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This Week 22/08/04

Big Events August 4, 2022 and beyond

Thursday, Aug. 4

Catch the final home games of the regular season for the Nashua Silver Knights at Holman Stadium (67 Amherst St., Nashua) today at 6 p.m. against the Pittsfield Suns and Sunday, Aug. 7, at 3 p.m. against the Worcester Bravehearts. Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at nashuasilverknights.com.

Thursday, Aug. 4

Author Laurie Stone is speaking at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St. in Concord) about her book Streaming Now: Postcards From the Thing That is Happening. Stone’s book is a collection of feminist narratives and essays that discuss the paradoxes of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rise of using podcasts to combat loneliness. The discussion will begin at 6:30 p.m. The event is free to attend. See gibsonsbookstore.com

Friday, Aug. 5

Up, up and away for the 40th annual Suncook Valley Rotary Club Hot Air Balloon Rally beginning today at 3 p.m. at Drake Field, 17 Fayette St., Pittsfield. It will continue on Saturday, Aug. 6, and Sunday, Aug. 7, starting at 5:30 a.m. both days. The Rally will have carnival rides, helicopter rides, a regatta and live entertainment, and each night will end with a balloon lift off at 5:30 p.m., with a night glow at dusk to follow. The event is free and more information can be found at suncookvalleyrotary.org/sitepage/hot-air-balloon-rally/welcome.

Saturday, Aug. 6

The Belknap County Fair is returning today and will continue Sunday, Aug. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, at 174 Mile Hill Road in Belmont. The fair features animal shows, demonstrations, live entertainment, exhibits and food. Admission at the gate is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors over 65 and for police, fire and EMS personnel, and free for kids under 10 and for military service members. Visit bcfairnh.org for more information.

Saturday, Aug. 6

The Hampshire Dome (34 Emerson Road, Milford) is hosting WrestleQueerdom, the first ever wrestling event with all transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming wrestlers in North America. The main match is going to be VENY vs. Edith Surreal, what the venue is calling a dream match. There will be other wrestlers from across the country and world competing against each other. The doors for general admission open at 7 p.m. and general addition tickets cost $20. For more information, visit the organization’s Twitter page at twitter.com/w_queerdom.

Monday, Aug. 8

Local author and journalist Kathleen Bailey is debuting her new book New Hampshire War Monuments: The Stories Behind the Stones, at Gibson’s Bookstore (45 S. Main St., Concord) at 6:30 p.m. Bailey and her daughter Sheila Bailey, the photographer for the book, will discuss the history behind war monuments across the Granite State, and why it’s important to understand what these monuments mean. The event is free to attend. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com for more information.

Save the Date! Saturday, Sept. 17
Inconceivable! The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes will grant the wishes of The Princess Bride-loving Granite Staters for a behind-the-scenes look at the classic film on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. The event, which will be at the Chubb Theatre (44 S Main St, Concord), will feature a screening of the film, followed by a Q&A session with the actor. Tickets cost $36 to $46, and VIP tickets are $150. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets can be bought at ccanh.com.

Featured photo. The Silver Knights. Courtesy photo.

Quality of Life 22/08/04

A kid helping kids

Local Boy Scout John Larochelle partnered with the Hillsborough County chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit organization that builds bunk beds for children in New Hampshire who do not have a bed, to build five bunk beds as part of his Eagle Project. Larochelle, who is a Scout with Troop 118 in Manchester, organized a bed-building event with volunteer builders at Camp Carpenter in Manchester last weekend. He said in a press release that he also hopes his project will “potentially foster future cooperation between Sleep in Heavenly Peace and Scouting.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: There are around 2,000 kids in Hillsborough County who are currently sleeping on the floor, according to the release.

Prohibited by humans, unwelcomed by dogs

Illegal use of fireworks has been on the rise in the Manchester area over the past few weeks, the Manchester Fire Department reported in a press release. The sale, possession and use of fireworks in Manchester are strictly prohibited by City Ordinance. The Manchester Police and Fire Departments have been receiving “numerous complaints and calls for service from citizens” in regard to fireworks, the release said, which has led the departments to begin conducting enforcement efforts on various weekend nights throughout the rest of the summer.

QOL score: -1

Comment: The Manchester Fire Department wants to educate and remind the public that illegal fireworks (which, in QOL’s experience and on the milder end of effects, can awaken and startle babies and dogs) cause many injuries and deaths and are the cause of many fires and property damages every year, the release said.

West Nile in 2022

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the state’s first batch of mosquitoes to test positive for West Nile Virus in 2022. According to a press release, the mosquitoes were collected by Manchester Health Department on July 20 as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to monitor the risk level of mosquito-borne illnesses and advise risk mitigation steps to protect the public’s health. West Nile Virus is one of three arboviruses transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes identified in the state.

QOL score: -2

Comment: Most people infected with West Nile Virus do not develop symptoms or develop mild symptoms, according to the release, though a small percentage of people infected experience severe symptoms which can lead to central nervous system diseases, such as meningitis or encephalitis.

Charging it

A recent WalletHub study ranked New Hampshire at No. 8 out of the 50 U.S. states and District of Columbia for States with the Highest Credit Card Debts. The study looked at the median credit card balance and monthly credit card payment amount for residents in each state to determine the time it would take to pay off the balance with an average interest rate of 16.17 percent and the interest costs that would accrue during that pay-off period. Residents of New Hampshire were determined to have a median credit card balance of $2,372, with an expected payoff period of 14 months and three days and $231 in interest accrued.

QOL Score: -1

Comment: According to the study, Americans made record-setting payoffs on their credit card debt in 2020 thanks to the stimulus checks, but racked up large amounts of debt in 2021.

QOL score: 86

Net change: -3

QOL this week: 83

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

The week that was

News Item: PGA-LIV Battle Heats Up

The controversial start-up LIV world golf tour currently giving the PGA tour indigestion had its first U.S. event this week when it stopped where else but at Donald Trump’s New Jersey golf course, which naturally started off with a headline-making bout with the PGA by telling players to take the huge money being offered by the Saudi Arabia-financed LIV tour. He’s not the only one saying that, but given the track record it likely has more to do with revenge against the Tour for yanking the PGA Championship from his course after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Politics aside, the question I have about the LIV is this: Is golf about watching top players play, or about them fitting into the annual march of PGA-affiliated major championship? In other words, do you watch golf in the second week of April every year to see the players or how they do competing at Augusta National in the Masters?

Time will tell of course. Though it did not get off to a rousing start, as while the weekend crowds were larger, the Wall Street Journal described attendance as “sparse.”

News Item: Should C’s Trade For Durant?

The big on-court basketball story was the Celtics allegedly offering Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant. With Durant likely in the top three players in the league, the pluses for him are obvious. Not the least of which was Brooklyn being 29-6 before he got hurt last year when they promptly disintegrated. Which is appealing to a team that’s won one stinking title in 36 years.

But here are three things to consider: (1) He’s become a very vocal whiner. What will that do to team chemistry? (2) First he wanted out in Oak City. That’s understandable because he had to live in Oklahoma to play there and coexist with the ball hog Russell Westbrook. But it was the same with epitome of team play Golden State and now Brooklyn. So you have to wonder if he’ll ever be happy. Especially as he gets to the grumpy old man phase of his career. (3) Megalomaniac Brooklyn GM Sean Marks wants Brown, Marcus Smart, another rotation player and three first-round picks for Durant. So are you ready to gut a young team that just added two solid bench players after coming up two games short of winning the NBA title, for a 34-year-old star coming off two seasons marred by major injuries in the last three years?

News Item: Pats Open Camp

Three things stood out above the rest as pre-season camp opened for the Patriots last week.(1) With Mac Jones firmly established at QB, for the first time in two years Tom Brady’s long shadow no longer hovers over the team. (2) After a horrid showing in the final month and several major departures, the defense is filled with question marks, especially at linebacker and in the secondary. (3) As the transition from the vestiges of the last three Super Bowl-winning teams fade and the newcomers from last year’s free agent haul have a year in the saddle, the search is on for new faces to emerge as leaders and high-end performers to keep the rebuild moving forward.

News Item: Ortiz Goes to Cooperstown

Congrats to David Ortiz for his well-earned first ballot entry into Baseball’s Hall of Fame two Sundays ago. But seeing that it took former Minnesota Twins teammates Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva until they were in their 80s and Boys of Summer Brooklyn great Gil Hodges over five decades since he died of a heart attack we have to ask, what took them so long?

The latter three were voted in by a committee of former players who got it right long after baseball writers kept missing. So congrats to three who should have been in years ago.

News Item: Benefit Found for Yellow Uniforms

Well, we finally discovered a good use for the RED Sox’ offensive yellow uniforms, which they wore all through the carnage of last week. It is that it let them play in disguise as they stunk up the joint so no one knew it was them as they fell into last place.

News Item: The Greatest Ever Passes On

After the passing of legendary Celtic Bill Russell at 88 on Sunday tributes to his greatness have been written all week. So instead I’ll just tell you about the one conversation I had with the great man.

It happened during a pre-season practice, Oct. 12, 1999. Not even sure how it started, but it went for about 45 minutes after he blurted out how impressed he was with young Shaquille O’Neal. Not the player, but the kid. “He must have good parents, because he’s a nice young man.”

Given Shaq’s immense size, I asked how he compared to his rival Wilt Chamberlain. A knowing smile came over his face as he said, “It’s hard to describe how good he was,” and he went on about him for quite a while. After hearing about the friction between the two, that made me feel good as his affection was obvious.

The conversation got so comfortable I even punked him, by saying to something he said about high school, “That’s not what [HS teammate and baseball Hall of Famer] Frank Robinson told me.” And he shot back, “Whuuut did he say?” I said I didn’t know Frank and was just kidding. That brought out the famous cackle, which was the high point of the chat.

I remember the exact day, because a short while later I heard on my car radio Wilt had just been found dead in his L.A. home. A surreal moment that’s always made our conversation bittersweet. But I will say it was the most normal one I ever had with a famous person and I’ve met a lot of them.

RIP, big fella, and thanks for the memories

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Journey to safety

Derry woman brings her Ukrainian family to NH

Nataliya Androsovych, a Ukrainian-American living in Derry, shared her story of bringing her mother, Olga, and 9-year-old nephew, Lev, who had fled from Ukraine, to safety in New Hampshire. For information on a local effort to help the people of Ukraine, visit dobroinc.org.

What is your connection to Ukraine?

I was born in Ukraine, went to school and university there and got married. My first child was born in Ukraine. I come there every other year as we still have family and friends there.

At what point did you decide to go overseas to get your mother and nephew?

When [the war] started, I wasn’t able to eat, drink, sleep — I wasn’t even functioning. I was worried about my mother being alone as my brother, a former military officer, might be taken back to the army. … Though [where they lived in Ukraine] was not that bad compared to the other part of the country, it is nice to give them some peace from the air raids. I can’t even imagine how difficult it is to go and hide every time when needed. They lived on the third floor, and at some point, she just gave up going down to a hiding place, which was a cold basement. They [started] just hiding between the walls in the entryway of their apartment. My nephew could not sleep for a month and would wake up every night screaming that they needed to hide. … I asked them to leave as I knew that I [could] come and get them and bring [then] here. [Bringing] them here would give everyone relief and peace of mind.

How did you manage to get them out of Ukraine?

I told my mom and nephew to leave Ukraine in March. They went to Poland. … [They] walked for five hours in the cold to cross the border. … Then, [they spent] a couple days there in a refugee facility with 100 other people. … Then, they were picked up by my friend, [who] brought them to Germany … where they stayed with three other families. I was able to find people in Stockholm who helped to accommodate them there. After [they spent] three weeks there, I moved my mom and nephew to Sweden … where I went to pick them up. However, it wasn’t that easy to bring them here to the U.S. without a visa.

How does it feel having them here now?

I’m so happy to have mom and nephew here with me. … Here, they are safe and don’t need to worry about getting food [and shelter]. … I admire my mom for her strength as she went above and beyond to save her grandchild.

Are you involved in any efforts in New Hampshire to help the people of Ukraine?

I’m closely working with a nonprofit organization [called] Dobro. It was started by my friends. We are doing Ukrainian fairs, collecting clothes, and I’m personally knocking [on] every door asking people for donations. [This] money [is] used to buy medicine, ammunition and give all necessary help directly [to people in Ukraine], bypassing huge organizations. My friends who are at the front lines fighting need basic T shirts, boots, tactical gloves [and] military first aid. With Dobro, all that is bought and delivered with the help of trusted people in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. This way, we save [on] shipping costs.

The following questions were asked of Nataliya’s mother, Olga, with her answers translated from Ukrainian to English by Nataliya.

What went through your mind when you heard your daughter wanted to come bring you to New Hampshire?

I was happy. It is very hard to be alone in a foreign country without [knowing the] language and [having] family around. I knew we would be welcome at my daughter’s house and could relax and enjoy time together with her family.

What has it been like for you so far, living in New Hampshire? How are you adjusting?

No matter how wonderful it is here, I miss my home a lot. It is still hard to be [somewhere] without [knowing the] language. But my daughter is trying everything possible to make it easier for us. We go to the beach every weekend. We go sightseeing, to the zoo and to the lake.

What would you like people here in New Hampshire to know about what’s going on in Ukraine?

It is important to know the truth about what’s going on in Ukraine. Don’t believe what Russian media [says] about Ukraine. It’s a true war there … [with] innocent lives taken away. There are lots of people who suffer as they lost their loved ones, their houses — everything. War is a very scary thing, and it is important that everyone understands that and continues to protect peace. Life, health and family are the most precious things we could have. Please be kind to each other.

Do you plan to go back?

Yes, we are planning to go back. My son is there, and my grandson misses his dad and school friends. Because we came on a visa, we won’t be able to make sure that my grandson goes to school [here]. Hopefully things work out there for us. However, if anything changes, we will go back to the U.S.

Featured photo: Nataliya Androsovych, left, with her mother, Olga, right. Courtesy photo.

News & Notes 22/08/04

Cash for Nashua Fire

The Department of Homeland Security and FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant will award $569,036 to the City of Nashua to be used for operations and safety improvements for the Nashua Fire Department. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds the grant, applauded the award in a press release. “Granite State firefighters play a critical role serving on the front lines to protect their communities. It’s crucial they have access to the resources necessary to do their jobs safely and effectively, no matter the emergency,” she said. “I’m thrilled that this federal award is heading to Nashua, which will go toward necessary upgrades.” The AFG program allows funds granted to fire departments to be put toward training, equipment, personal protective equipment, wellness and fitness activities and modifications of the station.

Quality status

Waypoint, a Manchester-based private nonprofit human service agency and the oldest children’s charitable organization in New Hampshire, has been designated a “Family Resource Center of Quality” by the Wellness and Primary Prevention Council of the New Hampshire legislature. To qualify for the designation centers must engage in an extensive application process and ongoing self-assessment, seeking feedback from participants and community partners, and consent to a site visit for review by the Council. According to a press release, Waypoint, which offers more than two dozen programs throughout the state for people of all ages, earned the designation by “demonstrating exemplary practice building family strengths.” “Waypoint is thrilled to have achieved this status as an FRC-Q in Manchester,” Missy Oglebay, Family Resource Center coordinator and supervisor of Family Support, said in the release. “For those of us in the family service field in New Hampshire, this designation represents our commitment to the people we serve with programs that are proven to have a positive impact.”

Help for estuaries

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that $132 million from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be invested in the National Estuaries Program, providing up to $4.5 million over the next five years to estuaries in New England considered to have national significance, including New Hampshire’s Piscataqua Region Estuaries. According to a press release, the funds will support work being done to protect and restore the estuaries. “This latest infusion of federal dollars serves as a continued reminder about how the bipartisan infrastructure law is delivering for New Hampshire communities,” U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was a lead negotiator on the legislation alongside U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, said in the release. “It’s exciting to see how these dollars will make a tangible difference in our communities, and in this case, through restoring water quality and ecological integrity in the Piscataqua Region Estuaries.”

Granite Stater in Ukraine

Bedford resident Brian Nolen will go to Ukraine on Aug. 9 for his third humanitarian mission overseas to help people affected by the war in Ukraine. Nolen and fellow Bedford resident John Fitzgerald previously made two three-week trips to Poland and Ukraine, supported with funds raised through a GoFundMe drive, to work with nonprofits to deliver shipments of essential aid to refugees throughout Ukraine and to transport refugees in Ukraine across the border. “When Russia invaded Ukraine this past February, like so many of us, I felt compelled to do something to help the Ukrainian people,” Nolen said in an email. “I quickly decided that I had to head over there to help out, however I could.” To learn how you can support Nolen in his efforts to help the people of Ukraine during his upcoming trip, visit bedford4ukraine.com.

New to the board

Gov. Chris Sununu has appointed Evelyn Whelton of Madison to serve on the New Hampshire Housing Board of Directors, and Chris Norwood of Portsmouth to serve as chair of the board, according to a press release. Whelton is the senior vice president and retail lending sales manager for Bank of New Hampshire and the founder and a board member of the Mount Washington Valley Housing Coalition. Norwood is president of the NAI Norwood Group, where he focuses on commercial real estate sales. The nine-member board, created by the state legislature, promotes, finances and supports affordable housing in the state through a homeownership division, a multifamily housing division, an assisted housing division and a policy, planning and communications group that conducts research and presents reports on housing issues in the state.

The New Hampshire Farm, Forest and Garden Expo will move to a new location and a new date for its 40th annual event in 2023. Formerly held indoors at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown in February, the expo will now be held outdoors at the Deerfield Fairgrounds in the spring the weekend of May 5 and May 6. According to a press release, the outdoor space will allow the expo to grow and feature running farm machinery, more live animals and more. Visit nhfarmandforestexpo.org.

The Claremont Growers Collective and Claremont Cooks will present their first-ever Tomato Jam at Winter Street Farm in Claremont (344 Winter St.) on Saturday, Aug. 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. The community event will feature organic farm field tours, a salsa-making competition and fresh wood-fired pizzas. Visit claremontgrowers.org.

The Nashua Regional Planning Commission will hold a Household Hazardous Waste Collection at the Nashua City Park & Ride (25 Crown St.) on Saturday, Aug. 6, from 8 a.m. to noon. The collection, which is open to residents of Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Nashua, Pelham and Windham, will accept waste such as oil-based and lead paints, solvents, thinners, polyurethane, antifreeze, gasoline, pesticides, insecticides, household cleaners, mercury, fluorescent light bulbs and more. There is a fee of $15 per vehicle (cash or check only), with additional charges for waste exceeding 10 gallons or 20 pounds. Visit nashuarpc.org/hhw or call 417-6570.

Pay attention, get involved

Even though I am a transplant who has lived in this state for more than 20 years, there are occasions when I am especially aware of just what it means to live in a state the motto of which is “Live Free or Die.” Such a recognition came recently. Although the details of the attempt on the part of certain residents of Croydon, New Hampshire, to halve the annual school budget, as well as the successful later counter to restore it, are well known, the lesson for me, as well for all of us, is one worthy of serious self-reflection.

Like many of my fellow Granite Staters, I live in a small town. I am fortunate that mine is one that has an efficient and useful website as well as a robust email alert system. My neighbors and I receive regular announcements of all town meetings as well as their agendas. These I read dutifully, but too often my engagement stops there and I fear I’m not alone in that regard. It is a rare agenda item that would draw me to attend a meeting in person. It must be some kind of utilitarian criterion that I’m applying in such situations, the logic of which would go something like this: “If it’s a really important issue for me that will be discussed or voted on, then I’ll go; if it’s not I won’t.”

What is lost in that logic, however, is the other, equally important aspect of democracy, namely a shared sense of responsibility for our community and a corresponding obligation to participate. Something akin to the latter is what I often feel on town voting day, when, standing in line with neighbors, friends and strangers, I feel a sense of solidarity that together we are doing something important and are seeing one another in the act of doing it, voting on issues of common importance. It is a sense of a common will for a commonweal.

This year will be my 13th serving as executive director of Leadership New Hampshire, an organization founded as a recommendation of the gubernatorial Commission on NH in the 21st Century. Its mission statement is “Building a community of informed and engaged leaders.” Every year, from a large pool of applicants from across our state, LNH selects 32 people to participate in a one-day-a-month intensive program that seeks to familiarize them with the needs, challenges, people and resources of our state, so that, being better informed about our state and its communities, the graduates — and now, in its 30th year, there are more than 1,000 of them — will get even more engaged in their communities, region or state. But the “special chemistry” of LNH is the sense of solidarity the graduates develop over the 10-month together.

It does truly take a community, precisely because the members of one need to feel a sense of community. The people of Croydon found that out the hard way.

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