Category: Quality Of Life

Saving Valley
Efforts to take back and clean up Valley Cemetery in Manchester are being relaunched as a group of volunteers — the Original Friends of Valley Cemetery — pivots its focus to restoring gravestones and the chapel, according to Tanya Frazier Orr, who is leading the efforts. Orr said in an email that on Saturday, Aug. 22, a cleaning and restoration workshop will be held for anyone who wants to learn how to conserve various types of gravestones. In addition, the Manchester Memorial Company will be cleaning the Samuel Bell monument to provide an example of what can be accomplished with simple cleaning.
Score: +1
Comments: “Combined forces and fresh energy spell nothing but success for this team and their restoration goals,” Orr said in her email.

Pick up trash with Carter
Five-year-old Carter Manson of Manchester was named July’s Granite Stater of the Month by U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan for encouraging people to get outside and help clean up their communities, according to a press release. Carter has wanted to be a garbage collector since he was 3, so it was fitting that during the April stay-at-home orders he asked his mom, Kelly, if he could go outside and pick up trash. Kelly said yes and took pictures of him in the act, then posted them on Facebook. After getting positive feedback from her friends and family, she decided to create a group called Carter’s Clean Up Crew, which now has nearly 800 members from across the United States and Canada, according to the release. The crew has raised $1,400 to help get members of the group supplies like trash grabbers and gloves.
Score: +1
Comment: Carter is asking local residents to join him and his crew on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Pulaski Park in Manchester from 8 to 10 a.m. for a community clean-up, according to a post on wzid.com.

Second Jamestown Canyon virus case this year
The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that an adult from Bow tested positive for Jamestown Canyon virus. According to a press release from the Department, the person experienced fever and mild neurological symptoms but was not hospitalized and is doing well. This is the second case of the mosquito-borne pathogen in New Hampshire this year, and the 11th since the first case was reported in 2013. The arboviral risk level, which indicates the risk of transmission of these infections from mosquitoes, for Bow has been increased to high and is at moderate for the surrounding towns of Goffstown, Dunbarton, Hopkinton, Allenstown, Hooksett, Pembroke and Concord.
Score: -2
Comment: DHHS noted in its press release that risk of infection with Jamestown Canyon virus as well as Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus and West Nile virus will continue to increase throughout the summer and into fall.

All aboard for Hopkinton history
The Hopkinton Historical Society has created a driving tour that includes seven stops in Hopkinton and Contoocook that feature railroad points of interest. According to a press release, the tour is taking the place of what was supposed to be a summer exhibit: “Given the continued uncertainty regarding opening dates and people’s comfort levels with gathering in groups indoors, we decided the best approach was to take our exhibit on the road!” the release reads. The tour looks at how the railroad impacted farmers, tourism, mills and factories, among other things.
Score: +1
Comment:The tour can be found at HopkintonHistory.org, or followed on Clio, a downloadable app for driving tours of historical and cultural sites.

QOL score: 51
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 52
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Millyard Museum on a mission
The Manchester Historic Association has announced that it plans to restore and display the “Sweaters” portion of the illuminated Pandora Sweater Factory sign, which read “Home of Pandora Sweaters” and was on top of the Pandora Mill building at 88 Commerical St. for about half a century, according to a press release. Although the Pandora piece of the sign is beyond repair, Manchester Historic Association Executive Director John Clayton said in the release that restoring even a portion of the sign “is a tribute to both Pandora Industries and Manchester’s historic textile industry.” When the sign was removed from the building in the early 2000s, some of the letters disappeared, but one of those missing letters was recently returned, allowing the Historic Association to move forward with the restoration. But the “E” and the “S” are still needed to complete the sign, and the Association is asking for the public’s help in locating them.
Score: 0 (+1 for the Historic Association’s efforts, -1 for the missing letters)
Comment: The Millyard Museum hopes to have the sign on display by the end of the year, according to the release, and is asking that if anyone has any questions or information about the missing letters, they call the museum at 622-7531.

Learn about our lakes
Help keep New Hampshire’s 1,000 lakes safe with NH Lakes’s latest free webinar series, which starts with “Managing Recreational Safety on New Hampshire’s Lakes” on Wednesday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. New Hampshire Marine Patrol will explain basic boating laws and safety and tell you what to do if you see something unsafe out on the lake, according to a press release from NH Lakes. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 7 p.m., the webinar “The Ecology of New Hampshire’s Lakes” will cover how our lakes formed and how they change throughout the seasons, plus stories of some of the strange things people have reported seeing in the state’s lakes. And on Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m., “The Ecology & Management of Plants in New Hampshire’s Lakes” will cover how to recognize what’s growing and blooming and how to recognize invasive plants.
Score: +1
Comment: Registration is free but required at nhlakes.org.

Big losses in employer-provided health insurance
New Hampshire ranks fifth in the country for the number of people who lost health insurance from February through May, according to data compiled by Zippia, a resource site for job seekers. The numbers for this time period were compared to the 2018 uninsured rate, which is the most recent data available, according to Zippia, and the results do not include dependents who lost insurance. According to the data, New Hampshire saw a 43-percent increase in uninsured adults.
Score: -1
Comment: The state with the highest number of people who lost health insurance is Massachusetts, followed by Hawaii, Rhode Island and Michigan.

SWAM strong
Individuals, groups and swim teams around the state held small events throughout July as part of the Virtual SWAM20 event to benefit Swim With A Mission, a veterans support organization in New Hampshire. According to a press release, groups like The Granite State Penguins Masters Swim Club, The Seacoast Sharks Youth Girls Swim Team, The Manchester Police K-9 Unit and members of the Navy SEALS, have held their own events in lieu of the usual annual event at Newfound Lake. The Granite State Penguins Masters Swim Team, for example, met at Big Island Pond in Hampstead for a 10K team relay race. The Manchester Police K-9 Unit competed in a 5K relay race at Baboosic Lake in Merrimack.
Score: +1
Comment: The event honors the 89 New Hampshire service members who died during the war on terrorism, according to the press release.

QOL score: 50
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 51
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

No Multicultural Festival this year…
This year’s Concord Multicultural Festival, typically held in September, has been canceled due to the uncertainty and challenges presented by Covid-19 that “just cannot be addressed effectively” at an event of its size, according to a press release from the festival planning team. The festival celebrates different cultures and heritages from around the world through food, music, art and activities.
Score: -1
Comment: The festival planning team will instead host Welcoming Week in September, where immigrants, refugees and long-time residents come together to discuss how to build welcoming and inclusive communities; assembling a virtual cookbook with recipes from a variety of cultures submitted by individuals, families, businesses and organizations; and presenting international art, dance and music at International Art Day, part of Intown Concord’s Market Month, on Saturday, Aug. 22.

… New Hampshire Senior Games canceled too
The 2020 New Hampshire Senior Games have been canceled, according to a press release. The decision was made to protect the well-being of the athletes, who are ages 50 and up. “Our board has spent many hours over the past several weeks and considered a broad range of alternatives,” NHSG Board Chair Larry Flint said in a statement. “At the end of the day, we felt this was the most prudent decision.”
Score: -1
Comment: It’s not all bad news — this year’s games would have been a qualifier for the 2021 National Senior Games in Florida, but as many other states have also canceled their games this year, the National Senior Games Association decided that any athletes who qualified for the 2017 or the 2019 national games are automatically qualified for 2021, according to the press release.

Ready to rock
“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “Cotton Eye Joe” by Rednex, “Party In The USA” by Miley Cyrus and “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake are some of the songs that 17-year-old Hayley Dufour, a senior at Alvirne High School in Hudson, loves to listen to, and thanks to her they’ll be featured on Pandora’s new Special Olympics Champions playlist. According to a press release from Special Olympics New Hampshire, athletes throughout the country submitted playlists along with their reasons for choosing the songs, and Dufour’s playlist made the cut. Through Unified Sports at Alvirne, Dufour participates in soccer, basketball, track and cheerleading, and outside of school, she participates in softball and bowling with Special Olympics New Hampshire, according to the release.
Score: +1
Comment: QOL loves the upbeat song choices and will be checking out Dufour’s playlist on Pandora.

QOL score: 51
Net change: -1
QOL this week: 50
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

2020, part 2
More businesses and organizations in New Hampshire are reopening and the state is coming out of shutdown mode. But we’re certainly not back to what life was like in January and who knows what “normal” is going to look like in the coming months. So, in this second half of 2020, QOL will restart the QOL meter, and restart at 50, as we do at the beginning of each year, recognizing that no 100-point meter can really gauge what it’s like to live in this unprecedented time (or accurately reflect all that has changed in the last few months).
QOL score: ?
Comment: There has been a lot of sadness over these past few months, a lot of frustration and a lot of fear. But there have been moments of optimism too. QOL will try to keep doing what QOL does best — pointing out the good stuff and the bad stuff that is part of life here in southern New Hampshire.

First in the nation!
New Hampshire is the most patriotic state in the country, according to a study from WalletHub, which used data of 13 “key indicators of patriotism” to compare the 50 states. Among other findings, New Hampshire ranked first in Civics Education Requirement, fourth in Percentage of Adults Who Voted in the 2016 Presidential Election, sixth in Peace Corps Volunteers Per Capita, and 10th in Veterans per 1,000 Civilian Adults.
QOL score: +1
Comment: Following New Hampshire on the list was Wyoming, then Idaho, Alaska and Maryland, while California, New York and New Jersey were listed as the three least patriotic states in the country, according to WalletHub’s data.

Prices at the pump
The average gas price in New Hampshire was $2.07 as of June 29, according to GasBuddy, which is 13.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago but 52.4 cents lower per gallon than during this week last year. New Hampshire’s cheapest station was $1.83 per gallon, and the most expensive station was $2.29 per gallon. Though the prices have been rising gradually in recent weeks, they dropped slightly last week nationwide, likely due to a resurgence in Covid-19 cases, according to GasBuddy. “Motorists across the country will likely be influenced by what develops in those areas — improvement and a slowdown in Covid would cause gas prices to continue rising, while a continued resurgence in Covid-19 cases and a drop in gasoline demand will mean lower gas prices,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in the release.
QOL score: 0 (because while $2.07 is low, that under $2 was such a welcome silver lining)
Comment: This is setting the state up to potentially have the lowest gas prices on the Fourth of July holiday since 2004, according to GasBuddy.

Great state for kids
The annual Annie E. Casey Foundation report found that New Hampshire is the second best state in the country for children’s well-being. The Granite State ranked second in the family and community domain, which includes data like Children in Single-Parent Families (30 percent in 2018) and Children Living in Poverty (1 percent in 2018). New Hampshire ranked fifth in the education domain and sixth in both the health and economic well-being domains.
QOL Score: +1
Comment: Massachusetts is the best state for children’s well-being, according to the report, beating New Hampshire in the education (second) and health (first) domains.

QOL score: 50
Net change: +2
QOL this week: 52
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected]

No fall sports for UNH players and fans
The University of New Hampshire Department of Athletics announced July 17 that its fall sports teams — cross-country, soccer, football, field hockey, and women’s volleyball — will not compete in intercollegiate athletics this year. “For months, we have worked … to establish safe protocols and practices that would protect our student-athletes, coaches, staff and the greater community,” UNH Director of Athletics Marty Scarano said in the announcement, which was posted on the UNH Athletics Department website. “As of the last few weeks it has become obvious that … the virus is not under control and continues to present a significant risk.” The announcement noted that all athletic scholarships and eligibility will be honored for this year.
Score: -2
Comment: According to the announcement, the possibility of moving fall sports to the spring is being considered, and decisions regarding winter sports will take place in early fall.

Record-breaking spring turkey hunt
New Hampshire hunters set a record during this year’s spring turkey hunt, harvesting 5,719 turkeys, which is 643 more turkeys than last year, according to a news release on the New Hampshire Fish & Game website. The youth hunt weekend also saw an increase, with a harvest of 500 turkeys (8.7 percent of the season’s total), compared to 424 last year. There were plenty of heavy birds this spring, with the largest weighing between 24 and 29 pounds. The top five towns for number of turkeys harvested were Weare (84), Concord (77), Gilmanton and Claremont (75 each), and Belmont (73), according to the news release.
Score: +1
Comment: New Hampshire Fish and Game is asking the public to provide turkey brood observations through Aug. 31 for its annual turkey brood survey. Visit wildnh.com/surveys/turkeybrood.html to participate.

Backpack Drive is on
The New Hampshire Department of Education announced in a press release that it is now accepting donations of new backpacks for its fifth annual Backpack Drive. Backpacks are needed for students of all ages and will be accepted through Aug. 19 at the Department of Education, 101 Pleasant St. in Concord. The backpacks will be distributed statewide to school nurses, law enforcement and PPE stations, which will make them available to students in need. “New Hampshire families sometimes struggle with the out-of-pocket expenses of sending their kids back to school, and this is one way people can lend a hand,” Diana Fenton, who first created the Backpack Drive for the department in 2016, said in the release. Last year, more than 600 backpacks were collected.
Score: +1
Comment: QOL is welcoming all signs of normal “back to school” happenings this year.

We suck at driving
New Hampshire ranks No. 5 in the nation when it comes to the number of at-fault car accidents, according to a study from Insurify, an auto insurance quotes comparison site that analyzed the driving records of 2 million car insurance applicants across the country. Their data found the following in New Hampshire: percentage of drivers with a prior at-fault accident, 15.71; percentage of drivers with a prior speeding violation, 12.78; percentage of drivers with a prior DUI, 2.13; and number of drivers with a prior reckless driving incident, 30 out of 10,000. “Based on New Hampshire’s high volume of reckless driving incidents … a possible determinant of this state’s accident rates could be a lack of common discretion on these less congested, open roads, leading to an abundance of carelessness and an increase in driving errors,” the report reads.
Score: -1
Comment: At least we ranked higher than our neighbors, Massachusetts and Maine, which came in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

QOL score: 52
Net change: -1
QOL this week: 51
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Finding fun at home
Reader Claire wrote in to praise several local efforts to make staying at home more bearable, specifically the “Courageous Community Conversations: Can We Talk about Race” Zoom program sponsored by the Goffstown Public Library, the Currier Museum of Art’s online ARTalk with Larissa Fassler on “Mapping Manchester” and the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire’s virtual tour of Italy on the Fourth of July. “It brought back a lot of memories of my trips to Rome and Pompeii,” Claire wrote.
Score: +1
Comment:“Online learning can be fun, and no tests,” Claire wrote.

New AmeriCorps members lending a hand
Sixteen founding members of the NH Covid Community Care Corps have been sworn in as AmeriCorps members and were scheduled to begin their eight-week term of service with nonprofits and city departments in Manchester and Nashua on Tuesday, according to a press release. In Manchester, four AmeriCorps members will work with the Parks & Recreation department to help develop in-person programming for small groups of youth, and 12 will serve in the Manchester Welfare Department, Health Department, the Mayor’s Office, and the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester. Four members will work in Nashua’s Department of Emergency Management and Public Health Department, and the Police Athletic League of Nashua, and one member will help with the Neighborhood Provisions program, a collaboration led by Dartmouth-Hitchcock that will coordinate delivery of food and groceries to community members at higher risk for Covid-19.
Score: +1
Comment: Goodwill Northern New England is accepting inquiries for full-time, year-round AmeriCorps service terms that will begin this fall. To express interest in becoming a member or being a host site, visit bit.ly/GoodwillAmeriCorps2020.

Watch your water
Despite recent bouts of rain, moderate drought conditions are expected to continue in the southern half of New Hampshire, prompting the New Hampshire Drought Management Team to meet last week to discuss the drought’s impact on the state. According to a press release, State Climatologist Mary Stampone said at the meeting that the drought will likely persist through at least the end of July, as recent precipitation won’t make up for the precipitation deficit for the year, or the anticipated high temperatures and below average precipitation expected over the coming month. Lake levels are below normal, rivers and streams around the state have been at or near historically low flows, and the majority of the state’s 31 monitoring wells are much lower than normal, according to the release. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is encouraging outdoor water use restrictions for community water systems.
Score: -2
Comment:New Hampshire’s last substantial drought was in 2016, according to the press release.

Return on investment
New Hampshire has the best taxpayer return on investment, according to a WalletHub study, which considered data from five categories — Education, Health, Safety, Economy, and Infrastructure & Pollution — and took into account how people are taxed in each state. New Hampshire ranked second for Total Taxes per Capita (population aged 18+), fourth for Safety, seventh for Health, 13th for Economy, 30th for Education and 36th for Infrastructure & Pollution.
Score: +1
Comment: Florida took the No. 2 spot for overall taxpayer return on investment, followed by South Dakota, while last place went to Hawaii, according to the study.

QOL score: 51
Net change: +1
QOL this week: 52
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].