Category: Quality Of Life

The impact of an act of kindness

New Hampshire native Justin Spencer of Recycled Percussion shared a heartwarming message on the band’s Facebook page following its Chaos & Kindness events at Rossview Farm in Concord last weekend. He wrote that a woman approached him after waiting in line for hours in the cold to meet the band — because she wanted to personally thank them for their, well, kindness at an event in Manchester four years ago. The woman had been homeless, living in a park where Recycled Percussion had a concert. Halfway through the show, Spencer wrote, he stopped and asked the people at the gate to let the homeless and less fortunate to come in and enjoy the rest of the show. “She said that was the moment she fell in love with us and has been waiting for 4 years to share how that act of kindness impacted her. … She has since gotten her life back on track and headed in a better direction and today I could tell how special it was to share that moment with us,” Spencer wrote.

Score: +1

Comment: Spencer’s post garnered 6,600 likes and more than 400 comments.

Goodbye, election flyers, calls and commercials

While we appreciate everyone’s efforts to get people out to vote, QOL will not miss the relentless barrage of political mailers, phone calls, texts and ads that led up to the general election. It is quite possible that we still don’t know who our new president will be by the time this paper hits the streets, and no matter what the outcome, there will likely be some strong feelings from both sides. But guys, no more calls or texts blowing up your phone! No more giant mailers that fill half your recycling container! No more House Hunters episodes being ruined by the onslaught of campaign ads!

Score: +1

Comment: This is a win no matter what side you’re on.

Confronting stigmas

Brielle Paquette, a videographer from Salem, has been named October’s Granite Stater of the Month by U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan. According to a press release, Paquette is using her talent for filmmaking to confront the stigma surrounding mental illness, in part by opening up about her own struggles with an anxiety disorder. Pre-Covid, her mom filmed her standing blindfolded in the middle of a crowded area in Boston while holding a sign that read “20-50 percent of adolescents struggle with mental illness. Hug to show support for people who are struggling.” This footage of strangers hugging her became part of a PSA she put together in 2019.

Score: +1

Comment: Paquette has since filmed other PSAs about mental illness, and she uses her platform as Miss Londonderry to promote the message as well. She’s currently starting work on a PSA on body positivity, according to the release.

Award-winning trails in New Hampshire

The national Coalition for Recreational Trails has honored two Granite State trail projects with the Tom Petri Recreational Trails Program Achievement Awards, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. In southern New Hampshire, the Monadnock Trail Improvement Project won in the Youth Conservation/Service Corps and Community Outreach Category. Work on that project was done by the SCA NH AmeriCorps conservation services crew, which spent 10 weeks improving 4.5 miles of trails at Monadnock State Park. The other project award went to the Milan Trail Huggers Nash Stream Bridge in Milan, which diverted ATVs farther from area homeowners, according to the release.

Score: +1

Comment: Improvements to Monadnock trails — one of the most hiked mountains in the world, according to the press release — included new rock steps and rock staircases, and the closure of unofficial trails that bypassed eroded areas.

QOL score: 63

Net change: +4

QOL this week: 67

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Fin for the win

If being adorable was a job requirement, it’s no wonder Fin got the gig.The 14-week-old chocolate Labrador retriever has joined the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Law Enforcement Division’s K-9 Team, according to a news release on the department’s website. Fin met his new partner, Fish and Game Conservation Officer Kenneth St. Pierre, in September. “Fin will work on basic obedience, tracking, and exposure to both evidence and fish and wildlife daily,” St. Pierre said in the news release. Fin was donated by Wes and Belinda Reed of Rise and Shine Retrievers in Barnstead.

Score: +1

Comment: Who wouldn’t want to go to work with a partner like that?

Holiday stroll canceled

The 27th annual Winter Holiday Stroll in Downtown Nashua will have to wait, as the event has been canceled this year, according to a press release from Great American Downtown. Typically held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the stroll features performers, vendors, demonstrations and other attractions. With the ongoing community-based transmission of Covid-19, local health officials advised the City of Nashua and Great American Downtown that the event should be postponed until 2021.

Score: -1

Comment: As the holiday season approaches, Great American Downtown has planned several activities for downtown Nashua, including outdoor music, contests and the return of Plaid Friday to support small businesses the day after Thanksgiving.

New homes to help end homelessness

Four people who have been experiencing long-term homelessness will soon have new homes in the Green Street Apartments in Concord, according to a press release. The apartments, which have been renovated by the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, are the culmination of efforts from numerous local businesses and organizations, from Warren Street Architects supplying designs and construction oversight at a drastically reduced rate to the Concord Food Co-op, Franklin Savings Bank, Keeler Family Realtors and Merrimack County Savings Bank furnishing, decorating and stocking each of the four homes.

Score: +1

Comment: “Green Street is really the story of so many people coming together and of an opportunity for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” CCEH Director Ellen Groh said in the release.

ELL teacher honored

Danielle Boutin, an English Language Learner teacher at Ledge Street School in Nashua, has been named the 2021 New Hampshire Teacher of the Year by the Department of Education, according to a press release. Boutin teaches multilingual students in kindergarten through fifth grade, and she also works to connect her students and their families to community resources that can provide support for issues like food and housing insecurity, domestic violence and trauma.

Score: +1

Comment: “This has been one heck of a year in education,” Boutin said in the release. “All of the parents out there are also Teachers of the Year as they teach their kids from home. It takes a lot of people to help students succeed.”

QOL score: 61

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 63

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Take a hike

There’s still time to register for the New Hampshire Forest Society’s 5 Hikes Challenge! Get outside and enjoy fall while challenging yourself to complete five trails and earn a hiking patch. When you register (the deadline is Saturday, Oct. 31), you can choose five hikes from an extensive list, including Buxton Simons Forest in Weare, Monson Village in Hollis/Milford, McCabe Forest in Antrim and the Merrimack River Outdoor Education & Conservation Area in Concord. According to the society’s website, registration will get you a Forest Society buff, plus paper trail maps with directions for the hikes you choose. The fee is $8 per hike (free for anyone under 18), and the goal is to complete the hikes and submit photos by Nov. 15.

Score: +1

Comment: Tag the Forest Society on Facebook (@ForestSociety) and Instagram (@ForestSociety) with #5HikesChallenge as you hit the trail, then email your five hikes selfies to [email protected] to earn an embroidered patch and a sticker. To register, visit forestsociety.org/5-hikes-challenge.

Potentially frigid, extra snowy winter on the way

With parts of northern New Hampshire getting plowable amounts of snow last weekend and a couple of frosty mornings around here, there’s no denying that winter is coming, and the Farmers’ Almanac is predicting a cold, snowy season for New Hampshire. Words that QOL was not excited to read on farmersalmanac.com: “If you love the cold of winter, you’re going to love our forecast if you live in the northern half of the country.” The Almanac also predicts a potential blizzard during the second week of February and says there’s the potential for a major storm in March too.

Score: -100 (Just kidding. It’s not that bad.)-2

Comment: QOL gets that some people love New Hampshire for its winter sports opportunities, but shoveling, driving through snowstorms and braving below-zero temps just to get groceries or gas will never be fun.

A weekend of weeding and planting wildflowers

A disabled veteran homeowner’s Manchester property has been transformed after the Boy Scouts of Hooksett Troop 292 teamed up with Hooksett-based startup Wildline Solutions to clean up her yard, which had become overgrown and unusable after 20 years of the homeowner being unable to care for it, according to a press release. Scouts, their parents and volunteers from Wildline (a self-sufficiency and sustainability consulting company, according to the release) spent last weekend clearing the property of weeds, foliage and debris, and planted wildflower seeds that will bloom in the spring — a low-maintenance alternative to a traditional lawn that will help prevent other plants and weeds from growing.

Score: +1

Comment: The homeowner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was overjoyed with the transformation, according to the release.

Praise for contact tracing efforts

As schools and the Department of Health and Human Services grapple with the complexities of contact tracing as more and more people test positive for Covid-19, QOL would like to give a shout out to the Bow School District and DHHS for how they’ve handled contact tracing. On Friday morning, the high school closed immediately after it was informed that a student had tested positive; by the end of the day, the school had called the parents of about 60 students who had come into contact with that student and very nicely explained to these stressed out parents what protocols needed to be followed. This was followed up by a phone call from DHHS two days later to reiterate the procedures and set up a daily text to check on symptoms.

Score: +1

Comment: QOL wants to thank all state, city, town and school officials who are doing the best they can to keep New Hampshire residents safe.

QOL score: 60

Net change: +1

QOL this week: 61

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Finding hairy pine-sap

A rare plant was discovered last month by a student at the Founders Academy Public Charter School in Manchester, according to a press release. Josiah DiPietro found a group of hairy pine-sap during his Natural History of New Hampshire class, when the group was outside exploring the campus woods. It is now the fifth known location for the species, confirmed by Bill Nichols, senior ecologist/state botanist at the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau Division of Forests & Lands, which tracks the species due to its rarity. Hairy pine-sap is an herbaceous perennial found in woodlands, often where oaks are present, according to the release, and southern New Hampshire is part of the plant’s northernmost limit.

Score: +1

Comment: Hairy pine-sap flowers in late August through September, and its stems are pink or red, which distinguishes it from the light brown or yellow stems of the more common yellow pine-sap, according to the release.

Dairy products for residents in need

The Rotary Clubs of Milford, Concord and Manchester, among several other clubs in New Hampshire and Vermont, recently donated $21,225 to the New Hampshire Food Bank specifically to purchase milk and other dairy products for New Hampshire residents in need, according to a press release. The Rotary Clubs collaborated with the Food Bank as well as Granite State Dairy Promotion and the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food for this effort. The Food Bank has contracted with Contoocook Creamery to bottle the milk, and Stonyfield Organic in Londonderry will provide approximately 20,000 cups of yogurt for this program with help from the Rotary Clubs’ donation.

Score: +1

Comment: Milk and dairy products are among the top requested items from the food pantries that are served by the New Hampshire Food Bank, according to the release.

Historical milestone for Nashua

Nashua’s first historical highway marker has been installed in front of the Nashua Historical Society’s Abbot-Spalding House museum, according to a press release, and the official unveiling is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 (with a rain date of Saturday, Oct. 24, at 10 a.m.). “The Nashua Historical Society is proud to have our Abbot-Spalding House acknowledged with this marker, especially since this is the first historic marker installed in Nashua,” Beth McCarthy, Historical Society curator, said in the release. The Abbot-Spalding House was built circa 1802-1804 by Daniel Abbot, a 19th-century businessman known as “The Father of Nashua” for his leading role in reuniting the towns of Nashua and Nashville after the two split due to political conflict, according to the release.

Score: +1

Comment: There are more than 250 historical highway markers throughout the state, managed by the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, according to the press release. An interactive map showing the markers’ locations can be found at nh.gov/nhdhr.

QOL score: 57

Net change: +3

QOL this week: 60

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Spotted lanternfly spotted

Spotted lanternflies (SLF) have been detected at a New Hampshire nursery, according to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. The department and nursery personnel found the invasive insect on Sept. 3 and subsequently killed several adult SLF. They also identified SLF eggs on red maple trees that had come from Pennsylvania. The SLF typically feeds on the tree of heaven, which is prohibited for sale in the state, but it will feed on more than 70 kinds of plants. The insect is considered a risk to a variety of agricultural, ornamental and hardwood crops, according to the release.

Score: -1

Comment: There is currently no evidence of an established SLF population in the state, the release said, and public awareness and the ability to identify the insect can help keep it that way. Visit nhbugs.org/spotted-lanternfly to learn more.

Ending chronic homelessness

Harbor Care, which provides housing, health care and support to community members who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, recently announced a new goal: to end chronic homelessness in Nashua by the end of 2020. According to a press release, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently provided Harbor Care with 26 new housing vouchers. As of Sept. 22 there were 21 chronically homeless people in Nashua, meaning that Harbor Care can now house every person who meets the definition of chronically homeless (people who have been homeless for more than one year or have experienced homelessness at least four times in three years).

Score: +1

Comment: Harbor Care has also launched a fundraiser called Dignity of Home to make sure that supports are available to people after they move into their new homes. So far the campaign has raised more than $125,000 of its $200,000 goal, according to the release, and the Ending Homelessness Committee, a group of concerned citizens, recently offered to match the next $5,000 in donations.

Check your smoke detectors

The state saw its second deadliest three-month period in the past 10 years for unintentional fatal fires from March to May, according to a press release. This year there have been eight fatalities in seven home fires — and in each fire, there were no working smoke alarms, the release said. This week (Oct. 4 through Oct. 10) is National Fire Prevention Week, and State Fire Marshal Paul J. Parisi said in the release that “smoke alarms are the biggest factor when it comes to giving people time to get out alive.”

Score: -1

Comment: In New Hampshire, it is the law to have smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Contact your local fire department, as many in New Hampshire have free smoke alarm programs, according to the release.

Take a road trip

With foliage at its peak in southern New Hampshire, now is a great time to take a scenic drive. You can travel pretty much anywhere and find beautiful scenery, or you can set out on a more purposeful drive: the Robert Frost/Old Stagecoach Byway, which travels through Auburn, Chester, Derry, Hampstead and Atkinson. A group of people representing the five communities recently created a brochure and website for the route, which includes numerous points of interest.

Score: +1

Comment: Visit frost-stagecoach-byway.org to find a map as well as the history of the byway.

QOL score: 57

Net change: 0

QOL this week: 57

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].

Warnings about wildfires, well problems

Increasing concerns about the drought have prompted warnings from the state about both the increased potential for wildfires and for wells running dry. On Sept. 25, Gov. Chris Sununu issued a proclamation, effective immediately, that prohibits the kindling of any open fire and smoking in or near woodlands anywhere in New Hampshire due to “great concern that wildfires could unexpectedly and rapidly increase thereby endangering life and property,” according to a press release. Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is asking residents to conserve water and to report any well problems to the state. As more and more residential well owners are reporting supply issues, well drillers are reporting waits greater than six weeks to get a new well drilled while others are booked until the end of the year, according to a DES press release.

Score: -2

Comment: As of Sept. 28, the entire state was in drought, with nearly 10 percent of the state elevated to D3-Extreme Drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Forecasted rainfall for this week will help some, according to a report from WMUR, but officials say that in order to bring water levels back up to normal, it will take a very wet autumn and a snowy winter.

Slow speeds

Manchester ranks 24th for midsize cities with the slowest internet speeds, according to a new study from AdvisorSmith. The company calculated the percentage of residents with access to 100 Mbps, 250 Mbps and 1 gigabit internet in thousands of U.S. cities and analyzed the data to come up with its rankings. According to the study, 0.1 percent of Manchester residents had access to 1 gigabit broadband providers, whereas in most midsize cities, an average of 27 percent of residents had access to gigabit internet providers.

Score: -1

Comment: 98.5 percent of residents had access to 100 Mbps and 250 Mbps internet, which, according to the data, is pretty average for midsize cities.

Cereal smarts

Granite United Way had to cancel its annual Day of Caring, but the nonprofit came up with a new way to help local communities instead: the Smart Start Cereal Campaign. According to a press release, from now through Oct. 16 individuals and companies can donate cereal and other non-perishable breakfast foods to help students get a “smart start.” Companies can hold cereal drives, or anyone can text guwfeeds to 41444 to donate through the Smart Start Text-to-Give Campaign.

Score: +1

Comment: “We’ve been working with local volunteers and corporate partners to ensure that even though our traditional Day of Caring may look different we are still able to provide help this fall,” said Patrick Tufts, president and CEO of Granite United Way.

QOL score: 59

Net change: -2

QOL this week: 57

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at [email protected].