Category: Quality Of Life

It’s cookie time!

Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains have officially kicked off Girl Scout cookie season, with online cookie ordering available Feb. 1 in case you don’t know any Girl Scouts. According to a press release, the Scouts will also host a few in-person cookie booths across New Hampshire Feb. 12 through March 22, following all pandemic safety restrictions possible.

Score: +1

Comment: New this year, GrubHub is working with local Girl Scouts to safely get cookies to customers. According to the release, in areas where GrubHub operates, customers will be able to order Girl Scout cookies for pickup or delivery through GrubHub. The Girl Scouts will learn to track and fulfill orders, manage inventory and more, and GrubHub is waiving its fees for the Scouts so that all sales proceeds will still go to the troops and the Girl Scout Council.

Happy ending for rescued animals

Seventeen months after the Humane Society for Greater Nashua and the Hudson Police Department rescued 30 animals from a home in Hudson, those animals — cats, guinea pigs, chickens and rabbits — have been released from protective custody and become the property of the Humane Society. According to a press release, now that the court case regarding the Aug. 13, 2019, rescue has come to a close, the Humane Society can provide veterinary services and help the animals find permanent homes.

Score: +1

Comment: To learn more about the rescued animals that are available for adoption, call 889-2275 or email katie@hsfn.org.

Motorcycle Week history lost in a fire

The Laconia Motorcycle Week Association announced last week that a fire in its offices on Christmas morning resulted in the loss of collectibles and souvenirs from the event’s 97-year history, and its office cat, Ashland, died in the fire. As of last week the Association was still waiting for permission to enter the site of the fire to retrieve Ashland for a proper burial, according to the announcement. The cost of fire clean-up is estimated at $40,000, and a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the nonprofit cover those costs and other expenses related to the fire.

Score: -2

Comment: The Association is asking anyone who might have memorabilia from any of the past 97 Motorcycle Weeks to consider donating them to help rebuild the history that was lost in the fire.

Serving those who served us

Evan Dexter, a seventh-grade student at the Founders Academy Public Charter School in Manchester, recently donated 500 canteen books to the Manchester VA Medical Center, according to a press release. The books include pre-paid vouchers that patients and residents can use in the center’s store. Dexter is a Son of the American Legion Henry J. Sweeney Post 2, where his grandfather is a member. Canteen books were also donated to the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton and the White River Junction VA Hospital in Vermont.

Score: +1

Comment: “I think it’s good to serve veterans because they served us,” Dexter said in the release.

QOL score: 53

Net change: +1

QOL this week: 54

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

More turkeys, or just more people noticing turkeys?

The New Hampshire Fish & Game Department recently released the results of its 2020 Winter Flock Survey, which showed that there were 2,309 reported flocks totaling 40,476 turkeys statewide. According to a news release on the department’s website, this was a significant increase over the 486 flocks totaling 9,833 turkeys reported in 2019. In 2018 there were 1,372 flock observations totaling 20,224 turkeys. “The increase in observations during the 2020 winter survey may be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic,” New Hampshire Fish and Game Turkey Biologist Allison Keating said in the news release. “With many people spending more time at home last winter there was an increase in backyard bird feeding as well as bird watching, which may have contributed to the uptick in reports.”

Score: +1 (because yay for being closer to nature!)

Comment: New Hampshire Fish & Game is asking the public to participate in the 2021 Winter Turkey Flock Survey at wildnh.com/surveys/turkey.html. The survey started Jan. 1 and runs through March 31.

Good and not-so-good pre-Covid health stats

The United Health Foundation’s 2020 annual report, which examines 74 measures of health in each state, says that New Hampshire has improved its availability of mental health services, but it has also seen more premature deaths in recent years. According to a press release, America’s Health Rankings, which was created in partnership with the American Public Health Association, highlights some of each state’s health strengths and weaknesses, pre-Covid. In New Hampshire, two of the strengths that were highlighted were an increase in the number of active mental health providers, which went up 21 percent since 2016, and an increase in the percentage of residents who get enough exercise, which went from 21.4 percent of adults to 26.4 percent between 2017 and 2019. Some of the state’s challenges, according to the release, are income inequality (the disparity between the highest and lowest income-earners has increased 10 percent since 2007), and premature death (recorded as deaths before the age of 75), which increased 22 percent between 2012 and 2018.

Score: 0

Comment: Other positive highlights for New Hampshire include a low teen birth rate and a low prevalence of household food insecurity, while other challenges include a high percentage of housing with lead risk and a low percentage of fluoridated water, according to the report.

Saving New Hampshire’s history

The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, which supports the protection and revitalization of historic buildings and places, recently announced some of its stats from 2020 to highlight the work it has done throughout the year. According to a press release, the Preservation Alliance presented more than 30 public programs via Zoom, worked on more than 120 projects in more than 100 communities in the state and spent hundreds of hours coaching property owners and civic leaders by phone. Its Seven to Save program has “an impressive” 50-percent success rate, and it invested grant funding in more than 50 community landmarks. The barn tax incentive, which the Alliance helped develop to save old barns, is now used in 100 communities, where tax relief is provided to owners of historic agricultural structures.

Score: +1

Comment: It’s hard to look back on 2020 and see the positives, so QOL applauds the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance for recognizing that even during a challenging year lots of good people still made lots of good things happen for the long-term betterment of the Granite State.

QOL score: 50

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 52

With the new year, the QOL Index resets to 50.

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

More turkeys, or just more people noticing turkeys?

The New Hampshire Fish & Game Department recently released the results of its 2020 Winter Flock Survey, which showed that there were 2,309 reported flocks totaling 40,476 turkeys statewide. According to a news release on the department’s website, this was a significant increase over the 486 flocks totaling 9,833 turkeys reported in 2019. In 2018 there were 1,372 flock observations totaling 20,224 turkeys. “The increase in observations during the 2020 winter survey may be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic,” New Hampshire Fish and Game Turkey Biologist Allison Keating said in the news release. “With many people spending more time at home last winter there was an increase in backyard bird feeding as well as bird watching, which may have contributed to the uptick in reports.”

Score: +1 (because yay for being closer to nature!)

Comment: New Hampshire Fish & Game is asking the public to participate in the 2021 Winter Turkey Flock Survey at wildnh.com/surveys/turkey.html. The survey started Jan. 1 and runs through March 31.

Good and not-so-good pre-Covid health stats

The United Health Foundation’s 2020 annual report, which examines 74 measures of health in each state, says that New Hampshire has improved its availability of mental health services, but it has also seen more premature deaths in recent years. According to a press release, America’s Health Rankings, which was created in partnership with the American Public Health Association, highlights some of each state’s health strengths and weaknesses, pre-Covid. In New Hampshire, two of the strengths that were highlighted were an increase in the number of active mental health providers, which went up 21 percent since 2016, and an increase in the percentage of residents who get enough exercise, which went from 21.4 percent of adults to 26.4 percent between 2017 and 2019. Some of the state’s challenges, according to the release, are income inequality (the disparity between the highest and lowest income-earners has increased 10 percent since 2007), and premature death (recorded as deaths before the age of 75), which increased 22 percent between 2012 and 2018.

Score: 0

Comment: Other positive highlights for New Hampshire include a low teen birth rate and a low prevalence of household food insecurity, while other challenges include a high percentage of housing with lead risk and a low percentage of fluoridated water, according to the report.

Saving New Hampshire’s history

The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, which supports the protection and revitalization of historic buildings and places, recently announced some of its stats from 2020 to highlight the work it has done throughout the year. According to a press release, the Preservation Alliance presented more than 30 public programs via Zoom, worked on more than 120 projects in more than 100 communities in the state and spent hundreds of hours coaching property owners and civic leaders by phone. Its Seven to Save program has “an impressive” 50-percent success rate, and it invested grant funding in more than 50 community landmarks. The barn tax incentive, which the Alliance helped develop to save old barns, is now used in 100 communities, where tax relief is provided to owners of historic agricultural structures.

Score: +1

Comment: It’s hard to look back on 2020 and see the positives, so QOL applauds the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance for recognizing that even during a challenging year lots of good people still made lots of good things happen for the long-term betterment of the Granite State.

QOL score: 50

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 52

With the new year, the QOL Index resets to 50.

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.