Tag: 230112

On The Job – Justin Marceau

Master electrician

Justin Marceau is a master electrician and owner of Oak Ridge Electrical based in Weare.

Explain your job and what it entails.

We provide full electrical services, from brand new homes to service work to repair work and renovations for residential and commercial clients.

How long have you had this job?

I have been in the electrical field for 11 years, and I started my business in 2021.

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

I owned my own business before this doing audio-visual commercial projects in Boston. The opportunity to get into electrical kind of just fell in my lap after that, and once I started working in this space, it just clicked, and I realized fast it was my calling in life.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I needed four years of electrical curriculum and four years of on-the-job training to obtain a Journeyman license, plus an additional year of curriculum and on-the-job training to become a Master Electrician for New Hampshire. There is additional training and curriculum you can obtain for specialties within electrical, and on-the-job training, too, in specialty areas that can make a big difference in the services you can offer. For example, I have training and work experience with HVAC wiring.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

There’s no specific uniform per se, but on a typical day, I wear an Oak Ridge Electrical logoed shirt and hat, loose-fitting pants and work boots. When we do outside projects, I make sure to wear extra layers, with a hat and gloves.

How has your job changed over the course of the pandemic?

The scope of work has not changed, but it has gotten much busier since the pandemic. When the pandemic first hit, I was working in downtown Boston, and electrical services were and still are considered an essential service, so I really did not skip a beat. During the pandemic, we had to maintain social distancing and wear masks for quite some time in 2020, but now, in 2023, we are as busy as ever doing home and commercial projects.

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

I wish I had known earlier in my working career, like in my early 20s, that this is what I was meant to do. I got into electrical in my 30s and I am so glad I did, but I do wish I had explored this career option right out of high school.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

That this work can be very dangerous and really is only meant for trained, qualified professionals. I see a lot of unqualified people taking on their own electrical projects which then ends up creating fire hazards and personal injury hazards, and they are putting lives and people’s properties at risk. It’s a good idea to always consult a licensed electrician before taking on any electrical task.

What was the first job you ever had?

I sold newspapers in front of a grocery store for the Houston Chronicle in Texas. I was 14 years old. We moved back to New Hampshire shortly after that.

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

Be on time, and look to learn something new every single day.

Five favorites

Favorite book: The Chamber by John Grisham
Favorite movie: Lucky Number Slevin
Favorite music: Elton John
Favorite food: Prime rib and baked potato
Favorite thing about NH: The mix of nature, solitude and being in the middle of it all

Featured photo: Justin Marceau. Courtesy photo.

Kiddie Pool 23/01/12

Family fun for the weekend

WinterFest fun

LaBelle Winery (14 Route 111 in Derry) will celebrate WinterFest on Saturday, Jan. 14, and Sunday, Jan. 15, featuring tastings and other events. Especially for the kids: on Sunday, LaBelle will hold a WinterFest Family Bash from 3 to 5:30 p.m. The celebration will feature children’s musician Steve Blunt, winter animal activities with the Audubon Society, and hands-on crafts and story time with the Derry Public Library. Admission to the Family Bash costs $10 for ages 4 and up (kids 3 and under get in for free). Admission to LaBelle Lights, the walking tour through a light display, costs $16 for ages 13 to 64; $10 for 65+; $8 for ages 4 to 12 and is free for ages 3 and under. LaBelle Lights runs daily, Wednesday through Sunday, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. and has been extended through Saturday, Jan. 21. Purchase tickets for LaBelle events at labellewinery.com.

Learning artsy things

• The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; currier.org) has a full slate of winter classes for kids, both in person and online. In-person classes include “Pen, Pencil and Marker!” a four week drawing class running Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. (starting Jan. 25) and “Draw, Paint, Print!” a four week class on Saturdays at 12:15 p.m. (starting Jan. 28). On Tuesday, Jan. 17, a five-week “Comics for Kids” class begins running from 4:30 to 6 p.m. via Zoom. All three classes are for students in third through fifth grade. The Currier also has four-week in-person classes for kindergarten through second grade: “Art Explorers” on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. (starting Jan. 26) and “Strawberries, Ice Cream and Candy” on Saturdays at 10:15 (starting Jan. 28). For grades 6 through 9, a four-week in-person “Expressive Landscapes” class runs Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. (starting Jan. 25). For teens, a five-week online class “Character Design for Storytelling” runs Saturdays (starting Jan. 21) from 1 to 3 p.m. and a four-week in-person class “Patterns, Paints and Printmaking for Teens” (14+) is on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. (starting Jan. 26). Go online to register.

• Kids who are curious about learning music can take a free trial class at the Nashua Community Music School (2 Lock St.) on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 6:30 p.m. Students ages 8 to 11 can meet one of the teachers, Miss Holly, and test out two of the classes: Master Musicians and Intro to Singing. While the trial is free, the school does request reserving a spot in advance. Visit nashuacms.org for more information. Library activities

• Kids in grades 4 through 6 can join the Nashua Public Library (2 Court St.) for a hot chocolate bar and book swap on Thursday, Jan. 12, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The library recommends bringing a couple of books to swap over a steaming cup of hot cocoa topped off with goodies from the library’s topping bar. Registration is recommended and can be done at nashualibrary.org.

• The Heights Branch Library (14 Canterbury Road, Concord) is hosting storytime stations on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 9:30 a.m. There will be stories, crafts, activities, felt boards and more. Kids and their caregivers can take their time at each of the stations without feeling rushed through the activities during the two-hour story time. For more information about this event, visit concordnh.gov.

• The Manchester City Library (405 Pine St.) is hosting a train party on Tuesday Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. There will be train games and a simple craft, a sing-and-dance-along featuring songs like “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,” and a special train-themed story time. This program is designed for kids ages of 2 through 5. Registration is recommended and can be done by calling 624-6550, ext. 7628. Visit manchester.lib.nh.us for more information.

Showtime!

• Come to the Palace Theatre (80 Hanover St., Manchester) to see Frozen Jr. on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m. or 6 p.m. The show follows the plot of Disney favorite Frozen (PG, 2019) and is cast with teens in the Palace Theatre’s youth theater program. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased at palacetheatre.org.

Save the date

Look forward to Dragons and Mythical Beasts at the Chubb Theatre (44 S. Main St., Concord) on Sunday, Jan. 22. The show brings audience members face to face with fantastical creatures like the Stone Troll, the Indrik and Japanese Baku, the Tooth Fairy, a unicorn and a majestic griffin through the puppet mastery of Nicoll Entertainment. Ticket prices start at $25. The show starts at 2 p.m., doors open at 1 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ccanh.com.

Treasure Hunt 23/01/12

Dear Donna,

We recently moved into a new old home. The previous owners left this stove and we have no need for it. They told us it was functional, but we’re not sure of that for ourselves. So we’re looking for an estimate of value to sell it. Thought you might be able to help, possibly pointing us in the right direction.

Thank you for your time.

Renee

Dear Renee,

I did some research for you on values, even though antique stoves are not something I deal with often. Too heavy!

Your antique enamel wood cooking and heating stove looks to be in good condition for being from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. You want to market it “as is,” though, not knowing if it’s functional.

If it’s in working condition it warms the home, cooks and has warming ovens on top as well. Just imagine using it every day!

The values, Renee, are all over the place from $500 to $2,000 and up. But finding the higher-end value could be so much tougher than finding a good home. So I think if it were me I would start in the under $1,000 range.

I hope this gave you a starting place and you find it a new home. When working they create so much warmth! Like a good hug!

Projects in the garden

Use winter to make your plans

It’s gray and chilly outside, but I have a fire in the new woodstove that warms the house and pleases me as I look through its glass window. I’ve been in the same house since 1970, so I’ve had plenty of time to plan and execute projects. I’d like to share with you some of my memories of those efforts in hopes that some of you will be inspired to take on similar projects of your own.

The biggest projects I did were in the 1980s after returning from my time with the Peace Corps in Africa. My house came with just an acre when I bought it, but I had been able to buy another acre or two while away, and I wanted to utilize it well for gardens. My home was built as a butter factory in 1888 on a hillside. The land dropped off sharply to a field alongside a little stream and some woods.

My first project was to terrace off the hillside behind the house and make a gently sloping access for wheelbarrows, people and dogs to the field where I planned to grow vegetables and flowers. I wanted to terrace off part of the hillside so that I could have drier soil for growing fruit trees — fruit trees hate wet feet!

I was 36 years old when I returned from Africa and had plenty of energy but limited cash reserves, so I did almost all the work myself. I found a local fellow who sold me 13 dump truck loads of topsoil. He looked at the site and told me he couldn’t drive to the far end of the potential terrace with soil, so he dumped it all in one place and I had to move it with a wheelbarrow! The area for fruit trees was 10 to 20 feet wide and 80 feet long, but that did not daunt me at all.

After creating a nice flat place for apple trees and a gentle road 10 feet wide built to the lower field, I constructed an 80-foot-long stone retaining wall. I had plenty of stones on the property so I went about harvesting them using a borrowed “stone boat.” It was a wooden sled on runners about 3 feet wide and 6 feet long.

metal brush hook in snow
This brush hook is great for clearing out brambles and small trees. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

I had a chain attached to the front runners of the stone boat so I could pull it with my riding lawn mower (I’ve never thought I needed a tractor). I rolled or flipped big stones end to end until I got them out of the woods to the stone boat and dragged them away. A neighbor also let me have some large rounded stones from a fallen-down stone wall.

I built the wall before the days of the internet and endless YouTube videos, so I asked friends what to do. Drainage is important, they all said: dig out below the site for the wall and put small stones there and behind the wall. Unfortunately, instead of buying crushed stone, I bought pea stone — small round pebbles. Big mistake. Round stones act a bit like ball bearings, allowing stones to move and tumble as the winter frost lifts them. Over the years I have had to repair and rebuild the wall many times. But it still pleases me even though it is not a perfect wall.

The back field had grown up in willows, alders and brambles over the years I was away. I used a brush hook, a simple hand tool with a curved sharp blade, to cut them down. Then, with a cheap used riding lawn mower, I mowed the land to keep things from growing back, and I dug out roots where I could.

The next year I had a farmer with a moldboard plow on his tractor come and plow the area I wanted for a large vegetable garden. This type of plow digs up the soil about 8 inches deep and flips it over, burying all the grasses and weeds. That mostly killed them, and allowed me to start growing vegetables.

I also bought several truckloads of aged manure from a farmer and worked it into the soil with an old potato hoe — a five-tined tool like a rake, but with 2-inch spaces between the 8-inch teeth. Each year for a decade, at least, I worked in a truckload of old manure, increasing soil fertility and improving tilth.

I like having stonework, arbors and sculpture in the garden. Over the years I’ve made plenty of bentwood arbors for the entrance to the vegetable garden. Since neither of the “rot-resistant” trees (cedar and locust) grows here, I used maple saplings that were plentiful but only lasted three or four years. I placed them 4 feet apart and bent the tops together over the walkway, and wired them together. I wired on one-inch branches to make places for decoration and for vines to grab onto.

Later, I decided to use cedar fence posts to make garden structures. Cedar posts are available locally and last for many years. I have one 10-foot-diameter hexagon that I built to support grapes and wisteria vines that only now, after more than 20 years, is falling apart. I plan to extract the vines from the structure this summer and rebuild the whole thing.

Big projects are fun to take on, but at age 76 I am not looking for more of them. I plan to build some more raised beds for vegetables this year — they are great as one need not bend over so far to plant, weed and harvest. I also find that they have fewer weeds and grasses than in-ground beds, where many weeds just creep into the beds from adjacent areas. Even an 8-inch-tall wood bed will prevent that from happening.

I don’t see myself ever giving up on gardening so long as I can still get around. Yes, I may eliminate some high-maintenance plants and substitute shrubs, perhaps. But I started young and hope to garden till the day I die. Winter is the time to plan, so think of your own projects now, too, and tell me what they are if you wish. I’m always interested.

Featured photo: This vine structure is now old and falling down, ready for replacement. Photo by Henry Homeyer.

The Art Roundup 23/01/12

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

• MLK Day: The Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St. in Manchester; 669-6144, currier.org) will hold a free community celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 16, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Hampshire artist Richard Haynes will lead a public discussion and mural project (starting at 11 a.m.; the community mural painting will start at noon and go through 4 p.m.), according to a Currier newsletter. Tours will meet in the lobby at 1 and 2 p.m., a reveal of the mural will be at 4 p.m. and there will be a screening of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in the auditorium at 4:15 p.m., the newsletter said. The Currier will also be collecting new socks, comfortable clothing and personal hygiene items for Waypoint, according to the website.

• Also at the Currier: The Currier is slated to start a series of conversations over Zoom examining a piece of artwork from the museum’s collection and exhibitions on Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 1 p.m. (with “Cityscape with Mill” by Tim Portlock). The free 30-minute program, geared to adults, runs Wednesdays at 1 p.m. The Wednesday, Jan. 18, focus is “Boy Holding Grapes and Hat” by Judith Leyster; on Wednesday, Jan. 25, the focus will be “Yellowave” by Jiha Moon from the exhibit “State of the Art 2020: Locate,” according to a museum newsletter. Registration is required and accepted until noon on the day of the event; see currier.org.

The Sky Within
The Concord Chorale will present “The Sky Within,” a concert celebrating the themes of sky, flight and letting go and showcasing musical styles including works by Brahms, Renaissance madrigals and contemporary works, on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 22, at 3 p.m. The concerts will take place at South Congregational Church (27 Pleasant St. in Concord) and the Sunday show will also be livestreamed. See concordchorale.org for tickets, which cost $20.

• Two actors, 19 roles: Kari Buckley and Maria Jung play 19 roles — including two best friends — in Is Edward Snowden Single?, a “volcanic comedy about pretty lies and ugly truths” at the Players’ Ring Theatre (105 Marcy St. in Portsmouth; playersring.org, 436-8123) Friday, Jan. 13, through Sunday, Jan. 29. The show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $27 general admission, $24 for students and 65+.

• Mandy Patinkin: Tickets are still available for “Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Being Alive” at the Capitol Center for the Arts (Chubb Theatre, 44 S. Main St. in Concord; ccanh.com) on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40 through $95 (plus fees).

• Hitchcock comedy: The New Hampshire Theatre Project will present The 39 Steps, a comic riff on the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Friday, Jan. 20, through Sunday, Feb. 5, at the company’s 50-seat black box theater at 959 Islington St. in Portsmouth. The show, which is directed by Blair Hundertmark and stars Shawn Crapo and Courtney St. Gelais, will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $30 general admission, $26 for students, seniors and veterans. See nhtheatreproject.org.

Guys and Dolls
The Educational Theater Collaborative (based at Plymouth State University) will present Guys and Dolls at the Flying Monkey Performance Center (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com, 536-2551) Wednesday, Jan. 18, through Sunday, Jan. 22. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets start at $25.

• Be a jellicle cat: The Palace Youth Theatre will hold auditions for performers in grades 2 through 12 for Cats: Young Actors Edition on Friday, Jan. 20, with sessions at 5, 6 and 7 p.m., according to a press release. “Expect to stay for your entire one-hour audition slot. You will learn a dance and be asked to sing after,” said the release, which instructed auditioners to come prepared to sing a short section of a song a cappella (musical theater or Disney preferred). The show will run at the Palace Theatre in Manchester Tuesday, March 7, through Wednesday, March 15. To schedule an audition time, email [email protected] with performer’s name, age and preferred time. The auditions will be held at Forever Emma Studios (516 Pine St. in Manchester).

• Looking for Wolves: Cue Zero Theatre Company will hold auditions for its April production of The Wolves, a gritty drama by Sarah DeLappe directed by Erin Downey, on Monday, Jan. 30, and Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Arts Academy of New Hampshire in Salem. All characters in the production are female/female presenting, according to the press release. Sign up for an audition slot at CZTheatre.com and those auditioning should prepare a one-minute dramatic monologue and be prepared to read sides on request; callbacks are Sunday, Feb. 5, the release said. Get information about the character breakdowns on the website.

• Camp Encore: The Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth has announced the dates and productions for its three multi-week summer camp sessions. Session 1, Theatre Creatures, will run three weeks, Monday, June 19, through Sunday, July 9, and feature Disney’s 101 Dalmatians Kids and The Aristicats Kids with public productions Saturday, July 8, and Sunday, July 9 at 11 a.m. Session 2, Stage Folks, runs two weeks, Monday, July 10, through Sunday, July 23, with productions on Saturday, July 22, and Sunday, July 23, at 11 a.m. Sessions 1 and 2 are open to ages 7 to 17. Session 3, Prescott Teens (Teen Musical Theatre Intensive), runs two weeks, Monday, July 24, through Sunday, Aug. 6, with shows Saturday, Aug. 5, and Sunday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. See prescottpark.org for pricing, including sibling and multi-camp discounts, and to register.

Toy planes and model aircraft
The “Holiday Festival of Toy Planes and Model Aircraft” exhibit has been extended at the Aviation Museum of New Hampshire (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry; nhahs.org, 669-4820) through Sunday, Jan. 22, according to the museum’s newsletter. The exhibit features more than 2,000 aviation toys and models. The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission costs $10 per person ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 6 to 12 and ages 65 and up; ages 5 and under and veterans and active military get in free, the release said.

Building an artistic community

New gallery in Manchester brings together many forms of art

By Katelyn Sahagian

[email protected]

Mosaic Art Collective, a combination of studio space and art gallery, opened in Manchester during the first Manchester Arts Festival in September. The owner, Elizabeth Pieroni, said it was important to her to have a space that celebrated the collaborative spirit studios had in her youth.

“Mosaic is something that I had wanted to do for a long time. Shortly after graduating I missed the idea of being in a studio space and having that community,” Pieroni said. “I realized quickly that this area is really hungry for something like this. A ton of artists needed space and wanted to show work.”

Pieroni, who grew up in Hooksett, left the Granite State to attend Maryland Institute College of Art, before working as an artist in Vermont and ultimately coming back to the Manchester area. During the pandemic, she said, she wished for a spot to do her work and get insight and advice from members of the art community. When restrictions were lifted, she immediately started looking for places to create a studio.

At Mosaic, Pieroni said, studio renters aren’t always working with visual arts. One person who rents a studio space works as a writer and in public relations, another is an art curator, more are artists, and she hopes in the future to have dancers and musicians in the group as well.

“The studio spaces are a hodge-podge. That’s what I intended,” Pieroni said. “I wanted … musicians and artists and performers and writers, looking for all of the arts to come together in a hub situation and be able to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other.”

Nothing highlights the collaborative spirit Pieroni envisioned as much as the ongoing show for January at Mosaic. The show, called “Conversations of home and heART,” combines writing, whether poetry or prose, with visual art. Artists created work to inspire writers, and vice versa, to create the feeling of “hygge,” the Danish term for comfort and coziness.

Pieroni has two of her own pieces on display, one that inspired a writer and a piece of text inspired by an artist. She said that the show will be eclectic and will have pieces from amateur writers and artists as well as professionals , including a poem from the state’s poet laureate, Alexandria Peary.

While the space operates as a studio and gallery primarily, Pieroni hopes Mosaic will become more, with plans to offer art classes and workshops in the future.

“My biggest hope is to make art more accessible for regular people,” Pieroni said. “I want to bring people in who don’t necessarily seek out an art opening on a Friday or Saturday night and have that become a part of the possibility for entertainment.”

Conversations of home and heART
Where: 66 Hanover St., Suite 201, in Manchester
When: Through Jan. 29 by appointment. There is an opening reception on Saturday, Jan. 14, from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
Visit: MosaicArtCollective.com

Featured photo: YOUGOD by Jason Bagatta.

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