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This Week 26/02/12

Thursday, Feb. 12

The Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester will hold an opening reception for its new exhibition “Still Waters, Deep Reflections: The Art of Evelin Bodfish Bourne” on Thursday, Feb. 12, 6 to 8 p.m. The show will be on display Feb. 13 through May 8. See anselm.edu and click on “The Arts.”

Friday, Feb. 13

The Majestic Theatre (880 Page St., Manchester, 669-7469, majestictheatre.net) presents Always a Bridesmaid, a comedy about the perils of keeping teenage promises — in this case for a group of friends to attend each other’s weddings, even 30 years later. Performances will be tonight at 7 p.m.; tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 14, at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 through the Majestic’s website.

Saturday, Feb. 14

It’s Backyard Winter Bird Survey Weekend! Today and tomorrow observe and report species of birds you see in your backyard to the New Hampshire Audubon to help track winter bird popoulartions, according to nhaudubon.org, where you can find instructions on how to register and log your results.

Saturday, Feb. 14

Enjoy a Valentine’s Day Evening with Elvis (performer Robert Black) at Fulchino Vineyard (187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis, 438-5984, fulchinovineyard.com). Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. A special menu will be available. Tickets are $29 through the Vineyard’s website.

Saturday, Feb. 14

The Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) presents Emo Night Brooklyn tonight at 8 p.m. This is an 18+ late-night DJ-based dance party featuring emo and pop-punk jams. Tickets start at $26 through the Center’s website.

Sunday, Feb. 15

The Aaron Tolson Institute of Dance presents Lily’s Pad today at 4 p.m. at the Dana Center for the Humanities (Saint Anselm College, 100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, anselm.edu) featuring Lily Booker and her three-piece jazz band on her journey through rhythm and tap dance. Tickets are $34 through the Dana Center’s website.

Wednesday, Feb. 18

The Poetry Society of New Hampshire will host an Afternoon of Poetry at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord, 224-0562, gibsonsbookstore.com) today from 4:30 to 6 p.m., featuring poet Liane St. Laurent. An open mic will follow her reading. Visit psnh.org/events.

Save the Date! Saturday, Feb. 21
Musical Fusion act Black Violin will perform Saturday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com). For nearly two decades Black Violin has been merging string arrangements with modern beats and vocals. Their 2019 album release, Take the Stairs, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, and the band recently received a Grammy nomination for the track “The Message” as Best Americana Performance, in collaboration with The Blind Boys of Alabama. Tickets start at $57 through the Center’s website.

Featured photo: Majestic Theatre presents the comedy Always a Bridesmaid. Courtesy photo.

Super Sunday Disaster

The Big Story – Pats Lose Super Bowl: Sadly, the unexpected magic carpet ride of the 2025 Patriots season crash-landed on Sunday. It wasn’t quite the beating of SB 20. But the Seahawks’ defense similarly dominated the Pats’ O-line on their way to runaway 29-13 Super Bowl destruction.

Sports 101: Name the college program to have the most former players play for winning Super Bowl teams.

News Item – Seattle 29 Patriots 13 Recap: A total thumping where Seattle outplayed and outcoached the Pats’ offensive side of the ball from the first play.

• Key Stat – Six sacks and a strip sack/pick six allowed by an overwhelmed O-Line.

• Improvement – None during their worst game of the year.

• Backslide – O-Line: An extension of poor play throughout the playoffs when it allowed a record 20 playoff sacks.

• Game Ball: Seattle D and MVP Kenneth Walker for his 137 rushing yards.

• Bottom Line: The better team won.

News Item – Latest Hall of Fame Hoo-Ha: Last week it was Coach B’s snub by voters. This week it’s his former boss, owner Bob Kraft. I was against putting him in until he ended his pettiness of keeping Bill Parcells out of the Patriots Hall. But with that done and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones somehow in, despite his team winning just four playoff games in 30 years, how can Kraft not get in? The answer is the brass is being punished for behaviors during the dynasty years with some petty jealousy of others thrown in.

News Item – Non-Hall of Fame Hoo-Ha: However, the players aren’t being held accountable as the deserving Adam Vinatieri did get in thanks to a resume that includes scoring the most points in league history, winning two SB’s with FG’s as time expired and the greatest kick in NFL history.

News Item – NBA Trade Deadline Update:

Celtics Reshuffle: Brad Stevens again showed how good he is by completing the payroll sell-off to get under the luxury tax payroll thresholds, which eliminated all the onerous roster-building penalties they faced this summer. Out went four players, including the expensive expiring contract of instant offense Anfernee Simons. All while strengthening their front court size/depth by acquiring big Nikola Vucevic to fortify their playoff push.

The Kyrie Irving Curse Lives: Add Dallas to the list of teams dazzled by his great individual skills before seeing his real and mystical ways of killing franchises re-surface. This time it’s that he and the just traded (again) Anthony Davis played in just one game together after the Mavs dumped Luka Doncic for AD a year ago to build the team around them.

The Numbers:

30 – new players added by NE from the previous year, which is the most in Super Bowl history.

60 – percentage of the money bet pre-game on Seattle to win the Super Bowl according to ESPN.com.

75 – percentage of Buffalo fans polled who don’t agree with the decision to fire HC Sean McDermott.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Bob Kraft: For quickly admitting his mistake in hiring Jerod Mayo and then bringing back the guy everyone wanted to replace Coach B in Mike Vrabel.

Thumbs Down – Jeff Bezos: A week after his Prime Video company dropped roughly $85 million on the suck-up to Trump film Melania, the world’s richest man wiped out the entire sports department as part of a mass layoff at his newspaper the Washington Post.

NFL Awards – MVP and Coach of the Year: Vrabel was named Coach of the Year, while Drake Maye finished second to Matt Stafford for MVP.

In Case You Missed It Award – NBA All-Star Game: Their who cares All-Star game comes your way Sunday with a host of new tweaks to make the game interesting. The only one with a chance is the USA vs. The World format — which is a great idea (finally).

Quote of the Week – PJ Carlesimo: “right now the Celtics are 33-18. They were only 36-16 at this point last year en route to 61 wins. So it’s amazing how much they lost and still be a factor leading into All-Star break,” said the former SNHU head basketball coach on the ABC Knicks-C’s broadcast Sunday.

Random Thoughts: Thought the President said he was boycotting the SB half-time show. But there he was slinging nasty (un) Truth Social posts during the show. No word if that hurt Trump suck-up Kid Rock’s feelings.

Sports 101 Answer: With 58, including four Seahawks on Sunday, Alabama has the most SB winning alumni, followed by USC and Penn State with 51 and 48.

Final Thought – 2025 Patriots: Yes, the ending was disappointing. But after going 4-13 two years in a row with a projected seven-win 2025 season ahead, if you can’t say this comeback year was a gift to Patriot Nation there’s something wrong with you.Good job, fellas. Thanks for the unexpectedly fun season. Never saw it coming.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Quality of Life 26/02/12

Recycling less

As reported in a Feb. 3 online article by the New Hampshire Bulletin, data from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services suggests that New Hampshire residents recycle less than had been previously thought. The calculations that Environmental Services had previously used to estimate how much material from transfer stations is recycled had to be adjusted to avoid double-counting. The most recently published data indicates that “about 16.7% of the material that municipal transfer stations reported handling in 2024 was ultimately diverted for recycling, according to the recalculated percentages,” the New Hampshire Bulletin story read. The story also said, “Since 2020, the proportion of municipal waste sent for recycling has dropped by about four percentage points, according to the department.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: To read the most recent statewide recycling data, search online for “2023-2024 NH Biennial Solid Waste Report.”

Measles vaccination rate is spotty

As reported by NHPR in a Feb. 2 online article, a recent study suggested that because of New Hampshire’s relatively low vaccination rate, it is at a higher risk of a future measles outbreak. “New England is faring better than the rest of the country when it comes to measles vaccinations,” the article read, “but a new study from Boston Children’s Hospital’s finds that New Hampshire’s vaccination rate is a little lower than the rest of the region.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: The NHPR story reported that: “According to the study, Merrimack County shows a vaccination rate of 65% for children 5 and under, where Hillsborough County is 74%.” Search online for, “Parental Factors Associated With Measles” to read the study.

Plows getting plowed into

On Feb. 7, according to the New Hampshire Department of Transportation in an early afternoon post on its Facebook page, “Today alone, four NHDOT plows have been hit while crews were working to keep roads safe. Our crews are out there for you, help us keep them safe.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: NHDOT warned, “If you’re out driving, please slow down for weather conditions, move over for stopped vehicles on the side of the road, give plow crews plenty of space, and leave extra distance between vehicles.” To view real-time traffic conditions, see NewEngland511.org.

QOL score last week: 53

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 50

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

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

News & Notes 26/02/12

Safety summits

NH Recycles is offering three in-person Solid Waste Safety Summits and one webinar about lithium-ion battery safety open to solid waste and recycling facility operators and staff, local firefighters, municipal and town employees and interested residents, according to an email from nhrecycles.org. Choose an in-person event in Laconia on Thursday, Feb. 12; New London on Thursday, March 19, or Keene in July, the email said. The in-person summits run from 9 to 11:30 a.m. with light refreshments and travel stipends are available for some municipal employees, the email said. The webinar is slated for Monday, April 6, from noon to 1:30 p.m., the email said. See the website to register.

Services fair

The Moore Center will host a free transition fair on Thursday, Feb. 12, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at its offices at 195 McGregor St. in Manchester, for individuals of all ages and abilities with services and resources for those with disabilities (including developmental or intellectual disabilities and acquired brain disorders), according to a press release. The agencies, representing resources available in Greater Manchester and across New Hampshire, include those offering support related to education, employment, health care, housing and community life, the press release said. “The event is free and open to residents of Auburn, Bedford, Candia, Goffstown, Hooksett, Londonderry, Manchester and New Boston. Students interested in careers in human services are also encouraged to attend,” the release said. Call 603-206-2814 or see moorecenter.org.

Douglass Day

The Nashua Public Library, 2 Court St. in Nashua, will participate in the Douglass Day Transcribe-a-Thon on Friday, Feb. 13, from 12:30 to 3 p.m. celebrating the Feb. 14 chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass by creating transcriptions related to Black history, according to nashualibrary.org. According to DouglassDay.org, “This year we are going to be transcribing a vast new collection of records on the Colored Conventions movement. Our transcriptions will range across dozens of states and stretch from the start of the movement in 1830 through the turn of the 20th century.” The library is closed on Fridays but staff will let participants into the library from noon to 12:45 p.m., the library’s website said. BYO laptop or tablet if you have one; the event will feature birthday cake, the website said.

Film fest

Tickets for the 18th annual New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival go on sale on Sunday, Feb. 15, at nhjewishfilmfestival.com. The festival will kick off Sunday, March 15, and the first in-person screening will be of Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire at the Rex Theatre in Manchester. In-person and virtual screenings continue through Sunday, March 29, and the festival will feature 13 feature films and four short films, according to a press release. Screenings will take place in Manchester, Concord, Portsmouth, Hanover and Keene, according to the website, where individual tickets and ticket packages will be available for purchase.

First Congregational Church in Concord will hold a Mardi Gras Jazz Sanctuary Service on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 2:30 p.m. featuring music “rooted in early jazz, gospel and blues traditions,” according to a press release. See jazzsanctuary.com.

Etz Hayim Synagogue, 1½ Hood Road in Derry, will hold a mah jongg tournament on Sunday, April 26, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to an event email. The entry fee is $30; sign up by April 12. “There will be four rounds of game play, four games per one-hour round,” the email said. The day will feature prizes, raffles, refreshments and more; register at etzhayim.org/mah-jongg-tournament.

The Concord Coachmen Chorus will send a barbershop quartet and a red rose to your Valentine’s Day sweetheart in and around Manchester and Concord on Friday, Feb. 13, and Saturday, Feb. 14. Go to concordcoachmen.org and click on “Singing Valentines” to see available time slots.

Nashua Community Arts and Spectacle Live will present the Navy Band Northeast Pops Ensemble on Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. at the Nashua Center for the Arts. Tickets are free, first come first served. Reserve tickets at nashuacenterforthearts.com.

Nachos — 02/05/2026

on the cover

Layers of comfort and joy — that is John Fladd’s description of nachos, that food that can be a snack, a meal, a party or a dessert depending on how you construct it. Ahead of a weekend when you might be looking to feed a crowd, John gets advice on building a great plate of nachos.

Also on the cover Vote! Vote now! Vote in Hippo’s Best of 2026 readers’ poll, where you can make your opinions known on such issues as where to get the best pizza, tacos, burgers, cookies, chicken tenders and more — plus non-food faves. See hippopress.com for a link to the survey.

In food, John gets the details on the Fire on Main — a bonfire and block party held by the 603 Brewery and slated for Saturday, Feb. 7, in Londonderry. See the story on page 18.

Read the e-edition

News & Notes 26/02/05

260205 Featured Content News

Greater Nashua Mental Health In a Facebook post on Feb. 2, Greater Nashua Mental Health said that the 440 Amherst ...

Quality of Life 26/02/05

260205 News Quality Of Life

Frozen pipes As reported by WMUR in a Jan. 27 online article, the recent cold weather has led to frozen ...

The Big Game

260205 News Sports

The Big Story – Pats and Seattle in SB: New England faces Seattle on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. It’s from ...

This Week 26/02/05

book cover for Courtship in Purgatory by Robert B. Perreault

260205 Featured Content News This Week

Thursday, Feb. 5 NH Poet Laureate Jennifer Militello will present her new book Identifying the Pathogen: An Inquiry tonight at ...

Nachos!

260205 Cover Stories Featured Content

Experts weigh in on this fully loaded party-ready snack Nachos might be the most social food; they are meant to ...

Timely debate

man standing at podium in front of blank wall, woman at table a few feet away, sitting and looking at him

260205 Art & Theater Featured Content

Theatre Kapow performs What The Constitution Means To Me When Theatre Kapow put together its current season last spring, the ...

Bark and branches

close up of rough textured bark on tree in winter

260205 Outdoors The Gardening Guy

Identifying trees in winter If you like to hike or snowshoe in the winter, you might like to learn the ...

Kiddie Pool 26/02/05

260205 Family Fun Outdoors

Family fun for whenever Valentine’s fun The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, 6 Washington St. in Dover, childrens-museum.org, will hold ...

Treasure Hunt 26/02/05

wooden handled tool made of wire with pointy rectangle at end

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Hi, Donna, I enjoy reading your column in the Hippo and was wondering if you could identify this tool I ...

The Weekly Dish 26/02/05

260205 Food

• Reopened-ish: Caesario’s Pizza at 1057 Elm St., which had been closed following a fire in 2022, reopened under new ...

Warm up with food and music

poster for Fire on Main showing graphic illustration of large bonfire on grass field with red truck and woods in background at night

260205 Featured Content Food

Bonfire block party at the 603 “When you drive by,” Kellyn Thompson said, “there’s a big field out behind the ...

Smoothie move

clear plastic cafe case with baked goods on shelves, four sizes of drink cups on top with fruit inside - on counter in cafe

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New location and new name for smoothie purveyor born in the mall The name is different, but the smoothies are ...

Make it bitter

short ball glass on counter filled with ice and a light brown cocktail

260205 Drink Food

Most Americans don’t seem to appreciate bitter tastes. We’re fine with other strong flavors — we love sweets, many of ...

Album Reviews 26/02/05

album covers for Transatlantic Radio, “City Of Angels” Midnight Transmission and The Stripp, Life Imitates Art

260205 Albums Pop

Transatlantic Radio, “City Of Angels” Midnight Transmission (Frontiers Music s.r.l.) Any time a press release bumbles into my inbox touting ...

Off the Scales, by Aimee Donnellan

260205 Books Pop

(St. Martin’s Press, 287 pages) From Hollywood stars who microdose the drug to people who were once hundreds of pounds ...

The Music Roundup 26/02/05

260205 Music This Week

• Church chuckles: The upstairs lounge at Stone Church has a slate of standup comics including Rob Steen, Shawn Ruiz, ...

Gallery gathering

260205 Featured Content Nightlife

Jazz guitar accompanies art opening Art and music go together like chardonnay and a fine brie. The pairing of jazz ...

Gallery gathering

Jazz guitar accompanies art opening

Art and music go together like chardonnay and a fine brie. The pairing of jazz guitarist David Newsam with an exhibition by a group of regional painters opening Feb. 7 promises to be equally satisfying. Explore, Express: Painting with Purpose offers works from a New England College class led by Bedford artist Patrick McKay that’s met for the past 15 years.

“Someone like David is ideally suited for this kind of thing,” Rick Lugg, Exhibition Chair at Two Villages Art Society, said recently. “We’re trying to generate traffic, so we want a lot of people in there, and we want something that at least loosely complements the theme or the work of the show.”

Newsam has performed at Two Villages openings before. In a phone interview from his home in Raymond, he said he’ll play jazz standards and American Songbook selections this time.

“In the past, I’ve done a lot of open, free improvisation,” he said, adding, “I feel that a really important element is to try to shape the music to match the vibe of the artists.”

He’ll play solo on acoustic and electric guitar, eschewing the pedals, loops and other sound-scaping tools other musicians often use to augment their sound.

“I think it’s much more of a challenge to be able to do it all live without any kind of effects,” he said, pointing to guitarist Tommy Emmanuel’s approach as an ideal.

“He can present and portray an entire band just by himself, with the mechanics of the instrument,” Newsam explained. “I heard him answer this question once at a clinic, and he just said, ‘I hear the bass, I hear the piano, I hear the vocals, and I just try to play it all.’”

Born in Connecticut, Newsam attended Berklee College of Music and returned later to teach. He also taught at Dartmouth College and at UNH, where he founded their jazz guitar program.

“I always joked that at Berklee I was one of 50 guitar faculty, and at UNH I was the entire guitar program,” he said.

In high school Newsam listened to Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and guitar-based bands like the Allman Brothers; then he found jazz at Berklee. During his senior year he spent a lot of time in Hyannis, Mass., while taking care of his grandfather and got even deeper into the genre.

“Cape Cod was really a hotbed of amazing jazz players like Dave McKenna, the pianist, and Lou Colombo, the trumpet player,” he said. “I mean, these were some of the best players in the world, and they all were based in Cape Cod, so I had a ton of opportunities.”

Newsam continues to teach at Berklee and perform as well as occasionally record music. He and sax player Bobby Tynes recently released an instrumental EP, Kindred Souls. It includes a lively rendition of “Fishin’ Hole,” the theme song from 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, and a scintillating version of “The Very Thought of You.”

The two became friends in 1983.

“I had an opportunity to play a summer job, so I moved up to the Lake Winnipesaukee region,” he said. “Bobby’s uncle had a cabin. We met at a jam session and we’ve been playing music ever since … partners in crime for over four decades.”

The record is their first together. “It’s a collection of things we either did in the studio or did live that Bobby took into his recording studio,” Newsam said. “Some of the recordings are probably 20 years old…. It’s not like we went in as a project and recorded all that in one day.”

The five-track effort is available on streaming services for now.

“It’s really been fun listening to that, reminiscing about the music that we’ve played,” Newsam said. “We really are kindred souls. We don’t play for two or three months and when we get together it feels like we’ve been playing every day. It’s just that kind of relationship.”

Opening reception with guitarist David Newsam
When: Saturday, Feb. 7, noon
Where: Two Villages Art Society, 846 Main St., Contoocook
More: twovillagesart.org

Featured photo: David Newsam. Courtesy photo.

This Week 26/02/12

Super Sunday Disaster

Quality of Life 26/02/12

News & Notes 26/02/12

Nachos — 02/05/2026

Gallery gathering

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