Category: Q&A

Owner of Granite State Stomp

Cathy Garland runs Granite State Stomp (granitestatestomp.com), where she teaches line dancing and works private events and corporate events, and even choreographs line dances for other instructors to use. One of her dances, titled Texas Hold Em’ EZ, has been nominated for the Best Beginner Dance of 2024 by the International Line Dance Association.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I teach line dancing for a living, full-time. I’m either teaching or entertaining at different clubs. I also have a lot of private events … and then I’m also doing tutorials and choreography online as well.

How long have you had this job?

Like most people because of Covid I completely pivoted from what I was doing for over 40 years. I’ve been in the fitness industry my whole life and was at the Bond Wellness Center in Peterborough and when that closed permanently I kind of looked at my husband and said, ‘I need to reinvent myself now.’ So I took a chance on this line dancing thing and went all out…. That happened in May of 2023 because the Center didn’t officially close until then.

What kind of education or training did you need?

For me, believe it or not, I went to college for computer science… When you’re in the fitness industry and you’re dealing with wellness coaching or personal training or especially when you’re dealing with a high-risk population, you really do have to have a ton of training, a ton of exercise science training and background and most of them [certifications] come through nationally recognized organizations. For line dancing … you don’t need to be certified in anything, which probably made it easier for me because I have that fitness background … I do have certifications and all that training.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

My typical attire is country. I’m usually in boots. I’m usually in some kind of Western hat and I’d say most of the time like denim shorts and a T-shirt, tank top…. Always kind of making it fun for everybody.

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

New to me is the world of social media. … if one of my videos gets outside of the group of line dancing, I think the most difficult thing is how negative people can be on social media.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I don’t think people realize what goes on behind the scenes and how much you really have to practice and work to be able to go out there and queue a group for two hours … I think people just think we can just show up and put the music on and go.

What was your first job?

I was a fitness instructor at a place called — I don’t even know if they called us fitness instructors back then — but it was called Gloria Stevens…. We’ve come a long way from that but I did enjoy working with those women ….

—Zachary Lewis

Five favorites
Favorite book: This is weird but my favorite book is The Long Walk by Stephen King.
Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing. I could watch it over and over again.
Favorite music: Country. I would say mostly modern country.
Favorite food: Pizza.
Favorite thing about NH: The peacefulness.

Featured photo: Cathy Garland. Courtesy photo.

New website from the NH Dept. of Revenue Administration

Ora LeMere, Assistant Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (NHDRA), spoke about the Department’s new website, unveiled this summer, that is designed to be easier to use, will be more responsive to Granite State taxpayers, and will optimize access to its Granite Tax Connect portal, which enables taxpayers, tax professionals and other NHDRA customers to manage their accounts, according to a press release. Visit revenue.nh.gov.

Can you give a brief overview of what the NHDRA is and does?

The Department of Revenue Administration is the taxing agency for our great state of New Hampshire and we are responsible for administering the tax laws that drive the revenue…. Generally speaking, we have divisions that make up the DRA. We have the admin unit, that would be myself, the assistant commissioner, and the commissioner, Lindsey Stepp, at the head of that. We have an Audit Division, a Collections Division, Municipal Property Division and lastly a Taxpayer Services Division, each having different functions to make sure that we fairly and efficiently administer those tax laws to our constituents.

With no sales tax or income tax in the state, what taxes do people in New Hampshire need to pay?

The most focused, if you will, are business taxes, which include the Business Enterprise Tax as well as Business Profits Tax. We have the Meals and Rooms Tax, we have the property taxes and we have the Interest and Dividends Tax, which I’m sure you’ve heard is phasing out. I think those are the majority of our taxes. We do have transparency on our website that gives information into each of our individual taxes, that also includes Tobacco, Communication Services, some smaller taxes….

What do these taxes fund in New Hampshire?

The taxes generally bring in around $2.9 billion in revenue each year and that is divided up and it is appropriated to different agencies to fund many different things. Funding can include the Department of Safety. Road Toll [Bureau] has a tax that they also administer. There are a few other taxes that we don’t administer but it all, for the most part, goes into funds … so we can fund the main functions of our state…. We fund 80 percent of the General Fund.

What types of feedback led to the website updates?

We have had overwhelmingly positive feedback since we went live. The DRA put in enormous effort to get this off of the ground in-house. We did not contract with an outside vendor. We chose to use the expertise in-house to get it off the ground. We were super proud of it. There is a webmaster link at the bottom that we all monitor constantly and the feedback that we’re getting is exceptional.

Would you like to expand on the updates you all are most proud of?

We had a taxpayers’ services section added right to the home page … It explains what a tax notice is or who to contact. It links to other agencies in the state that may be helpful or a taxpayer may need to visit in doing business in this state. The taxpayer assistance site has information about what forms to use, the laws and rules, tax fraud, it’s probably one of the most utilized pages on our site. We also made sure that our smaller businesses, mostly restaurants and hotels or short-term rental types of taxpayers, had their own page as our Meals and Rooms Operators. This page has a plethora of information and has links that help an operator know what they need to do, how to get to our portal to file or to apply for a license. … we try to make it customer-centric, taxpayer centric, and give them areas in which to visit where they wouldn’t need to click all around the site to find certain information that was pertinent.

Why is it important to have a tax website focused toward the needs of taxpayers?

I mean, plainly stated, taxes can be confusing. It’s really important that not only we administer those tax laws fairly and efficiently but we do so in a friendly and supportive manner…. the support that we try to provide for our constituents is ready and available at all times.

—Zachary Lewis

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

Operations Manager for Darbster Rescue

Andrew Doyle is the Operations Manager for Darbster Rescue of New Hampshire, an organization committed to finding homes and families for cats and dogs. Visit darbsterfoundation.com.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I help keep the three adoption centers we have running on a daily basis. The three locations we have are Darbster Kitty on Kelley Street, Darbster Doggy in Chichester, and Darbster Rescue at the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester.

How long have you had this job?

I started in 2021 so about three years now.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

Up until working here full-time, I’d always volunteered with different shelters and animal organizations. Started with, as a kid, a local cat shelter in Massachusetts. After college, started working with the Manchester Animal Shelter for a couple of years, worked at Joppa Hill Educational Farm for a little bit and after 2020 and the pandemic I wanted to do a pivot from my career … [I] found a posting and it worked out.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I came here with a traditional college background. I have a B.S. in sports studies and I got my MBA from SNHU. When I came here it was a lot of on-the-job training, doing other certification courses, just to stay experienced. We have all of our staff certified in Fear Free, which is an organization that helps volunteers and staff at rescues and shelters work with animals to make sure that they have a stress-free experience and help them understand body language and help facilitate healthy lifestyles for them …

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Something comfortable that you can move around in that still looks semi-professional. … I’m usually wearing like khakis and/or jeans, a polo or a Darbster T-shirt or a hoodie and comfortable shoes or boots.

What is the most challenging thing about your work, and how do you deal with it?

I think the most challenging thing is helping those dogs and cats that need a little extra support and helping them through things. Sometimes it’s medical, sometimes it’s behavioral. …

What do you wish you had known at the beginning of your career?

It would be good to know that it’s not a straight path from start to finish.

What was your first job?

I was a busser at a breakfast restaurant in … New Hampshire called Joey’s Diner.

What is the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Do the thing nobody wants to do. It’s usually the hardest or maybe it’s the most boring, but it’s something that needs to get done. It helps everybody out….

—Zachary Lewis

Five favorites
Favorite book: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Favorite movie: The Big Lebowski
Favorite music: My favorite band is Wilco. I’ve seen them about 17 times.
Favorite food: Buffalo chicken
Favorite thing about NH: You’re an hour away from anything, whether it’s the mountains, lake, ocean, Boston. You can get anywhere in an hour.

Featured photo: Andrew Doyle. Courtesy photo.

The League of NH Craftsmen holds its nine-day fair

The 91st Annual Craftsmen’s Fair is put on by The League of NH Craftsmen. The nine-day fair runs from Saturday, Aug. 3, to Sunday, Aug. 11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, rain or shine, at the Mount Sunapee Resort in Newbury. Kids 16 and under are free. Miriam Carter, Executive Director of The League of NH Craftsmen, gives a sample of what attendees can expect at this celebration of all things craft. Visit nhcrafts.org/annual-craftsmens-fair for a full list of booths, vendors, activities, demonstrations, food and more.

How did the Fair get started?

We’re in our 91st year and the Fair got started as an aspect of the League coming together which is 92 years old and it was a way to advance craft and support the makers of craft. It goes back to our roots, to 1932 when we were established. Governor Winant helped establish the League by recognizing that after the Depression there were people in the state that had wonderful abilities to make craft and artisan products. A way to have them benefit from the sale of those items was key to creating the League of NH Craftsmen. The first Fairs actually happened in little towns throughout New Hampshire. Then, in 1964, the Fair came to the state park here at Mount Sunapee Resort and it has been there for the last 60 years … we’re celebrating that as well this year…. We’re the oldest outdoor craft fair in the country.

Can you give a brief overview of one of the demonstrations at the Fair?

The Fair is an opportunity to come and see how craft is made and we do that through a variety of demonstrations that are both hands-on for the guests that come to see us, and guests of all ages can participate, as well as the ability to observe how someone is making their work. So we have Jeffrey Gale who’s going to be here demonstrating how baskets are made. He’ll literally be working with the raw wood to create strips that then get put into a basket. There’s a Pottery Tent where people can jump in, of all ages, and learn how to sit at a wheel and turn a clay object or build something by hand.

How many different artists and or vendors are going to be there over the course of the Fair?

We have over 300 juried members participating in this event. About 200 juried members are in booths selling their own work and that gives people the opportunity to meet the maker and to learn how their work is made. Then we have artisanal vendors who are selling food as well as all the demonstrators who actually, some of them will be selling their own work in their booths. We have two venues that are really special to this event which is the Art, Craft & Design Tent. It’s an opportunity for people to bring their best work forward to be considered for jurying. It’s kind of like a gallery in the middle of the basin of a mountain. It’s quite extraordinary and quite beautiful. Then we also shop at the Fair, it’s called the Shop at the Fair, and that’s a collaborative effort of people who aren’t in booths who want to be a part of the fair so they have this space where they can sell their work here at the fair but not have to be at a nine-day booth…. There’s also a Sculpture Garden. That’s a specific area for people who have garden art that they like to bring to Fair to sell. Their work is displayed there.

What are the fine art exhibitions?

Years ago, the league actually had Fine Art as part of our categories of the organization. The New Hampshire Art Association actually is a spin-off of the League of NH Craftsmen. So we used to be the League of New Hampshire Arts and Crafts and then we just went to ‘Crafts’ so they are here as well. We invite them to come and bring their members and they have a tent. We, over the years, have done … new things. One is that we invite guests who are not members of the League’s jury system to participate and there are two categories. One is, invite a guest who crafts in areas that we don’t represent, so we have about 34 exhibitors that are not juried members but invited guests and are craftsmen. Then we also have now invited guests who are Fine Artists who are bringing their beautiful paintings and drawings to be part of the event. The purpose of doing that is across the country there are a lot of fine art and craft shows that have this model because you’re attracting a wide range of people and their level of appreciation in both categories.

What is one sort of activity for kids at the Fair?

There’s an entire Kids Create! area, which we’re really proud about because we’re trying to create pathways to the next generation to understand the importance of craft and how you can have it in your life, whether it’s through just appreciation or through a career. So in the Kids Create! tent, kids of all ages can try all different formats of handmade craft…. You can do weaving, you can do print making, you can do clay building and basically a lot of free-form craft making. There’s going to be all sorts of materials and supplies and we will have people there to assist in the process.

What sorts of entertainment and food will be at the Fair?

We’re fortunate that we partner with the New Hampshire Music Collective and they provide really talented musicians for live music at the event. We also have incredible artisanal food to buy for lunches. There’s Thai food, there’s brick oven pizza, there’s all sorts of yummy treats, ice cream. We have several food vendors. We have a Dole Whip vendor but we have a lot of great food … a beer and wine tent right on the grounds so people can enjoy a libation while they’re enjoying what we offer.

Why do you think people should come to the Fair?

I think it’s a unique opportunity to experience both the craft and the makers of craft. We have everything here and we consider this an experience, not a shopping event. We want people to come to understand creativity and what you can do with your hands. In a world where we all click online to buy something, this is the opportunity to meet the maker and to really understand how an object is made. From children to adults, it’s a great opportunity to learn about craft and how you can include it in your life. I’ve been a crafts person for well over 30 years, my house is filled with craft and every time I drink my coffee out of a cup that’s handmade by someone I purchased it from, I think of that exchange that we had and I think about the story that maker told me about why they make things and how they make things, and that just enriches my life, so I encourage people to come and learn all about this organization.

—Zachary Lewis

The 91st Annual Craftsmen’s Fair
Saturday, Aug. 3, to Sunday, Aug. 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, rain or shine
No dogs or pets allowed
Any day ticket: $18 (online)
Two-day pass: $28 (online)
Kids 16 and under free
Gate tickets: $20
nhcrafts.org/annual-craftsmens-fair

Featured image: Courtesy photo.