Tag: 210819

The Weekly Dish 21/08/19

News from the local food scene

• Greek deliciousness to go: Join Assumption Greek Orthodox Church (111 Island Pond Road, Manchester) for Greekfest Express, a revised drive-thru version of its annual Greek food festival, on Saturday, Aug. 28, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Now through Aug. 22, orders are being accepted for a variety of fresh Greek foods prepared by church members and volunteers, like dinners featuring your choice of half-roasted chicken, pastichio (Greek lasagna) or homemade meatballs in tomato sauce, each of which comes with rice, Greek salad and bread. Other options include an open-faced ground beef and lamb gyro plate with tzatziki sauce and french fries; tossed Greek salads topped with either grilled chicken or gyro meat; and a la carte items, like spinach or feta cheese petas. Desserts are also available from traditional baklava to finikia (honey walnut cookies) and loukoumades (fried dough balls). This event is pickup only (stay in your car; no walk-ins). Visit foodfest.assumptionnh.org to place your order.

• Food truck frenzy: The Town of Windham’s Recreation Department is organizing a food truck festival, set for Sunday, Aug. 22, from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Windham High School (64 London Bridge Road). The festival will feature more than a half dozen area food trucks specializing in their own unique options, like Buxton’s Pizza, a mobile brick oven pizza truck based in Derry; The Sandwich Monstahh, a Derry food trailer specializing in gourmet Italian sandwiches; the Walking Gourmet, featuring the scratch-made gourmet sandwiches and burgers from chef Adam Wactowski of Windham; and B’s Tacos, based in Londonderry. In addition to the trucks, the festival will have live music from All Day Fire from noon to 4 p.m. and a cornhole tournament that will start around 1 p.m. Admission to the festival is free but foods are priced per item. Visit windhamnh.gov.

• Local eats at Market Days: Intown Concord’s annual Market Days Festival is back, and several area eateries and other businesses along Main Street are expected to have their own booths set up, including Revelstoke Coffee, Col’s Kitchen, Live Juice, Puppy Love Hot Dogs and the Holiday Inn Concord Downtown. Other local vendors offering all kinds of food options are expected to attend, like Canterbury Kettle Corn, Holly’s Fried Dough, and Sillie Puffs with its gourmet cotton candy. Market Days will return for its 47th year from Thursday, Aug. 19, through Saturday, Aug. 21, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day, featuring live entertainment, local vendors and shopping, a kids zone and more. Visit marketdaysfestival.com.

• WineNot on the move: WineNot Boutique will move to a new spot later this month, at 25 Main St. in Nashua, the specialty wine shop recently announced. The newly renovated location is less than a half mile up the road from WineNot’s current storefront at 221 Main St., and all of its weekly complimentary wine tastings and special events will be transitioning there. Wine classes have been paused until September as WineNot completes its move, according to its email newsletter. Established in the spring of 2010, WineNot Boutique has grown over the last decade into one of the largest independent wine retailers in the state. Visit winenotboutique.com.

• Barbecue benefit: Get your tickets now for the annual “celebrity” waiter cookout and auction, an event to benefit the Franklin Opera House that’s happening on Thursday, Aug. 26, at Mojalaki Country Club (321 Prospect St., Franklin). The event will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a barbecue dinner that will feature your choice of a beef burger, boneless chicken or vegan burger. Each comes with an appetizer plate, potato salad, corn, coleslaw, Caesar salad, fresh rolls, and cheesecake and cookies for dessert. The cost is $25 per person and Hawaiian attire is encouraged. Visit franklinoperahouse.org.

On The Job – Jill Skinner

Jill Skinner

Pet care provider

Jill Skinner is the owner of Blogging Dog Center, a dog walking and pet sitting service based in Nashua.

Explain your job and what it entails?

We provide a service to make it easier for people to get rid of their junk. I’m the one who sets things up with customers, and then I go or someone else [on staff] goes to pick up the junk and bring it to where it needs to go [to be disposed of].

How long have you had this job?

We started the company in January, but I’ve been doing junk removal for 10 years or so.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I’ve always had a kind of entrepreneur’s mentality. Last year, my wife and I opened up a food truck, but that didn’t go very well. I had done real estate cleanups in the past, so I figured I’d give it another try. Eight months later, [business] is very good. There are always people buying homes or trying to get rid of stuff, so we’ve been busy.

What kind of education or training did you need?

It’s kind of been learn-as-I-go. I’ve learned a lot through my experience and doing my own research.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

As a small business owner, I wish I had known that it’s OK to fail. Many times, I’ve done a job and didn’t make money off of it. There were even times when I lost money. In my previous business ventures if that happened I would say, ‘This is not worth it.’ Now I know that it’s not about how you fall; it’s how you get back up, because that’s how you learn and you grow.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

We don’t just take stuff to the dump; we actually help members of the community. For the average person, it might be easy to move furniture or get rid of something themselves, but there are many other people who can’t do that. We provide that service for them.

What was it like starting this business during the pandemic?

I figured it would be a good business to get into at this time, and it was. A lot of people are spending more time at home, so they have more time to clean and clear out their homes and get rid of stuff that they don’t want or need.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Do whatever it takes to make a good name for yourself. It takes a lot of time and determination, and it can be slow, but it’s worth it.

What was the first job you ever had?

My dad did event photography, so I would go with him on the weekends to events to hold equipment and be a helping hand.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
Favorite movie: Happy Gilmore
Favorite music: Alternative rock
Favorite food: Chunky peanut butter
Favorite thing about NH: Well, I don’t like the winters, but I do like the other three seasons.

Featured photo: Jill Skinner

Kiddie Pool 21/08/19

Family fun for the weekend

Summer celebrations

Intown Concord’s annual Market Days Festival in downtown Concord runs from Thursday, Aug. 19, through Saturday, Aug. 21, and has a lot of events on the schedule geared toward kids and families. The KidZone on City Plaza in front of the Statehouse lawn will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day during the event, according to the event’s website. For $5, kids can jump in a bounce house and play mini golf and other games, the site said.

There will also be daily free activities on the Statehouse lawn: on all three days, this includes a storytime (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.), face painting (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and a DoggySplash Zone from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Friday, catch the Aim High Canine Performances at 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. On Saturday, catch arts and crafts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a robotics demonstration at 3 p.m.

Also on Saturday, catch Mr. Aaron, a kids music performer, at 11 a.m. at the Binnie Media Performance Stage on Main Street.

The event also includes food vendors, loads of live music and more. See marketdaysfestival.com. Get more details about Market Days in the Q&A on page 6 as well as on pages 26 (for information about the food offerings) and on page 42 (for a look at music).

Londonderry’s Old Home Days continues this weekend, through Saturday, Aug. 21. According to the event’s schedule, Thursday, Aug. 19, is the battle of the bands at the Londonderry Town Common from 5 to 9 p.m. On Friday, Aug 20, food, popsicle and ice cream trucks will set up at the Londonderry High School in preparation for the fireworks at 9 p.m.

On Saturday, Aug. 21, according to the Old Home Day Facebook page, a parade will start at 10:15 a.m. (rain or shine) and run from Londonderry Middle School to Mack’s Apples. A craft fair will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Town Common. The first annual Sunnycrest Farms Apple Pie Eating contest will take place at 3:15 p.m. at the Londonderry Town Common Bandstand (and is open to anyone 14+, if you have some hungry teenagers). The schedule also lists a Wildcat Kidz Zone with wildlife encounters starting at 1 p.m., the Portsmouth Shipyard STEM program, a bowling game from the YMCA of Greater Londonderry and a dunk tank and Kona ice. At Lions Hall & Grounds, the Lions Club will offer a 603 Beer tent from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 603 Axe Play (with blow up axes for children under 10) and a cornhole tournament, according to the schedule. Find the event on Facebook for more information.

Just plane fun

The Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (1 Airport Road, Manchester, 913-4010, flymanchester.com) will celebrate National Aviation Day on Thursday, Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities will include a Touch a Truck display featuring vehicles that help the airport operate, K9 demonstrations and a paper airplane contest, and free swag will be handed out. Tables will be set up by the baggage claim, including one with pieces of a plane that’s currently being built. All employees and guests are required to wear masks at the airport.

On the stage

The Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St. in Manchester; palacetheatre.org, 668-5588) continues its 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series. Finishing up this week’s run, catch Cinderella on Thursday, Aug. 19. Next week, the production is Sleeping Beauty, Tuesday, Aug. 24, through Thursday, Aug. 26. Showtimes are at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and tickets cost $10 per person.

Student performers from the Palace’s summer camp program will have a production of their own this weekend: The Lion King Kidswill be performed Friday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 21, at 11 a.m. Tickets cost $12 to $15.

Movie time

Plaistow residents can catch a movie screened drive-in style onFriday, Aug. 20, at 8 p.m. The screening will take place at the Plaistow Public Library parking lot and will be presented as a drive-in. Admission is being restricted to 50 cars; register in advance at tinyurl.com/umsrmjz7.

Speaking of drive-in films, catch nightly double features at the Milford Drive-In (531 Elm St. in Milford; milforddrivein.com). The drive-in offers two double-feature options nightly with shows starting at 8 p.m. The drive-in grounds open at 7:15 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 6:15 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission (which can be purchased in advance through the website) costs $30 and covers one car with up to six people ($5 for each additional person).

At Chunky’s Cinema Pubs in Manchester (707 Huse Road) and Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.) they’re hosting theater candy bingo on Sunday, Aug. 22, at 6:30 p.m. Admission to this game costs $4.99 plus a theater candy, and tickets can be purchased at chunkys.com.

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, catch Back to the Future (PG-13, 1985) at Chunky’s in Manchester, Nashua and Pelham (150 Bridge St.). The movie starts at 7 p.m. and tickets cost $4.99.

For the younger moviegoers, all three locations will also offer a sensory-friendly screening of Paw Patrol: The Movie (G, 2021; it opens in theaters and on Paramount+ on Friday, Aug. 20). The sensory-friendly screening, which keeps the lights up and turns the sound down, starts at 11:30 a.m.

Kids Fest

The annual Hampton Beach Children’s Festival continues through Friday, Aug. 20, with programming on Hampton Beach, according to the Hampton Beach Village District website (hamptonbeach.org) and Facebook pages. On Thursday, Aug. 19, catch Magician Fran Flynn (10 a.m.), Wayne from Maine with a musical singalong (1 p.m.) and a performance by the International Red Star Twirlers (3 p.m.), according to a schedule posted on the district’s Facebook page. The week is capped off with a children’s costume parade on Friday (11 a.m.; participants should line up at 10:15 a.m.), a grand finale with prizes at the Sea Shell Stage (noon) and pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus (1 p.m.), according to the schedule.

Treasure Hunt 21/08/19

Dear Donna,

I came across this box full of probably nothing. Just wanted to know if there is any value to items like this. Otherwise, to the trash they go.

Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

I always say there is value to everything. You just have to find who it would be valuable and useful to again.

There is a big market out there for old pieces, parts, fragments, metal, wood, etc. I don’t think you are looking for an antique value. I think your items would be more valuable to a mixed media artist. It could also be more valuable to scrap the metal.

I recently purchased a box of broken glass. My husband said “What for?” I have had so much fun creating with all the pieces. It was a find for me!

So before I would throw it I would just see if anyone you know could reuse any of it.

So is there value? Yes! Contact me if you need further help.

Obsess much?

On becoming a plant collector

I’ve always been a gardener — or at least as far back as I can remember. More recently, say the last 20 years or so, I’ve been a plant collector. What does that mean? If I fall in love with a plant, I want to grow other plants related to it.

One of the most obsessive collectors I ever met was the late Bill Countryman of Northfield, Vermont. When I interviewed him in the late ’90s he told me that his sister sent him a peony, and although he was in his 70s at the time and not a gardener, he planted it. It bloomed magnificently and Bill fell in love with peonies. He decided to grow every type there is.

Collector Bill Countryman started out with one peony, and eventually collected about 600 different varieties. Courtesy photo.

Bill Countryman bought a chain saw so he could clear his land to plant peonies. He bought a bulldozer to remove the stumps and went to work. When I met him, he had already planted some 300 kinds of peonies, though he continued on, getting more varieties, perhaps as many as 600. He sold them, but mostly he just enjoyed them. He was quite the collector.

I’m not nearly so obsessive. What do I collect? Well, peonies, I suppose. But Cindy and I have only 44 peonies. Primroses. Burnets. Persicarias. Wildflowers. Willows. I have dozens of colors of daylilies, but don’t consider myself a collector of them — they are just nice, reliable plants, but I don’t need one of every kind. Thank goodness for that; there are many hundred.

The burnets are quite a diverse group in the scientific group or genus sanguisorba. First I got the one native to New England, sanguisorba canadensis. It loves wetlands, so I planted it in a weedy, marshy place in part sun/part shade. It thrived, sending flower spikes with bottlebrush flowers 6 feet tall or more. It blooms in late summer or fall, and can still be pretty in late October.

My absolute favorite of these flowers is one called sanguisorba hakusenensis — lilac squirrel. I saw it online and asked all my local garden centers to no avail, so I finally ordered it from Digging Dog Nursery in California. I planted five small plants last year; they wintered over and are blooming now. The flowers are like pink squirrel tails hanging down from 18-inch flower stems. They make me smile, especially with a name like that.

The littlest of the burnets I grow is one called S. officinalis or Little Angel. It makes a tidy clump of diminutive green leaves edged in white. Each leaf is just half an inch long. The deep red catkin-like flowers are on 6-inch stems that lean or fall over. Now, five years since I bought it, the clump is about a foot across and just 3 inches tall.

Little Angel’s bigger cousin in the same genus is one called Tanna. This is called a miniature, but that is only relative to some of the bigger ones that get 4 to 6 feet tall. It has very tidy 18-inch leaf stems, each with 13 to 17 leaflets in dark green. It makes a tidy mound and has the same dark-red smallish flowers.

Of the large ones that are garden-worthy, I have two: probably S. obtusa and S. tenuifolia. The literature, even online, is sketchy about identifying these plants and I lost the plant tags long ago. The first, which has reddish-pink tidy small catkin-like flowers, needs to be tied up early in July. If not tied up, the flower stems, which get to be over 4 feet long and have 20 or so blossoms per stem, flop over. The other is standing tall and proud right now, but the flowers have not yet opened — and I haven’t staked them.

Why do I collect burnets? I just like them. They can be picked for flower arrangements, but I rarely do. I like seeing them in the garden.

Willows, of course, are more of a problem to collect because of their size, but I do grow at least half a dozen. My favorite is the hakuro nishiki. It has variegated foliage early in the summer: green and white, and then with pink mixed in for a few weeks. It is colorful and fast growing. Like all willows, it appreciates moist soils but will grow in ordinary garden soil.

Hakuro nashiki willows have tri-colored leaves in early summer. Courtesy photo.

Hakuro nishiki is not a large willow. It seems to top out at about 20 feet in 10 years. I planted three some 20 years ago, 10 feet apart, and they created a dense grove. I was able to prune out branches growing into the center, creating a small room where I placed Adirondack chairs. It makes a cool space near my brook to eat lunch on a hot day.

The rosemary willow is another favorite of mine. It is a small willow, only getting to be about 10 feet tall and wide in 10 years. I love that its leaves look somewhat like leaves of the herb rosemary: narrow and pointy leaves. They are dark green on the top side, gray or silvery on the bottom side. I’ve almost been able to fool people visiting my garden into believing it was really a rosemary plant on steroids but for the lack of smell. Neither the rosemary or hakuro nishiki produce any noticeable flowers.

So I encourage you to look for — and collect — plants related to the ones you love. Not every variety will tickle your fancy, but if you discover a few that do, they will make you happy for years to come.

Featured photo: I have dozens of daylilies, but don’t consider myself a real collector of them. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 21/08/19

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

• Monster hunt: Monsters are on the loose again in downtown Manchester as Studio 550 Art Center hosts its 9th annual Monster Hunt. On Saturday, Aug. 21, starting at 3 p.m., there will be 100 small red clay monsters in various locations downtown to encourage people to explore the city. The monsters will be placed mostly on Elm Street between Studio 550 and Bridge Street, as well as in some parks and major side streets, hiding in places like a windowsill, the corner of a bench or a flower planter. If you find a monster, you get to keep it (one per person). The person who finds the special colored monster will receive a free paint-your-own-pottery session at Studio 550. Partnering businesses will be offering goodies, giveaways and discounts to monster-finders: Bring your monster to Dancing Lion Chocolate to receive a free chocolate; to the Bookery for discounts on monster-themed books; and to Double Midnight Comics for a free comic book. Additionally, Studio 550 will have a number of low-cost monster-themed outdoor activities, to-go art kits for sale and a $1 pottery sale to benefit the Clay for Kids Fund from 3 to 5 p.m. It’s free to participate in the hunt. Call 232-5597 or visit 550arts.com.

• Textile works: The Surface Design Association’s (SDA) New Hampshire Group has an exhibit, “Tension: Process in the Making,” on view now through Sept. 4 at Twiggs Gallery (254 King St., Boscawen). It features contemporary fiber art by 15 artists juried by textile artist Jenine Shereos. “Reflecting on the past year, there has been a collective stretching; a pulling and tightening, beyond what we ever imagined was possible,” Shereos said in a press release. “The works in this exhibition feature New Hampshire textile artists as they examine the theme of tension in both form and concept.” Current gallery hours are Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Visit twiggsgallery.wordpress.com or call 975-0015.

• August artists: The New Hampshire Art Association has work by two of its artist members on view now through the end of August in its new exhibit venue, Creative Framing Solutions, located across from the Palace Theatre at 89 Hanover St. in Manchester. Joe Flaherty of Portsmouth is an oil painter whose paintings “aim at being curious, mysterious and peculiar before they aim at being representational or affirmative,” he said in a press release. Maryclare Heffernan of Candia will present a series of paintings titled “A Spray of Sea Salt.” “This body of work is about the essence of the ocean, of the feelings that arise in us when we’re near the sea,” Heffernan said in the release. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 320-5988 or visit nhartassociation.org.

• Art in Prescott Park: The New Hampshire Art Association’s annual Sheafe Warehouse Exhibit and Sale is going on now through Aug. 29 at Prescott Park (105-123 Marcy St, Portsmouth). It features works in a variety of media by nearly 40 NHAA artists. “There’s a real sense of excitement on the part of our artists, who are anxious to share the new works of art they have been creating over the past year,” Renee Giffroy, NHAA board president, said in a press release. The Exhibit and Sale is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.

ART

Call for Art

• WOMEN’S ARTISAN FAIR Girls at Work, a Manchester-based nonprofit that empowers girls through woodworking and building, is seeking artists for this fair, which is set for Oct. 15 and 16. Women artisans are invited to submit handcrafted fashion pieces, home goods, paintings and other visual arts for consideration. Visit girlswork.org or call 345-0392.

Exhibits

• “FRESH PERSPECTIVES” Exhibit features works by New Hampshire artists Peter Milton, ​Varujan Boghosian, Robert Hughes and others. New Hampshire Antique Co-op (323 Elm St., Milford). On view in the Co-op’s Tower Gallery now through Aug. 31. Visit nhantiquecoop.com.

• “FASHION FORWARD: AFRICANA STYLE” Exhibit showcases Black fashion and explores connections between African American and African design aesthetics from past to present. The Seacoast African American Cultural Center (located inside the Portsmouth Historical Society, 10 Middle St., Portsmouth). On view now through Sept. 1. Gallery hours are Monday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; visitors must reserve a 45-minute time slot in advance. Walk-in guests will be accommodated as space permits. Tickets cost $10 for the general public and $5 for Historical Society members and are available through eventbrite.com. Visit saacc-nh.org.

• “SUMMER HAZE” Concord artist and gallery owner Jess Barnet hosts her first group art exhibit. Gallery located in the Patriot Investment building, 4 Park St., Suite 216, Concord. On view now through Sept. 3. Visit jessbarnett.com.

• 1,000 CRANES FOR NASHUA Featuring more than 1,000 origami paper cranes created by hundreds of Nashua-area kids, adults and families since April. On display now at The Atrium at St. Joseph Hospital, 172 Kinsley St., Nashua. Visit nashuasculpturesymposium.org.

Theater

Shows

•​ CABARET The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents. 125 Bow St., Portsmouth. Now through Sept. 5. Visit seacoastrep.org or call 433-4472.

•​ HOOLIGANS AND CONVICTS The Winnipesaukee Playhouse presents. 33 Footlight Circle, Meredith. Aug. 18 through Sept. 4, with showtimes Tuesday through Saturday, at 7:30 p.m., plus matinees on Tuesday, Aug. 24, and Thursday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 to $39. Visit winnipesaukeeplayhouse.org.

• A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S CEMETERY TOUR Presented by the Manchester Historic Association, this interactive nighttime cemetery tour will feature live actors from The Majestic Theatre telling first-person accounts of notable figures in Manchester history, such as Frank Carpenter and Nehemiah Bean. Thurs., Aug. 26, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Pine Grove Cemetery, 765 Brown Ave., Manchester. Tickets are $20. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited. Visit manchesterhistoric.org/events or call 622-7531.

• CINDERELLA The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Wed., Aug. 18, and Thurs., Aug. 19, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

• SLEEPING BEAUTY The 2021 Bank of New Hampshire Children’s Summer Series presents. Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester). Tues., Aug. 24, through Thurs., Aug. 26, 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Visit palacetheatre.org.

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