends the season next week with shows Tuesday, Aug. 23, through Thursday, Aug. 25, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 26, at 10 a.m. Tickets cost $10 per person.

• The young performers of the Palace Youth Theatre summer camp will present Legally Blonde the Musical Jr. on Friday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 20, at 11 a.m. Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for kids.

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