Tag: 220714

This Week 22/07/14

Big Events July 14, 2022 and beyond

Friday, July 15

The Center for Life Management is hosting its 14th annual silent auction and concert benefit at Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry). The silent auction will start at 5:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m., featuring 33 1/3 LIVE, which will perform their Killer Queen Experience. Tickets are $40 for the mezzanine, $45 for main floor, and $50 for the lower level. Find information at tupelomusichall.com.

Friday, July 15

Loudon is hosting racers for the Ambetter 301 NASCAR weekend starting today at noon at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1122 Route 106) and continuing through Sunday, July 17. The weekend will be filled with races, fan events, live music and more. Friday night will feature dirt duels. General admission tickets start at $20 and attendees 12 years old and under are $10. For the Ambetter 301 weekend, single adult tickets start at $59 and tickets for children 12 years old and under are $10. Visit nhms.com/events/nascar-cup-series for more information.

Saturday, July 16

The Aviation Museum (27 Navigator Road, Londonderry) is rolling out vintage cars for the classic car show today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Classic cars of various makes and models will compete for the people’s choice award, and the Amoskeag Reserve Engine Co., a local chapter of the national fire apparatus preservation society, will show off restored antique firetrucks. There will be food trucks, a raffle and a yard sale. Registration will be from 9 to 10 a.m. and costs $10. Spectator tickets will cost $5 for adults; children 12 and younger are free. For more information, visit nhahs.org.

Saturday, July 16

The annual New England vintage boat and car auction is today, with the first in-person bids being placed at 10 a.m. Some of the featured items available at this year’s auction include a 1961 24-foot Chris Craft Sportsman, a 1968 20-foot Chris Craft Grand Prix and a 1947 22-foot Goodhue Race Boat. While the online auction started on July 7, there will be a showing of boats and cars on Thursday, July 14, and Friday, July 15, from noon to 5 p.m. at The Nicholas J. Pernokas Recreation Park (10 Trotting Track Road, Wolfeboro). Additional viewing before the bidding will begin at 8 a.m.

Saturday, July 16

The American Independence Museum (1 Governors Lane, Exeter) is hosting the 32 Annual American Independence Festival starting at 10 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. The festival will have historical reenactors, an artisan village with everything from ropemaking to tinsmithing, and musicians playing traditional instruments such as clavichords, dulcimers and harpsichords. Tickets are $4 for kids ages 4 to 8, $10 for adults, and free for children under 4 years old.

Tuesday, July 19

Gibson’s Bookstore (45 South Main St., Concord) is hosting local author Sarah McCraw Crow for a paperback release party for her novel The Wrong Kind of Woman today at 6:30 p.m. The event is free to attend and does not require registration. See gibsonsbookstore.com.

Save the Date! Saturday, July 23
The Rebel Collective is performing at the Bank of NH (16 S Main St, Concord) to support Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Hampshire. The Rebel Collective is a New England-based American/Irish pub rock band that was started in 2015. CASA is a nonprofit organization that recruits, trains and supports community volunteers to advocate for children who have suffered abuse or neglect. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $18 and can be purchased at ccanh.com.

Featured photo. The Rebel Collective will be performing July 23. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 22/07/14

Give blood, get a shirt

The American Red Cross is calling for blood and platelet donations after experiencing a “steep drop” in donations last month, according to a press release. The organization was approximately 12 percent short on donations needed in June — 14 percent short in the Northern New England Region — making June 2022 one of the largest monthly donation shortfalls in recent years. In efforts to increase donations and prevent a blood shortage this summer, the Red Cross has partnered with Discovery to give everyone who donates during Shark Week, which is July 21 through July 24, an exclusive Shark Week T-shirt, while supplies last, and everyone who donates during the month of July a chance to win an exclusive Shark Week merchandise package.

QOL Score: -2 for the shortfall (but plus a shark-ton for the Shark Week promotion)

Comment: To book a donation appointment at a Red Cross blood donation site near you, download the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-733-2767.

Backpack to school

The New Hampshire Department of Education’s annual backpack drive is going on now through Aug. 12. Now in its 7th year, the drive was created by Diana Fenton, an attorney at the Department, to help New Hampshire families that cannot afford to purchase a new backpack for their children. “We want to make sure that every child can start the new school year with a fresh start and a new backpack,” Fenton said in a press release. The backpacks will be distributed at schools across the state by school nurses to the students who need them.

QOL Score: +1

Comment: Donations of new backpacks may be dropped off at the department’s office, at 25 Hall St. in Concord, on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. When you arrive at the front entrance, call Natasha Lupiani at 271-3196 for assistance.

Expensive energy

A recent WalletHub study ranked New Hampshire as the 8th most energy-expensive state in the U.S., calculating the average monthly cost of energy for New Hampshire households to be $550. The study looked at the average retail or residential costs of electricity, natural gas, home heating oil and motor fuel in each state relative to the state’s average monthly consumption rate of those energy resources. New Hampshire made the top 10 for highest price of electricity (8th) and highest price of natural gas (9th) and came in 20th for the highest price of motor fuel.

QOL Score: -2

Comment: Among the New England states, however, New Hampshire’s energy costs are on the lower end; the study found Connecticut at No. 4, Massachusetts at No. 5 and Vermont at No. 7, with Rhode Island and Maine not far behind New Hampshire at 11th and 13th, respectively.

Model pets

The Salem Animal Rescue League is accepting submissions now through July 30 for its 7th annual Pet Calendar Photo Contest. In the past, the calendar has exclusively featured pets that were adopted from SARL, but this year, in celebration of the shelter’s 30th anniversary, the contest is open to all cats and dogs, “including those that have crossed the rainbow bridge,” Executive Director Jinelle Hobson said in a press release. The public will vote for their favorite pet. The pet that receives the most votes will get a professional photo shoot and be featured on the cover of SARL’s 2023 calendar and on the month of the winning pet owner’s choice.

QOL Score: +1

Comment: Head to gogophotocontest.com/salemanimalrescueleague to submit a photo of your pet, along with a mini bio or favorite memory and a $20 donation. Then, share your submission on social media and ask your friends and family to vote; a $1 donation equals one vote, and there is no voting limit.

QOL score: 84

Net change: -2

QOL this week: 82

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire? Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Mid-season baseball update

We are a few days away from baseball’s All-Star break, the time in the good old days when Manny Ramirez would announce (again) the same relative had died for an eighth time to get him out of playing in the once great game.

Even though it’s long past that point in games, it’s the unofficial midway point for the season. So let’s take a look at some of the big first-half stories and one looming on the horizon.

Pennant Race: After splitting last weekend’s series in Boston, the Yanks were 61-25, among the best starts ever. Meanwhile, after their glacial start, Boston was 47-39 and 14 back. A big but not insurmountable lead, as history shows Boston led NY by (gulp) 14.5 on July 17 in 1978 and lost.

Assuming 95 wins takes the division, the Sox need to go a doable 48-28, a .613 winning percentage, which translates to a 102-win season. But it requires a 34-47 Yankees collapse, not for Boston to play out of their jocks.

AL News

I’m not against it and I’ll sorta buy the nod for the 8-4, 2.44 pitching record, but with him 14th in homers (19) and 15th in RBI (54) can we all agree taking Shohei Ohtani as a “two way” All-Star is a gimmick?

There was a time Merlot Joe Maddon was considered a managerial savant as low-budget Tampa Bay won with him in the dugout. But after ending the Cubs’ 108-year curse in 2016, it’s been straight downhill since. He got pushed out of Chicago in 2020 and then didn’t even last till June in Year 2 with Anaheim. In the meantime, still budget-conscious Tampa mostly just kept winning. So maybe it wasn’t Joe after all.

NL News in case you’re interested

Thealwaysunlikable Manny Machado is living up to the big money he got from the Padres (.309, 14 bombs and 50 RBI). That’s not good news for the Xander Bogaerts contract front. Because with Xander better and more reliable it’s another benchmark his agents can use at the bargaining table.

How about the Freddie Freeman nonsense? In his first trip back to Atlanta since leaving last winter he acted like a homesick puppy, which followed his firing the agent who convinced him to take the bigger deal from the Dodgers. We can only guess how that played in the Dodgers locker room.

What is it with the Dodgers and the weird (dis) spirited first baseman? A couple of years back an injured Adrian Gonzalez actually went on vacation when they were in the playoffs. Though with those hated Dodgers on pace to win 106-games (again) Freeman hasn’t been an issue yet.

Alumni News in case you’re wondering

Andrew Benintendi: Off having a nice first half hitting. 327 with 3 homers and 35 homers, rumors have him headed to the Yanks at the deadline.

Kyle Schwarber: His 28 homers are second in baseball. Along with his 57 RBI and the modest deal he got in Philly, it makes not re-upping him to DH a titanic mistake by Chaim Bloom.

Hunter Renfroe: With him hitting .247 with 13 homers and 27 RBI he’s no loss.

Eduardo Rodriguez: Amid family problems he left Detroit a month ago and hasn’t been heard from since. Sad news for him and Detroit, but a disaster averted for Boston.

News From The Empire

With all due respect to the upcoming Bogaerts free agency saga, it’s not gonna touch the looming drama that could ignite a full on war in the Big Apple.

If you ain’t been paying attention there’s a gigantic game of chicken going on between Aaron Judge and the Yankees, which the Yanks are really screwing up with a lot more at stake than usual.

First, since Yankee fans have never seen them lose a free agent they wanted to retain, Judge has the leverage in the contract negotiations in a normal year.

But with him challenging The Babe (60) and Roger Maris (61) for the Yanks’ treasured single-season home run record, the leverage grows stronger, as that’s a pretty good way to walk into free agency.

Finally, that leverage will explode if the Mets step up to try and outbid them for Judge after a historic year, a very real possibility.

Their (still) new owner Steve Cohen is nuts enough to do it because (a) he’s a lifelong diehard Mets fan from Long Island who’s been taking guff from Yankee fans his whole life, (b) after bringing in Max Scherzer and Francisco Lindor he’s already shown he’ll spend big, and (c) since he’s the richest owner in baseball he’s got the incentive and dough to do it.

Most importantly, even with the extreme expense, it would be good business for New York’s JV baseball team to steal the face of the Yankees franchise away from them, because (a) it would be like when the Jets gave rookie to be Joe Namath the richest contract in sports in 1965, which sucked in all the PR oxygen and the tabloids ate it up,and(b) it could swing the pendulum their way in NYC if it leads to an immediate World Series with Judge as the star, as, oh by the way, it would make a beloved former Yankee star the face of their hated crosstown rival. Thus it’s the biggest event in their joint history since the Mets arrived in 1962. Not to mention likely the biggest and most expensive free agent battle in history.

So all the pressure is on Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman. Who have played it so far the same lowball way that sent Jon Lester to free agency all ticked off in 2014.

The only thing missing is George Steinbrenner, who would have it in the headlines every day while making it a nasty fight to boot!

Please, Steve Cohen, make it happen.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

More to the story

Museum adds to its view of history

The American Independence Museum in Exeter was recently awarded a grant to increase its exhibition space to share a more comprehensive history of the founding of America. Jennifer Carr, the museum’s curator and collections manager and acting executive director, discussed what that will look like and the importance of inclusive storytelling in American history.

What will the grant be used for?

The Samuel P. Hunt Foundation has generously awarded us $21,250 to enhance our archival and exhibit infrastructure … [with new] archival museum cases, as well as some smaller-ticket items that will help us to tell stories about inclusive history. For the past couple years, the museum has been taking a look at how we interpret the founding of the American nation, and we’ve seen that we tell the story from really one perspective, which is the military perspective. That left a lot of people out of the equation. We’ve been doing research on local and state history and looking at our collections to see how we can bring more inclusive history into what we do with the museum. We’ve discovered that we have a collection of more than 3,000 items, and there are different stories we can tell with those items than what we’ve been telling. There are many different ways for historians to interpret the same item. … With the grant, we’ve been able to purchase five new cases, as well as labels which are ADA-compliant. With that, we can bring more of our collections out of storage and put that research to use, sharing those incredible stories with our guests.

What are some of the stories you plan on telling with the expanded exhibit space?

We’re looking to expand to as many different underrepresented groups as we can. We’ve been working with Black history, women’s history, indigenous history, and we even have one story that covers LGBTQ history. We have a military order book written by General von Steuben, who helped General Washington whip the Continental Army into shape and start winning battles, and it turns out there’s an interesting LGBTQ history related to General von Steuben, so we’re able to bring that book out and talk not only about military strategy but also about the contributions of the LGBTQ community to the founding of our nation. We also have indigenous artifacts uncovered during the 2019 archeological dig at the Ladd-Gilman House … so we’re able to tell the pre-contact history of indigenous peoples right in our own backyard.

When will these updates be ready to view?

The company that manufactures these museum cases actually has a pretty long lead time at this point, so we won’t be able to get them out on exhibit until next season. In the meantime, we’re going to continue working on research to dive deeper into our collections and see how many more stories from different perspectives we can uncover to prepare for getting those museum cases in place to share with our guests in 2023.

Who does this historical research, and what does that process look like?

It’s primarily me. Before I began serving as acting executive director, I was primarily focused on curatorial work. I was taking the lead on all the research and interpretation. We also had a couple fantastic volunteers who helped us with research and going to the historical societies and digging through deeds and archives. It’s been a team effort.

What led the museum to pursue these updates?

It’s something happening industry-wide. I think America has realized so much of its history has gone untold. There’s a reckoning right now with that. We’re looking at everyone who has gone underrepresented in this nation. We feel it’s important to tell a balanced story of the founding of the nation, not just from the military perspective, not just the grand stories of the founding fathers, but of everything the people of this nation went through to gain independence. … Independence wasn’t won only on the battlefield; it was about boycotts women were engaged in to fight the taxes Britain was levying on the colonies; it was about the enslaved people who left their families to go off to fight in a war they believed would lead to freedom for them, only to come home and remain enslaved. There are a lot of stories, good and bad, that led to the founding of this nation.

Has there been an interest from the public in learning about these stories?

Yes. I’ve personally led some tours over the past couple years that included these new stories we’ve uncovered, and I’ve heard people making comments like, ‘Wow, I had no idea that happened here. I’m glad you’re telling these stories, because it’s something I didn’t hear in school.” That has been great to hear. Overwhelmingly, the feedback has been positive. I think people enjoy hearing stories that are different from what they learned in school. We’ve all heard the story of the Boston Tea Party; it’s a great story, but it’s nothing new. I think people are interested in hearing new things and learning on a deeper level.

Featured photo: Jennifer Carr. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 22/07/14

Covid-19 update Last weekThis week
Total cases statewide 332,120 (as of June 30) 333,483 (as of July 7)
Total current infections statewide 2,016 (as of June 30)1,854 (as of July 7)
Total deaths statewide2,585 (announced June 30)1,425 (announced July 7)
New cases 1,671 (June 23 to June 29)1,363 (June 30 to July 7)
Current infections: Hillsborough County921 (as of June 30)898 (as of July 11)
Current infections: Merrimack County333 (as of June 30)302 (as of July 11)
Current infections: Rockingham County658 (as of June 30)690 (as of July 11)
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.

Support for kids

The One Trusted Adult program will be offered throughout New Hampshire through a contracted partnership with the New Hampshire Department of Education approved by Gov. Sununu and the Executive Council. According to a press release from the New Hampshire Department of Education, the program, which works to ensure that children have an accessible, trusted adult to provide support outside of the home, will be implemented at 125 New Hampshire schools over the next two years, serving students in grades 5 through 12. “When a student can name a trusted adult at school, we create our best chance for preventing bullying, mental health issues and substance abuse, all while promoting positive self-worth, engagement in community and availability for learning,” Brooklyn Raney, founder of One Trusted Adult, said in the release. The $794,555 contract will include online, on-demand professional development training for both educators and families.

Continued support

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has announced the launch of a new community-oriented program that will provide intensive transitional support for people being discharged from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization at no additional cost. According to a press release, the program, called Critical Time Intervention, is part of the state’s Ten-Year Mental Health Plan and is designed to help reduce the number of psychiatric hospital readmissions. In the nine months following a person’s discharge, CTI coaches will work directly with the person and their community to ensure they have stable and sustainable living arrangements and employment and access to mental health resources and support. “Providing concrete, one-on-one support for people as they transition from hospital to home offers them a sense of stability and independence, and could potentially prevent a readmission to the inpatient setting,” DHHS Commissioner Lori Shibinette said in the release.

Bills signed

Last week, Gov. Chris Sununu signed 14 bills into law, according to a press release from the governor’s office. Bills included HB 1280, a law that prohibits a parent’s decision regarding vaccinating their child to be considered as evidence in any parental rights proceedings; and SB 270, a law under which New Hampshire’s Department of Energy will work with the state’s utility companies to enroll low- to moderate-income families in a community solar energy program, the release said. “Inflation and rising energy prices hit our low-income families hardest, and this bill will help ensure that these New Hampshire families and communities can share in the benefits of clean energy,” Gov. Sununu said in a statement. Families enrolled in the program will receive a credit on their electricity bill. Gov. Sununu also signed HB91, a law that allows the families of first responders who die by suicide to receive line-of-duty death benefits.

Reimbursement for testing

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will award a FEMA Public Assistance grant in the amount of $4,080,860 to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to reimburse the state for the cost of providing Covid testing. As part of a contract with Clear ChoiceMD, New Hampshire provided 22,988 Covid tests at four Clear ChoiceMD walk-in urgent care locations in Nashua, Claremont, Manchester and Newington between October and December 2021. To date, FEMA has awarded New Hampshire more than $137 million in Public Assistance grants for pandemic-related expenses.

Testing RELIEF

A research team at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon will receive $6.6 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study nonsurgical treatment options for urinary urgency incontinence. According to a press release, the study, called “Reduced-dose onabotulinumtoxinA for urgency Incontinence among Elder Females (RELIEF): A mixed methods randomized controlled trial,” will explore the treatment onabotulinumtoxinA, better known by the brand name Botox, which has shown some potential to be an effective treatment for urinary incontinence, particularly for older women, for whom there are few suitable urinary incontinence treatments available

The Loon Preservation Committee hosts its annual Loon Festival at The Loon Center in Moultonborough (183 Lees Mill Road) on Saturday, July 16. Now in its 43rd year, the festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will feature all kinds of loon-related fun, as well as wildlife displays and presentations, food, games, balloons, face painting and a dunk tank. See loon.org/event/annual-loon-festival.

Nearly two dozen items were stolen from the historic house in Franklin where statesman Daniel Webster was born in 1782. According to the Associated Press, the theft of items, most of which were replicas, is believed to have occurred sometime between July 3 and July 8.

The 2022 Loon Census will also take place on Saturday, July 16, from 8 to 9 a.m., inviting people to observe loons at lakes throughout the state to help the Loon Preservation Committee collect data about New Hampshire’s loons. To learn how you can participate in the census, visit loon.org/census.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig met with members of Moms Demand Action in Manchester on July 8 to discuss gun violence prevention efforts in New Hampshire, according to a press release from Sen. Shaheen’s office.

Caring for each other

From war to climate change, gun violence to inflation, it can seem that everything is going wrong. A recent conversation with Becky Field, New Hampshire photographer and immigrant advocate, reminded me that there is something each of us can do: We can welcome the stranger. Caring for one another is the first, best step we can take to heal our world.

My parents demonstrated this years ago.

During the Balkan Wars in the early 1990s, Mum and Dad greeted an exhausted Bosnian refugee family at the Manchester airport. They hosted them in their farmhouse for a month while others worked to find them housing, health care and jobs. Tense and chain-smoking, the father finally began to relax while helping Dad “pick rocks” in a field.

Over the years, my mother chatted with the mother in the grocery store or at a local event. Mum delighted in sharing that the children were doing well in school, the mother was in job training, and their citizenship applications were in progress.

Decades later, my father spent his last months in nursing care. One difficult night I stayed by his side as late as I could, agonized at leaving. When the new LNA came in, Dad smiled, weakly but warmly. It was the Bosnian mother. As luck or God would have it, she was there to help in our family’s time of need just as my parents had been in theirs.
When I bumped into the older daughter, we talked about our parents’ encounter. She wrote on Facebook, “Saw [one of] the family that first welcomed my family to [New Hampshire]. They housed us and treated us like family. Years later my sister and mom cared for their parents. This is to say that no kind act goes unnoticed.”

Despite the enormity of today’s challenges, individual actions and interactions matter. In response to war, natural disasters and forced migration, we can make our state welcoming, whether by volunteering with or donating to New Hampshire’s two refugee resettlement organizations, International Institute of New England (Manchester) or Ascentria Care Alliance (Concord), or by supporting local public transportation, education and affordable housing. Simply offering friendship may be the most valuable effort, impacting newcomers and welcomers alike. Caring for each other makes a world of difference in how we face problems and offers surprising benefits.

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