Category: Q&A

Protecting and serving

Det. Justin Breton is Manchester PD’s Officer of the Year

The Manchester Police Department has named Detective Justin Breton its 2020 Officer of the Year. Breton talked about his career and initiatives to provide mental health and wellness support for police officers.

What have you done during your career in law enforcement?

I’ve been a police officer for just about 12 years. I started … in Hopkinton, then came to Manchester in 2010. I’ve been a patrol officer, and I was a detective in a juvenile division investigating child abuse and sexual exploitation cases. Then I transitioned into the detective division, where I’m a general investigator, handling any types of cases ranging from homicides to thefts and burglaries. I’m a member of our crisis negotiator team, a component of our SWAT team. I’m a member of our mobile crisis team, [in which] we work closely with the Mental Health [Center of Greater Manchester] and go out with them [to respond to] mental health crisis calls. … I recently trained to work with our ACERT team [Adverse Childhood Experience Response Team], which [helps] children or young adults who have been exposed to domestic violence or have been victims of a crime themselves. … Another one of my big jobs is [being] a coordinator for our Critical Incident Stress Management peer-to-peer team, which … connects our [department] employees with mental health services. … I also [am the primary handler of] Patch, our first comfort dog at the PD.

You helped create the Critical Incident Stress Management Team. Why was it needed?

The team started in 2012 after Officer Dan Doherty was shot in Manchester [and] was comprised of several officers who had gone through the [Officer] Michael Briggs homicide case. … We realized we wanted to do a better job as a police department of taking care of each other after those critical incidents. We all know this is a very stressful job, but what we don’t always recognize is that there are long-term lasting effects from some of the traumatic incidents we’re exposed to. We wanted to train and educate ourselves on how to recognize [the effects of trauma] amongst our peers and get them the professional help they may need to work through that situation. … We were able to work with [New Hampshire State] Sen. Lou D’Allesandro from Manchester to create a statute which enabled us to have confidentiality with our peers, so … we’re able to speak with our peers confidentially and get them to the appropriate mental health services.

You helped bring Patch the Comfort Dog to MPD. What does the comfort dog program do?

Concord Police Department was the first [PD] in the state to have a comfort dog. They worked with an agency called Hero Pups, a nonprofit in New Hampshire that trains dogs to work with veterans and first responders [experiencing] PTSD, depression, anxiety or some other type of significant mental health issue … to create this comfort dog program [for police departments]. … It really helps us break down barriers and make connections not only with the community but also with officers, to help them engage in the support services we have set in place.

MPD recently instituted a new training curriculum for its officers. Do you have a role in that?

It’s a 40-hour training curriculum, so there are many different components, and one of the components I’m happy about is a four-hour block of mental health and wellness training. I’m helping to run that class.

What has driven your interest in law enforcement mental health?

I didn’t grow up wanting to be a police officer; I just always knew I wanted to help people. In college, I ended up enrolling in a social work program. I got an internship with the Division for Children, Youth and Families, investigating child abuse and trauma in children. [Through] that job, I started working with a lot of local police departments … and saw the ability police have to not only intervene in dangerous and traumatic situations, but also to be good resources and network-creators to get families connected to services. The Hopkinton police chief at the time convinced me that if I were to become a police officer I’d have a much better ability to help people, so I jumped all in.

What’s something you’ve seen over the last year that has been inspiring or encouraging to you as a police officer?

The national recognition of law enforcement mental health and well-being. In 2020, we applied for [a] grant … to get more personnel trained in this peer-to-peer model. … There are now 20 different agencies across the state that have officers, dispatchers or other department employees trained through [the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation] who can help their fellow colleagues get through some of these stressful times and through their career.

What’s something that you’d like the public to know about the police during these times?

We do recognize [the reasons for the] scrutiny and concern nationwide in regards to the police profession, and we completely understand why they’re so leery right now. … [But the police] can really help our community get through tough times if they trust us … and we’re working very hard to build that trust the community is looking for.

Featured photo: Detective Justin Breton

Madeline Rossi and Olivia Lenox

Madeline Rossi and her wife Olivia Lenox are the owners of New Roots Meals (newrootsmeals.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @newrootsmeals), a Manchester-based company offering weekly deliveries of fresh plant-based items like sandwiches, salads, grain bowls, pastas, breakfasts and more. Even though both are from New England (Lenox from New Hampshire and Rossi from Connecticut), the couple met in Portland, Oregon, where Lenox had owned and operated a vegan food truck called Flourish. They eventually came to New Hampshire to be closer to family members, launching New Roots Meals as their newest business venture in October. Their menu changes every other week, but all items are 100-percent plant-based. They’ve done everything from Buffalo cauliflower wings and fried mushrooms to vegetable lo mein, Italian polenta bowls, yuca shepherd’s pie and caprese quiches. Orders are accepted until 8 p.m. every Friday. All meals are cooked at Jerome’s Deli in Manchester on Sundays, which Rossi and Lenox rent out as a commissary space. Free deliveries are made on Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., for all customers within a 30-mile radius of Manchester.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Madeline: Our mandoline, which we use to thinly slice all our veggies.

Olivia: The Vitamix blender, because I like to make cheeses and sauces from scratch. I could probably record a commercial for them, I love it so much.

What would you have for your last meal?

Madeline: Honestly, I would probably get the udon stir-fry with tofu, from Buba Noodle [Bar in Manchester]. That is one thing I cannot recreate myself.

Olivia: I feel like I would want a big giant vegan burrito. I love the mushroom chorizo burrito from Dos Amigos [Burritos in Concord]. I feel like it would save my life.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Madeline: Troy’s [Fresh Kitchen & Juice Bar in Londonderry]. I’ve been working my way through their menu. I’m a sucker for hash browns, so I love their Southwest scramble with tofu. I also usually like to get the blueberry pancake smoothie.

Olivia: The Local Moose Cafe [in Manchester]. I get the same thing every time: the tofu bánh mi sandwich and the matcha latte with oat milk and a lot of sugar.

What celebrity would you like to see ordering from New Roots Meals?

Madeline: Definitely Lizzo, for sure!

Olivia: Yeah, let’s just go with that.

What has been your personal favorite menu item that you’ve offered?

Madeline: The Korean barbecue cauliflower. I love having a lot of color in our dishes, and that one just came out really colorful and tasty.

Olivia: Mine is the quiche, which we sell whole or sometimes by the slice. The base for them is made with garbanzo bean flour.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Olivia: Avocado toast.

Madeline: Hot chocolate bombs, especially around Christmas. Loon Chocolate [in Manchester] has a vegan option.

What is your favorite thing to make at home?

Madeline: I love making vegan charcuterie plates often. I’ll use crackers, maybe some kind of vegan sausage or cheese, and then whatever veggies we have in our fridge that we need to use up.

Olivia: I like to make soups that are miso-based, with cabbage or maybe carrots or mushrooms, some fresh cilantro and a lot of red pepper flakes and ginger.

Beetroot hummus
From the kitchen of Madeline Rossi and Olivia Lenox of New Roots Meals, newrootsmeals.com

1 can (1½ cups) chickpeas
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup cooked beets
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If using raw beets, dice them and place on a greased baking sheet. Salt beets, cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Add chickpeas, beets, water, lemon juice and garlic powder to a blender and blend on high. While ingredients are blending, pour in olive oil until you reach a smooth consistency, adding more olive oil if necessary. Salt to taste and enjoy.

Featured photo: Madeline Rossi (left) and her wife Olivia Lenox (right).

Fine lines

New Hampshire celebrates National Poetry Month

From writing prompts to readings and workshops, New Hampshire poets and poetry lovers will have all kinds of opportunities throughout April to celebrate National Poetry Month from home.

Now in its 25th year, National Poetry Month is an annual observance created by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the U.S. Schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets all over the country are encouraged to host special events and activities to promote the literary art form.

In New Hampshire, the month’s festivities are spearheaded by state Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary, in partnership with New Hampshire Magazine, Concord-based publisher Hobblebush Books and others.

Peary has created 30 poetry writing prompts — one for each day in April — that will be posted on New Hampshire Magazine’s website and social media.

The prompts are meant to be “a reflection of the past year,” Peary said, particularly in regard to the pandemic, and will represent a wide variety of poetry styles. They may, for example, challenge participants to write a sonnet that mourns a loss or celebrates a recovery; a narrative poem about a pandemic moment; a persona poem from the perspective of a front-line worker; or an ode to a pandemic-related object.

“They’re just something to get people started,” Peary said. “You could look at the prompts and just see what comes to mind and do a free-write every day, or you could pick just one or two [prompts] and try to write a whole poem — whatever works for you.”

At the end of the month, there will be two free virtual workshops, led by two graduate students interning with Peary, where participants can receive feedback on their poems.

Now through May 15, original poems can be submitted for review and possible publication in an anthology of poetry about the pandemic experience in New Hampshire, to be edited by Peary and published by Hobblebush Books this summer. The anthology is a follow-up to COVID Spring: Granite State Pandemic Poems, published in September 2020, which features original poems submitted by 54 New Hampshire writers, providing “a thirty-day snapshot of what life was like in the Granite State in April of 2020” through topics such as Covid-related “job loss, loneliness and love, masks, social distancing, surreal visitors, uncertainty, graduations deferred, grief, neighborly and less-than-neighborly acts, observing the beginning of the pandemic and making projections about the future, recalibrating or confirming what it means to be human, to be a resident of this region,” Peary said in the anthology’s introduction.

Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, in partnership with Hobblebush Books, will host free virtual poetry readings and conversations every Monday in April. The series will feature Granite State poets Maudelle Driskell, Meg Kearney, Martha Carlson-Bradley, Liz Ahl, Rodger Martin, Henry Walters, Margot Douaihy and Peary.

“[Participating in] one of these events might give you ideas for your own writing,” Peary said, “and I think it could also give you a sense that, with so many opportunities for engagement with the creative writing [community] in the state, it could become a really rich part of your life and social life.”

Peary said this month is a great time for people who are interested in poetry to give writing their own poetry a try, even if it’s short or in fragments.

“It doesn’t need to be something with a complete structure,” she said. “Try to maximize the distance between you and the critics in your head and just jot some stuff down, and be accepting of whatever that is.”

National Poetry Month in New Hampshire
Virtual poetry events and activities will be held throughout April. Visit newhampshirepoetlaureate.blogspot.com and hobblebush.com/national-poetry-month.

Writing workshops
Registration required.
• Sunday, April 25, 3 p.m., moderated by Lily Greenberg
• Tuesday, April 27, 7 p.m. moderated by Brooke Delp

​Readings and conversations with Granite State poets
Weekly, Monday at 7 p.m., through April. Registration required.
• April 5: Maudelle Driskell and Meg Kearney
• April 12: Martha Carlson-Bradley and Liz Ahl
• April 19: Rodger Martin and Henry Walters
• April 26: NH Poet Laureate Alexandria Peary and Margot Douaihy

Featured photo: Alexandria Peary. Courtesy photo.

Dan and Sean Gagnon

Dan Gagnon of Manchester, his son Sean, wife Debra and daughter Kimberly McEnerney of Bedford are the family team behind NH Dan’s Seasoning (nhdans.com, find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), a company offering a line of three seasoning blends for cooking anything from steak, chicken and fish to all kinds of vegetables. A master carpenter by trade, Dan Gagnon originally created his seasoning almost 20 years ago for himself that he later shared with family and friends — a spicy blend now known as the Live Free or Dry Rub, made with sea salt, ground pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, dehydrated onion flakes, ground cumin, dried oregano and dried thyme. Two more similar but milder blends would follow: the Granite State Seasoning, which adds dried basil and rosemary leaves to offset the heat, and the Mild ‘n’ Wild Seasoning, which has less of a kick due to a reduction of its hot ingredients. All three are mixed and bottled locally and are sold in more than a dozen stores, including the Manchester Craft Market at the Mall of New Hampshire and Hand Made-In at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, as well as online through Etsy. The Hippo recently spoke with Dan and Sean Gagnon.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Dan: One of my top things to use is probably the grill.

Sean: I’m big on the Instant Pot, not going to lie. It’s a godsend. You can do everything in that thing.

What would you have for your last meal?

Sean: Mine would be lobster. A full lobster with butter, and some fries on the side.

Dan: I’d have to say a lobster as well.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Sean: T-Bones [Great American Eatery]. The Bedford one is probably the one we go to the most because it’s the closest to my house. We’re both carpenters and they’re our biggest client. … I’ll usually look at the specials, or I’d probably go with the salmon.

Dan: CJ’s [Great West Grill in Manchester]. I like their salmon too.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your seasonings?

Sean: Because I’d want an actual honest review, I’ll go with Gordon Ramsay. If he tried my dad’s cooking, I don’t think he’d complain!

Dan: Tom Hanks. He’s a very good actor and I’d definitely love to make something for him.

What is your personal favorite seasoning that you offer?

Sean: I like the Live Free or Dry Rub, because I’m a fan of heat. A little goes a long way too, so you don’t have to add much to your food. … I love putting it on chicken.

Dan: For me, probably the Live Free or Dry Rub, on steak. My grandson would say eggs. He won’t eat eggs unless he has the rub on them.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Sean: I’m seeing a lot more different varieties in cultures of food. I love to try different foods from all around the world.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Dan: I like making shepherd’s pie, of course with beef, onions, corn, peas, carrots and mashed potatoes.

Sean: Pizza, just because I love the experience of creating it with my family. I’ll usually do a light sauce, with extra cheese, pepperoni and sausage.

Filet mignon, roasted red smashed potatoes and cooked asparagus
From the kitchen of Dan Gagnon

Filet mignon: Season the filet with NH Dan’s Live Free or Dry Rub, wrap in bacon and use two toothpicks to hold in place (remember to remove them when ready to serve). Place in the refrigerator for two to three hours to let the seasoning be absorbed into the meat. Remove and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grill on high for three to four minutes to sear. Lower grill to medium/low and cook until preferred temperature. Remove and let sit for around 10 minutes before serving.

Roasted red smashed potatoes: Boil desired quantity of small red potatoes until soft, then remove and place in the refrigerator for one hour to cool down. Use parchment paper to place the potatoes on and flatten them to around a ¼-inch thickness. Place parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet, put olive oil on the paper and season both sides of the potatoes with NH Dan’s Granite State Seasoning. Place potatoes on parchment paper, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and put potatoes in for 30 to 45 minutes. Turn over halfway through and cook until the outside is crispy.

Asparagus: Put olive oil in a frying pan, remove the lower part of the asparagus and place in the pan. Add some NH Dan’s Mild ‘n’ Wild Seasoning. Cook on medium/low heat and cover pan. Cook until asparagus is soft but still has a crunch.

Featured photo: Left to right: Debra Gagnon, Sean Gagnon, Kimberly McEnerney, and Dan Gagnon.

Old school, new school

Sarah McCraw Crow explores women’s movement of the ’70s in debut novel

Canterbury author Sarah McCraw Crow weaves a story of loss, change and identity amid the second-wave women’s movement in her debut novel The Wrong Kind of Woman.

In 1970 New England, Oliver Desmarais, a professor at the elite all-male Clarendon College, dies suddenly. The Wrong Kind of Woman follows three characters through the year following Oliver’s death — his widow Virginia, his 13-year-old daughter Rebecca and his student Sam Waxman — and is told through their alternating perspectives.

Virginia had previously shared her husband’s disapproval of the four unmarried women on the faculty at the college, known as The Gang of Four, but now finds herself in their circle, joining the women’s movement and making waves at the otherwise apathetic campus.

Rebecca’s world has been turned upside down as she adjusts to life without her father and the shifting identity of her mother, whom she is growing to resent.

Mourning the loss of his favorite professor and hungry for human connection, junior Sam Waxman falls in love with a passionate activist who is willing to do whatever it takes to bring about change.

The Wrong Kind of Woman was born out of the author’s interest in women’s history, particularly in the realm of academia. McCraw Crow has had a “longtime fascination,” she said, with the women of her mother’s generation — women who are in their 80s and 90s today.

“I’ve always wondered how they managed, when they were young, with the choices that were available to them back in those days … and the various constraints and cultural pressures that were strong against them doing jobs that were more traditionally masculine or ambitious,” McCraw Crow said.

The fictional Clarendon College, she revealed, is loosely based on her alma mater, Dartmouth College in Hanover, which she started attending in 1983, a little more than a decade after the Ivy League university started admitting female students in its undergraduate programs.

“When I was there, there were still all sorts of reminders and remnants from the days when it was all male,” McCraw Crow said. “I thought a lot about what it must have been like for the first women faculty working there and the first women exchange students.”

To capture the book’s period setting, McCraw Crow explored archived newspapers from the early 1970s, read memoirs by women’s movement activists and personally interviewed a number of women who were among the first women to attend Dartmouth College when it became coed.

“Dartmouth wasn’t uniformly anti-women, but there was a core group of people who really didn’t want women there and were pretty awful to the first women students,” she said. “It was very helpful for me to talk to these women about how difficult that was and how they got through it — the good things from that time and the things that were the most hurtful.”

While The Wrong Kind of Woman provides an inspiring look at the social change effected since the 1970s, McCraw Crow said, it is also a sobering reminder that the war is not yet won.

“This is a story that still resonates today,” she said, “because as far as gender parity and gender equity, we still have quite a long way to go.”

The Wrong Kind of Woman by Sarah McCraw Crow
The novel is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and local independent bookstores. Visit sarahmccrawcrow.com.

Featured photo: The Wrong Kind of Woman

Close to home

Transitional housing in Nashua gives families a fresh start

Family Promise of Southern New Hampshire has opened a new transitional housing facility in Nashua for families experiencing homelessness. Executive director Pamela Wellman talked about the facility’s amenities and programs and the demographic they serve.

How did Family Promise come to acquire this new building?

We were on the grounds of the Presentation of Mary Academy in Hudson … for almost 18 years. … Then, we found [the property formerly occupied by] Infant Jesus School in downtown Nashua … and have gone through a six-month capital campaign and renovation project … to build a beautiful brand new home for our mission and for our families. We worked very closely with the City of Nashua … and we got a $2.7 million grant through Gov. Sununu’s New Hampshire CARES Act and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority … so there have been a lot of partnerships supporting us throughout this whole thing. … We were able to bring our first families in on Feb. 15. Starting on March 29, we’ll be able to bring in the second phase of families. … Our capital campaign will continue for the next two years … to sustain the program operationally, and to support the families.

What is the new facility like?

It’s 35,000 square feet — twice the size of our former facility — with 48 bedrooms, which translates to about 25 family units, so about 80 or 90 people. It’s got a beautiful dining area, a commercial kitchen, a laundry facility and plenty of storage space. … Each family has their own bath … and refrigerator space and cabinet space. They’ve got everything they need. They have a real home here, and they live a real life here. … We also have a filtration system, so if a family does contract Covid, they can quarantine in their units; we don’t have to place them elsewhere and put that burden on the community.

Who does Family Promise serve?

There are so many transitional housing and shelter programs in Greater Nashua, and we each share a certain piece of the pie when it comes to homelessness. Ours is family; we take families — moms and dads with children, single fathers and single mothers with children, and families however they identify themselves — and we keep them together. … Sixty-five percent of our community is children.

Aside from providing transitional housing, how does Family Promise help families experiencing homelessness regain independence?

One of the programs people work once they come here is financial literacy. … They have to save up to 75 percent of their disposable income in their own savings account so they get used to budgeting and paying rent again. We supply their food, toiletries and daily living supplies so that they can start saving that money. … Working full-time is a requirement … because you can’t save money unless you’ve got income, right? It’s not a handout. They’ve got to do the hard work, but we guide them through it. If people don’t have a job, we help them with their resume and help them look for jobs and realize their potential as professionals and career-builders.

We help them regain driver’s licenses and vehicles, if they don’t already have them. We help them get back in school to finish a certification so they can maximize their professional acumen. … We offer parenting and family advocacy courses to help them navigate any emotional trauma that homelessness has put on them as well as their children. … We’ve also got tons of great youth programs and activities here so that kids can take a deep breath and learn to play and be kids again.

What are some of the circumstances leading to families seeking transitional housing?

The stereotypical idea of what homelessness is — the impoverished person living under the bridge — is an important population of people to serve, but that’s not the only face of homelessness. Homelessness among children and youth ages 18 to 24 in New Hampshire is staggering. We see a lot of younger families who don’t have the support system of family or friends outside of themselves to help them get through [homelessness] and have no other place to go. … People don’t realize that one of the most prominent faces of homelessness is the average working family making minimum to slightly-higher-than-minimum wage. They are the ones that fall through the cracks. The current housing market doesn’t support them. They don’t qualify for many lower-income supports, but they don’t make enough money to get back up on their feet. … We’ve all seen the tremendous impact that Covid has had on these middle-class families, or have been personally affected by it. One crisis — a job loss, having to take a lesser-paying job, a family break-up or divorce, or a health tragedy — can send them spiralling into homelessness.

How would you describe the community at Family Promise?

It becomes a family. So many of our graduates become best friends because there’s a comfort in knowing that you’re not alone and that there are other people going through the same thing. … Sixty-five percent of our graduates actually come back and volunteer here and [remain a] part of our extended family.

Featured photo: Pamela Wellman Courtesy photo.

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