Kiddie Pool 21/04/15

Family fun for the weekend

Stonyfield Earth Day 5K 2019. Photo courtesy of Millennium Running.

Celebrate Earth Day

There’s still time to register for the Stonyfield Earth Day 5K; in-person participation closes at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 15, but virtual registration is open until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, April 16. The race will be held in person on Saturday, April 17, starting at 9 a.m. and following a staggered time trial format. The 3.1-mile course starts and finishes in Londonderry’s West Soccer Complex, right near the Stonyfield Earth Day Fair. The cost is $30 for ages 21 and up, $25 for youth ages 12 to 20 and $15 for kids 11 and younger. The virtual run is $25. For more details or to register, visit millenniumrunning.com.

Make plans now to celebrate Earth Day at the New Hampshire Audubon Massabesic Center in Auburn. The Earth Day Festival will take place Saturday, April 24, with three time slots between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., according to a press release. The day will be filled with nature activities like building a birdhouse, planting seeds, going on a scavenger hunt, taking a nature-themed walk and visiting the animals that live at the center. The center will not be releasing a recovered animal back into the wild as it usually does for Earth Day, but there will be an opportunity to meet one of the center’s ambassador raptors, like the barn owl, and everyone gets to take home a tree sapling to plant. Reservations are required; you can sign up for one of the time slots (10 to 11:30 a.m., noon to 1:30 p.m. or 2 to 3:30 p.m.) at nhaudubon.org or by calling 668-2045. The cost is $15 per family.

Math madness

Mathnasium of Nashua is hosting a Multiplication Madness Day Camp on Sunday, April 18, from noon to 2 p.m., with games and activities to help children review or learn multiplication skills. It’s geared toward kids in grades 2 through 5, but all grades are welcome, and previous multiplication experience isn’t necessary. Students will work in small groups with an instructor. The cost is $20. Space is limited. Call 242-2004 to reserve a spot.

Baseball is back

Single-game tickets to watch the Fisher Cats play ball for the first time in about 600 days are on sale now for the month of May, according to a press release. Their home opener at Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester is set for Tuesday, May 11, at 6:35 p.m. against the Somerset Patriots, with an Atlas Fireworks show after the game. That night kicks off a six-game homestand from Tuesday through Sunday, May 16, followed by another six-game series in Manchester against the Portland Sea Dogs from May 18 to May 23. You can get tickets now at nhfishercats.com or 641-2005. Tickets for games in June, July, August and September will be released later in the season as MLB capacity regulations continue to evolve, according to the release.

Featured photo: Stonyfield Earth Day 5K 2019. Photo courtesy of Millennium Running.

Feed the birds

How growing native trees and shrubs can help

By now birds are finding their own food and have less need for that sunflower seed we have been providing during the cold days of winter. Now, growing native trees and shrubs on our property can be a huge help to our bird friends.

It is not enough to put out birdhouses; we need to help birds find food for their chicks. The diet of baby birds is about 90 percent composed of caterpillars, which are high in the fat and protein that developing birds need to grow and be healthy. One clutch of chickadees can, according to entomologist Doug Tallamy, a Ph.D. researcher from the University of Delaware, consume 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars in the 16 days from hatching to fledging. And most parent birds continue to feed their chicks even after they have fledged.

In Tallamy’s new book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard, he explains that not all trees and shrubs are created equal. Those that evolved alongside the butterflies and moths are palatable to them. Those that were imported from Asia or Europe mostly are not of interest to them.

Most woody plants create toxins or bad-tasting chemicals to keep all sorts of animals from eating them, but caterpillars have developed ways to eat most native tree leaves — they have adapted to eat what was available to them.

Although caterpillars eat the leaves of our native plants, they rarely damage or defoliate their host plants. Tent caterpillars and a few other imported species will defoliate trees, but that’s rare. It’s just that most of us never notice the little holes chewed in the leaves that are supporting the caterpillars. In fact, I rarely notice caterpillars in the trees and shrubs at all, but our bird friends certainly do. They evolved along with the caterpillars and are genetically programmed to recognize them and bring them to their young, even birds that are seed eaters.

As Dr. Tallamy explains in the book, not all native plants are created equal. Some native species may only feed a few. Some, like our oaks, feed many hundreds of species of caterpillars. These “keystone species” are critical to supporting our wildlife. Five percent of the native species support over 70 percent of our lepidoptera, according to Tallamy.

So what plants are best to feed the caterpillars that support our birds?

According to Tallamy’s research, native oaks, cherries, willows, birches, poplars and elms are best, and goldenrods, asters and perennial sunflowers “lead the herbaceous pack.” The National Wildlife Federation’s Plant Finder website (nwf.org/NativePlantFinder) allows you to enter your zip code and see what plants are best for your zone, and how many pollinators are served by each.

Tallamy did a study in Portland, Oregon, and found that of 1,176 trees he identified on the streets there, 91.5 percent were from other continents or ecoregions, mainly Asia. What does that mean? Portland is a pretty city with lots of trees, but it is largely a wasteland for caterpillars that feed our baby birds. The birds need to nest where they can get food for their young.

If you wish to improve your landscape and plant native species that will support wildlife, think about reducing lawn size. Tallamy explains that there are 40 million acres of lawn in America, an area the size of New England. Thirty percent of our water is used to water lawns, and 40 to 60 percent of all fertilizer ends up in our waterways and drinking water, he wrote.

Doug Tallamy proposes that we all join him in creating a “Homegrown National Park” by reducing our lawns by 50 percent and growing native plants. This will create wildlife corridors and improve our environment in many ways. The plants will sequester carbon in ways that lawn does not. It will help to save endangered species of insects and birds. It will reduce pollution of our air and water.

According to one study, in newer housing developments lawn covers about 92 percent of space not covered with driveways and buildings. If we were all willing to reduce our lawns and add trees, shrubs and native perennials, that would make a big difference in helping to reduce species extinction of lepidoptera, birds and small mammals. It does not require eliminating lawn, just reducing it. Think of lawn as area rugs, not wall-to-wall carpeting.

What else can you do to help our birds? Add a water feature. Even a small pool with a recirculating pump will attract birds, especially migrating birds that need sustenance for their long journey.

Instead of lawn, add native groundcovers. Lawns get compacted by lawnmowers, making it difficult for caterpillars and native bees to burrow in the ground. Most caterpillars pupate in the ground or in leaf litter, but lawns are not suitable. Other than honeybees, most bees burrow into the ground or into decaying wood to lay their eggs and hatch their young.

You can go to homegrownnationalpark.org to register your property as part of this movement.

Featured photo: Bird houses are nice, but we need to do more for our baby birds, including growing native plants. Photo courtesy of Henry Homeyer.

Zooming in

Festival showcases plays created for virtual performance

Laconia-based theater company Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative is giving a new meaning to virtual theater with its Zoom Play Festival, featuring a series of short plays written specifically for the Zoom video chat platform.

“It’s not like these are just readings of plays,” Powerhouse manager Bryan Halperin said. “These are plays that are actually being performed as they were intended.”

The festival, produced in collaboration with the Community Players of Concord, will be pre-recorded and available to watch for free on YouTube from Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 25.

There will be seven original plays, all written by New Hampshire playwrights who participated in a 10-week playwriting workshop hosted by the two theater companies last fall. The workshop was open to playwrights of all experience levels and covered the basics of playwriting, such as developing plot points, characters and dialogue, as well as how to write a Zoom-based play.

“If they came up with an idea that wasn’t really workable, I steered them back to how we could make it work to fit into this format,” said Halperin, who instructed the workshop.

Featured playwright Douglas Schwarz of Concord has been active with the Players for years, acting, directing and doing backstage work. Recently he’s taken an interest in playwriting.

“I’ve done a very small amount of playwriting in the past, and it’s something I’ve been sort of wanting to get better at,” he said. “I thought the workshop would be an opportunity to get some more perspective on how playwriting works and give me the confidence that I can really do this.”

Schwarz’ play, titled Choices, follows four people at various stages in their lives, talking over Zoom and reflecting on the choices they’ve made.

“I’ve thought a lot about how decisions can change our lives and really [determine] what direction our lives are going to go,” he said. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I could do [a play] that somehow expresses these thoughts I’ve had?”

The plays In Boxes, Boys in Boxes and Girls in Boxes are three different versions of a play by Sharleigh Thomson, each with a different director and cast. Set in May 2020 during the pandemic, it centers on a video chat between two college seniors as they consider the next chapter of their lives and realize their romantic feelings for each other.

“You’d never make a captive audience sit through three versions of the same play back-to-back, but since it’s on YouTube, they can choose which one they want to watch, or they can watch all three at their leisure,” Halperin said. “It’s a bit of an experiment.”

Other plays include Couple Seeks Extrovert by Brenda Wilbert, a comedy about an introverted couple who step outside their comfort zone when they rent out a room to an extrovert; Ship of Fools by Chuck Fray, an interview between an oblivious newscaster and an author of apocalyptic fiction; and Here We Go by Doreen Sheppard, a look at how families come together and cope during hard times.

More than 30 people are creatively involved in the festival.

“That’s what we’re most happy about,” Halperin said. “It’s great to be able to give [theater artists] an opportunity to be appreciated during this time when theater is so limited.”

“Theater is so important to us, and going without it has been difficult,” Schwarz added, “so this was really a gift to us from the Players and Powerhouse.”

Zoom Play Festival
Where: Virtual, via YouTube.
When: Pre-recorded, available to watch Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 25.
Cost: Free, donations appreciated.
More info: Visit communityplayersofconcord.org, belknapmill.org or Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative on Facebook.

Featured photo: Joel Iwakiewicz and Adam Beauparlant in Boys in Boxes. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 21/04/15

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

Capitol Center for the Arts Executive Director Nicolette Clarke has announced her retirement. Courtesy photo.

• Big news at the Capitol Center: Nicolette Clarke, executive director of the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord, announced at a board meeting last week her plans to retire, according to a press release from the Center. The second executive director in the CCA’s 25-year history, Clarke significantly expanded the venue’s programs and facilities during her 14-year tenure. Her accomplishments include establishing the Spotlight Cafe, a Salon Series and MET Live in HD broadcasts and spearheading the CCA’s adoption of its second venue, the Bank of NH Stage, which opened in 2019. In response to the pandemic, she instituted numerous organizational development and safety projects, such as new analytic and marketing tools, HVAC filters and hands-free restroom equipment, and maintained the CCA’s programming through outdoor performances and a virtual series of livestreamed and recorded shows. “It has been an honor to lead an organization that provides such rich and diverse arts experiences,” Clarke said in the press release. “I am very proud of the number of lives we have touched and the service to the community we continue to provide despite the limitations of the pandemic.” She will officially step down at the end of July. Call 225-1111 or visit ccanh.com.

“Common Ground: Weaving Nepali & American Musical Traditions,” a concert by Concord Community Music School faculty. Courtesy photo.

• Classical diversity: The Walker Lecture Series will conclude with a virtual screening of “Common Ground: Weaving Nepali & American Musical Traditions,” a concert by Concord Community Music School faculty, airing on Concord TV (Channel 22 and yourconcordtv.org) on Wednesday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. Recorded in May 2019 as part of the School’s Bach’s Lunch Concert Series, it features jazz, folk and South Asian classical music performed by a group of five faculty members with diverse backgrounds: Harimaya Adhikari, vocals and harmonium; Prem Sagar Khatiwada, tabla; Scott Kiefner, bass; Matt Langley, saxophone; and David Surette, guitar and mandolin. The screening will include a conversation among the performers as they reflect on the concert and the experience of learning about each other’s musical traditions. All previously aired programs from this year’s Walker Lecture Series are still available to watch on YouTube, including a performance and discussion of traditional New England tavern music, hymns, sailor songs and more; travelogues about Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska and the deserts, coastline and safari parks of Namibia; an art history lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright and Norman Rockwell and more. Call 333-0035 or visit walkerlecture.org.

• Art tour for Spanish-speakers: The self-guided audio tour of public art in downtown Nashua, launched last May by Great American Downtown, is now available in Spanish. Offered through the Distrx app (accessible on Android and iOS), the tour uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provide audio descriptions as tourists approach the tour’s 14 murals and sculptures. The original audio was translated into Spanish by Oscar Villacis and read by Jasmine Torres Allen, both of WSMN’s “First Gen American,” a radio talk show aimed at people who are the first in their families to be born U.S. citizens. “This art tour is a great way to explore our vibrant art scene on and around Main Street … [and] has been an especially valuable option [for] social distancing as it is an outdoor activity [users can] experience at their own pace while following health guidelines,” Paul Shea, Great American Downtown executive director, said in a press release. Search “Nashua Public Art Tour” on Facebook.

• Virtual reception: The New Hampshire Art Association hosts a virtual opening reception and awards ceremony for its 35th annual Omer T. Lassonde exhibition on Thursday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. The exhibit honors Omer T. Lassonde, who helped found NHAA in 1940, and features works in a variety of media by NHAA members and non-members centered around this year’s theme, “Beyond the Boundaries.” It’s viewable online and at the NHAA’s Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery (136 State St., Portsmouth; open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., and Monday and Tuesday by appointment) now through May 30. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

Quality of Life 21/04/15

Free fishing, hunting and more for military members

The Fallen Outdoors nonprofit is looking for New Hampshire veterans and active duty service members who like hunting, fishing, canoeing, hiking and camping to enjoy the great outdoors with free active excursions. According to a press release, Team New England, which started in 2019, has a big goal this year: to facilitate 14 to 20 fishing trips in lakes, rivers and oceans; 12 to 18 hunting trips; eight canoe trips; five overnight hikes; three snowshoe hikes; and three family barbecues. These excursions are designed to provide veterans and service members with an outlet from life stressors to help prevent veteran suicide, according to the release, and staff are all volunteers who are active or former military service members.

Score: +1

Comment: Anyone who is interested in attending a free outdoor trip can find events on The Fallen Outdoors East Coast community page on Facebook; one upcoming local trip is a day of fishing, leaving from Hampton, on May 20. The trip is limited to 30 veterans; email [email protected] to reserve a spot.

One man’s trash isn’t always another’s treasure

If you’ve got bags of outgrown clothes or gently used household items that you’re planning to donate, Goodwill will be happy to take them — as long as you’re not just dropping off your trash. According to a recent report from WMUR, Goodwill Northern New England has seen an increase in unusable donations, things like a birdhouse with no roof and a ceiling fan with three blades that is supposed to have six. It costs the organization money to get rid of all that trash, the report said, more than $1 million for each of the last two years, which is money that could otherwise go to the workforce programs that Goodwill funds.

Score: -1

Comment: According to the report, Goodwill welcomes clothes, shoes, books and dishes that are in decent condition.

Speech earns local student a national scholarship

A local student was a top finisher in the national Voice of Democracy scholarship program. According to a press release, Central High School junior Matthew Blair was named the third place national winner and the recipient of the $10,000 scholarship award, which is given out by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Blair was sponsored by the Queen City Memorial VFW Post and entered the oratorical competition.

Score: +1

Comment: “This speech really was inspired by my grandfather, his story and the love for America that he instilled in me,” Blair said in the release. “I am so proud that I could represent Manchester Central High School, the city of Manchester and the state of New Hampshire at this competition.”

First Day of Caring in 2021 a success

Over the course of six hours on April 7, about 20 volunteers packaged 15,000 shelf-stable meals to help stock southern New Hampshire food pantries. The percentage of people who miss a meal in a day has increased by more than 200 percent since the start of the pandemic, according to a press release from the United Way of Greater Nashua, which is why the nonprofit focused on replenishing food supplies for its first Day of Caring event.

Score: +1

Comment: This was the first of five events planned for The United Way of Greater Nashua’s 2021 Days of Caring. The next is the annual Community Baby Shower in July, the release said.

QOL score: 67

Net change: +2

QOL this week: 69

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

Best game ever?

One of my sports pet peeves is people who proclaim something as the greatest ever immediately after something great happens like the NCAA College Basketball semi-final game from two Saturdays ago won in overtime by Gonzaga over UCLA, which was sent to OT on a miraculous half-court heave by Zaga’s Jalen Suggs. Don’t mind the enthusiasm and I’m fine with saying that’s the best game I’ve ever seen because that goes to their personal history. What does bug me is that before you proclaim something to be the “greatest” ever, you should have seen, or know a lot about, what has happened before.

But there it was the next day on Facebook with a friend, who should know better, nominating Gonzaga-UCLA as the greatest game ever. Of course like the lunatic I am I launched back by writing back, “EVER? Really? Are you kidding me? I can name two off the top of my head right now that are better than last night.” Now, I don’t recommend it to the kids at home, and only people of a certain age will understand what I mean when I say when I hear something like that, it’s like Moe hearing N-I-A-G-A-R-A Falls on The Three Stooges right before he gives Curley the double-finger eye poke and then hits him over the head with the crowbar. My version of “slowly I turn” was firing back my list of 10 better games.

But before I get to them, let me say what in my not so humble opinion has to happen for a game to be great. (1) There needs to be a dramatic/memorable ending. (2) It has to be historic in some way. (3) There have to be great players involved who build a sense of anticipation going in, like Magic vs. Larry in 1979, though that didn’t live up to the hype, B-O-R-I-N-G. (4) Not perfection, but the ultra-competitive and an extremely high level of play. (5) It helps to have white hat and black hat teams, like Georgetown was during the Hoya Paranoia glory day. (6) A major upset or near miss. (7) A great player performance like Bill Walton’s 21-for-22 day vs. Memphis State in 1973 when the only miss was a disallowed dunk because they weren’t legal then. How many young’ns know that? (8) The game should be played by historically great teams. (9) Or the game itself is so dramatically exciting it renders all my conditions moot. The only game I’ve ever seen do that was The Miracle On Ice at the 1980 Olympics.

Here’s my list from 10th to best.

North Carolina 77, Michigan 71: The Fab 4 was arguably the most publicized team in college basketball history, but it was 73-71 when the leader of the now all sophomore starting lineup, Chris Webber, called the fateful timeout Michigan didn’t have. UNC gets free throws and the ball to close it out.

Indiana 74, Syracuse 73: Keith Smart baseline buzzer-beater in the 1987 Final gives Bobby Knight his third title.

UNC 63, Georgetown 62: Two Hall of Fame coaches, two all-time great players, Patrick Ewing and Michael Jordan, and soon to be a first overall NBA pick James Worthy. Jordan’s all-time shot wins the 1983 Final right before Fred Brown mistakenly passes it to Worthy on final possession.

Duke 79, UNLV 77: Duke ends sinister UNLV’s bid for an undefeated season and a second straight title in the 1991 semi.

UNC 53, Kansas 52 in 3OT: With no one over 6’5” the Tar Heels survive a second straight triple-OT game to take down towering Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas, though MOP still goes to Wilt.

Villanova 66, Georgetown 64: Eight seed Nova shoots down its invincible Big East rival in the 1985 final by shooting 9 for 10 in the second half and 78 percent overall.

Duke 61, Butler 59: Largest lead was five and if Gordon Hayward’s mid-court shot drops the 2010 NCAA Final would have been the biggest upset in history. But instead the clock struck 12 to end Cinderella Butler’s dream as Coach K won his fourth title.

ND 71, UCLA 70: Second-ranked ND took down top-ranked UCLA to end its 88-game winning streak in January 1974 when with 29 seconds left as Dwight Clay’s 15-footer gave ND its only lead, followed by a Bruins miss and three frantic put backs before jubilant ND fans poured onto the court to celebrate the historic win.

Duke over Kentucky 104-103 in OT: The 1992 East Regional Final featured two HoF coaches and the most memorable full court pass in history from a Top 50 player (Grant Hill) to a Top 10 member (Christian Laettner) for the fake left, spin right foul line jumper that won it to make Laettner 10 for 10 from the field and 10 for 10 from the foul line in the game.

North Carolina State 80 UCLA 77 in 2OT: This wins for drama, historic nature, all-time figures (John Wooden, Bill Walton, David Thompson) and great performances along with NC State fighting back from 7 down in the final minutes of regulation and 5 down in the second OT. And, oh yeah, it ended UCLA’s 37-game tournament winning streak and reign of seven titles.

There’s my Top 10 with honorable mention going to 1966 when Texas Western’s first ever all-Black starting lineup took down Kentucky, NC State beating Houston with Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon a last-second Lorenzo Charles dunk, and the spectacular 1974 ACC 103-100 Final won by NC State over Maryland.

As for Gonzaga-UCLA: Great game, lots of drama and a historically memorable play. But I’ve seen many games I thought were better because, with all due respect, I didn’t think the teams were that good, Gonzaga’s quest for an undefeated season was aided by playing in a second-tier conference, there were no historic players, and the great Suggs shot wouldn’t have counted in H-O-R-S-E because he didn’t call the bank.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!