Concord Dairy Sign

Dear Donna,
I have this sign from The Concord Dairy. I’m not sure what to do with it and am wondering if you could help with a value. It’s a big one, 8’x4’, and it could be a plywood. I’m not sure of the age.
Carl

Dear Carl,
My first thought for you is if you market it in Concord, I think you might find collectors. The size is an issue, but it appears to be in good shape.
The Concord Dairy was around from the early 1900s till the 1970s, when it was bought out by Weeks. I hope you can find a buyer within the state. As I said, size is an issue for some collectors who prefer smaller items, but a restaurant or business might like it for wall coverage. And it’s a good piece of history within the state.
Carl, I would advertise that you are looking for a home for it. I think I would start off with a value at $200 and see where that goes. Thanks for sharing and I hope you find it a new home.

Kiddie Pool

Family fun for the weekend

Ocean celebration
The Seacoast Science Center (seacoastsciencecenter.org) is celebrating World Oceans Day (Monday, June 8) with programming that started June 1 and will run through Monday. Catch up on previous days’ presentations (including a Q&A scheduled with marine mammal rescue experts and environmental storytelling). Presentations on the schedule for the rest of the week include a discussion about plastic-eating bacteria (Thursday, June 4, at 11 a.m.), a creature feature with a baby octopus (Friday, June 5, at 11 a.m.), a virtual 5K on Saturday (June 6) and a World Ocean Day Family trivia challenge on Monday, June 8, at 6 p.m. (register in advance). Find a full schedule and links to all the programming on their website.

Camps, virtually
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord (starhop.com) will host week-long virtual camps starting the week of June 22. The camps will feature live Zoom sessions in the mornings and afternoons with activities for kids to do on their own in between, according to the website. The materials needed for each camp will be sent to campers and are included in the price of registration, the website said. The first two camps are geared toward younger kids — “Discover the Dinosaurs” for ages 5 to 8 years old and “Science Explorers” for ages 5 to 7 years old — and adult supervision will be required, the website said. Other camps include “Tech for Ecology” (July 13 to July 17 for ages 10 to 14 years) and “Astronomy 101” (Aug. 3 to Aug. 7, for ages 8 to 12; the final week). The cost is $90 to $110, depending on the camp, with discounts for members and for second campers from the same family. Find the full list of camps and registration forms on the website.

The Currier Art Center in Manchester (currier.org) has several camps and online classes scheduled for the summer to include week-long classes (meeting Monday, Wednesday and Friday) for ages 6 to 10 and middle schoolers (with a daily week-long camp, Comics Camp, in mid-July) and weekly classes for kids, middle schoolers, teens and adults. Week-long camps cost $105, weekly classes start at $110 (with discounts for members and people taking multiple classes), according to the website.

At the New Hampshire Audubon, they’re calling their online camp a Backyard Summer Camp (nhaudubon.org), with eight week-long sessions planned with programs for ages 4 to 5, 6 to 9 and 10 to 12. The programs will feature a virtual circle, live animal presentations, activities campers can do at their own pace and more. The cost is $70 or $100 per week (depending on camper age) with discounts for members, according to the website. Themes include “Feathered Friends,” “It’s a Buggy World,” “Be a Scientist” and more.

Wild Salamander Creative Arts Center in Hollis(wildsalamander.com) has one-off online classes (in addition to its lineup of in-person summer camps). Felting classes, most open to grade 3 through adults, are scheduled starting June 16; they cost $27 and felting kits with materials for one project will be available for pickup the day before the classes, which will be held on Zoom, the website said. Projects include butterflies, ladybugs and cactus.

Home puzzling

Escape rooms go virtual — for free

Escape rooms have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, but some have come up with creative ways to keep players engaged while their doors are closed.
Five New Hampshire escape rooms — NH Granite State Escape in Manchester, Break Free 603 in Amherst, Monkey Mind Escape Rooms in Portsmouth, Mystery NH in North Conway and Time Quest NH in Littleton — are among 25 escape rooms from around New England that have come together to develop a free, at-home virtual escape room experience for players.
“We have to remind people that we’re still here and, ideally, will still be here at the end of [the pandemic],” Beth Scrimger of Mystery NH Escape Rooms said. “Hopefully, it will give people a glimpse into an escape room they weren’t familiar with before so they [think], ‘I can’t wait until it opens again.’”
The escape room concept originated as a subgenre of point-and-click video games in which the player is locked in a room and must find his way out using only the objects within the room. Real-life escape rooms have various types of objectives, based on a theme or backstory, that involve finding clues and solving puzzles around the room.
The theme for the virtual escape room experience is “Everyday Superheroes: Always Saving Our Butts.” As the story goes, an evil villain named Dr. T.P. Rolls has snuck into town in the middle of the night and stolen every last roll of toilet paper.
“He’s cleared out every bathroom, linen closet, and store shelf and brought the stash to his hidden toilet paper warehouse,” reads the story description on the New England Room Escapes website. “Your help is desperately needed! Assemble a team of everyday superheroes — from doctors to police officers to teachers — to find the secret lair and Save Our Butts!”
“There are so many people out there keeping our world turning right now,” Scrimger said. “Teachers, farmers, [mail delivery] drivers, grocery store [workers] — they are our everyday superheroes, so we decided to come up with a story that honors them.”
To play, visit the NERE website, where you’ll find links to each virtual escape room on the participating escape rooms’ respective websites. Each virtual escape room is unique and features different objectives and puzzles.
“The escape rooms have all developed their own concepts with their own flair,” Scrimger said. “Some are really challenging; some are super simple. Some require you to write things down on a piece of paper to solve the puzzle, or you have to complete a certain task to make something else happen.”
Upon completing an escape room, you’ll be given the name of an occupation of an everyday hero. That occupation is your “key.” Return to the NERE website and input the key for that escape room to receive credit. Players who complete all 25 escape rooms by June 30 will receive discount codes to use at those escape rooms once they reopen for business and will be entered for a chance to win the grand prize: two tickets for one free game at each of those escape rooms.

“Everyday Superheroes: Always Saving Our Butts”
Visit neroomescapes.com to start your virtual escape room adventure, going on now through June 30.

The Art Roundup 6/4/2020

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

• Submit your photography: The New Hampshire Art Association is accepting online submissions for its 41st annual Parfitt Juried Photography Exhibition now through June 22, by 5 p.m. Both NHAA members and non-member area artists are invited to submit one to two pieces for the exhibition, which will be on display at the NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth) from Aug. 5 through Aug. 29. This year’s juror is Don Toothaker, photographer, photography instructor and director of Photographer Adventures at Hunt’s Photo and Video in Manchester. The exhibition honors photographer Jack Parfitt, now deceased, who was a board member of the NHAA. Parfitt spent his last 12 years travelling abroad, taking photographs in Russia, China, Afghanistan, Morocco, Iceland and Africa, and was given rare permission to photograph the Great Wall of China. An opening and award ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Friday, Aug. 7, from 5 to 7 p.m., where first-, second- and third-place winners and honorable mentions will be announced. If NHAA is unable to hold the ceremony due to Covid-19 concerns, the ceremony will be held online. Visit nhartassociation.org.

• Seeking inexperienced or aspiring directors: Manchester-based theater company Cue Zero Theatre Co. announced in a press release that it is looking for an early-career director to work on a production for the 2021 season. The chosen director will work with company staff, fundraise and promote and produce the show, and will have full access to all of the company’s resources for the show, including sets, costumes, props, lighting and sound equipment, social media, artist database, base-funding and more. Rehearsals and performances will be held in the greater Manchester area. If interested, email your resume and a short letter of introduction that includes a statement about the piece you’d like to pitch to [email protected]. Video chat interviews will begin on June 15. Cue Zero Theatre Co. is focused on creating professional opportunities for playwrights, directors, designers and actors in the early stages of their careers. Preference will be given to directors with limited experience who are looking to jumpstart their career. Visit cztheatre.com.

• Fearless author wins more literary awards: New Hampshire Writers Project author Gledé Kabongo received multiple awards for her psychological thriller Winds of Fear, according to a press release from NHWP. Winds of Fear is the third book in Kabongo’s Fearless series. In the first book, Game of Fear, the series protagonist, Abbie, is a high school student with dreams of getting into the Ivy League, but she has a dirty secret. One day, Abbie receives a package containing photos that would reveal her secret, and the anonymous sender is willing to keep the evidence safe — for a price. The book was a No. 1 Amazon Bestseller. In its sequel, Autumn of Fear, Abbie is a college student studying to become a surgeon when she wakes up in a hospital after a violent attack with no recollection of what happened. Once again, Abbie must confront a series of secrets and lies to find her assailant and find out why he tried to kill her. The book won a National Indie Excellence Award. In Winds of Fear, Abbie is a grown adult with a family of her own, but when she meets her neighbors, who seem to have a fascination with her oldest son, she becomes suspicious. When her son turns up missing, Abbie must solve the mystery and uncover what secrets her neighbors are hiding to save her family before it’s too late. Winds of Fear was recently named an Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Finalist and category winner and an IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Award) Silver medalist. “I’m elated that Winds of Fear has struck a chord with readers and judges alike,” Kabongo said in the press release. “I wanted each story in the series to be told with gripping suspense and powerful emotional resonance. It’s humbling that the judges of multiple literary award programs have validated that desire.” Find the Fearless books on Amazon, and visit gledekabongo.com for more information about the author.

• Authors on Zoom: Gibson’s Bookstore, based in Concord, has two virtual author events coming up. On Wednesday, June 10, at 7 p.m., Concord Monitor alum Meg Heckman, in conversation with fellow Concord Monitor alum Pamela Walsh, will present her new book, Political Godmother: Nackey Scripps Loeb and the Newspaper that Shook the Republican Party. The book looks at the political life of the former Union Leader newspaper publisher against the backdrop of the right-wing media landscape of the late 20th century. On Thursday, June 11, at 6 p.m., Juliet Grames, author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna, will be in conversation with Erika Swyler, author of Light from Other Stars and The Book of Speculation. The events are free and will be streamed live via the video conferencing platform Zoom. They will not be recorded. The links to access the virtual events are posted on their respective event pages on gibsonsbookstore.com.

• Musical from home: The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents a livestream of The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns on Saturday, June 6, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 7, at 7:30 p.m. The musical comedy is a sequel to the Off-Broadway hit The Marvelous Wonderettes. Set in 1958, the musical follows four high school girls — Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy — as they sing about their senior year, celebrate with their fellow classmates and teachers and prepare for their future. The second act takes place 10 years later, when the girls get together once again to celebrate Missy’s marriage. Songs include “Rock Around the Clock,” “At the Hop,” “Dancing in the Street,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and 25 more hits. Livestream performances are performed live and not recorded. Tickets cost $20 per person. Visit seacoastrep.org.

Good, bad and ugly

With the arrival of June a bit of normalcy is returning to everyday life. Not totally, of course; that’s still a long way off. But while the pandemic hasn’t abated, sports is talking about getting back to work sooner than later, though to start it will be in arenas that are more like TV studios with no fans in the stands. At least until football season, which is messing with plans for having crowds of 25,000 or so socially-distanced fans on hand. We’ll leave that for a future discussion as plans become clearer in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the good, bad and ugly things that happened in and to sports while most of us had our heads down.

So what’d you do during the pandemic? For Bob Kraft it was raising $1 million to help folks affected adversely by the Covid-19 via auctioning off his Super Bowl ring from the Atlanta comeback, along with sending his plane to China to deliver medical supplies to NYC. For Tom Brady it was his TB-12 company capitalizing on it by pushing 30-day supplies of “immunity supplements” for $45.

Ex-Patriot Chad Johnson also dropped a $1,000 tip for a $37 tab at a Cooper City, Florida, restaurant with this note written on the receipt: “Sorry about the pandemic, hope this helps.”

Loved the great Red Auerbach line Dan Shaughnessy mentioned in his column on her Celtics connections upon the passing of sportscasting pioneer Phyllis George. She was married to one-time Celtics owner John Y. Brown, whom Red hated, and when John Y. was running for governor of Kentucky not too long after selling his interest in the C’s he advised bluegrass voters, “you better watch out because he’ll probably try and trade the Kentucky Derby for the Indianapolis 500.”

Also dying during the siege, though not all from the coronavirus, were:

Tom Dempsey – the New Orleans kicker whose miraculous record-setting 63-yard FG to beat Detroit as the gun sounded in 1970 happened despite a birth defect that cost him half his kicking foot.

Bobby Mitchell – the Hall of Famer RB/WR was the first African American to play for the Redskins when the NFL’s most southern city became its last team to integrate in 1962. He was traded there by Cleveland for reigning Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis to form a spectacular all-Syracuse backfield with Jimmy Brown. Sadly the doomed Davis died of leukemia before ever playing a down for Cleveland.

Bob Watson – A solid .295 lifetime hitter who hit .334 for the Sox in 1979, four years after scoring baseball’s millionth run. He later hired the then-maligned Joe Torre to manage the Yanks during a short stint as GM.

Best local back-in-the-day Twitter line goes to political gadfly Grant Bosse, who wrote after the Pats got ripped off in the Rob Gronkowski trade, “if we can only get a fourth for Gronk, what can we get for John Hannah?”

The best pandemic Twitter video was the “you get what you deserve for not social distancing” moment of a guy drilling his just-two-feet-behind-him nitwit friend in the head with his backswing while hitting off a batting tee.

On the bright side the likely cancellation of the rest of the regular NBA season probably gives us an extra year of LeBron James, which based on his 25.7 scoring average cost him 514 points.That leaves him exactly 4,300 (34,087) behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time high 38,387 points. That means instead of being in range to pass Jabbar near the end of 2021-2022, it’s now more likely he’ll have to play in 2022-2023 for the record to fall.

The Patriots unveiled new uniforms. While I do really like the new/old home blue on blue uniforms they’ve worn on Sunday and Monday night games, my only reaction is, would the Yankees go away from the pinstripes for the sake of merchandising? Classic, iconic teams like the Pats have to stick with tradition; otherwise they’re just like everyone else. So boooooo!

I can’t wait for the games, any games, to start just so talk radio, the newspapers and pundits will stop blathering on about everything Tom Brady, and I mean everything — Belichick, golf, TB-12 and the 97 “real” reasons various experts are saying for why he left. Ditto for exhausting and redundantly vapid chatter on Jarrett Stidham. Get over it. Brady’s now one of them and Stidham’s the guy.

Finally, to those who think Coach B can’t win with a fourth-round choice as his QB: Forget the “Brady was taken 199th” argument. In 2008 he won 11 games with a guy taken 230th overall who hadn’t started or played meaningful time in any game since high school. By year’s end Matt Cassel had put four 40-plus-point games on the board, including 49 and 47 in Weeks 15 and 16. They did miss the playoffs, but after tying Miami for best record in the AFC, it was on, like the 58th tie breaker, which made them the only 11-win team this century to not make the playoffs.

So relax, people.

Quality of Life 6/4/2020

Hooray for history

The Hopkinton Historical Society’s Putney Hill Cemetery Walk has been honored by the American Association for State and Local History with an Award of Excellence, “the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history,” according to a press release from the association. The Putney Hill Cemetery Walk, performed last October, is a theatrical production about the people who were — and were not — buried in the town’s earliest cemetery. It featured local actors who portrayed 26 former Hopkinton residents, telling a story of Hopkinton’s past. DVD copies of the cemetery walk are available from the society.

Comment: In more good news for the Hopkinton Historical Society, it has received a $10,000 grant as part of the CARES Act. “Given the pandemic, …. we have been unable to open our summer exhibit and hold its associated programs, or hold our regular fundraisers,” Executive Director Heather Mitchell said in a press release. “This grant will help us rework our traditional summer exhibit into a driving tour and also help mitigate some of the losses from our fundraisers.”

All aboard for even more history!

Seven railroad depots in Warner will be featured in the first online presentation in a new series called All Aboard! Economic, Social and Environmental Change During New Hampshire’s Railroad Era, according to a press release from the Warner Historical Society. The discussion will focus on the politics behind the depots’ locations, as well as the people who laid the tracks and worked at the stations. The free presentation will be held on Zoom on Thursday, June 11, at 7 p.m. and will offer the opportunity to ask questions and chat with the presenters, who are from the Warner Historical Society. To register and receive instructions for how to join the presentation, email [email protected].

Comment: All Aboard! Economic, Social and Environmental Change During New Hampshire’s Railroad Era is a free series that explores the impact of the railroad on rural New Hampshire towns, with support from the New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit nhmuse.org.

Just plane fun

The Aviation Museum of New Hampshire’s Around the World Flight Adventure received national recognition recently when it was featured in Newsweek magazine, according to a press release from the museum. The online education program is a virtual flight that took off from New Hampshire on May 1 and is circling the globe, flying over landmarks like Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower. Newsweek featured the flight as one of five ways to celebrate Memorial Day via livestream, as the C-47 transport plane simulator — a vintage 1930s aircraft — flew over the beaches at Normandy, where the D-Day landings took place in 1944. The program was recently awarded a $5,000 CARES grant from New Hampshire Humanities, which will help it continue the flight into the summer. According to the release, the museum is expected to open later this summer, at which time the plane will return. Visit aviationmuseumofnh.org for all archived and future flights.

Comment: Nearly 1,000 people watched the Memorial Day livestream; according to the press release, one viewer commented that it was “the best way to honor the men and women on Memorial Day that I have ever spent. I am privileged to fly along.”

Staying safe

New Hampshire has been named the eighth safest state in America in 2020, according to a WalletHub study. The rankings were released June 2 as part of National Safety Month. The study looked at data that ranged from assaults per capita to coronavirus support. The Granite State ranked second in assaults per capita, third in murders and non-negligent manslaughters per capita, eighth in loss amounts from climate disasters per capita, 13th in share of uninsured population and 19th in job security, according to the study.

Comment: All six New England states made it into the Top 10, with Maine and Vermont at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

QOL score: 63 (the score is temporarily suspended, but QOL will still be keeping tabs on New Hampshire’s well-being each week)

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

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