Quality of Life 24/06/27

Ewwww

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Studies said Thursday, June 13, that cyanobacteria blooms had been reported on Lake Winnipesaukee and two warnings were issued on June 12. The specific affected areas were Carry Beach and Brewster Beach in Wolfeboro, and 19-Mile and Tuftonboro Neck in Tuftonboro. The Department advised that any surface scum, no matter the color, should be avoided to prevent toxin exposure. The Manchester Health Department announced on Friday, June 21, that the public beach at Crystal Lake had been re-opened for swimming after analysis of water samples taken the previous day indicated that E. coli levels were once again within acceptable limits.

QOL score: -2

Comments: Gross yourself out/stay informed by checking out the NH Healthy Swimming Mapper at des.nh.gov, which features fecal bacteria advistories and cyanobacteria warnings. For Manchester watering holes, check manchesternh.gov/Departments/Health for news and alerts.

A tornado watch?

New Hampshire cooled down last weekend but Sunday brought extreme thunderstorms across the state, and a tornado watch. According to an online report by WMUR on Sunday, June 23, “A tornado watch was dropped for New Hampshire late Sunday night after multiple storms triggered several severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings during the day.” One storm led to multiple tornado warnings — including near Manchester — and severe thunderstorm warnings before it went out to sea around 7:15 p.m.

QOL score: -1

Comments: According to WMUR on June 24, National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado did touch down in Dublin on Sunday.

Seeing our past

As reported on June 17 by Manchester Ink Link, the fourth in a series of Black History plaques was unveiled at Manchester’s City Hall Plaza on June 14, honoring two early Black residents of Manchester. Caesar Harvey and Caesar Griffin were both free land-owning residents of Derryfield in the 1700s and 1800s. The Ink Link story reported that according to historian Stan Garrity the two men were probably the first Black residents of Manchester; Caesar Harvey, who had been born in Africa, was enslaved, escaped from slavery, and found a new home in Derryfield. According to the plaque, “Caesar Harvey took a risk and was able to gain his freedom for a better life.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the plaque, Caesar Griffin was also formerly enslaved, but eventually gained his freedom and with his son Thomas eventually owned 152 acres of land.

We’ve been eating a lot of takeout

According to a recent survey by cooking website The Cookie Rookie New Hampshire residents eat more takeout meals per capita than anywhere in the U.S. other than Hawaii. According to the survey, which was based on online data, Granite Staters spend $14.22 per day, on average, buying takeout food, and $5,190 per year. According to the same survey, Oklahoma spends the least on takeout, $3,198 per year.

QOL score: -1 for being too busy to cook

Comment: To read a summary of the report, visit thecookierookie.com/the-us-dinner-time-report.

QOL score: 77

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 74

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

C’s are world champs

The Big Story – Celtics Win Banner 18: It remains our top story, which we’ll wrap up now, since they actually did it after last week’s deadline.

We’ll get to the Red Sox next week as they reach the midpoint in what’s becoming a surprising season with some major bright spots ahead.

Sports 101: Name the top five leaders for most fouls committed in NBA playoff history.

News Item – Who’s Hot: The Sox come into the week on a roll having won 10 of 12. It has them six games over .500 at 42-36 and a half game up on KC for the final wild card spot.

News Item – Unnoticed Moves By Joe Mazzulla: I’ve been a critic of his, but here are three excellent playoff moves that made a difference:

(1) Challenging a goal tend call on Al Horford 35 seconds into Game 1 vs. Indy. It seemed really dumb at the time. But it worked and two points were taken away. Flash forward to seconds left, Jaylen Brown makes a three that sends it to OT where the C’s win. But if Mazzulla doesn’t do it they lose Game 1.

(2) Inserting Payton Pritchard into Game 2 vs. Dallas with 3.5 seconds to go in Period 3 and he banked a 45-footer for a three-ball. Did it again at the end of the half in Game 5 — this time nothing but net. Both gave the team and crowd a huge lift.

(3) His Pete Maravich-like “when you’re hot shoot to stay hot, if you’re cold shoot to get hot” philosophy on three-point shooting. They stuck with that in Game 2 vs. Dallas when they couldn’t hit the pavement with a rock and it eventually paid off then and through the series when they were a +21 on 3-balls.

The Numbers:

5 – Celtics who shot over 60.0 percent, led by Luke Kornet’s 69.8 percent. Only Kevin McHale did that on the vaunted 67-win Celtics of 1985-’86.

13 – Celtics who shot 52.6 percent or better on two-point shots. Only seven guys did that on the ’85-’86 team.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Jamie Staton: It goes to my friend and one-time broadcast partner upon leaving WMUR, for the great work he did over the years with such passion and desire to cover sports in a way that reached all corners of our state. Congrats on a job well done, young fella!

Dumbest Guy Alive Award – Skip Bayless: For intimating on his TV show the reason Jayson Tatum took (“so many shots” — seven) while scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 was that he was making a last-ditch effort to be named Final’s MVP instead of trying to end the series. Lunacy.

Random Thoughts:

With the Sox in the wild card race and the trade deadline a month away, should they keep free agents-to-be Kenley Jansen and Tyler O’Neill to make a run for it? Or move them if they can get a prospect of real value like the Braves did with Single-A pitcher John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander (who went 9-0 and led Detroit to the AL East title) and hand their jobs to younger guys who’ll be here next year to see how they stand up under pennant race pressure? I vote the latter.

Sports 101 Answer: The top five playoff foulers areKareem Jabbar (797), Shaq (769), Robert Horry (717), Tim Duncan (701) and Scottie Pippen (686).

Final Thought – Finals Topics Settled:

Tatum and Brown Tandem – I’m old enough to remember hearing Felger and Maz blather on about how these two couldn’t play together. One of the local cries was to trade Brown for Tatum’s St. Louis buddy Bradley Beal, who was a dud in Phoenix’s misguided quest to force-feed ill-suited players together to form a Big 3, after Beal never won squat in D.C.

After that calmed down, the not happy unless they have something to be unhappy about duo was consumed with their own fiction that the Jays were in a jealous fight over who’d be playoffs MVP starting back in the Indiana series.

Kyrie Irving is a superstar – Can we please finally stop this nonsense now? He shot 33 percent when it counted in Boston this year, just as he did in his last series (vs. Milwaukee) with the C’s in 2018 and when Kyrie and Brooklyn were swept by Boston in 2022.

Real NBA King – Can we please stop the chatter between the L.A. Lakers and Celtics as being neck and neck in the NBA title race? Golden State has no relationship to the 1955 Philadelphia Warriors, and Indianapolis Colts fans have no connection to Baltimore Colts QB/star Johnny Unitas. Ditto for L.A. with Minneapolis Lakers stars George Mikan, Vern Mikkelsen or Jim Pollard. Since the C’s started dominating the NBA just before they moved to L.A., it’s even. So, sorry, Magic, the real title count is LOS ANGELES Lakers 12, Boston Celtics 18.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

A new show in the sky

Sunapee celebrates with a drone show

The Town of Sunapee will be hosting a patriotic drone show at Sunapee Harbor in lieu of a fireworks display on Saturday, June 29, at Dusk. Town Manager Shannon Martinez talks about the innovative holiday event and the American spirit of trying new things.

Why was the decision made to do a drone show?

The initial suggestion came from the community. The community was asking what are the different kinds of innovative ways we can celebrate the Fourth of July without potential contaminants going into Lake Sunapee…. We continue to make decisions about protecting the lake and the quality of our watershed.

How many drones will be involved?

Just over 300.

What type of show is a drone show?

It will be an innovative way using new technologies to celebrate our nation’s birthday. It will be all the things you will get from a normal fireworks show. It’s really homing in on what makes us proud of our nation, what makes us proud to be Americans. It’s the same spirit of the celebration of our nation’s birthday…. It’s an American company with American-made drones with veterans flying drones. It’s a very patriotic way to celebrate what’s important to us. It’s one of those things that can promote community, promote resilience, and just all give us a moment to reflect and pause on what makes us great.

Does it mimic a fireworks show or is it its own thing?

That is the curiosity…. What exactly is a drone show and what does it look like? Absolutely there will be some ‘fireworks,’ there will be, I guess the right word will be ‘characters,’ and there will be things that celebrate and bring us together as a community, celebrate us specifically, like what makes Sunapee proud, that will also be part of the show as well. It’s a blend of animation, if you will.

Will there be music accompanying the drone show?

We are partnering with the local college radio station [Colby-Sawyer College, WSCS] and they will be broadcasting the music that will accompany the drone show. We will have speakers and audio set up in the harbor itself, but for folks who are maybe farther out in their boat, if they just tune in to that radio station they will be able to hear the music that accompanies the movement of the drones.

Are fireworks allowed in Lake Sunapee?

Fireworks are definitely allowed on the Fourth of July. The town ordinance allows people to shoot off fireworks on the Fourth of July without a permit.

What would you say to someone who is not totally on board with a drone show?

It is the ability to try something new and to celebrate in a new and innovative way. Committing to doing something new, what does that mean? That we’re taking away? It can definitely be an additive thing that can still demonstrate our commitment to our country. If you try it once and the feedback from the community is overwhelmingly positive, isn’t that great that we tried something new. If the community finds out that they didn’t love it and we need to go back to fireworks because that is the consensus of the community then we absolutely can do that but I don’t think we lose by being a community that’s willing to try new things together and be open-minded about how it is that technology is changing the way that we interact with one another … drones are a big part of that, it’s a new technology, it’s almost in some ways [we’re] being an early adopter.

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 24/06/27

Moose lottery winners

According to a press release, 33 people have been offered official permits to hunt moose in New Hampshire this October in the state’s annual moose hunt lottery drawing, which was held at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department in Concord.

The winning hunters will be officially notified by mail. A complete list of names of the 2024 winners and alternates is posted online at wildlife.nh.gov/hunting-nh.

Winners of the Lottery are offered permits to hunt moose in a specific Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) during the nine-day 2024 New Hampshire moose season from Saturday, Oct. 19, to Sunday, Oct. 27. There are eight WMUs. Winners are allowed to enlist a guide and one friend or relative to help on the hunt as a subpermittee, according to the release.

New Hampshire has held an annual moose hunt since 1988, when 75 permits were issued for a three-day hunt in the North Country. In 2023, 22 moose were harvested, for a statewide success rate of 67 percent, according to the release. Visit nhfishgame.com.

New hospice director

According to a press release, Granite VNA has appointed nurse management professional Otillie Dean-Crotty, R.N., B.S.N., as its director of hospice. Dean-Crotty will oversee the clinical business operations and patient care services of Granite VNA’s community hospice program with responsibilities including planning, organizing, developing and managing the agency’s hospice services as well as agency policies and procedures, according to the release.

Dean-Crotty brings 15 years of experience in advanced nursing and leadership roles, most recently as director of clinical services at Compassus, a hospice, home health and palliative care provider in Bedford, and also served as the director of nursing at The Huntington at Nashua, as a senior nurse care manager at Anthem, Inc., in Manchester, and as a hospice team lead for Home Health & Hospice Care in Merrimack, according to the same release. She is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree from Rivier University, where she received her master’s, bachelor’s and associate of science degrees in nursing.

In a statement, Rachel Tracy, M.S., R.N., Granite VNA’s hospice director of clinical operations, said that with Dean-Crotty’s “diverse experience in health and hospice care roles, we are confident in her ability to guide our teams and ensure that patients and their families receive exceptional care.” Visit granitevna.org.

Body cams

In a press release, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections announced that every sworn law enforcement officer in the department is now issued a body-worn camera, and all emergency vehicles are equipped with in-vehicle camera systems.

The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is now the second state corrections department in the country to deploy body-worn cameras department-wide to all sworn law enforcement officers, according to the same release.

The Department began a pilot of body-worn cameras through a U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance federal grant awarded in 2019, which provided technical assistance to engage a variety of stakeholders, to establish a departmental policy, and to purchase 52 body-worn cameras with a total grant amount of $52,006, but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the pilot’s implementation, according to the release.

The Department advocated for additional state general funds through the budgeting process to deploy cameras to the Department after Gov. Sununu’s Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency encouraged all law enforcement agencies to use body and/or dash cameras, and this is funded through state general funds at a cost of $720,000, according to the release.

The Department initiated the pilot deployment in July 2023 in the Secure Psychiatric Unit and expanded rollout to the rest of the department including all corrections officers at the prisons and transitional housing units and all investigators and probation parole officers.

More than 450 body-worn cameras are now deployed department-wide with all officers and investigators trained on their operation, and all 55 of the department’s emergency vehicles are outfitted with cameras on the dash and/or inside the transport compartment, according to the release.

Visit corrections.nh.gov.

Summer fitness

On Friday, June 21, the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester hosted an event with teens at the Planet Fitness on Huse Road to celebrate the fitness center’s High School Summer Pass program. Through Aug. 31, teens age 14 to 19 can sign up to get a free summer membership to Planet Fitness, according to a press release. Teens under age 18 must register with a parent or guardian; see planetfitness.com/summerpass.

See the end of SEE Science Center’s Kickoff to Summer with Zach’s Contraptions with Zach Umperovitch at SEE, 200 Bedford St., Manchester, until Friday, June 28. Visit see-sciencecenter.org or call 669-0400. Read an interview with Umperovitch on page 6 of our June 13 issue.

Granite State Antique Shows (506-9848, gsashows.com) will host an Outdoor Flea Market at the Granite Town Plaza (185 Elm St., Milford) from 8:30 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 30. Early-bird admission starts at 7 a.m. General admission is $5; early-bird admission is $30.

Author Catherine Newman will discuss and sign her novel Sandwich on Saturday, June 29, at 11 a.m. at Toadstool Bookshop (12 Depot Square in Peterborough; toadbooks.com).

Yes connection

Jon Anderson recreates ’70s era with new group

By Michael Witthaus
mwitthaus@hippopress.com

On June 13, Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks released a video for “Shine On.” The original song recalls “Siberian Khatru ‘’ and other classics from his former band Yes. Guitarist Andy Graziano’s frenetic arpeggio caused a YouTube commenter to exclaim, “Jon turned to Steve Howe & said, ‘hold my beer’” and another to say “This IS Yes. … The spirit is with Anderson and always has been.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will weave a few tracks from True, a full album due this summer, with 1970s Yes material on June 22 in Concord. His collaboration with the Band Geeks — Graziano, multi-instrumentalist Richie Castellano, Andy Acolese on drums, and keyboard players Christopher Clark and Robert Kipp — began in 2018, when he saw them cover “Heart of the Sunrise” on their classic rock-centric podcast.

“I went, wait a minute, they sound just like us; they sound perfect, and they look so happy,” Anderson recalled in a recent phone interview. A month later he called Castellano to thank them. “In the middle of the conversation, I said, ‘Why don’t we go on tour?’ He kind of went, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we could go on tour and do sort of epics and classics.’”

For still unclear reasons, Anderson, Rabin & Wakeman had dissolved earlier in the year, so the singer was looking for a backing band. However, Castellano is in Blue Öyster Cult, so logistics were tricky. When the pandemic happened, he had to wait some more. Late last summer, after intense rehearsals, they finally were able to play for audiences.

“I couldn’t believe how good it was when we actually performed,” Anderson recalled. “We did 12 shows together and that really inspired me to want to work with them more, because they were just very open, grateful, thankful and everything about life.”

An original from the upcoming LP that’s been previewed at shows is “True Messenger,” which Anderson wrote over a decade ago. It includes elements of “Wondrous Stories” and “Roundabout” along with many tempo changes.

“I’d been working with a guy called Jamie Dunlap, who does a lot of the music for South Park; I found him to be a great musician,” he said. “We wrote two or three songs and that was one of them that I sent to Richie … he opened it up with ideas.”

Castellano was initially “kind of freaked out” at the thought of going into the studio, but Anderson reassured him, “I think we’d make a great album that probably would sound like Yes, and people who love Yes will like it; that’s what we aim for. There are two large 15-minute pieces, and the rest are very happy-go-lucky, rock ’n’ roll, and who knows what.”

The new project has charged up Anderson’s creative energy, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

“I want to tour the world with this band, and after that, who knows?” he said. “For the next couple of years I’m just going to go out there and perform the Yes classics and epics, plus the True album. New music is new music; by the time you’ve got it on the road, it blossoms. It’s just one of those natural things.”

In 2017 Yes was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an occasion that marked the last time its original members played together, performing “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “Roundabout.” Sadly, it was without original bassist Chris Squire, who’d died two years before.

Still, Anderson has fond recollections of the experience.

“I was very happy,” he said. “I think one of the things that was exciting about it was that we shook so many hands during the course of the evening. I was there with my beautiful wife, Jane. We were just having a good time, sipping Champagne. Then I remembered, ‘Wait a minute, I’ve got to go on and sing. I’ve got to be careful.’ We got up there and did two songs with the band. It was really fun, and the energy backstage was fantastic.”

Yes Epics, Classics & More featuring Jon Anderson & the Band Geeks
When: Saturday, June 22, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Capitol Center for the Arts, 44 S. Main St. Concord
Tickets: $59 and up at ccanh.com

Featured photo: Jon Anderson and the Band Geeks. Photo by Steven Schenck courtesy Glass Onyon PR.

The Music Roundup 24/06/20

Local music news & events

• Local sounds: Enjoy a sumptuous buffet of regional music at Market Days, running through Saturday in downtown Concord. There’s music on three stages representing the Granite State and more, such as Ultimate Queen Celebration, a tribute performance closing out Friday’s festivities on the Main Stage in front of Concord Co-Op. Bicentennial Square will host the most local talent. Starts Thursday, June 20, 1 p.m., Pleasant and South Main streets, Concord, marketdaysfestival.com.

• Shape shift: On any given night, Marcus Rezak might play fiery blues rock originals, perform with Frank Zappa’s old band mates, or do a prog-rock-infused Grateful Dead tribute. This time he brings Phish 1.0: Gumbo to town. It focuses on the Vermont band’s earliest phase, some of which happened at the storied club he’s playing at, and includes vintage gear from the same period. Friday, June 21, 8 p.m., Stone Church, 5 Granite St., Newmarket, $15 at stonechurchrocks.com.

• Pond crossers: Enjoy the hits of bands from The Beatles and Stones to Wham! and Radiohead as the Brit Pack performs. Founded by U.K. musicians Mark Sidney Johnson and Will Haywood Smith, with Americans Brian Percival and Matt Nakoa, the group faithfully covers decades of classics, from the British Invasion to early MTV through the ’90s second wave fueled by Oasis and Radiohead. Saturday, June 15, 8:30 pm., Rex Theatre, 23 Amherst St., Manchester, $35 at palacetheatre.org.

• Melody man: The soprano saxophone played by Kenny G gave soft jazz an identity; countless fans who couldn’t name an instrumental song if they tried will pick out his ’80s smash “Songbird” while winding through the aisles at Target on the weekend. His 1992 album Breathless is the best-selling instrumental record of all time, going platinum over a dozen times; his latest LP is Innocence. Saturday, June 22, 7:30 p.m., Colonial Theatre, 609 Main St., Laconia, $59 and up at etix.com.

• Blues power: Bring a mister and big bottle of water to see Brian Templeton & the Delta Generators perform a gazebo show, as record temperatures are forecast. Wednesday, June 26, 7 p.m., Town Common, 265 Mammoth Road, Londonderry, $39 and up at etix.com.

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