Category: Quality Of Life

St. Patrick’s Day Parade canceled

According to its website (saintpatsnh.com), Manchester’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, originally scheduled for Sunday, March 29, has been canceled. An announcement on the website read, “The St. Patrick’s Parade committee was recently met with the logistical challenge of shortening the parade route and changing the staging areas for the parade. At this time, as a small committee, we do not feel that we are equipped to handle the changes to be able to safely stage the parade in an organized manner…. We hope to be able to take this time to plan, recruit additional, knowledgeable volunteers and be able to safely host a St. Patrick’s parade in 2027.”

QOL score: -2

Comment: An announcement from Millenium Running, organizer of the Shamrock Shuffle, a 2-mile road race usually staged in conjunction with the Parade, read,”[W]e are currently in the process of possibly reworking the Shamrock Shuffle for a possible course and/or a date change. ” Visit millenniumrunning.com/shamrock.

Chicken with listeria

According to a Jan. 16 notice by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, more than 13,000 pounds of chicken products have been recalled in seven states, including New Hampshire, due to possible listeria contamination. “The ready-to-eat grilled chicken breast fillets were produced on October 14, 2025,” the notice read. They were produced by Sozanna’s Kitchen, a company in Norcross, Georgia. “There have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of these products,” the notice said.

QOL score: -1

Comment: See fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/suzannas-kitchen-recalls-ready-eat-grilled-chicken-breast-fillet-products-due to see the product label.

Saving for a rainy day

According to a Jan. 4 report by the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (nhfpi.org), a recent analysis by the Urban Institute (urban.org) reported that “nearly one in four New Hampshire households lacked $2,000 in savings for emergencies…. About 23 percent of New Hampshire households did not have non-retirement savings, such as money in a checking or savings account, totaling more than $2,000 in 2022.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: To view the data from the Urban Institute analysis, visit apps.urban.org/features/financial-health-wealth-dashboard.

QOL score last week: 58

Net change: -4

QOL this week: 54

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

A school project with wings

According to a Jan. 13 online article by WMUR, an airplane built by students at Manchester School of Technology has arrived at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. “Students have been working on the aircraft since 2023,” the article read. “It’s the second airplane built at the school through a partnership with the Manchester School District and nonprofit Tango Flight. The plane will be inspected and go through flight testing before receiving certification that it’s airworthy.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to a post on the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire’s website, “the aircraft, a two-seat Van’s RV-12iS recreational plane, will undergo FAA inspection followed by a ‘fly-off’ procedure supervised by an approved test pilot. “ Visit aviationmuseumofnh.org.

A cheer heard from here to Foxboro

As reported in an online article by WMUR, the New England Patriots Cheerleaders are led by a Londonderry native. “Driss Dallahi was one of the first male cheerleaders on the team,” the story read, “and now, he’s managing the squad. He joined the team in 2019, becoming one of the first male cheerleaders on the squad in nearly three decades. He was recently appointed manager.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: “Dallahi said preparing for a playoff game looks a lot like the regular season, just with more intensity,” the WMUR article said.

Eagles conserved

As reported by the Boston Globe in a Jan. 13 online article, “bald eagles are making a comeback in New Hampshire. According to the State’s most recent Wildlife Action Plan, released in December, “[The eagles’] recovery has been notable enough that they’re no longer considered a ‘species of greatest conservation need,’” As reported in the Globe article, “128 bald eagle pairs were documented in the state in 2025, 13 more than in 2024.”

QOL score: +1 for the eagles

Comment: On the other hand, five new species of shorebirds have been added to the list of those in need of conservation: Black-bellied Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper,Short-billed Dowitcher and White-rumped Sandpiper. Visit wildlife.nh.gov/wildlife-and-habitat/nh-state-wildlife-action-plan.

QOL score: 55

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 58

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

In the spirit of Adam Sander

The New Hampshire Department of Transportation has announced the winners of the Second Annual NHDOT“Name a Plow” Contest. “Granite Staters shared their creativity and voted on fun and memorable names for our snowplows this winter season,” the DOT reported on dot.nh.gov. This year’s plow names are Wicked Plowah, Plowabunga, The Blizzard Lizard, Winniplowsaukee, Sled Zeppelin, Happy Plowmore, and Skarupa Snow Scoopah.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the NHDOT, more than 600 name suggestions were submitted for this year’s contest and there were more than 1,800 votes.

A snack that is its own toothpick

As reported in a Jan.12 online article by New Hampshire Public Radio, the town of Durham has found an innovative solution to dispose of discarded Christmas trees. This year the town sent its trees to Hickory Nut Farm, a goat farm in Lee. As it turns out, unlike many animals, goats can not only digest evergreen needles and twigs but actively enjoy eating them, the article said.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the story, the 11 goats can go through two or three trees a day.

A fife and drumroll, please…

Jan. 5 was the 250th anniversary of New Hampshire’s declaring its independence from Great Britain. The first of the 13 colonies to break away from its home country, New Hampshire declared its independence five months before the colonies as a whole. As reported by the Concord Monitor in a Jan. 7 online article, the occasion was marked by a “dramatic reading of the state constitution at a celebration at the New Hampshire State Archives in Concord.”

QOL score: +1

Comments: According to the Monitor story, the document read at the celebration is “just under 1,000 words long, and established the state legislature and democratic elections for a number of positions. It was replaced in 1784 with a second version that remains in effect today.”

QOL score: 52

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 55

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

An omen for 2026?

As reported by WMUR in a Dec. 28 online article, a fireball in the sky was reported by witnesses in Portsmouth, Nashua and Londonderry on the evening of Saturday, Dec. 27. “There were several other reports made to the American Meteor Society from New Hampshire communities, including Dover, Bedford, Rindge, Hooksett and Jaffrey,” the story read. “Fireballs are meteors that are unusually bright,” the article said. “It’s unlikely that the fireball reached the ground, as most meteors are destroyed high in the atmosphere.”

QOL score: +1 because cool, probably harmless thing in the sky

Comment: View footage of the fireball at youtube.com/shorts/UOwPvE1V6rg.

New laws

Several new state laws go into effect in January, including the much-discussed end of motor vehicle inspections, which will take effect Jan. 31. A Jan. 5 article at New Hampshire Bulletin (newhampshirebulletin.com) noted several other new laws that start this month, including a ban on ambulance “surprise billing” and a requirement that landlords allow non-electronic payment for rent. In addition, some state fees are increasing; it will now cost $11 instead of $6 to register a tractor, for instance. And as of Jan. 1, the article said, “it will be illegal to dump yard waste into any state body of water, on the ice of such water, or on the banks of the water.” It was already illegal to dump many other non-yard waste items in those places.

QOL score: -1, for having to remember new things

Comment: For a more comprehensive list of new laws going into effect, visit newsfromthestates.com/state/new-hampshire.

More flu cases

“As flu cases skyrocket across the country, New Hampshire health officials say cases are also rapidly rising in the Granite State,” a Dec. 30 online report from WMUR read. “Health experts say they expect flu numbers to keep rising,” the WMUR article warned, “because of holiday gatherings and cold weather forcing people inside.” A map provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov) titled “Flu activity levels by state for the week ending December 27” listed New Hampshire’s activity as “Very High.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: Health officials recommend getting vaccinated against the flu to protect against serious illness, the article said.

QOL score: 53

Net change: -1

QOL this week: 52

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Lights on, let’s play

Installation has begun on lights at the athletic field at Keach Park in Concord, according to a Dec. 24 Concord Monitor article. The lights will cover a youth-sized field, the story said, and will be ready for nighttime use sometime in May or June 2026; this will make Keach the only lighted field in Concord other than Memorial Field.

QOL score: +1

Comment: Local advocacy group Change for Concord lobbied for years for the lights and had wanted a larger area to be lighted, according to the article, which quoted city Parks & Rec Director David Gill as saying that the current plan will not illuminate abutting houses much.

Thousands of crows

In a Dec. 22 article, Manchester InkLink reported that a recent survey “counted 7,800 crows passing over the Amoskeag Fishways [in Manchester] on their way to their night roost.” Using a thermal imaging drone, New Hampshire naturalist Mark Timmerman and photographer Craig Gibson, who has conducted similar studies on the crow population in Lawrence, Mass., hope to document the Millyard’s crow population.

QOL score: +1

Comment: While Manchester’s crow population is smaller than Lawrence’s, the birds’ environments are extremely similar. Both have large, brick, mill buildings on the Merrimack River. Gibson expects both populations to be made up of the same species, American Crows, with a smaller number of Fish Crows, according to the article.

Parading down Main Street 100 years ago

On Dec. 22, the Concord Public Library posted a press release on the City of Concord’s website (concordnh.gov) reminding the public that one of the Library’s many resources is a digital collection of historic Concord photographs, including of President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Concord on Aug. 28, 1902; the Concord High School Girls Basketball Team in 1920, and dozens of parade photos. Visit concordnhlibrary.omeka.net, where you can also find a wealth of other Concord historical resources.

QOL score: +1

Comment: This is another reminder that local libraries do much more than lend books. See the Oct. 2 issue of The Hippo, “29 Reasons to love your library,” which is available online. Visit hippopress.com.

QOL score to start 2026: 50

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 53

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

We know how to holiday

According to a recent study by health and wellness website Innerbody.com, New Hampshire is one of the most festive states in the U.S. The study examined Christmas-related online searches of topics including the sales of advent calendars, inflatable lawn decorations and festive holiday clothing. “New Hampshire has risen to 9th place in the rankings, up from 10th last year,” read a Dec. 16 press release from Innerbody, “suggesting an increase in its Christmas spirit.” This contrasts with its neighbors, Vermont and Maine, which rank among the states with the lowest (or “Grinchiest”) Christmas cheer.

QOL score: +1

Comment: The study ranked West Virginia as the most festive, and the District of Columbia as the least festive. Visit innerbody.com/most-festive-state.

Girl Scouts convert bags to benches

A Mont Vernon Girl Scout troop has collected enough semi-firm plastic bags — the type you get groceries in — to be recycled into a park bench. Girl Scout Troop 59205 is a group of four cadets in seventh grade, led by Scout Leader Bobbi Billow. When the project began, the troop had 13 members who all contributed to the project for a full year and helped reach the 1,000-pound milestone. “Month after month, the residents of Mont Vernon came together and averaged 100 pounds of plastic recycled per month,” Billow posted on Facebook on Dec. 1, “an incredible achievement for a small town with a big heart.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to a Dec. 15 press release from Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, Troop 59205 will donate their bench to the Mont Vernon Conservation Commission to be placed at Carleton Pond. This project was taken on as part of a challenge by Trex Recycling. Visit nextrex.com/view/programs.

New Hampshire and the Peace Corps

In a Dec. 15 press release, the Peace Corps (peacecorps.gov) announced its 2025 rankings of the top volunteer-producing states across the United States with New Hampshire ranked No. 3 among states with the highest number of Peace Corps volunteers per capita. According to the press release there are currently 36 New Hampshire residents serving worldwide. “In 2025, the nation’s capital is the largest producer of volunteers per capita with 31 volunteers, more than 4 volunteers per 100,000 citizens. Vermont took the No. 2 spot for per capita production, with 24 volunteers.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: Volunteers in the Peace Corps travel to other countries to donate their time and expertise. The Peace Corps aims “to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served” and “to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans,” according to its website.

QOL score: 79

Net change: +3

QOL for the end of 2025: 82

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.