A twist on a famous drink, and games

Downtown Dirty Shirley Crawl brings book series to life

Alex Pellerin, the event coordinator for Bookery in Manchester, said that while it is perfectly possible to take part in Saturday’s Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl without knowing any of the cultural references behind it, there is an actual literary theme to the event.

“There is a really popular book series called Dungeon Crawler Carl,” Pellerin said. “It’s recently exploded in popularity. ln the books there’s a cat named Princess Donut who talks, and at [a bar called] the Desperado Club she finds out she really likes Dirty Shirley Temples [very similar to the popular non-alcoholic drink Shirley Temple, with grenadine and ginger ale, but with a vigorous slug of vodka]. She eventually gets cut off from them and can only have regular Shirley Temples.”

“So we are hosting this event in conjunction with [Granite State] Comicon,” Pellerin continued, “to give folks who are going to Comicon some things to do after the event. [Comicon] will end around 5 p.m. and we want to continue the celebration and community-building. We thought it would be fun to connect people to other businesses in the area while celebrating the book series and Comiccon. We’re [organizing] a Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl to find the best Shirley Temple in what we would call The Dungeon, but really on Elm Street.”

Each of the participating bars and restaurants will serve its take on a Shirley Temple, both “dirty” and traditional. Crawl participants will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites, and the bars will earn bragging rights.

Pellerin said the Dungeon Crawler Carl series is popular with readers of all ages and interests, and the Dirty Shirley Crawl will reflect that.

“It’s 100 percent inclusive,” she said, “whether you drink or not. And we know that doing a bar crawl isn’t everybody’s thing; [ Bookery] is going to actually be staying open later. Typically we’re only open till 7 p.m., but that night we’re going to be open until 9 p.m., and in the store from 5 to 9 p.m. we’ll be doing Dungeon Crawler Carl-themed activities, games, giveaways and raffles. We’ll have a bunch of fun Dungeon Crawler Carl merch for people to purchase too. So for anyone not interested in doing the Crawl there’s still stuff going on here they can participate in, or they could do both. We’re turning this whole place into a dungeon, which will be very, very exciting.”

“For instance,” Pellerin said, “we’ll have a High Rollers Roulette Wheel, which is a classic in the Desperado Club, where people can win different prizes — or maybe not win some prizes — based on what the wheel gives you. We’re going to have a photo booth, There will be some voting activities for readers’ favorite book, and we’ll build a ‘Mob’, which is like building monsters that people get to collaborate on. It’s going to be really fun. We’re really excited.”you’re satisfied, but there can always be a little bit more satisfaction.”

Dirty Shirley Bar Crawl
When: Saturday, Sept. 19, from 5 to 9 p.m.
Where: along Elm Street in downtown Manchester. A statement from Bookery (844 Elm St., Manchester, 836-6600, bookerymht.com) reads, “While we anticipate that most participants will visit locations individually, a larger group will depart from the bookstore at 6 p.m. following a specific route. Below is the complete list of participating bars, with the locations on the main group route being underlined/bolded.”
Diz’s
Stashbox
Without
The Shaskeen
Boards & Brews
Bad Brgr
Strange Brew
Thirsty Moose
Shoppers
Industry East
Hop Knot
Critical Mass Coffee
Manchester Distillery

Featured photo: Photo by John Fladd.

Good times at Glendi

Giant Greek food fest is a labor of love

Each fall St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Manchester hosts Glendi, a Greek food festival that has come to be one of the most important food events of the year for its fans. This year Glendi will start on Friday, Sept. 18, and run through Sunday, Sept. 20. This is the Festival’s 47th year.

George Skaperdas is Glendi’s director. “It is the biggest single fundraising event for St. George,” he said.

“Glendi means ‘good time,’ though there really isn’t an English word that translates the word,” Skaperdas said. “It includes hospitality and giving, friendship, you know … I want to say being nice, but I know that that sounds so corny. But there you go. It’s about giving back and ‘here’s what we do,’ ‘here’s what we’re all about,’ it’s about our culture, our heritage. Sure, it has to do with the church and all that, but there are plenty of church fairs all over the place, but there’s only one Glendi and that’s us.”

In practical terms, Skaperdas said, that boils down to food. A lot of food.

“There’s almost 3,000 pounds of lamb this year,” he said. “And another thousand pounds’ worth of chicken. Then of course you have the gyros, the combination of pork and lamb and beef, and putting it inside the pita bread with the tzatziki, the cucumber and garlic dressing. If you start walking around our campus, our grounds, on Thursday morning at 7 o’clock in the morning, you’re going to start smelling baking lamb because they’re going to start preparing over a ton of lamb shanks on Thursday morning to have them ready for when we open Friday at 11 a.m.”

Lamb shanks come from the shin area of a sheep. Because they are made of hard-working muscles, they have a lot of flavor but also need to be cooked “low and slow” for a very long time to make them tender, so the team at Glendi starts them in ovens inside a day before they go on the grill, Skaperdas said.

“They’re baked and then they’re braised, first,” he said. “Our Greek word for grandfather is Papou. We use ‘Papou’s secret sauce.’ I can’t tell you what’s in it, but if you want to help us in the kitchen we’ll tell you how it’s made.

In addition to the lamb and the chicken and everything else from the grill, there are other stations around the festival with different Greek foods. There are sit-down meals under the big tent, but there are stations where visitors can double down on particular dishes, Skaperdas said.

“You know, our sweets,” he said. “The pastries, the baklava, the galaktoboureko, which is a Greek custard dish with phyllo dough, the koulourakia, which are the baked butter cookies.”

Skaperdas pointed out that months of planning and hundreds of volunteer hours go into pulling off a festival of this size.

“It needs to be talked about how thankful my co-chairs and I are for the hundreds of hours that the volunteers put into this,” he said. “The planning for this started in February and it continues right up until we unlock the doors. This is strictly the work of volunteers; it’s a labor of love. We’re not just about bringing our culture and our heritage, and our food and our hospitality to Manchester and surrounding areas. We do this because we love to.”

“My favorite tagline,” Skaperdas said, is, ‘You know when you’re done eating, but give it a couple of minutes and then eat some more’ — just until you’re satisfied, but there can always be a little bit more satisfaction.”

Glendi
Where: St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 650 Hanover St., Manchester, 622-9113
When: Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20. Open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Enjoy food, dancing, live music (Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.), vendors selling Greek items, raffles and more, according to the Cathedral’s website.
More: stgeorgenh.org/activities/glendi

Featured photo: Pastries prepped for Glendi. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 26/09/17

• Cookie news: The Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains, the local sales force during the upcoming Girl Scout cookie season, announced two new cookies for sale, according to a Sept. 8 release. Patch Pals, developed with BARK, is the Girl Scouts’ first cookies specifically for dogs, the release said. Girl Scout Sparkables, developed with Partake, is described as a “crunchy oatmeal cookie [that] features chocolate chips and is dotted with colorful sprinkles” and is gluten-free, nut-free and vegan and “designed to avoid the nine major food allergens,” the release said. Cookie season runs Jan. 1 to March 14, 2027, and will feature the two new cookies for sale online only. Attendees at the Saturday, Oct. 3, Expo at the NH Sportsplex in Bedford will be able to taste the Girl Scout Sparkables, the release said. See girlscoutsgwm.org.

• Beer by the river: The 2026 Manchester BrewFest will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in Arms Park (10 Arms St., Manchester) on Saturday, Sept. 19. Expect vendors, live entertainment, and excellent beer enthusiastically served. VIP tickets are $60, general admission tickets are $50, and designated driver tickets are $20. Visit manchesterbrewfest.com.

• Tailgating in Concord: Arts Alley (20 S. Main St., Concord, 406-5666, artsalleyconcordnh.com) is bringing New England football to its Courtyard this season with courtyard watch parties beginning Sunday, Sept. 20, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Cheer on the Patriots on a big screen. There will be lawn games and heaters. Food and drink will be available from the Rose and Rye Diner. All ages are welcome. Visit artsalleyconcordnh.com/event/courtyard-tailgate.

• Pie festival in Milton: On Saturday, Sept. 19, the New Hampshire Farm Museum (1305 White Mountain Hwy., Milton, 652-7840, nhfarmmuseum.org) will hold its 18th Annual Pie Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to the Museum’s website, “Our judges will be ready to sample pies and award prizes in a variety of categories. The public is also invited to sample pies from local bakeries and vote for the people’s choice for best professional baker.” Admission is $15 per person, free for pie-makers, and $5 for children under 12. Visit nhfarmmuseum.org/event/great-nh-pie-festival.

• Cookie decorating in the Gate City: Local Street Eats (112 W. Pearl St., Nashua, 402-4435, local-streeteats.com) will host a Fall Cookie Decorating Night Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. Led by “Cookie Queen” Katie Soleau of Posy Cottage Cookies, it will be a night of cozy, creative, sugar-coated fun. Tickets are $35 each, all supplies included. Visit local-streeteats.com/events/cookie-decorating-night.

• Coffee cupping in Derry: The Derry Public Library (64 E. Broadway, Derry, 432-6140, derrypl.org) will host a coffee-cupping workshop Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 6 to 7 p.m. Presenter Rob Fitzgibbon will give you a look at where coffee comes from, how it is made, and its history. There will be coffee samples for tasting, and guidance on what to look for in coffee, from aroma to taste. This workshop is free of charge, but participants must register online.

• Farm fun: Moulton Farm, 18 Quarry Road in Meredith, will hold Mack-a-Palooza — in honor of MacKenzie “Mack” McNamara and to benefit the Mack MacNamara Scholarship for Inter-Lakes High School or Moultonborough Academy students — on Friday, Sept. 18, 5 to 7 p.m. The event will also kick off corn maze season. “Local food and beverage companies, including local breweries, will be set up throughout the farm’s four acre corn maze giving out samples of their products the evening before the corn maze opens to the public. Food trucks, music, and a huge inflatable obstacle course will also be part of the festive event,” according to a press release. “Moulton Farm’s corn maze will be open 7 days a week starting at 8 am from September 19 through November 1,” the release said. Purchase tickets and find corn maze information at MoultonFarm.com.

Treasure Hunt 26/09/17

Dear Donna,

My sister reads the Hippo weekly. She referred me to you for help.

This is one of a couple bowls my mom had in her house. While cleaning out my sister said to check values before just donating them.

This bowl is big in size, 14 inches across the top. It is marked Texas Ware. I can unpack others if you would like to evaluate them as well.

Thank you for your time, Donna.

Claire

Dear Claire,

Your sister was right to check values! This bowl is a great size melamine plastic mixing bowl. Texas Ware was made in Dallas, Texas. It was very popular during the 1950s and still is today. The melamine plastic was made to last and be very durable for everyday use.

The one thing you have to look for in a value is whether the sheen is gone inside the bowl. Sometimes with heavy use the inside can wear down. This changes the values. As always any damage would lower the value as well.

There is lots of history on melamine bowls and other companies that made them. Imagine a set of three graduated bowls sold for $2 to $3 a set. Now your single bowl has a value of $50+.

Claire, you’re welcome to send more pictures, but you might want to bring the items to a local antique shop. Good luck and thank your sister!

Heavy athletics

‘Haggis’ toss, Scottish eats and music at the Highland Games

By Chelsea Spear
listings@hippopress.com

If the Tartan Army’s New England takeover was the highlight of your summer, you’re in luck. The New Hampshire Highland Games and Festival returns to Loon Mountain from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20. Now in its 51st year, the festival features heavy athletics, pipe bands, ceilidh dancing and sheepdog trials.

The Highland Games and Festival had an unassuming start in 1975.

“It was a clan picnic for those first couple years, and then just over the course became kind of a larger and larger thing,” program director Andrew MacLeay said in a recent Zoom interview. “It grew from strength to strength year to year. And now we’re up to close to 45,000 people over the three days.”

One of the main attractions for the festival is heavy lifting, which MacLeay describes as “the traditional big people lifting heavy things sort of stuff. The one that most people know is the caber toss, so that’s that large telephone pole, tree trunk essentially that people are tossing around. They also throw various implements for distance, throw a big giant bale of hay over a high bar, that sort of thing.”

The heavy lifting component of the festival inspired a new attraction for 2026.

“We’re doing a stone lifting competition, breaking that out from our heavy athletics,” MacLeay says. “People are going to lift, I believe, a 300-pound stone as many times as they can over their shoulder in five minutes. That will be a big show of strength and a nice test.”

Live music will also be a major component of the festival. Local favorites like the McCarroll Sisters, who first became popular through fiddle competitions, and Cassie and Maggie, a Cape Breton duo who have performed at folk music venues throughout New Hampshire, will be performing at the event. Several fife and drum bands, some from Scotland or the Canadian maritimes, will also be present.

NHSCOT, the parent organization for the Highland Games and Festival, will be offering Try It activities. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to ceilidh dance, how to play the harp, how to curl or how to speak Scottish Gaelic, this is your opportunity. The festival will also host more in-depth programs about genealogy and Scottish cooking, if you’d like a deeper dive on those topics.

Those who’d like to sample traditional Scottish cuisine are also in luck. While there’s no build-your-own haggis booth, delicacies like Scottish eggs and meat pies will be available for purchase. If you want to play with your food, the festival offers an unusual activity for that as well.

“We do a ‘haggis’ toss,” MacLeay says with a laugh. “It’s a faux haggis, so that’s a fun competition in our Parade Square on Friday afternoon so people can chuck a bag of mystery meat back and forth at each other.” The festival will also be offering a whiskey and spirits tasting on Friday night and a traditional Cape Breton dinner for an additional cost.

While the Tartan Army has returned to Scotland, MacLeay is looking forward to an increased interest in Scottish culture after the World Cup.

“We’re definitely going to have some traffic cones around,” he laughs, referencing the ubiquitous symbol of the raucous soccer club. “We certainly have just received some calls from people who just heard about our festival or looked it up through having the Tartan Army down in Boston in the region. It’s great to see what we already kind of know in the Scottish cultural community, what we stand for and what we bring to the party.”

New Hampshire Highland Games and Festival
When: Friday, Sept. 18, through Sunday, Sept. 20
Where: Loon Mountain Resort, Lincoln
Tickets and program schedule: Visit nhscot.org. Weekend passes $116.26 for age 15+, $13.04 for children, free for toddlers, at the website. Single-day and single-event tickets are also available. Separate tickets are required for some events.

Featured photo: Multicultural Festival. Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 26/09/17

Family fun for whenever

Space and sky

• The annual AerospaceFest at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord will take place Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to starhop.com.

“AerospaceFest is the Discovery Center’s annual celebration of all things STEM and highlights the exciting ways local companies, universities, non-profits, and other organizations are contributing to science and education. These organizations will be spread around the Discovery Center’s grounds and exhibit halls, sharing their work with visitors through demonstrations, hands-on activities, and discussions,” according to the website, where you can find a list of vendors and participants. The Fest will also feature Big Joe’s Big Green Show; “Big Joe the Storyteller presents a show filled with multicultural tales about protecting the environment and making our world a happier and greener place to live,” the website said.

The Center will debut the new planetarium show “Encounters in the Milky Way” with free tickets available, first come first served, at the Discovery Center’s front desk, for screenings at 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., the website said. The event is open to all with a suggested donation of $5 per person, the website said.

Wheels & Wings

• Nashua Airport’s Wheels & Wings “A Touch a Truck Event” will take place Saturday, Sept. 19, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Boire Field with cars, trucks and planes to see and explore, according to the city’s SummerFun brochure at nashuanh.gov. The event will feature a horns-free hour from 1 to 2 p.m. and organizers will collect nonperishable food for End 68 Hours of Hunger, the brochure said. The event, which is free to attend, will feature fire trucks, police vehicles, planes, helicopters, DPW vehicles, electric cars and more, according to a post on Nashua Recreation Department’s website.

Outdoor movie

• Inside Out 2 (PG, 2024) will screen in Derryfield Park in Manchester on Friday, Sept. 18, at 8:15 p.m., according to a post on the Manchester Parks & Recreation Facebook page. BYO chairs, blankets and snacks, the post said.

At the museums

• Toddlerfest, the annual celebration of younger kids at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, 6 Washington St. in Dover, Tuesday, Sept. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 4, according to childrens-museum.org, where you can purchase admission for the Toddlerfest days. The museum will feature special events and activities geared toward younger kids, the website said. Tuesday kicks off with Early Birds Playgroup from 8:15 to 9 a.m. and then a storytime and sing-along with the Dover Public Library at 10:30 a.m., the website said. Other events in the first week include Try A Little Artists Class at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23; Messy Baby Paint Crawl on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 10:30 p.m., and Science Friday on Friday, Sept. 25, at 2:30 p.m., according to the website, where you can find admission information. The Children’s Museum reopens after its annual fall cleaning on Saturday, Sept. 19.

• SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St. in Manchester, will reopen after its annual break for maintenance and repairs on Saturday, Sept. 19, when it will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to see-sciencecenter.org. The center will then operate on its fall/winter hours: Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with some Monday hours on certain holidays and school vacations, the website said.

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