Category: Outdoors

Horses, goats and a clown

Find country fun at the Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

The 66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair starts on Friday, Sept. 6, and goes on until Sunday, Sept. 8, in New Boston (17 Hilldale Lane). Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children, military members and veterans with ID as well as seniors (65 and older).

“We’re an agriculture-based fair, so most of our activities are based on learning about agriculture,” said Michelle Rowe, the President of the Hillsborough County Fair Board of Directors.

Gates open at noon on Friday and activities commence right away. A stock farm tractor pull will be revving up in the pulling ring, a farm horse and mule competition will take place in the Langdell Arena, and Crickey the Clown will be at the children’s tent and venue area, and that goes until 5 p.m. “It’s definitely very family-oriented,” Rowe said.

At 3 p.m, amusement rides by Fanelli whir to life in the midway section of the fairground, and ride bracelets will be available from 4 to 9 p.m. Occurring for the first time this year, there will be pedal tractor pulling that is open to the public for children 15 and under at the pulling track from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

A 4-H team-building activity titled The Toxic Waste Challenge at the Hinton 4-H Exhibitor Building gets going at 4 and runs till 6 p.m. Meanwhile there’s a flag ceremony as a Battle of the Bands competition gets underway that will rock on until 9 p.m.

Another new event for this year is the new Zero Turn Obstacle Course, which will be open to the public for those 18 and older to test their physical prowess from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

At 6 p.m. is the Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off in the Langdell Arena, presented by the New Hampshire Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.

The pumpkins “can get quite big,” Rowe said. “We don’t get the biggest ones at our fair because they usually take those down to Topsfield in Massachusetts, but last year our first-place winner was 250 pounds … probably about 4 feet tall and probably 4 feet wide. They have to be so careful getting them to the fair.”

New Hampshire grows big pumpkins.

On Saturday,events begin at 9 a.m. and there will be similar activities to the previous day although participants getting inside early will be able to sign in to see the 4-H Dog Show and Farm Tractor Pull.

Beginning at 10 a.m. will be a ham radio demonstration from the Granite State Amateur Radio Association, as well as 4-H rabbit and dairy goat shows in the Langdell Arena. That’s also when the horseshoe tournament begins. The Battle of the Bands winner will perform at noon and the amusement rides begin then as well. The Hi-Jack Band will perform afterward until 4:30 p.m. and then Tina J and the Nuff Said Band will take the main stage until the end of the night, which will wrap up with a fantastic fireworks display.

“The fireworks are always fun,” Rowe said. She was not able to pick a single favorite aspect of the fair. “There’s just so many things to see. … I was in 4-H growing up so I enjoy the animal shows and seeing the kids show their animals. The sheepherding demonstration is actually really cool too.”

There is also a homemade pie auction, a maple syrup tasting contest, and if there is a farmyard animal there will be some sort of demonstration for it through 4-H as well as an Animal Olympics, which is an obstacle course for the fuzzier participants of the fair.

“I enjoy the more agricultural side of it but we also have tractor pulls and truck pulls that really bring in a lot of people and of course the rides are always fun,” Rowe said.

The festivities will continue on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 9 a.m. with the same amount of fun as the days before, but the fair will close at 6 p.m. until next fall when Granite Staters get to do it all over again. “In my opinion it’s the best fair in New Hampshire and I just want to keep it going,” Rowe said.

66th Annual Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair
New Boston
Friday, Sept. 6, through Sunday, Sept. 8
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children, military members/veterans (with ID) as well as seniors (65+). Admission is cash only. Entrance gates can not take credit or debit cards.
Visit hcafair.org.

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Aliens on parade

UFO Festival offers family fun and history mysteries

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Beam up to the Exeter UFO Festival on Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, for some out-of-this-world fun from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, with some extra evening events on Saturday. The festival is put on by the Exeter Area Kiwanis.

“The Festival is primarily a fundraiser for the Exeter Area Kiwanis,” said Andrea Hantz, Vice President of the Exeter Area Kiwanis. “This is our biggest fundraiser that we do all year…. Every dollar that you spend at the Festival goes back into the community after expenses.”

The Town Hall Speaker Series is $35 and will run from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The presentations take place on the first floor of Exeter Town Hall.

“Our primary attraction is the UFO speakers we bring in from around the country. They speak on all sorts of topics UFO and alien,” Hantz said.

Two of the speakers are Peter Robbins and Valerie Lofaso. Robbins is an investigative writer, author and lecturer who has focused on the subject of anomalous UFOs and their implications for humanity, according to the event website. Lofaso is an Empathic Medium, a Reiki Master/Teacher, a paranormal investigator, and author of the Tangled Web of Friends young-adult paranormal fiction series, according to the same website.

Between talks, participants can stop by the UFO Festival souvenir shop, which will also be open for the entirety of the festival and will be located right outside Exeter Town Hall. All items are inscribed with the 2024 Festival art. The same merchandise sold at the Festival is also available at Trends Gift Gallery (85 Water St., Exeter).

Coffee will be available near the Gazebo in downtown Exeter from 8:30 to 10 a.m. and then from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be food and drink available, such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs.

In the Town Hall Common there will be kids’ activities like lawn games, face painting and “UFO Crash Site” creations, and free refreshments for the little space explorers.

“The kids’ activities are really very popular,” Hantz said.

The Exeter Incident Site trolleys start near Town Hall Common from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for half-hour rides at $5 per person to the site of the Incident at Exeter in Kensington. Other sites of interest in Exeter will be pointed out, and there will be two trolleys running both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for day-of rides will be sold at the trolley station next to the trolley stop on Front Street. “Tickets get sold out well before noontime on both days,” Hartz said.

Some historic videos regarding the “Incident at Exeter” will be shown on the second floor of the Town Hall for free. The video presentation is shown continuously on the second floor from 9 a.m to 4 p.m with a running time of about 25 minutes.

A handful of events only occur on Saturday, Aug. 31, and one such favorite is the free Alien Costume Contest that starts at noon. The parade will start on the sidewalk adjacent to the Town Hall Common park and will proceed on down to the Town Bandstand. At the same time there will be a free Alien Pet Contest at the Town Hall Common park, the destination of the parade.

Another Saturday-only event will be the free dance party with Johnny B from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Common park, and the end of the evening will round off with a concert from jazz pianist Eric Mintel from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Congregational Church (21 Front St.), which is free as well.

Attendees who really love the festival can become a part of the event.

“We’re also interested in signing up enthusiastic new members who want to help and participate,” Hantz said. Whether you are a believer in UFOs or not, “It’s a fun way to do good for the community,” Hantz said. “When I talk about it with people they’re like, ‘Oh that’s really cool, that’s really different.’”

Exeter UFO Festival
Saturday, Aug. 31, and Sunday, Sept. 1, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Exeter Town Hall and downtown Exeter
exeterufofestival.org

The Exeter Incident Site Trolleys
Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m, $5

Town Hall Speaker Series,
Exeter Town Hall, first floor, $35

Saturday, Aug. 31:
9–10:15 a.m. Valerie Lofaso, “A Quest for Understanding”
10:30–11:45 a.m. Laird Scranton, “Ancient Symbolic Aspects of UFO Encounters”
12:30–1:45 p.m. Mike Stevens, “Greys in the Granite”
2–3:15 p.m. Eric Mintel, “Eric Mintel Investigates”
3:30–4:45 p.m. Matt Moniz & Peter Robbins
4:45–5 p.m. closing remarks

Sunday, Sept. 1:
9–10:15 a.m. Katherine Brisendine, “How Many UFO Events Have Happened in New Hampshire”
10:30–11:45 a.m. Peter Robbins, “Remembering Paul Eno”
12:30–1:45 p.m. Peter Robbins, “An Unappreciated Resource in the Battle for Disclosure”
2–3:15 p.m. Thomas Carey, “Roswell Today – From Crash to AARO (DOD: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office)”
3:30–4:45 p.m. panel discussion
4:45– 5 p.m. closing remarks

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Classic cars, muscle cars, trucks and motorcycles

Enjoy vehicles of all kinds and music, vendors and food at Cruising Downtown Manchester

By Zachary Lewis

[email protected]

The 23rd annual Cruising Downtown Manchester, presented by the Rotary Club of Manchester, will be taking place on Labor Day weekend from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31.

The family event is not just for cars. Trucks and motorcycles are always encouraged to attend. Leashed dogs are allowed to attend the free citywide event.

Brad Fournier has been the chair of the committee at the Rotary Club.

“There’s a team of us, a core group of us, I want to say about 10 people that work pretty heavily for the event,” Fournier said.

Fournier mentioned Rotary Club member Sue Manchester as integral in helping put on Cruising Downtown Manchester and spoke highly of the committee.

“None of us collect a paycheck. It’s straight-up charity, which is pretty awesome,” he said.

The event funds a great amount for their charities.

“One year we grossed about $80,000 and then after all the expenses, with the police and fire, highway department, all that, even like port-a-potties, we were able to net about 50 to 55 [thousands of dollars] to give back,” Fournier said.

So how did it all get started?

“Cruising Downtown started with my dad and his friend Chuck and a few other friends and as they got older they needed to kind of step back due to health issues so the Rotary Club got involved,” he said. Coffee and eggs fueled the car talk. “My dad, he called them his breakfast buddies, and they would get together and always talk about wanting to have their own show….”

The crew would head to Worcester, Massachusetts, to see car shows.

“My dad was always like, ‘We need something like that in New Hampshire.’” Fournier said. “Everybody knew enough people to make it happen.”

The event is true to its name and stretches all down Elm Street.

“It starts at Granite Street and it goes down to the Bridge Street bridge and then the New Hampshire Muscle Car Club holds their muscle car rally on the Bridge Street bridge and that’s going from the west to the eastbound side. They bring roughly about 60 cars on that,” Fournier said.

The cars in the show do not need muscle to make an appearance.

“I don’t care if it’s your mom’s station wagon, if it’s got a story to it and it means something to you and you want to share it with people, that’s what it’s all about,” Fournier said. “Most everybody’s car has some sort of story … some sort of connection.”

Forty different awards are up for grabs and those will be announced at 3 p.m.

“There are ones that actually have a good story to it and that’s what makes it unique. Those are the ones that more so win the trophies because when they are judging, they don’t just look at the car, they usually talk to the owner, try to get a feel for it,” Fournier said.

There are no strict classifications of awards. “We call it Best in Show,” he said. “We don’t have actual categories … basically the top 40 cars will get trophies.”

Pre-registration is over but there is the possibility of same-day registration, although space will be limited if that is the case. Cars will check in at the Brady Sullivan Tower, where they’ll take turns to enter the main event area. “I get there about 3:30 in the morning and there will be about 40 to 60 cars already staged,” Fournier said.

For those registered, parking spots are on a first come, first served basis and there’s no saving spots.

On Elm Street, those attending will be greeted with live music in the morning and afternoon. There will be four bands on two stages with one on Mechanic Street and another in Veterans Park. “Veterans Park is great if you want a little shade,” Fournier noted.

Fun demonstrations will take place. “Around 1 o’clock I believe the fire department will be there to cut up a car to show the jaws of life in action,” he said. “We try to cater it toward families. It’s not just about the cars, it’s about the families.”

There will be many vendors, dog training demonstrations, and arts and crafts, not to mention food, and a pull-up bar competition with the United States Marines. Plenty of charity booths as well as veteran booths will be set up. Fournier called the event “more of a fair but with cars.”

Fournier and his team are very interested in having local school marching bands for future events. “If there are things people think would benefit the show, I’d love to hear it. I’d love to try to get more local talent,” he said.

A $20 donation to the Rotary Club at Bridge Street or Granite Street will get you a Cruising Downtown Manchester T-shirt with words on the front: “I like long walks on Elm Street, especially when they are lined with classic cars.”

This team effort is for the community. “We appreciate everybody that comes… I love just seeing everybody together and no drama. It’s pretty amazing to see that many people get together and just be happy,” Fournier said.

23rd annual Cruising Downtown Manchester
Saturday, Aug. 31, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On Elm Street from Granite Street to Bridge Street (including Bridge Street Bridge)
cruisingdowntownmanchester.com

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 24/08/29

Family fun for whenever

A fair weekend

Take the kids to the Hopkinton State Fair, a Labor Day weekend tradition happening from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Monday, Sept. 2, at the fairgrounds (392 Kearsarge Ave., Contoocook).

There will be livestock shows, a demolition derby (Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 6:30 p.m.), carnival rides, monster trucks Thursday through Saturday, live entertainment, food and more. The fair will feature multiple dog acts: “World Famous Frisbee Dogs” perform daily — Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday through Sunday at 1, 3:30 and 6:30 p.m., and Monday, 10:30 a.m., 1p.m. and 3:30 p.m. — and Dockdogs, an aquatic dog event, is also slated to perform daily. There will also be daily karaoke, wood sculpture with Ben Risney Friday through Monday at 11 a.m., 1p.m. and 4 p.m. and Axe Women Loggers of Maine Friday through Sunday at noon, 3 and 5 p.m. and Monday at noon and 3 p.m.

In addition to the livestock shows, the agricultural events include a farmers market and horse shows. Educational exhibits include the Morrell Family Farm Museum, Charmingfare Farm’s Petting Zoo (Friday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), a maple sugar house and a Fish and Game building, according to the website.

Fair hours are 5 to 10 p.m. on Thursday; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday. For details and ticket prices visit hsfair.org — five-day passes for ages 3 to 60 cost $39; one-day passes cost $14 for ages 13 and up, $12 for ages 60+ and 8 for ages 3 to 12. Ride credits for midway rides have an additional fee.

Animals and minerals

• Squam Lakes Natural Science Center will allow participants to watch river otters eat their lunch on Friday, Aug. 30, from 11:30 a.m. to noon, according to their website. The river otter exhibit has a public feeding every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 11:30 a.m. where participants can view two playful river otters as they have an early lunch. Expert volunteers will tell participants about otter biology and ecology while serving up a tasty treat or two. River otter feeding is included in regular trail admission and pre-registration is not required, according to the website. Trail admission prices range from free to $26. Visit nature.org.

• Meet the zookeeper on Saturday, Aug. 31, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Bookery Manchester (844 Elm St., bookerymht.com). Zookeeper Dayle Taylor will visit the shop to talk about her new children’s book Zookeeper Day and the Baby Animal Tales.

• America’s Stonehenge (105 Haverhill Road, Salem) is a maze of human-made chambers, walls and ceremonial meeting places and is over 4,000 years old. No one knows if it was built by a Native American culture or a migrant European population, but it may be the oldest human-made construction in the United States, according to the website. Their kids’ gemstone dig is open to kids age 12 and under and included with admission. Kids will use real tools that archaeologists use in the field to dig and sift for polished gemstones and will be allowed to keep three that they find. Ages 3 and under are free and other tickets range from $10 to $18. They are open Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m. Visit stonehengeusa.com.

Party on

Cowabunga’s indoor playground (725 Huse Road, Manchester, 935-9659) is holding its End of Summer party on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. Tickets start at $20 per child for two hours of fun; adults and infants free with paying child. Buy tickets at cowabungas.com.

Kiddie Pool 24/08/22

Family fun for whenever

Old Home Days

• Candia’s Old Home Day will return on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Moore Park (74 High St., Candia). The event starts with a parade after a firemen’s homemade breakfast. Local crafters and artisans, town community booths, games, a wildlife exhibit, food and music will also be featured. Visit candiaoldhomeday.com.

• Pembroke and Allenstown’s Old Home Day returns on Saturday, Aug. 24, starting with a parade down Main Street in Allenstown to Memorial Field (Exchange Street) in Pembroke. A fun-filled day is planned at the field, featuring two stages of live entertainment, antique cars, children’s games, a craft area, bounce houses and a fireworks display at dusk. Admission and parking are free. See “Pembroke & Allenstown Old Home Day 2024” on Facebook.

Celebrate summer

• Head to Field of Dreams Community Park (48 Geremonty Drive, Salem) for the park’s annual Family Fun Day on Saturday, Aug. 24, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A wide variety of activities is planned, including a petting farm, face-painting, bounce houses, food trucks, photo opportunities with superheroes and princesses, and more. Visit fieldofdreamsnh.org.

• Join Joppa Hill Educational Farm (174 Joppa Hill Road, Bedford) to enjoy the fantastic musical stylings of Mr. Aaron on Sunday, Aug. 25, at 5 p.m. at their End of Summer Bash! This will be a fun summer evening of live music, delicious food, face painting and more. The event does require registration, which is $25 per family online sales and $35 per family if purchased on site the day of the event.

• On Saturday, Aug. 24, at 2 p.m., Nashua Community Music School will be hosting Play it Forward at the Anheuser-Busch Biergarten in Merrimack to celebrate the end of summer with a family outdoor concert. Every ticket includes food from Bentley’s Famous BBQ and supports the next generation of musicians. The lineup includes the NCMS Teen Rock Band and NCMS House Band featuring 25 NCMS students and teachers, and the headlining act is rock band Aces & Eights, according to the release. They will be showcasing music and art from all NCMS Summer After Dark programs. Tickets are $40. Visit nashuacms.org.

On stage

• The 2024 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, palacetheatre.org) will run Tuesday through Thursday at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and Friday at 10 a.m.Disney’s Little Mermaid Jr.will be performed through to Aug. 23; next week the season ends with Music with Miss Alli on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28, according to the theater’s website. Tickets to each show cost $10.

• The Palace Youth Theatre Summer Camp presents Willy Wonka Kidson Saturday,Aug. 24, at noon at the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester, 668-5588, palacetheatre.org). The student actors are in grades 2 through 12. Tickets start at $12.

August in the garden and kitchen

Yes, that is a squash in the spare bedroom

It seems to me that summer has been zooming by. Of course, I did plant many vegetables two to three weeks earlier than usual and crossed my fingers that Demon Frost would not appear. It didn’t. We’ve had a very sunny summer, and my garden is thriving.

I planted 35 tomato plants this year. Why so many? I eat tomatoes three meals a day when they are available and like to have enough to share with friends and neighbors. But most importantly, I freeze them to use for the rest of the year. I eat stews with a tomato base all winter, and love having tomatoes that I know are organic and picked at their peak of perfection.

If you have a big vegetable garden, you probably should have a freezer. I have two. I cook with frozen vegetables from last year until this year’s crop comes ready.

You can freeze whole tomatoes in freezer-grade zip-close bags. Make sure the tomatoes are clean and have no bad spots. Close the bag right up to a straw that you place in the corner of the bag and suck out the air. Quickly pull the straw out and finish closing the bag. Put several bags in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Nine medium tomatoes will fill a quart bag.

When you need some for a soup or stew, just take a few out, rinse them under hot tap water and the skins will rub right off. Put them on a chopping board for a few minutes and you can dice them.

I grow eight to 10 Sun Gold cherry tomato plants each year. They are a delight popped in the mouth right there in the sunshine, but I usually dehydrate most of them. I cut clean, ripe Sun Gold cherry tomatoes in half and place them cut-side up on the tray of a food dehydrator. I start the process at high heat — say 150 degrees — for 30 minutes, then drop the temp to 125 or 130 so that I don’t damage the vitamins in the tomatoes. You can take them out when brittle, or earlier when they are leather-like. They store well in a dark cupboard, in the fridge, or in a freezer.

I love kale fresh or frozen. It is great in winter stews, smoothies or colcannon, an Irish kale and potato dish. I blanch kale and other brassicas by dropping the chopped leaves into boiling water for a minute, then removing them and dropping in cold water in the sink. I drain, spin dry in a salad spinner, and spread out the kale on a cotton tea towel and blot dry. This process is easy if you have a blanching pot with an inner pot that has drainage holes so you can pull all the leaves out quickly.

Most green vegetables need blanching to store well in the freezer. This includes Brussels sprouts, broccoli, beans and squash. The quick boiling kills the enzymes that cause aging, making for a better product. I don’t blanch tomatoes, peppers, fruit or leeks. But for best results it is good to eat frozen foods in Year 1, not Year 4 or 5.

The easiest way to keep food for eating all winter is to store it in a cool location. I have a cold basement and a cool area in the entry area of my house. Potatoes, carrots, kohlrabi, rutabagas store well in the basement with high humidity and temperatures in the 33-to-50-degrees range. Cabbages store well there, too, but a fridge is better for long-term storage.

Other veggies need low humidity and cool temperatures. Those include onions, shallots, garlic and winter squash. I keep them on a wooden rack I got from Gardener’s Supply, their “orchard rack.” I have that in the main part of the house where I have a woodstove — hence low humidity. But I keep them near the mudroom, which is unheated. You can also keep squash under the bed upstairs in a spare bedroom with the heat off and the door closed.

When picking vegetables or fruit for later use, it’s important to pick when ripe — which is not always easy. Apples are easy. Pick one, slice it open and look at the seeds. If white or green, not ready. If the seeds are black or brown, they are ready to pick. They dry well for snacks all year.

Winter squash and pumpkins are trickier. You should use pruners to leave some stem when you pick, and that should be dry and a bit brittle. The outer skin thickens and toughens up more, the longer they stay on the vine. I recently ate a butternut squash that I’d stored on a shelf since last fall, and it was delicious.

Green beans get tough if you don’t pick them when ready. If you start to see the individual seeds as prominent lumps, they are probably over the hill. Cook some up and you may still find them edible, even if not perfect. Some varieties, such as “Kwintus,” are tasty even when big.

Garlic? When the leaves start to dry up at the base of the plant, you can pull them. I’ve been told to cure them in a cool, dry place before cutting off the stems. They are said to absorb some nutrients from the stalks into the bulbs.

The bigger your garden, the more you can store for winter. But you can also support your local farm stand and buy some produce in bulk for storage. I recommend it.

Featured photo: A straw used to remove air from a bag of cherry tomatoes. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

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