Lending a Helping Hand at the Holidays

Lending a Helping Hand at the Holidays

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

The Wolfeboro Rotary Club’s Christmas tree sale circa 1950; courtesy Wolfeboro Rotary.

Each year, as the holidays approach, members of Lakes Region clubs and other organizations plan dinners, concerts, food basket deliveries and children’s toy and coat drives to name but a few ways to help others. It is a large part of belonging to a Rotary or Lion’s Club, or another service-oriented group. Non-members help as well with donations of food, money, goods and services to make the holidays brighter for those less fortunate.

This year, due to the pandemic, we might assume these programs would not take place. That assumption would be incorrect, because with some creative maneuvering and readjusting, many outreach efforts are underway.

The need for meals is great, and the Lakes Region Rotary is stepping up to help. According to Lakes Region Rotary member Gary Adams, the organization will be working with the Salvation Army in Laconia during its important Kettle Drive. Also, the Lakes Region Rotary supports the Salvation Army’s Friendly Kitchen on a bi-monthly basis. 

Says Adams, “Pre-COVID, we helped prepare meals but now, during the pandemic, the free lunches are not taking place on-site. Instead, we are partnering with different restaurants to supply meals.”

Some of the restaurants, including Domino’s Pizza, Sal’s Pizza in Laconia and South End Pizza, provide the pizzas. The pizzas are paid for by the Rotary (and are often generously discounted by the restaurants) and picked up by club members and transported to the Salvation Army in Laconia, where volunteers box up pizza meals for 50 to 65 people per lunch. The lunches are served on a to-go basis. The next Friendly Kitchen lunch with support from the Lakes Region Rotary is November 10, followed by a meal on January 2, 2021. 

“The need is there; pre-COVID we served about 35 meals at a Friendly Kitchen lunch and now we provide meals for up to 65 people per lunch,” observes Adams. 

The Lakes Region Rotary also presents a popular car show each year, and although it had to be a virtual event due to COVID this year, it generated funds. “It is a big fundraiser for us,” says Lakes Region Rotary Club president Mike Robichaud. “We donate to the Santa Fund, a program that provides winter coats, boots, hats and mittens for area children.” Robichaud speaks highly of the Santa Fund, and the good works they do for the area. 

For many years the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction has been a beloved part of the holidays. Indeed, this will be the 39th year for the auction fundraiser that helps many in the community by raising an ever-increasing amount of money. 

Says Jamie Sousa, chair of the auction event, “Last year was a record year for the auction and we raised over $600,000. This year, the event will be broadcast live from December 8-11 between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm from the Bank of NH Pavilion in Gilford. Media broadcasting the auction will be Channel 25 Lakes Region Public Access; Channel 12 Atlantic Broadband; 104.9 FM The Hawk and 101.5 Lakes FM.

“Due to the pandemic, the set will be closed this year and a limited number of volunteers will be on site, but the chance to bid on your favorites items will be as much fun as always.”

Sousa says many people get their Christmas shopping done by bidding on items during the auction, which range from handmade goods to dining gift cards to larger items such as sporting goods equipment, and even vacations in locations around the world, to name but a few categories. 

“We really need donations right now,” Sousa stresses. “We will have an Item Drive on November 27 and 28 from 10 am to 2 pm at Bank of NH Pavilion. During those two days, people can drop off donations.” There also are drop-off locations at many local businesses around the area.

Sousa anticipates an even greater need this year, due to the pandemic. The funds from the auction are disbursed to a number of worthy organizations (applications for funds are online at www.childrensauction.com.) The auction benefits Lakes Region children and families and there is a focus on non-profits that supply basic needs to needy people. You can learn more at the website. 

The Wolfeboro Lion’s Club is an active group dedicated to helping the community. At this time of year, a popular Poinsettia Sale is taking place. According to Lion’s Club information, the club is using the same NH supplier as in the past and they are happy to announce they are able to keep the pricing the same as last year.  Poinsettias are available in red, white, or pink and in three sizes: six-inch, eight-inch and 10-inch. 

This year, because of COVID, there will be no pick-up; all orders will be delivered by the Wolfeboro Lion’s Club to your home or business. Orders received by November 20 will be delivered on Tuesday, November 24 between 9 am and noon. Orders received by December 1 will be delivered on Saturday, December 5 between 9 am and noon.

By supporting the sale, you are giving back to the community. All profits (100%) are disseminated to various Lions projects, some of which are Operation Kids Sight (OKS) that screens school children for potential eye problems; eye exams/glasses and hearing tests/aids for those in need; sponsorship of local Boy Scout troop 165; a college book scholarship; the Doug Cady music scholarship; a NH Boat Museum boat building scholarship; Food Pantry donations and other worthy local causes. To get your order form for poinsettias, e-mail Lion Club member Joe at jrdecho@aol.com or call 603-630-3724.

The Wolfeboro Rotary Club is celebrating its 93rd year and while things are different everywhere due to the pandemic, the club will be holding their annual Rotary Christmas Tree Sale as usual at the Clark House Museum grounds on South Main Street in Wolfeboro. 

“The sale will start on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving,” says Wolfeboro Rotary president Brian Laing. “The sale will run until the trees are all sold, usually by mid-December. We will have 350 trees for sale, and they are native New Hampshire Balsams and Frasers. We will be open Thursdays through Sundays from 9 am to 2 pm.”

Laing adds that the tree sale is the major fundraiser for the club, and each year the money from the sale of trees goes back to local student scholarships and local non-profit charitable organizations. During the sale, all state regulations for safety during the pandemic will be adhered to. The Wolfeboro Rotary has been presenting the popular Christmas Tree Sale for over 50 years and it is a big part of the holiday season in the area. For information on the Wolfeboro Rotary Club and the Christmas Tree Sale, call Brian Laing at 603-273-2836.

In Meredith, many residents look forward to the Meredith Rotary’s senior holiday dinner. With the coming of COVID, many people wondered if the dinner they look forward to at the holidays would be cancelled. Although the meal cannot be held as usual (it has been held for over 20 years), it will happen in a drive-through format. 

Normally, the dinner is held at Inter-Lakes Elementary School with catering by Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant. The menu includes a traditional turkey dinner and dessert with Rotarians serving. The dinner typically sees around 300 seniors in attendance, enjoying the meal and a raffle and a time to socialize. 

The drive-through meal plans are still be coordinated as of press time, but the meal will assuredly take place, this year on December 6.  The meal will be available to Meredith, Center Harbor, Moultonborough and Sandwich residents age 55 and over. The Meredith Rotarians will hand out meals and direct traffic. Those who wish to pick up/order a meal must sign up in advance. For details and to sign up, call 603-279-7600 between November 4 through November 25. 

Many families in the Winnisquam area have a brighter holiday due to the efforts of the Tilton/Northfield Rotary. Members of the Rotary work hard during the Christmas season to gather and put together holiday food baskets and toys for children. The club also does Fruit Baskets for area senior citizens, and they are very popular and appreciated. “The Saturday before Christmas we put together the boxes for a Christmas meal for those in need in the Winnisquam area,” says Rotary past president Chuck Drew. The club coordinates their effort with the local welfare department and Tilton, Northfield, Sanbornton Christmas Fund. For information, visit www.tnrotary.org.

The Gilford Rotary Club is known for their annual Christmas tree sale and a wonderful Senior Dinner during the holidays. The Christmas tree sale will be held this year from November 27 to December 6; the hours will be 9 am-7 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and noon-7 pm on Monday through Thursday. COVID protocols will be in place and as one Rotarian said, “We will have beautiful trees and wreaths for sale.”

The Annual Ray Wixson Senior Dinner is usually held for area Senior citizens at the Gilford Community Church in Gilford village. The popular dinner is hosted and presented by the Gilford Rotary Club, with a holiday dinner, music and a visit from Santa. Due to the pandemic, this year the dinner will be drive-through only. For further information on the Christmas tree sale location and the Senior Dinner, please call 293-7958.

Notable NH Women in Politics

Yesteryear

Notable NH Women in Politics

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

The typical day for the average American housewife in the 1920s and 30s encompassed baking bread, making sure dinner was on the table when the man of the house returned from work, keeping every room clean and tackling the laundry, which was done in a wringer washer and hung to dry on a clothesline in the backyard. Added to this, there were the children to care for and such tasks as mending and sewing to complete. In the Victorian era, the chores were much the same, but you could add keeping the woodstoves going, cooking meals in even more crude kitchens, and generally housekeeping without aid of electricity or running water in some homes.

All this left little time for women to think about a career or life outside the realm of homemaker. That is why it is amazing some women in New Hampshire ran for and were successful in holding public office. 

Whether the women all over New Hampshire knew it or not, one woman in the state was fighting for the right to vote and other freedoms for he gender in the 1880s. Voting was a right Marilla Ricker of New Durham fought long and hard to achieve. A portrait of her in the NH State House, painted some time ago, shows the determination in her face and a steely resolve to get things done.  

It seems amazing that a young woman from such a tiny rural town as New Durham could achieve such great things and go into a much larger world. But Marilla was raised to be a free thinker and while others of her age and gender were dreaming of marriage, her sights were set on other things. Born in 1840, Marilla grew up to work in one of the few professions open to women at the time: she was a teacher. She held the position until she married Joh Ricker of Dover, NH.

Marilla’s husband was a wealthy farmer and when he died in the 1860s, Marilla found herself in the enviable position of being a wealthy widow. She traveled to Europe in the 1870s and gained a wider world view – and a solid education – while abroad.

Little is known of exactly why Marilla decided to become a lawyer, because it was a profession open only to men at the time. But given her years of travel, her free thinking childhood and the opportunities her wealth afforded her, these things likely put her on a career path. 

Marilla began to study law in Washington, DC, and gained admittance to the bar of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in 1882, according to Wikipedia. She outranked all 18 men who also took the exam. 

Serving the less fortunate during her years as a Washington, DC lawyer held top priority for Marilla and she was known as the “prisoners’ friend.” (She often worked for her clients for free.) In 1884 she was appointed examiner in chancery by the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia and later became New Hampshire’s first woman lawyer in July1890. The irony of her situation was not lost on Marilla: she was a NH resident and lawyer and even ran for governor, the laws of the land did not allow her to vote. (It should be mentioned that Marilla petitioned the NH Supreme Court for the right to practice law in the state after being denied that right because of her gender. The petition won in the court and the female lawyers of NH remember Marilla as a trailblazer.)

Marilla is believed to be among the first women in the state to attempt to vote and because she was a land owner and taxpayer in Dover, she believed she should have the voting right. She fought tirelessly and shortly before her death in 1920, women were given the right to vote.

Another tireless fighter in the world of law and politics was Doris “Granny D” Haddock of Laconia, NH. If you read the news in the late 1990s to around 2000, you surely heard of Granny D who took a walk – a very long walk – to bring awareness to the issue of campaign finance reform. 

She was aware of the issue and especially so after Senators John McCain and Russ Feingold made an effort to regulate campaign finances. The effort failed and Granny D decided to bring awareness to the cause. She started her walk in California in the first of January, 1999 (she was 88 year of age at the time) and ended the walk 14 months later at age 90. Needless to say, her walk and determination brought awareness to the issue, as did her visit to Washington, DC. 

Another Lakes Region woman who made a mark in politics was Bristol’s Maude Ferguson. She was born in 1883 and over the years, she accomplished a great deal.

Her name was actually Edna Maude Ferguson, although she went by the name E. Maude and most likely few called her by her first name. She was born to Edgar and Addie Fowler in August of 1883 in Danvers, Massachusetts. 

State Senator Maude Ferguson of Bristol, NH.

Maude graduated from Tilton Seminary in 1900 and went on to attend the Greeley School of Elocution and Dramatics in Boston, graduating in 1903. Historical information states Maude was an elocutionist, which is the study and practice of oral delivery and the control of voice and gesture. 

Perhaps this training eventually led Maude to politics, but she listed herself on census records as a housewife. This was not unusual at a time when women may have started to venture beyond the confines of home, but still maintained many of the conventions and pride in being a wife first and foremost.

Maude married Samuel Ferguson in 1912; they resided in Bristol (in the Newfound Lake area). When Maude was just one year of age, her father died; Addie moved to Bristol with the young Maude. In those days, Bristol, NH was a long way from Danvers, Massachusetts. What would have brought Addie to the little town?

It can be assumed that, upon the death of her husband, Maude’s mother moved to Bristol to live with her family. Maude’s maternal grandfather was Otis Kilton Bucklin, a successful local businessman. Otis at one time ran a hotel in nearby Grafton and later built and ran Brown’s Hotel in Bristol. He owned a carriage factory, also in Bristol and was a fruit grower with about 2,300 apple trees. He owned over five farms and also maintained property in Florida. Addie later remarried and became the wife of a local doctor and continued to reside in the Bristol area.

Before marriage, Maude had an interesting career. An early newspaper clipping reports a Boston entertainment bureau booked Maude often; she was one of the company’s most successful elocutionists. The same clipping states Maude worked as an elocutionist at her alma mater, Tilton School, at New Hampton Institute and also at Maryland College. 

Once she married, Maude took an active role in local goings on. She was the chairperson of the Bristol Republican Women’s Committee, and she served on the Bristol Board of Education.

Maude became a representative to the NH House of Representative and was given positions on the revision of statutes and the state library. She served as chairman of the joint committee on State Library and in her second term as representative in 1929, she was chairman of the committee on Normal School, a member of the Judiciary Committee, clerk of the Grafton County delegation and the pre-legislative caucus; she was the first woman to serve on the Judiciary Committee.

Politics must have agreed with Maude, because she rolled up her sleeves and jumped into the race for the Republican nomination for state senator in the fifth district. This was quite a bold move for a woman from a small town at the time, but she beat out two male candidates and was the first woman to serve in the senate. 

It is said that her experience and interest in politics led her to study law. It is intriguing to think of Maude, a woman from a rural town, doing so very well in a man’s world. There is no information on her study of law, but she surely would have made a good lawyer, due to her elocution skills and her grasp of politics.

For three years, Maude served as state chairperson of the Legal Status of Women of the NH League of Women Voters. She also was past grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and past president of the Bristol Woman’s Club, to name but a few of the offices she held.

Maude passed away in 1932, and the entire Bristol community, as well as the state, mourned the loss. It is a mark of her importance in the community to note that when her funeral was held in Bristol, businesses were closed as a mark of respect. Flags were lowered to half-mast due to her position as senator. Tributes poured in from local groups, as well as from the NH Power Company, the NH Senate, NH Governor Winant and many others. Those who attended her funeral included state senators, Laconia’s mayor, state representatives, and more.

Maude rose to success at a time when most women were at home raising a family. She was certainly liked and respected by her male political colleagues, no easy accomplishment in the 1920s and 1930s when men ruled every corner of the political and business world.

As we prepare to vote in the elections in November, we can look back and give a nod of thanks to the trail blazing women in politics and law, such as Marilla Ricker, Granny D and Maude Ferguson, who rolled up their sleeves and got things done, making the world a much better place for their efforts.

Mornings are Best at Katie’s Kitchen

Mornings are Best at Katie’s Kitchen

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

For many people, breakfast is the best meal of the day. Whether the preferred meal is bacon and eggs, pancakes, a batch of cinnamon toast…or a sweet roll and coffee, a breakfast made and served by an expert is a treat.

Jason Gurnari, owner of Katie's Kitchen, serving up a tray of his famous homemade cinnamon rolls

Jason Gurnari, the owner of Katie’s Kitchen (located in Clarke Plaza at 35 Center Street in Wolfeboro), gets it when it comes to what breakfast lovers want. The menu at the charming little restaurant reflects a love of starting the day with good food in a friendly atmosphere.

As a child, Jason spent summers with his family in Wolfeboro. He loved the area, and moved to New Hampshire permanently about 13 years ago. Jason has been in the restaurant business for years and has served as bar manager at the Wolfeboro Inn, as well as at the Inn on Main. He also was the food and beverage manager at Gunstock, and more recently he was the manager at the Lodge at Smith Point.

However, it was always Jason’s dream to own his own restaurant and when he got a call from the owner of Katie’s Kitchen, he felt the time was right to make the move.

Jason purchased the restaurant in May of this year. The previous owner had run the business for about 35 years and wanted to retire. She made the right choice in Jason, due to his solid knowledge of the restaurant business and his good work ethic and vision to bring the business into the future.

Jason wanted to keep the casual and friendly atmosphere for the eatery, but with necessary upgrades. He knew Katie’s Kitchen was the place where many locals gathered for breakfast and he wanted to maintain that welcoming atmosphere.

“I bought the business when COVID started,” Jason says. For many, that fact would have been a game changer, and they wouldn’t have made the move to take over restaurant ownership at such an uncertain time. But Jason saw opportunity and he knew Katie’s Kitchen already had a loyal customer base. Most importantly, Jason had confidence in his ability to bring the business into the future with renovations and a great menu.

“We did a lot of remodeling,” Jason says. He bought the business in May and spent an intensive few months on renovations, opening to the public on June 28. Much of the former restaurant saw a remodel and new equipment was installed with an emphasis on creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Due to restrictions for the reopening of New Hampshire restaurants due to the pandemic, Jason added some outdoor seating; the total seating is for 29 people. Like all restaurant owners, Jason is aware outdoor seating will not be an option in the cold winter months, but he has complied with the rulings for social distancing for indoor seating, spacing tables apart.

Once open, customers were delighted with the sparkling clean restaurant…as well as Jason’s new menu. Early risers found a warm welcome, and Jason, who turns on the lights to begin his day very early, says locals know if the lights are on and the coffee is brewing they are welcome to come in for breakfast. (Open hours are officially 5 am to noon on weekdays and 6 am to noon on weekends.)

Reviews have been extremely favorable such as these on Trip Advisor: “Visited during (re)opening week and the new owners were super personable and have big plans for this little breakfast spot. Their daily special featured fruit from local farms and neighboring business owners were dining there too (when locals support locals, you know it's a good spot). Great cinnamon buns and great prices too!” and “This little breakfast gem has gotten a fresh new look from the new owner! The portions are very generous and food was delicious. Staff is super friendly. Home-made corned beef hash is great, and prices can't be beat! Will be back often!”

 “We plan to start serving lunch as well very soon and at that time we will be open until 2 pm,” Jason adds.

The switch from serving breakfasts to breakfast and lunch will bring some great menu items to the business. Jason stresses they are no longer frying anything at Katie’s Kitchen. “We use the grill and we will be offering a number of sandwich options and homemade chili and hot soups. Also, we will have a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches on different breads available. Sides will include pasta salad, a veggie option, potato salad and more.”

If you want to polish off your lunch with dessert, there will be fresh baked seasonal desserts, including everyone’s favorite: homemade pies.

Referring to homemade baked goods, Jason adds that the muffins and his famous cinnamon rolls are made on-premises as well. “The cinnamon rolls are really popular with our customers!” he adds.

Corned beef for the popular breakfast corned beef hash is also made in-house, roasted two or three times a week. Many products are locally sourced, such as the eggs, maple syrup, bacon and sausage and the goal has been and continues to be to offer high-quality meals at a low price.

For those wondering who Katie (as in the business name Katie’s Kitchen) might be, Jason says the name was given to the restaurant by the former owner and he decided to keep the name because it is known to customers.

Extra touches add to the experience of eating at Katie’s Kitchen, such as art exhibits on the restaurant’s walls. The exhibits feature the work of local artists, such as Cosmic Moose Art, and change monthly.

Reviews for the new menu and ownership of the restaurant have been positive, and a check on any given day to Katie’s Kitchen’s Facebook page offers a glimpse at daily specials. For example, social media posts show photos of such mouthwatering breakfast options as blueberry stuffed French toast, strawberry shortcake French toast, onion, tomato, feta and spinach quiche, blueberry and cranberry muffins, and of course those sinfully delicious cinnamon rolls to name but a few menu items.

If breakfast on any given day of the week is your thing, plan a visit to Katie’s Kitchen. Stop by for a cinnamon roll or muffin or a full breakfast and very soon, make Katie’s Kitchen your place to go for a great lunch, just the thing to warm you up as we head into the autumn and winter seasons. Catering is also available, and all menu items also are offered for take-out.

For information call Katie’s Kitchen at 603-569-1406. Please follow “Katie’s Kitchen NH” on Facebook and on Instagram: @katieskitchennh.

Embroidering a Life

Embroidering a Life

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

“Jennifer’s approach is a combination of fun and funky, traditional and contemporary, 

primitive but classic—it’s kind of hard to explain.”

“A brilliant combination of Jacobean and Bohemian, her artwork is a stunning example

of a lifetime’s love of this medium.”

Testimonials by a few fans of Jennifer Hubbard Alba’s embroidery

Embroidery has been called a lost art, a throw-back to the 1960s-hippie generation and a link to richly colored 16th and 17th century tapestries. For Jennifer Hubbard Alba, it is a way of life and something she is dedicated to creating for six to 10 hours every day.

Close up of embroidery details

Done with a fabric backing, embroidery floss and an embroidery hoop and needle, Jennifer’s creations are beautiful and whimsical. They invite one to enter an amazing world of florals and scenes and bright colors, all done in a folk-art style that is also tapestry-like.

“I have been embroidering for years,” Jennifer says. “I taught myself to embroider when I was 7 years old. My sister, who was a teenager at the time, owned some embroidered clothes and I love them. I was enthralled with the hippie movement back then and a lot of young people were embroidering denim jackets and shirts and other articles of clothing.”

Amazing embroidery covers a denim skirt

Jennifer was drawn to the beautiful colors of the embroidery floss (thread), which comes in many, many hues. With access to WGBH (public television) as a child, she happened to see a program featuring Erica Wilson, dubbed the “Julia Child of Needlework.” Wilson was showing how to do embroidery on the program and Jennifer was immediately enthralled. She bought an Erica Wilson kit and taught herself to embroider from a Wilson pamphlet. “I was quite motivated and if you want to do something, you find a way to figure it out,” Jennifer says when asked if it was difficult to learn the various embroidery stitches, especially as a seven-year-old child.

Jennifer lived with her family in southern Massachusetts, and while in high school, studied fashion design. Later, she studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts, and also modeled and was immersed in the fashion industry for a number of years.

Because she was around fabrics and great clothing, it was inevitable she eventually saw clothing embellished with embroidery. But all the work was done by machine versus hand-embroidered. 

Jennifer knew she wanted to draw her own designs onto fabric ranging from jackets to shirts and other garments and items, and then hand embroider the pieces. She started drawing and embroidering clothing in middle school for friends and retail shops. “Embroidery is basically coloring with embroidery floss. You can draw something on fabric and then create beautiful designs with embroidery,” she explains.

Embroidered garment in progress

After moving to New Hampshire in 1989, Jennifer and her family were busy renovating an old farmhouse. She is an avid gardener as well as keeping horses and maintaining the farm. She does farm work each morning, and then spends her afternoons and evenings embroidering. “I am passionate about it; if I don’t get to embroider every day, I am quite miserable,” Jennifer laughs. “I get up early and tend to the horses, and then I can get to my embroidery projects.”

The dedication has paid off and she has had a lot of success, doing commissions for many years and now, designing and embroidering whatever project she wishes. “I use seven types of stitches and it isn’t terribly difficult to learn to do the stitches. But you have to be willing to practice to learn to embroider. In just one hour, I have taught a student to successfully do three stitches.”

While many people have felt a certain amount of cabin fever being forced inside during the pandemic, Jennifer has been able to carry on and get a lot of embroidery done. Each piece can take up to 700 hours of embroidery, and Jennifer gets lost in the process, happily working on a piece each and every day. “I like to have background noise when I am embroidering,” she explains. “I can’t watch a television show or a movie with subtitles because my eyes are on the embroidery. But I stream a lot of television for background. To sit and embroider in absolute quiet would be difficult.”

Lest one imagine embroidery is just a fun pastime for Jennifer, that assumption would be incorrect. She is a skilled fabric artist who sells her work at the Artistic Roots gallery on the Main Street in Plymouth, NH. She is an active member (and vice-president) of Artistic Roots and helps out a lot at the co-op gallery, where there are 40 artists displaying and selling their work. (She also was the co-founder of the Ashland Village Artisan Gallery in 2000.)

Embroidery on denim

In addition, Jennifer sells a line of embroidery kits and offers high quality printed versions of her embroidery on totes and home accessories. You can find her work at www.jhaembroiderydesigns.com.

While she can embroider on just about anything, Jennifer enjoys embroidering designs on demin. She does not plan out a design ahead of time, but rather studies the jacket or other garment, getting a feeling for the article of clothing. Then, with a permanent marker, she begins to draw right on the fabric. “The idea for the design just sort of comes out of me as I am drawing it on the fabric,” she explains. “It is a fun process; as I am drawing, my heart beats faster and I feel the creative excitement. The drawing part is quick, and even if I make a mistake, it isn’t a problem because the embroidery will eventually cover it up. As I embroider, I might add more to a design. The fabric, whether it is a shirt or other garment, is the blank canvas.”

Jennifer explains that her embroidery style is distinct and unique to her; she loves a tapestry effect to her work and is drawn to the colors of Moroccan and Mexican needle arts. “I just love folk art in general,” she adds. It seems these styles have always appealed and Jennifer explains that as a child, she visited her aunt in Maine. The aunt had a lot of very large tapestries in her home and Jennifer spent hours staring at the pieces, marveling at the designs and colors.

She is also drawn to English tapestries of the 16th and 17th centuries. These styles have all come together to influence Jennifer’s art to this day.

In her studio, Jennifer has a large worktable with tons of fabrics and thousands of skeins of embroidery floss, but she also spends much of her time embroidering in her living room with the all-important background noise of the television or music. All she needs is her embroidery hoop, fabric, floss, an embroidery needle and a good light source. “Doing this work…nothing makes me happier,” she reflects.

Although Jennifer has taught embroidery classes in the past, she is not doing so presently. Before COVID changed everything for so many people, she was working to prepare pieces for a show at a London gallery. The show has been postponed (due to the pandemic), but some of those embroidered works will be on display and for sale at Artistic Roots in Plymouth, NH. 

For those who wish to try embroidery, which Jennifer says is a lot of fun and a great way to embellish an article of clothing as she began to do in the 1960s “hippie years”, all it takes is some dedication and basic supplies. It is a great project for kids and it is not messy. Also, embroidery is quite portable and offers instant color. (Indeed, Jennifer takes her embroidery along when she travels and goes to the beach or even when she attends a rock festival!)

The future is a place of beauty for Jennifer, who plans to keep making new designs and embroidering many hours every day. “I am just enjoying the process,” she concludes, embroidering a life of beauty and creativity.

To see a vast array of colorful embroidery by Jennifer Hubbard Alba, visit www.jhaembroiderydesigns.com. Find JHA Designs on Facebook or at www.instagram.com/jhubbardalba. 

For information on Artistic Roots, visit www.artisticroots.com or call 603-536-2750. The gallery is located at 73 Main Street in Plymouth, NH.

Barefooting with the Lake Guys

Loon Update: How the Majestic Aquatic Birds Are Faring This Year

By Mark Okrant

Many U.S. states are home to special species of wildlife. The Dakotas have bison herds and Florida offers aggregations of manatees. Here in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, the Common Loon is what residents and visitors want to see and hear. Much like their human counterparts, 2020 has been a challenging year for the loon population.

Display of a loon

Common loons are one of five loon species; others are the red-throated, Pacific, Arctic, and yellow-billed types. A common loon has a rounded black head, black bill, thick black neck with white-striped collar, long and flat body, and black-and-white plumage in a checkerboard pattern. Male loons are 25 percent larger than females, although their coloring is identical.

Central New Hampshire is situated at the southern end of the common loon’s geographic range. For this reason, climate change has a very real impact on their well-being. Loons are migratory. They winter on the ocean, then arrive at the area’s inland lakes during the spring when ice-out has occurred, in time for breeding season to begin. Once here, they dive in search of an abundance of fish. Depending upon a season’s weather, loons will remain until late fall or early winter before returning to the ocean. Loon pairs have exhibited a tendency to return to the same breeding lake each year. They will mate with the same partner unless one of them dies or is otherwise displaced.  

In 1975, the Moultonborough-based Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) was created to address a growing concern about a declining loon population and the impact of human activities upon them. It became the central mission of the LPC to preserve loons and their habitat by monitoring, conducting field research, designing and implementing a management protocol, and educating the public. 

During a typical season, the LPC uses an extensive network of dedicated members and volunteers to monitor 330-350 lakes; however, this season, they monitored an amazing 375 lakes. Why go through all this effort? Loons serve much the same purpose as a canary in a coal mine—if their population is suffering, it is an early indication that the welfare of the environment is under threat.

Each year, the LPC team undertakes a census of the loon population. While a count of all adult loons is attempted, the best indicators are numbers of loon pairs and chicks. Overseeing this ambitious initiative is Harry Vogel, senior biologist and director of the LPC. For the past 22 years, Vogel, his staff, and volunteers have spent many waking hours attempting to ensure the health and productivity of the adult and chick loon population is restored and maintained.

Asked to appraise the present season, Vogel described it as a “mixed year” and one of the most challenging ones in recent memory. This season, people in the field counted 320 loon pairs (and perhaps a few more). If this number holds after the census is finalized, it will represent a two percent increase in the number of pairs compared to 2019. Vogel indicated it is easiest to count loon pairs as they are territorial, as opposed to single loons that are scattered throughout the waterways within the region.  

Vogel cited one of the key parameters of reproductive success: “We need 0.48 chicks per adult pair per year to maintain the loon population.” That is a figure the LPC has achieved during six of the last 10 years. This year’s figure—0.47 chicks—fell just short of the LPC’s goal. While Vogel did not mask his disappointment, he remains proud of the fact that their 10-year average remains over 0.48. 

So, what were some of the causes and effects of this “mixed year”? There certainly have been many positives. Approximately 33 percent of chicks hatched in the region this year came from the multitude of loon hatching nests, or floating platforms, built and distributed by the LPC. Nesting loons face a number of challenges during their 28-day incubation period. Among these, the most serious is human-induced water level changes. Fluctuations in the lakes can cause eggs to be washed away or become unreachable by parent loons. On the other hand, the nests built by the LPC continue to float regardless of changes in water conditions. Therefore, the loon hatching nests are an excellent alternative to traditional nesting sites that are under continuous threat from recreational water use, shoreline development, or scavenging wildlife. 

Another success story was protection provided in the form of ropes and signage. It is estimated that more than 100 nesting loon pairs were protected from approaching humans, thereby remaining with their eggs, and later, with their hatchlings. 

Other achievements include informing dam owners and operators about the loon nesting season. In each case, those people complied with the LPC’s request to maintain water level stability. Additionally, the LPC had a successful season of banding loons, and took blood samples in an effort to identify genetics and disease. Finally, hidden cameras were placed in strategic locations where potential threats exist.

Among challenges faced by the LPC, several were a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a very difficult year to find enough private boaters to transport field biologists to sites. Paradoxically, another factor has been the presence of a surprising number of recreation boaters on the lakes. With other forms of recreation temporarily absent, boating activity appears to be at an all-time high this summer. As a consequence, uninformed boaters present a constant threat to nesting and swimming loons. Vogel discussed a phenomenon called wakeboard boating. Wakeboard boats are designed to create a large, specially shaped wake that cause water skis or tubes to jump from side to side so aerial tricks can be performed. Unfortunately, when the wake hits the shoreline, it can cause erosion and wash away natural loon nests.  

The LPC is fighting an ongoing battle against lead sinkers and lead-headed jigs. These antiquated forms of fishing tackle have a deadly effect upon loons and other forms of wildlife. Already this year, the state has lost three loons to this toxin. Owing to the LPC and other environmental organizations, lead sinkers and lead-headed jigs have been banned for sale and use within the state. Moreover, its lead tackle buy-back program in cooperation with fishing tackle retailers is being effective. Fishermen who are interested in exchanging their lead equipment should go to www.loonsafe.org; a $10.00 voucher will be provided to participants.

If you’re fortunate enough to hear the haunting wail of a loon, the memory of that sound will never leave you. Owing to enormous effort by the Loon Preservation Committee, the struggle to maintain and expand common loon populations continues. To meet its future challenges, the LPC is raising funds to build a new conference, library and office space, to expand lab space, to create a collaborative living/work area, and to provide more room for storage. A capital drive entitled the Campaign for the Future has raised $1.75 million toward its target of $2 million.

For more information or to contribute to the Campaign for the Future, contact Harry Vogel at hvogel@loon.org, or call 603-476-5666.

Barefooting with the Lake Guys

Barefooting with the Lake Guys

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

They’re just two “lake guys” as they call themselves. They like being out on the water and find it best out there in the early morning. Very early as a matter of fact. 

When Jeff Luby and his friend Charlie grab their gear and head out in a boat, it is still dark. By the time the sun is rising over the mountains, you will find them skimming the surface of the glass-like, calm water, pursuing a sport both enjoy. It isn’t boating or tubing or jet skiing or even water skiing. Instead, it is barefoot skiing that Jeff and Charlie are passionate about; it is an amazing sight to see the skilled bare footers skimming over the surface of the water using their bare feet versus water skis.

While many people have heard of barefoot skiing and a few people have actually seen others do it, not many have tried it. It is a skill learned over time, and safety is a must. But for those who do it, the emotional and physical rewards are many.

Jeff, who resides with his family on a Lake Winnipesaukee island each summer, and Charlie, who summers in the Lakes Region, had both barefoot skied in the past. However, they now pursue the sport with a dedication and passion that sets them apart from novice barefooters.

Both got started in the sport in their younger years - Jeff at around age 13 and Charlie in his 30s when he was part of a water ski club in Massachusetts (the Long Pond Water Ski Club). “I was self-taught,” Jeff recalls. “I did it from a knee board, with no boom. These days, people use a boom for all types of water sports. I had done water skiing and grew up on Lake Winnipesaukee. My parents weren’t really into wake sports, but I had a neighbor who took me out on the lake.

“I had seen others barefoot skiing and I decided I wanted to try it. I was knee boarding and I managed to flip around and sit, and then I just stood up and went about 100 yards by barefooting. I didn’t really have access to a boat then, but I was just happy to try it.”

Jeff says that while he water skied as a kid, he just wasn’t as interested in it, but he loved the lake and boating. Fishing was a big pastime when he was a teenager. Although he was avidly into fishing, he did water skiing at times and he explains, “My brother and I were active members of the Abenaki Water Ski Club (in Wolfeboro) for years. We did shows in Wolfeboro Bay and Alton Bay back when I was a kid. I didn't do any barefooting in the shows but often I was used for pyramids. Charlie was asked to barefoot for the Abenaki Water Ski Club shows occasionally when the club didn't have a barefooter who felt skilled enough to handle the always-rough water on show days. It was always rough (water) on show days from all the boats that used to gather and boats running around in preparation for the show. Charlie would gladly do it and always managed to put on a show, even in the most extreme conditions. He and I never met during those times but we know all the same people and skied with them as well, but never at the same time apparently.”

After living elsewhere, Jeff moved back to the Lakes Region and it was an important turning point in his life. “I was a Dad by that time, somewhat overweight and not feeling as great physically. My doctor suggested I lose some weight, so I started going to a gym in Wolfeboro. I made some gym friends, and that is where I met Charlie.”

Joining the gym was serendipitous and the start of a great friendship. “We both love the lake, and we got talking about barefoot water skiing,” says Jeff. Both men knew it was a sport they wanted to try again, but it would require someone to drive the boat and to take turns while each barefooted. And also important, both would need to be willing to get up very early in the morning to get out on the lake before a lot of boats were out there making waves. (Barefooting is best done on calm waters with few or no other boats on the lake.)

“We go out early for a few hours every day in the summer. It is our time to do something we both love. We take turns driving the boat and barefooting. Charlie is an accomplished barefooter,” Jeff says with admiration.

He mentions the many moves Charlie can do while barefooting, and the practice and skill it takes. He also laughs as he says Charlie is so into the sport that he would barefoot when the ice went out and keep going till the lake ices over the in late fall/winter. (Indeed, Charlie says he once went barefooting on Christmas day!)

The two men barefoot ski all over the lake, such as in the Broads, and sometimes they go all the way to Alton. “You start to become an expert at knowing where you are out on the lake by watching the trees and the shoreline, and the water and wind. As far as weather conditions, barefooting can be done on rough water, but it is a lot less enjoyable because it is too bouncy. But Charlie can barefoot in water that most people can’t even waterski in.”

It should be said that Charlie is in his 60s and Jeff also not in his first youth. At a time when many people would think a sedate walk around the neighborhood was a good workout, these “lake guys” are staying fit and having a great time doing so while barefooting.

Jeff adds that barefooting is a great “old man’s sport” but that is probably downplaying the skill they each have for the sport. (Although it is a low impact sport, if not properly trained, one can get injured.)

And what about the feet of a barefoot skier? One would assume that bare feet versus water skis, would get beat up on any given run. “The feet take time to toughen up,” explains Jeff. “As I got stronger, I felt it less. It is a process. When I barefoot ski, I don’t notice any foot pain until the next day. But soon it doesn’t bother me at all.” (Charlie says, with a shrug, that he rarely notices any foot pain from barefooting.)

The equipment needed to barefoot is important. Jeff says he and Charlie both have Malibu Flight Craft boats that create a small wake. The powerful boats go over 60 mph but are good for barefooting. A tower on the boat is needed as well, with an upward angle to help pull the skier out of the water. The handle for the barefooter to hold should be wider for grabbing. A barefoot line is another piece of equipment that is important, and Jeff says the line is typically longer than a water ski line. 

Boat safety is vital, as both men stress. Anyone wanting to barefoot should understand what happens with a barefoot boom. You should be aware that you do not need to go really fast when driving the boat. Barefooting depends on your shoe size and weight. You should also be patient and willing to learn in a series of steps. It is a progression and it is best to learn with the help of an experienced instructor. “And you should relax and have fun!” Jeff adds.

Charlie, with the greater barefooting experience, instructed Jeff how to drive the boat. The boom makes it fairly easy to start barefooting. The steps are learning how to sit and stand up and eventually being ready for deep-ups. Learning to tumble by spinning and maneuvering is a process as well. 

“Some summers are better than others,” Jeff says. “This summer has been really great and we have been out barefooting a lot. We are out there about two hours, from around 5:30 to 7:30 am. We fall into a routine of warm ups and then we take turns each barefooting about three to four mile runs.”

Jeff loves the sport and isn’t shy in saying that while his mind says he can do more involved tricks, he knows he must be sensible. “I can safely barefoot at around 37 mph. I enjoy lower speed tricks. Charlie can do more than I can, such as barefooting backwards.”

Indeed, Charlie has experience as a barefoot skier, and he loves to be out on the lake. There is admittedly a bit of the daredevil in him, and his wife says with a laugh when asked if his water pastimes worry her, “I gave up on him a long time ago!”

Charlie has been boating since he was 14 years old. In his 30s, he was a member of the Long Pond Water Ski Club, and got interested in barefooting when it was in its infancy. Others in the club were interested as well, and they got together and hired a professional water skier – Mike Seipel – to teach them to barefoot. Mike was “the man” when it came to the sport back then, according to Charlie. “He now runs Barefoot International, a provider of barefoot skiing equipment. And Mike also was World Champion in the 1980s.”

Charlie kept up with barefooting and tried to find someone else who might be as interested in it. “No one was doing it,” he recalls. “It is more fun when you barefoot with someone else who likes it too.”

Thus, meeting Jeff was advantageous, and allowed both men to pursue the sport with someone else who understood and enjoyed it. And someone who was willing to get up as the sun was rising to barefoot!
“We go wherever the water is calm, such as the Alton Bay area and Winter Harbor. Barefooting for six miles is the longest I have gone,” Charlie says. While six miles may not seem like much when driving it in a car, it is an amazingly long way to ski on your bare feet.

What does the future hold for the “lake guys”? Both are interested in helping with adaptive barefooting. Charlie has a friend who is involved in UNH’s Northeast Passage program. According to www.nepassage.org, “The mission of Northeast Passage is to empower people living with disabling conditions, both visible and invisible, to define, pursue and achieve whole life health, community engagement and fulfillment through the purposeful use of sports and recreation; to develop and promote best practices in the fields of Therapeutic Recreation and Adaptive Sports.” 

Imagine barefooting as an adaptive sport for the handicapped or a Wounded Warrior. If taught correctly by experts like Charlie and Jeff, barefooting could be a viable option and a confidence builder for anyone.

Jeff and Charlie would also love to share their knowledge and skill at barefooting with others. They feel it is important that anyone wishing to learn the sport do so safely. Says Charlie, “Just trying to step out of your water skis and barefoot is the old way of doing it and it is difficult.” There are indeed better, safer ways to learn, and Jeff and Charlie are willing to share their skill with others. If interested, you can contact Jeff for more information.

Because Charlie is a die-hard barefoot skier, you just might see him celebrating Christmas day with a run across the lake should the conditions be right. Jeff admits he is not as dedicated as to barefoot on a cold early spring or winter’s day before the ice is in or out, but he applauds Charlie’s passion for barefooting. (Jeff pursues other sports in the winter, and is an avid Alpine skier and an Alpine Patroller with the National Ski Patrol. He also works as an Outdoor Emergency Care instructor and enjoys ice hockey as well.)

Charlie, who would rather be barefooting than doing just about anything, sums it up when asked what his future might hold, “I just plan to keep doing this till I die!”

For information on barefoot skiing, contact Jeff Luby at 603-515-6178 or visit Jeff’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lubycrewmx. (There are some amazing photos of Charlie and Jeff barefooting on the page and it is worth checking out.)

Where Boating Began

Day Tripping

Where Boating Began

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

I have a great fondness for the NH Boat Museum. I have been writing for The Laker long enough to recall an early interview/tour of the museum in its first location at Weirs Beach. That was some time ago and these days the museum and its programs have grown by leaps and bounds, located on Center Street/Route 28 in Wolfeboro. 

Poster from water ski display

Admittedly I am not a boater, so why my fondness for a museum that focuses on this lake pastime? It is easy really: I love local history and old items, wooden boats and waterskiing years ago and the boat builders who grew the age of boating in the Lakes Region. 

It seems others love the history of boating as well, and this led to the formation of the museum in 1992. According to information at www.nhbm.org, “Originally the museum was called the ‘New Hampshire Antique and Classic Boat Museum’ and then modified in order to better reflect the museum’s mission.  After moving around Lake Winnipesaukee for a few years, in 2000 NHBM found a permanent home in Wolfeboro in the former Allen ‘A’ Resort theater and dance hall.  The Allen ‘A’ hall, a large, barrel-round, Quonset hut style building built in 1954, cannot be missed on Route 28 north on the edge of town. Visitors can also experience the thrill of riding in a replica vintage boat in NHBM’s very own 1928-style Hacker Craft mahogany triple cockpit, the Millie B.”

You do not need a boat or to even know a lot about boating to appreciate the NH Boat Museum and I visit at least once a season. (The museum is open from spring through around Columbus Day, although due to the pandemic, the museum opened a bit later this year). 

This season, the exhibit at the museum is called “Locally Produced” and it is just as the name implies. Viewers are treated to the origins of boating and how it grew in the Lakes Region.

I visited on an August afternoon, and an employee at the front desk greeted me and led the way into the large and airy museum with its high ceilings and at the far end, a stage area where bands once played for the Allen A guests.

The first display focuses on the early days of waterskiing in the area. As a lover of all things old and also old signs and photos, I just adored this portion of the overall museum. Information told that the increasing power and speed of boats on the lakes in the 1920s led to the idea of skiing behind a boat. It seemed like a rather logical – if perhaps at first not too safe – idea. The daring new sport caught on; by the 1950s, water skiing was one of the fastest growing recreational sports in the country. It also seems logical that New Hampshire and specifically the Lakes Region was in the thick of things when it came to water skiing. Two national brands of skis were manufactured in Laconia and they were AquaSport and Northland. 

One of my favorite posters in the exhibit was a large advertisement that told of the National Water Ski Championships which were held from August 21-23 in 1959. Sponsored by the Boston Herald-Traveler the competition took place in Laconia in cooperation with the Weirs Ski Club. 

An AquaSport Water Ski Rope Tow in its original box was a great part of the exhibit, along with old photos of local water skiers and water skis. Not to be missed in the waterski exhibit area was a large original watercolor by famed local artist Peter Ferber.

As I began my tour of the main display area, I was amazed at the beauty of one particular huge old wooden boat. It was a shining thing of beauty and it did not take much imagination to dream about the days when this boat plied the waters of Winnipesaukee with a young man at the wheel and a party of genteel folks with picnic basket and lounge chairs aboard.

At this point I was joined by Boat Museum executive director Martha Cummings, who smiled as she gazed at the boat. “Isn’t it gorgeous?” she asked. I was curious about the boat and Martha told me its name was Regina. It was constructed by Goodhue & Hawkins in 1913 and is only one of six of this type: long-necked launches commonly known as Lakers. Five of the ultra-elegant boats still reside on Lake Winnipesaukee; the location of the sixth of unknown.

“If you stand here,” Martha requested, indicating that I stand facing the very front of the boat, looking down the length of the Regina, “you will see my favorite view.” Indeed, when one stands with feet firmly placed on the floor and gazes down the length of the boat, you are treated to the sleek lines and artistry of the Laker’s construction.

Boats at the museum_ the Laker_Regina is on the left

The Regina was a donation to the NH Boat Museum from Howard Newton and the gift was an incredibly generous one. This is especially true when one considers, according to Boat Museum volunteer and ____, that Howard was on a 40-year quest to obtain the boat. The boat will be kept in perpetuity so those in the future can have a chance to view this important part of the area’s past. (Fun fact: it is believed the boat was originally built for the estate of Lydia Pinkham, known as “the Queen of Patent Medicine.” The boat was built after Lydia had passed away, and was kept in her Alton Bay property until obtained by a boat enthusiast.)

Certainly, part of the story of boating in the Lakes Region cannot be told without focusing greatly on Goodhue & Hawkins, whose business in Wolfeboro in the early 1900s led to the popularity of boating. 

A time line display of the business tells us that Goodhue & Hawkins opened in 1903 when Nathaniel H. Goodhue and Chester E. Hawkins began operations on Sewall Road in Wolfeboro. They offered a wide range of services, including boat repair of steam and gasoline yachts and launches. It was not long before the business was building custom wooden speed launches to carry passengers, as well as renting boats. Between 1903 and 1933, they were building Goodhue Lakers, the long deck launches. The hulls were framed and planked at a boat yard on Clark Point and floated to Sewall Road, where their engines were installed and the craftsman-style finishing woodwork was completed.

The history of the company and also boating in the Lakes Region takes the visitor through the years and all the types of boats to the present-day Goodhue Boat Company.

A second slightly smaller boat is also part of the exhibit. The Goodhue & Hawkins Good-U-Tility was a custom utility runabout. At 24 ft., 6 in. in length and sporting a beam of 7 ft., 4 in., the boat was a bit longer than the standard 21 in. length. Modeled on off-shore lobster boats, the design was a bit unusual for Lake Winnipesaukee boating. 

Before I was done viewing the Goodhue & Hawkins timeline area, John van Lonkhuyzen, NH Boat Museum trustee and volunteer curator pointed out the unique, original blueprints that are on display. They are the original drawings for the Laker boat; the original contracts are on display as well.

The exhibit also offers a look at boats built at the Laconia Car Company. Originally, the company built passenger and freight railcars and trolleys. Later, they decided to build boats. The original production debuted at the 1928 New York Boat Show. Information in the exhibit tells us two boats were offered by the company: a 12 ft. Speedster and a 16 ft. Sportser.

I also enjoyed a display of flotation devices, ranging from a Cork Life Jacket that reminded me of the ones worn in the movie Titanic. The jackets were made until 1913, followed by the Kapok Vest until the 1940s. Also on view is a 1943 Kapok “Horse Collar” life vest in the orange color most of us are familiar with; other vests are on display, through the 1970s Stearns Type III Polyfoam Vest.

A sailboat from Piper Boatworks is also on display, giving a nod to this type of boat building and boating, which is as important as the faster power boats.

On the stage area, I was treated to an outboard motor display. Admittedly, this might seem a bit out of my range of interest, since I am not a boater. But like everything the NH Boat Museum does, the outboard information and display was fascinating. Those who put the exhibits together seem to have a real talent for making everything about boating – even the motors – of interest. 

Information told of Evinrude, Mercury and Johnson outboards, among other interesting motors. Standing on the stage is also helpful to get a different view of the boats on the main floor, reinforcing how graceful and gorgeous the boats were in their heyday.

Back on the main floor, there is also an extensive exhibit about the M/S Mount Washington (after all, no exhibit on Lakes Region boating would be complete without a history of this major player of boating on the lake).

Martha also pointed out an exhibit of photographs by Wolfeboro artist Amy Piper. I was familiar with Amy’s amazing photographs and I strongly suggest visitors spend time checking out this wonderful exhibit which will be on view until August 26. From that point until the closing of the museum for the season on Columbus Day weekend, an exhibit of Peter Ferber’s new artwork will be featured.

There also is a children’s area with activities, which show that no one in the family has been overlooked when it comes to getting everyone interested in boating.

Martha says the pandemic has created some challenges and plans for the summer have been altered somewhat. A one-way traffic pattern through the exhibit has been created and hand sanitizer stations are offered and visitors must wear masks. “We are open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday we are open from noon to 4 pm. We are closed on Mondays for deep sanitizing,” she explains.

Martha also told me about a canoe raffle that is ongoing with a drawing to be held in December. What a great holiday gift this canoe would make and well worth purchasing tickets for a chance to win. Sign up to become a NH Boat Museum member now through November 30, 2020 and be entered into the raffle. 

As my tour ended, I got thinking about how far the NH Boat Museum has come since its origins back in 1992 by a group of antique and classic boating enthusiasts. It has grown extensively and if plans are realized, an even bigger and permanent home for the museum and its programs will happen in the near future. (Fundraising is underway and ongoing.)

Perhaps it is because I saw the original museum so many years ago, or maybe it is my admiration for a group with a big mission and a love of old boats. Whatever the reason, I just adore the NH Boat Museum. Stop by to view and learn about the history of boating and to see the old boats, lovingly cared for and shared with all.

For information on the programs and membership and riding on the Millie B, call 603-569-4554 or visit www.nhbm.org.

Let the Music Play On

Let the Music Play On

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

If you ask Chuck Farrell the recipe for his success in the music business, he would likely laugh and say, “It’s five percent talent and 95 percent luck!”

While being in the right place at the right time probably helped, Chuck got to the “right place” by talent. As a musician for many years, he has played guitar with such notables as James Montgomery, Jon Butcher and others.

Chuck Farrell

After growing up in the seacoast area of New Hampshire, Chuck headed to the West Coast and specifically, San Francisco. “That was in 1990,” he recalls from his home in Center Tuftonboro. “I went there because it was the farthest I could get from New Hampshire!”

This is said jokingly, but what Chuck really means is he needed to get out on his own, try a different music scene and network with other musicians.

While living in California, Chuck worked with a variety of musicians, some he recalls, were bands he had admired since he was a kid. Later, back on the East Coast, Chuck worked with James Montgomery, Diane Blue, as well as former members of Boston, Joe Cocker and Tina Turner, to name a few.

After 9/11, when the world changed for most people, Chuck says it was a wake-up call for him as well. “I am not shy in saying I was living a decadent lifestyle,” he explains. No one can live that way forever without some amount of burn-out. “The eventual move back to New Hampshire was a good one,” he adds.

The many contacts and friendships made with musicians around the country have endured, and even after Chuck and his wife, Dina, moved to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, he continued to tour seasonally with members of those bands.

Chuck sings the praises of his wife, who runs a wonderful farm property called The Olde Ways at Mustard Seed Farm. He says he helps her with some farm chores, but she is the driving force in the farm, which keeps her very busy while he continues in the music business.

How did the couple meet? Chuck laughs as he recalls that it was a long-distant relationship for quite some time. While he met plenty of women in California, there was a deeper, more satisfying connection with Dina and eventually she traveled to the West Coast for a visit. The couple clicked and were married in 2003, settling at their Center Tuftonboro property.

Never one content to rest on his former fame, Chuck decided, a few years ago, to bring some of his friends to the area for concerts. He saw a need in the area for the sort of concerts many found appealing: southern rock, blues and now and then, acoustic.

“We settled on dong shows in Wolfeboro, because the Inn on Main Street has a great barn venue that fit our needs perfectly. It has plenty of indoor seating and we could offer dinner to those attending the shows,” Chuck says.

Musicians who will perform for an acoustic concert on Aug. 21 & 23

Well received, the concerts brought such talented musicians as Jon Butcher and Diane Blue, among others, to the area. Chuck sometimes plays with the performers, but always he is there to coordinate the events and offer support to the artists. He puts it all together via his company, Can You Hear Me Now Productions.

This year, however, the pandemic has created a different environment with many events throughout the area being cancelled or postponed. Chuck has altered some of his plans as well, but found there are ways to keep the music going.

An upcoming August 21 and 23 concert to be held in Alton, coordinated by Can You Hear Me Now Productions, will be a unique and entertaining event featuring members of bands Chuck knows well and has played with in the past. Titled Once an Outlaw featuring Chris Anderson of The Outlaws and Chris Hicks of the Marshall Tucker Band with Jeff Howell of Foghat, the concert will be held at a beautiful country location, Cold Spring Farm Estate, in Alton, where there is plenty of room for social distancing. 

The concert, with a dinner and champagne reception, will be an acoustic show. The musicians have a loyal following in the area, and only 100 tickets will be sold for each of the two evenings of the event. A meet-and-greet will also be featured and will allow concertgoers a chance to chat with the musicians.

At a time when the pandemic has created little to celebrate, the concert is a way to bring a bright spot to the Lakes Region, all done within safety guidelines.

Chuck says the tickets are selling well, due to the loyal fan base and the uniqueness of the event.

“We also may be back in the area for an electric version of the concert on Columbus Day weekend. It would be an outdoor event as well,” says Chuck.

He adds that he thinks the audience will enjoy the acoustic show with a style that is a bit different than an electric concert, and there will be no end of songs from which to choose. You can expect to hear music from Marshall Tucker, Blackfoot, Foghat and of course, The Outlaws.

The mission for Chuck, who loves the Lakes Region where he now resides, is to bring big shows to intimate settings. He has certainly succeeded in doing so with shows in Wolfeboro; the Alton concert is one more opportunity to “keep the music coming” as Chuck would say.

The musicians who will be playing in the concert have been in the Lakes Region in the past, many performing at Meadowbrook in Gilford. All loved the Lakes Region and are excited to return for the August concert.

Marshall Tucker were scheduled for a 30 city farewell tour with the late Charlie Daniels in 2021. With the recent passing of Mr. Daniels, Chris Hicks’s schedule, as well as the schedules of other members of the band, allowed for a new project. Once an Outlaw decided to have the first round of rehearsals in the Lakes Region around the Alton shows and the second round in Nashville after the first of the year for spring/summer dates in 2021.  

The owners of the Alton venue have a desire to bring great music to the area and the location is stunning. With a delicious catered dinner before the show, the upcoming August 21 and 23 shows are decidedly upscale, but in a personal way that gives a nod to the great rock music of the bands Chuck has played with for decades. (Chuck will be playing at the concert as well.)

Chuck has settled into a life that offers him the best of all worlds (although the word “settled” might not appeal to a rock ’n roll musician who has toured with some admitted bad boys of rock over the years). He has a beloved wife and children, a family farm, a peaceful community and area in which to reside and a chance to continue to tour with the bands he has been part of for years. 

While the pandemic may have altered lives, the Once an Outlaw upcoming concert is happening because of Chuck’s hope to see the music, in times good and difficult, play on.

For tickets/information about the upcoming August 21 and 23 concerts, visit www.ticketleap.com, or call 603-387-0246. You can also purchase tickets at Black’s Paper Store in downtown Wolfeboro (603-569-4444).

Loving the Flowers at Winnipesaukee Woods Farm

Loving the Flowers at Winnipesaukee Woods Farm

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Liz Lichtenberg has rarely met a flower she didn’t like. From standard to rare blooms, it is all of interest to Liz and you can see it in the way she marvels at and studies a flower. It is there in her conversation as well, as she speaks of a new flower and its color and properties.

If this sounds like a love affair with growing things, it is probably because Liz truly adores being a farmer. Along with her husband, Aaron Lichtenberg, Liz spends her days, like all true farmers, working very hard growing flowers and vegetables. The Lichtenberg’s business, Winnipesaukee Woods Farm, operates in a number of ways: via an extensive website where customers can order a variety of items, at local pop-up shops, wholesale and through sales at area stores (a list of locations can be found at www.winniwoodfarm.com

“Farming is a year-round profession,” Liz says. “Every day is different, but we want to have an honest living and we believe in feeding people.”

That philosophy of giving to others has been part of Liz and Aaron’s lives for years. The couple once owned a restaurant and even before that, Aaron spent years in the restaurant world. Once he discovered an interest in growing things, Aaron became a full-time farmer.

Liz is also a successful farmer, as well as working as an educator in Gilmanton during the school year. All of this keeps her very busy, and perhaps led to another business whose name was coined by Aaron. Liz laughs as she explains, “Aaron says I’m always doing something and dreaming up new projects; thus my nickname ‘Busy Lizzie’ or as the business is called, ‘Busy Lizzie’s Blooms.’”

With a home in Alton Bay (Aaron’s family history in the area dates back many years) and additional space in Gilford for crops, Winnipesaukee Woods Farm began about nine years ago. Liz says she previously assumed she had no talent as a gardener, but after buying their Alton Bay home 11 years ago, Aaron started reading gardening books and her interest was sparked as well.

The couple began with a garden at their home, which soon grew. And grew until it overtook all the available space. As their vegetable gardens expanded, Liz started growing flowers as well. She discovered she had a talent for growing flowers and began to experiment by creating unusual varieties as well as more well-known blooms.

With gardens full of flowers and vegetables, Liz says they decided it would be helpful to make some money off their efforts, as well as offering something healthy to others. Thus began a vegetable CSA which had over 100 members.

Restaurants and stores also bought vegetables and Liz’s flowers. “I offered just small bouquets at first,” she explains. But the demand for flowers has grown steadily and today, Liz grows 50 to 75 varieties and sub-varieties of flowers for eager customers and local designers who love the floral choices for weddings and events. “I grow flowers with the seasons. I like to experiment and every year I offer new flowers, along with the standard florals,” Liz says. With huge coolers at their home, Liz is able to bring a variety of flowers from the fields right into her home work space to create all sorts of bouquets and arrangements for customers (ordering ahead online is suggested).

In July and August, Liz sees such flowers as Lisianthus (a flower similar to a rose) in bloom, along with dahlias, sunflowers and many others. Her eyes light up when she talks about seeds she got for a purple flower called a Black Pearl, one of the unusual flowers she is growing.

And then there is a current passion for a delicate but gorgeous flower, called the Clarkia. It is a light pink color and the little flowers grow on long stems and seem to last forever. They are a perfect choice for a bridal bouquet or a floral arrangement and it is clear Liz is thrilled with this addition to her flower gardens.

Because of her willingness to experiment with new and unusual flowers, Liz is known for doing unique things and she also loves to share what she has learned with others in floral workshops.

Each day – seven days a week – Liz and Aaron are at their Gilford fields growing flowers and vegetables, tending the crops and even doing such mundane tasks as pulling weeds. Liz smiles as she says she loves to pull weeds, finding is satisfying to keep her gardens tidy. She enjoys having her hands in the dirt, especially when the stresses of life are felt. As it is for everyone, the pandemic is a worry, but growing things and working outdoors is a great way to cope.

“We have many orders, and that has only grown during COVID,” Liz explains. With more people at home, doing their own cooking, the desire for fresh vegetables has increased. “People are being creative with their cooking and learning what can be frozen and canned for later use.”

Along with customers who use Winnipesaukee Woods Farm produce, Aaron and Liz utilize their vegetables on a daily basis. Liz says they rarely eat much that they don’t grow in their gardens and the use of their vegetables changes as the seasons flow one into another. “We like to be creative with our cooking too.”

With an abundance of fresh vegetables, the couple knew they did not want to see things go to waste. (Anyone who has even a modest vegetable garden knows that when veggies are in season, they can produce so much the gardener cannot keep up with it.) Added to their background in cooking in the restaurant world, a new avenue to use the produce began.

Winnipesaukee Woods Farm works with the folks at Genuine Local (a unique shared-use, commercial kitchen that specializes in small-batch production) to create items using the fresh vegetables direct from the farm’s gardens. The spotless production facility gives businesses such as Winnipesaukee Woods Farm a place to create large batches of products, from sauces to jams and much more, right through to the end bottling and labeling of each jar. The food then goes to local markets and country stores. Or goods can be ordered at the Winnipesaukee Woods website. Just a peek at the online store offers choices such as Spicy Carrot Relish, Yankee Ingenuity Hot Sauce and Roasted Poblano Sauce, to name but a few.

“Local restaurants are using our products, and that is very satisfying,” Liz adds.

Clearly, the ability to collaborate with other local farms and businesses is important to the couple, and Liz names other local farmers as vital to the food chain as well.

What does the future hold for Winnipesaukee Woods Farm? Without missing a beat, Liz says it is their dream to find a place that will be their “forever farm.” This would allow the couple space to spread out and also to experiment with new crops and flowers, increase production and offer workshops on growing flowers and vegetables and even bring creative floral design to a public whose interest just keeps increasing as word spreads about Winnipesaukee Woods Farm.

Whether pulling weeds, tending crops, planning next year’s gardens or arranging a gorgeous floral bouquet for a wedding, Liza and Aaron are busy, successful farmers.

As she goes about her daily tasks, it can be sure that Liz stops now and then to say hello to a new flower she has just discovered or lovingly admiring a flower that is like an old friend, producing blooms each year. As a true lover of the earth and all it offers, Liz indeed has rarely met a flower she did not like.

For information and orders, visit www.winniwoodsfarm.com or email woodlandsfarmer@gmail.com.

Aaron and Liz Lichtenberg tending their gardens.

Talking to the Flowers at Merrymeeting Daylilies

Day Tripping

Talking to the Flowers at Merrymeeting Daylilies

Story & Photos by Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Les Turner talks to his daylilies and they talk back. If that sounds like an odd thing for a grown man to do, you don’t understand gardening and specifically, gardening with daylilies.

Admittedly, I am not much of a gardener. I adore flowers but I just do not have the interest or patience to mess with dirt and flowerpots and learning about how to care for each variety of flower. But I have the utmost admiration for gardeners and when I discover a beautiful garden, I just have to visit.

When I heard about a garden in New Durham, I was curious because this place specializes in daylilies. Merrymeeting Daylilies is located just off Rt. 11 at 80 Tash Road and once you arrive, you will be glad you made the trip.

The day I visited was a very hot and humid mid-week afternoon in early July. The air was still and rumbles of thunder could be heard in the distance. Rain was definitely headed to New Durham and I hoped I could tour the gardens and talk with garden owner Les before the weather forced us indoors.

Arriving at 80 Tash Road, I drove onto the grounds of Merrymeeting Daylilies and parked near the gardens. As I sat in my car, gathering my notebook and pen, I caught a good look at the garden, with many daylilies in abundance. Color was everywhere due to the many flowers and I was eager to see it all up close.

Les soon arrived from a greenhouse and greeted me, shrugging when I mentioned bad weather seemed to be heading our way. A typical gardener, he is used to all kinds of weather and assured me that we could see the gardens and talk before the storm arrived.

Although I was eager to see every daylily – and other flowers in the gardens as well – I had questions for Les. When asked his background, he explained, “I was in the Navy, then got a degree in journalism and a master’s in education. I worked in the university world in Massachusetts, Oregon and New Hampshire.”

Eventually, Les retired in New Hampshire and has been here for 30 years. He had a popular garden center that he ran for a number of years. He says the land we now stood on used to be a gravel pit of sorts and he had it filled in to create the center and gardens.

While the bigger garden center is no longer in operation, it is daylilies all the way for Les! He offers a huge variety of the beautiful flowers to an eager public who come from all over to get daylilies you just cannot find elsewhere.

“People love daylilies because they are hardy and beautiful. If a gardener is not successful with other plants, they can raise daylilies,” assures Les as we head into the gardens.

He shares, as he bends over a flower here and there, that daylilies don’t require a lot of shade and are quite adaptable. “I tell people,” he says with a laugh, “if you can’t grow a daylily you probably shouldn’t be gardening!”

Tending the gardens, with the large variety of daylilies offered to the public, is a lot of work ad Les relies on helpers to keep everything in order and available. His daughter, a knowledgeable gardener, and a few others, help in the gardens. 

Les says the gardens are constantly changing and with about 800 kinds of daylilies, there is always something new. He likes to add things to the gardens, which definitely appeals to customers. For example, a customer recently called Les from New Mexico and ordered a particular flower for her garden. (I was surprised that Les can ship daylilies so far away, but he says the plants are tough and can easily make the journey.)

Locally, many people hear about Merrymeeting Daylilies by word-of-mouth and want to visit to get plants they might not find elsewhere. Plus, a chance to visit with Les is a bonus, because he is someone who knows more than most about gardening and daylilies.

With such fun names as Stella D’Orro, Ruby Spider, Evil Gnome, and even Lily Munster, to name but a few, there is a daylily for everyone at this special garden spot. “Most people with a garden have a few daylilies,” Les adds. We have all seen those tall, orange flowers just about everywhere in the summer. Les says the old-fashioned daylilies like these were a staple in many housewives’ gardens in the past. If the family moved, the wife likely dug up and transplanted her beloved, hardy daylilies, which is why we see them in so many places all over the country.

While Les indeed has some of the standard orange daylilies, his varieties go way, way beyond what most of us could imagine. He even experiments with hybrids and points to a new one called “Fooled Me” as an example. This flower is a cross between two plants and resulted in a totally different color. 

According to www.merrymeetingdaylilies.com, “Every year Les refreshes his collection with new cultivars from several world class hybridizers. Les grows them for a year or two, assessing factors such as hardiness, blossoming, fan production, etc. These are often very recent introductions. His hybridizer connections in Florida enable him to add these beauties to his collection. In turn, the larger plant sizes he obtains as a result of his buying directly from these world-famous hybridizers, and his subsequent transfer to his gardens from Florida, make possible some real bargains for his customers.”

Les keeps a manual at hand which customers can refer to when visiting and wanting a particular color or name of a daylily. And speaking of those customers, they range from retired folks, families and younger people with gardens. 

When COVID-19 changed our lives back in the spring, Les says families were looking for projects while home bound. Many made the drive to his gardens to choose plants as they began to expand their flower gardens.

Because Les spends so much time working with daylilies, he has come to know the characteristics of each variety. He points to one plant he has a good feeling about, adding that it spoke to him. “I felt it was saying, ‘I’m a winner. I will grow great for you.’ I can’t wait for it to bloom!” 

Once a visitor sees the extensive daylily gardens, there is little doubt that the flowers do ‘speak’ to Les, giving him a feeling about which will thrive and which, now and then, just do not fit in New Hampshire’s cooler climate.

But on this humid, hot summer’s day, all that matters are being out in the gardens, where color is everywhere and the daylilies raise their glorious blooms to soak up the sun. 

As heat-wave weather often does, the storm fizzled out and never materialized, which gave me a bit longer to visit with Les and learn about all the daylilies he offers. He is open through September 1 on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am to 4 pm. To arrange for a visit at other times, please call ahead at 603-397-7105. Visit www.merrymeetingdaylilies.com to view the extensive list of available daylilies.

Toy Heaven in the Mountains

Day Tripping

Toy Heaven in the Mountains

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

If there is anything I’ve learned from writing day tripping stories, it is that you never know what you will find and you better be prepared to be surprised at what is out there. When driving around on Saturdays looking for yard sales, for example, I have stumbled upon interesting people doing amazing things or places I never knew existed, all making great stories to share with Laker readers.

Toy sets for girls

While I was not yard saling on a recent Thursday, I did visit a unique museum with enough of interest to fit the criteria of a great day-tripping adventure.

I found a brochure for the Stinson Mountain Museum of Building Toys when I was in the Rumney area last summer and thought it would be a fascinating place to visit. Thus, I promised myself a return trip to visit. The pandemic certainly ground such plans to a halt, but as restrictions eased in early June, I contacted Ken Weinig, the museum’s owner, to see if I could arrange a visit.

Ken in his museum with the Parachute Jump toy

Friendly and enthusiastic to show his collection, Ken set a day and time for my tour and advised, “Give me a call when you get to Rumney for directions, because the house isn’t easy to find.”

This is often the case when day tripping and seeking out the great places I enjoy visiting. Creative folks and those who have something unusual to share can live in rural areas and that is part of the charm and the story. With Ken’s directions, I made my way to his rural home where the toy museum holds pride of place on the lower level.

Before Ken took me on a tour of the toy museum, we sat on his porch and talked about the museum and how it came to exist. It was the perfect place to sit and talk and watch the birds that flit among the flowers. Ken knows a lot about everything from Erector Sets, to antique toys, to the history of Rumney…and even old-time and silent movies!

How did Ken start his collection of toys, with an emphasis on A.C. Gilbert Erector Sets? “My father was sort of an anti-pack rat,” Ken said with a laugh. After Ken went off to college, his father gave away the Erector Sets that had been Ken’s childhood toy. Sad to lose those beloved toys, Ken, however, moved on and was busy with college, and then with a family and a career as an English teacher and school principal. He likely had little time to think about his love of those old Erector Sets.

However, in the 1990s, Ken bought an Erector Set at an auction, which got him started on a journey that led to creating the toy museum. He joined a toy club and got hooked on old Erector Sets. “I bought them at flea markets, and auctions and I used to drive miles to buy a set. But the internet and eBay changed all that and offered a greater variety.” It also meant a lot less work hunting hither and yon to find Erector Sets to add to Ken’s growing collection.

Just one section of Erector Sets on display

 Admittedly, I never gave much thought to the Erector Set my brother had as a kid or who invented the toy. But talking with Ken gave me a greater awareness of the inventor of the Erector Set (and a lot of other toys as well), Mr. A.C. Gilbert. 

Gilbert must have been an amazing man with great and inventive ideas. He was, to Ken and many others, “the world’s greatest toymaker.” He got started making toys when in 1913, he saw a steel bridge and thought to himself that kids might like to play with a miniature version of the bridge; thus, was born the Erector Set. He went on to make trains, tool sets, chemistry sets, puzzles and a lot more.

Ken had plenty to say about Gilbert, and he is clearly a fan of the inventor. He explained as well that the museum is divided into sections: building sets, Gilbert toys, educational toys such as puzzles and blocks and a New York historical section with memorabilia, old subway signs and other objects.

Ferris wheel made with Erector Set parts

By this time, I was more than ready to see the collection and Ken could probably sense my excitement as he led the way to the museum, which he has created with care and thoughtfulness.

As we entered the toy museum, it was immediately apparent these were toys from past generations kept in great condition by a true collector. The many Erector Sets were displayed on shelves and sectioned by the decades they were created. Ken collects sets of all sizes. I had no idea some of the sets were so massive until Ken opened various cases to reveal neatly sectioned row upon row of Erector Set parts. These huge Sets are very heavy and would need an adult to lift them; imagine finding such a gift under the tree on Christmas morning!

Ken’s collection starts with Erector Sets from 1913 and goes through 1961, the year A.C. Gilbert died. From modest to large Erector Sets that weigh over 100 lbs., the toys offered something for every child (they were played with mostly by boys at the time).

Ken explained that during World War II there was a demand for metal, which meant the end of producing metal Erector Sets for a time. He showed me a wooden Erector Set sold at the time, attesting to the fact that Gilbert was truly an innovator.

Along with Erector Sets, Gilbert created all sorts of interactive toys for children, and Ken has a large collection of child-sized chemistry sets and tool sets as well. Gilbert also produced a modest line of things for little girls, but the inventor’s main focus was on toys for boys. I was interested to see that Gilbert also produced a child-sized magic kit, which is among Ken’s collected objects. (And did you know that Gilbert made an Erector Airship circa 1929? It is on display as well.)

The objects in the toy museum are many, and among them are such gems as a World War II Civilian Plane Spotter. Certainly, I had never seen one, but Ken explained it was just what its name said: a hand-held device for civilians to use to spot enemy planes.

In another section, Ken has on display a Gilbert Lab Technician Set with a large photo on the box cover of two girls working on a lab project and next to it a Gilbert toy called My Mixer so little girls could make “delicious desserts.” Anyone who might view that as sexist should remember these toys were produced at a time when gender played a role in toys as well as what jobs a person could do. 

The toy museum has everything you could imagine - even a working replica of a parachute ride from the World’s Fair. Nearby is a circa 1931 Ferris wheel made from several Erector Sets.

Early child's chemistry set

As if all that was not enough, there was one more display area: A New York/Coney Island section. Ken explained that he has a special fondness for New York City and Coney Island and has collected many wonderful signs and other objects, from a South Ferry Manhattan sign to subway signs and a unique and wonderful sign that lights up with the words “Telephone to Call Police”.

Just when I thought I had seen it all, Ken asked if I knew who Bela Lugosi was. As a fan of old movies, I replied that of course I knew Lugosi as the star of old Dracula and other horror movies. Ken nodded as he gently took a cast object from a box and said it was a cast that Lugosi had made of his face at his death!

One cannot help but wonder if Ken spends all his time in the museum playing with the many toys and building things with the Erector Sets. Smiling, he says he spends a certain amount of time working on the displays but the collection isn’t for children or adults to play with, but rather to view and learn about the past.

Those who want to spend a delightful hour or more with someone who is truly knowledgeable about building toys should call or email Ken and make an appointment to see the amazing Stinson Mountain Museum of Building Toys. You will not find a more knowledgeable or a kinder person to explain the history of all sorts of toys in an extensive collection.

I spent a wonderful afternoon at the museum and learned a lot about old toys, the inventor A.C. Gilbert and I got to talk old movies with Ken. Indeed, this particular day trip adventure is one for the books and will make my list of the most unique and wonderful places I have visited.

(The museum is a private collection shown by appointment to groups of two to six people and admission is free. As Ken stressed, it is a museum for adults and not a place where children can play with the toys which are of a collectible nature. Call for an appointment or for information to 603-786-2899 or email kweinig@myfairpoint.net. Ken is the national secretary of the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society (www.acghs.org), a group of Gilbert fans always looking for new members.)

On the Trail to Serenity in Sandwich, NH

Day Tripping

On the Trail to Serenity in Sandwich, NH

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Nice weather is quite an enticement to leave work behind for a few hours whenever possible. At least I have always found that to be the case. We have had less-than-stellar weather this spring, so I was delighted when warm weather and brilliant sunshine was in the forecast on a recent weekday in May. Thus, I thought, “Why not leave my work behind and go on a nice walk on a nature trail?”

Nature areas abound in the Lakes Region and these places offer a lot to those who want to get outside and into the woods. Although I am not an intrepid mountain climber or long-distance hiker, I enjoy being outside in the spring, summer and fall. But after knee surgery a few years ago, I know my limitations and do not venture on risky, steep trails when I am alone.

On that particular fine day I was looking for a trail that was relatively flat, well marked and not too long. It took a bit of browsing online to find a trail that fit my criteria. If you are looking for hiking trails or paths, I suggest you check the websites for the NH Audubon Society (www.nhaudubon.org), the Society for Protection of New Hampshire Forests (www.forestsociety.org) or the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (www.lrct.org), because all list conserved areas where you can hike.

On the NH Audubon Society’s website that I found a gem – the Alice Bemis Thompson Wildlife Area on Rt. 113 in Sandwich. The area seemed to have everything I was looking for: a flat, well-groomed pathway, a wonderful boardwalk with raised viewing areas over the expanse of water/marshland which I was sure was teeming with wildlife, and a small, yet good parking area. 

The beginning of the trail at the Thompson Area in Sandwich, NH.

Deciding to leave my work on the desk and head out to explore the Thompson Area, I packed a lunch, bug spray, plenty of water, a hat, a change of pants and socks in case I should encounter any ticks and my drawing/watercolor supplies. (I enjoy sketching landscapes and this spot might offer some nice places for drawing.) I also texted my husband to let him know where I was headed, something that is particularly important should you be venturing out alone.

I headed from the Gilford area on Rt. 11 to Alton Bay and was glad to see that others were taking walks on the beautiful, sunny day. It lifted my spirits, after the long winter and cold spring – not to mention the uncertainties and stresses of the COVID virus – to see others outside enjoying the fine weather, even as we continue to social distance. 

From Alton Bay, I took Rt. 28 to Wolfeboro and headed on Rt. 109 which led me through Tuftonboro and Melvin Village and finally to the Moultonboro area. At the junction of Rts. 109 and 25, I took a right onto Rt. 25 and drove about five miles to a left-hand turn to Rt. 113 in Sandwich. I privately call this route my “surprise road” because each time I drive this way, I get a nice surprise. In the fall, it is the sudden bursts of gorgeous foliage along the route and once, in summer, I discovered a pick-your-own blueberry business off Rt. 113. I spent a delightful few hours picking berries on that day and chatting with the friendly owner of the property.

My treat on this day would be the Thompson area, which I knew I was likely to find by driving a bit slower than normal so I did not miss the parking area. After a few miles, I easily spotted a small parking lot and a large sign (on my left) that told me I had reached the Alice Bemis Thompson Wildlife Sanctuary. I was the only car in the parking lot; be forewarned that the lot is very small and would probably fit about three or perhaps four cars at the most. 

I could see the trail would be flat, and just past the wooden gate a well-kept path led toward the woods and a large marsh area. I decided to bring just my little sketch pad and a pencil and my cell phone because I did not want to carry a heavier bag with art supplies. I planned to eat my lunch in the car when I returned. I noticed trail information on the sign and also the rules which said no dogs/pets were allowed on the trail and that it is a carry-in, carry-out area. 

Boardwalk portion of the Thompson trail.

On the trail, I was happy to find myself alone in the special spot, with only the sounds of bird song and the breeze blowing through the budding trees. I felt myself relax; I was ready to put my cares aside and explore the trail.

I had not walked far when I saw a small stone monument to Fred Steele with the dates 1912 – 1999. The stone inscription read “Teacher, Botanist, Conservationist, Protecting Natural Habitats With Great Resolve and Energy This Plaque Erected in His Memory By His Friends In The Audubon Society of New Hampshire, July 14, 2001”. The portion of the trail is named The Fred Steele Memorial Trail, and I decided to learn more, when I had time, about Fred Steele. 

The path, which is handicapped accessible, soon became a well-kept boardwalk. I had not gone more than a few feet on the wooden walkway when it opened out and I had spectacular views of the marsh area, which seemed to stretch on forever. Glancing to my right, I saw something very large moving slowly on the opposite shore and recognized it as a moose. I caught my breath, not quite believing my luck to see such a wild creature in this place. I expected the moose to scamper off, having probably seen me as well. When it continued munching on greenery at the water’s edge, I quietly and carefully sat on a handy nearby bench on the boardwalk so I could watch for a while.

The moose seemed to have no problem sharing the environment with me; we were separated by the water, and neither of us could have reached the other without quite an effort. Eventually the moose moved on, back into the woods, and I resumed my walk onto the top of the boardwalk area where even better views of the marsh were to be had.

I had the feeling the moose was but one of many living creatures all around me and I would not have been surprised to spot beaver, a heron or bald eagle in the vicinity. I stood for a long while taking in the views of the marsh and the distant Ossipee Mountains and Sandwich Range before heading back to my car where I sat quietly and enjoyed my sandwich before heading off toward Sandwich on Rt. 113. (There is another access to the area on the Middle Road with a gravel road and wooded area. It is a private conservation property and joins the Thompson Sanctuary through wet woodland areas and forests.) 

On this day, still amazed at my moose sighting, I decided to drive into Sandwich village and make a trek to the Chapman Sanctuary Visny Woods Trail. I have wanted to find the hiking area and explore there for some time, having discovered it online last summer. 

Photos on the website (www.chapmansanctuaryvisnywoods.com) show the diverse natural beauty of the area, and I was curious to see it for myself.

Chapman Sanctuary-Visny Woods signage.

I took Rt. 113, which led me to the center of Sandwich where all was quiet and as usual, the epitome of a charming New England village. From there, I took Grove Street and then a right onto Mt. Israel Road. The area exudes history, with old stone walls, woods, and now and then, a house. I wasn’t sure where the Chapman-Visny area was on the road and I seemed to drive for quite some time, finally passing the Jonathan Beede House and not far from this, a sign on the left for the Chapman property. I turned into a large parking area and again, found no other cars or hikers in sight. The area is open to the public and admission is free of charge, but as with all such places, the utmost respect must be shown to protect the natural area. Do not litter and do not wander off pathways. 

I took the trail and when it forked, decided to head on the right-hand trail for a bit. Because it is still springtime, and rain has been frequent, I was happy to see someone had put down a wooden walkway so hikers need not step in mud on the pathway. As I headed up a bit of an incline, I realized the afternoon was waning and while I would have loved to continue on, it seemed prudent to come back another day when I could fully explore this wonderful area.

Back on Mt. Israel Road, I decided to travel just a bit further before turning around and heading back to Sandwich village. I am glad I did, because on the road I saw an old cemetery on my right. I turned around and parked beside the road to take a closer look at the final resting place of Sandwich residents. There was a time when the Sandwich area was heavily populated and a direct route to other regions; perhaps some of the people buried in the old cemetery were once residents of a thriving, populated community long ago. Although I do not know the answer, it is fun to dream about what this area was like long ago and the people who may have lived on the land.

Returning through Sandwich village, I took beautiful Squam Lake Road to Bean Road and into downtown Center Harbor. Eventually I made my way back to the Laconia area by traveling Rt. 25. My day had been relaxing and while it did not hold anything of distinction, such as a gourmet meal or trip to a museum, it was just the kind of day I had craved: good weather, a hint of summer still to come, a gentle hiking path, history, and of course my quiet encounter with one of nature’s fine creatures: a moose at the Thompson Wildlife Area.

The Calming Art of Fabiana Walsh

The Calming Art of Fabiana Walsh

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Travel expands a person’s outlook. The experience of visiting new places and seeing landscapes and colors and scenes broadens the scope of the imagination.

Fabiana Walsh at her studio; courtesy Ben Mangum Photography.

For Ossipee, New Hampshire artist, Fabiana Walsh, a lifetime of travel and experiencing different cultures has added spice to her life. Indeed, it has influenced her artwork and you can see it in the beautiful paintings and the colors she uses to capture a variety of images.

A native of Argentina, Fabiana’s parents are Italian and Spanish. Her website (fabianawalshfineart.com) relates, “Originally, Fabiana is from Buenos Aires, but when visiting New England more than 29 years ago, she fell in love with the mountains, so she settled her heart in New Hampshire. In her New Hampshire studio, she also enjoys stones, wood, metal, and pottery painting. Fabiana is a Public Notary, a BS in Justice Studies, and has a certification in Art Curating, and she is currently studying at New England College for her MFA in visual Arts.”

Fabiana says her husband is a restorer of historic barns and a timber-frame builder, and their home and her studio in Ossipee is in a converted 1790 barn. According to Fabiana, her studio used to be a horse stall; the structure was once a carriage coach stop where the horses were watered and fed. 

Perhaps it is the beauty of the old barn that attracted visitors, but people stopped by now and then and asked to see Fabiana’s artwork (she also has extensive, beautiful gardens in the summer). She explains how the studio/barn space came to be a place where the public could stop by to view and purchase her artwork. “After my husband built my studio, I was doing artwork more and more and eventually I found myself doing art full time. I never originally intended the studio to be open as a store, but the first year I was painting in the space, I would open the door to get fresh air. People saw the door was open and started to stop by. We also have large gardens and people would stop to take photos of the flowers. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, we had people from all over the world – France and England for example -  visiting the studio.”

That word-of-mouth awareness and people stopping to see her work expanded Fabiana’s horizons in a big way. “All of a sudden, library directors, managers of inns and hotels and others said my artwork was beautiful,” she recalls. “I began to get invitations to bring my art to local libraries for exhibits and also to inns and hotels in Portland, Maine and in the Conway area. It expanded from there. Someone who was a guest at a hotel saw my art and called asking to see more. That person asked if I would consider bringing some of my paintings to New York City.”

The simple act of opening her studio to let in the fresh mountain air also opened up the chance for others to see her artwork, and Fabiana’s work eventually found a much wider audience in New York City and beyond.

Perhaps it is the connection to nature that appeals to collectors of Fabiana’s artwork. “I decided to live in this rural area because of its connection to nature. I love trees and the landscape and I love to show the spirit of nature in my paintings. I believe nature has its own power of healing.”

How to describe Fabiana’s artwork? “I do paintings of all sizes, from very small to big wall murals,” she explains. “I paint a lot of flowers and my biggest inspiration comes from trees of any shape or size. There are no limitations on what I paint; I start a lot of paintings outside, depending on the weather. Then I finish them in the studio. I do a lot of ocean landscapes, trees and mountains in both acrylics and oils. I often paint things I see every day. And, I do ceramics for myself and I paint on different surfaces, such as canvas, metal, wood and pottery.”

Spring Flowers, acrylic on canvas

Fabiana’s studio is a calm, peaceful place and while it is not a huge space, she asked herself what she wanted to do with all the walls she had. She decided to use some of the wall space as a gallery, and locals such as Peter Abate visited her studio and asked her to exhibit at the Gafney Library in Sanbornville, New Hampshire. She also has exhibited locally in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Beyond exhibiting locally, the artist is represented by Artblend Gallery in Florida, and Artifact Gallery in New York, New York, and her work is currently in galleries in the United States, Argentina, and Spain. Her art has also been exhibited around the world in places such as Carrousel du Paris at the Louvre; Art Paris Expo Versailles, France; Museo MIIT Turin, Italy; Art Expo New York at Pier 94; Art Basel Miami, Florida; Paradise City, Northampton, Massachusetts; Boston International Fine Art Show in Boston, Massachusetts; Van Gogh Gallery in Madrid, Spain and Messezentrum Contemporary Fine Art Show in Salzburg, Austria. She will also be taking part in the Monaco Yacht Club Show 2020, which is an exclusive event for the ultra-luxury market. It will take place from September 23 to 26, 2020 under the patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. 

Those who would like to have the joyful experience of displaying Fabiana’s paintings for an office or at an event, can take advantage of a unique service the artist offers: you may rent her paintings for one-day events, theatre and movie sets, presentations, temporary décor, hotel lobbies and conference rooms and more.

Modest about her artistic skills and success, Fabiana says she was always doing pencil drawings as a child, but “I never thought I was good enough.” But the need to create did not go away, and years later, she is still painting and drawing and now sharing her colorful, yet calming art with others all over the world.

As a well-traveled person, one might wonder how Fabiana feels about living in a small community such as Ossipee. She laughs and says, “I love it! This is what I was looking for a long time. I have traveled a lot in the past and now I sometimes travel again for art shows and galleries (last year she went to Austria and France). I takes a lot of energy, so I find I really like to be at home in Ossipee, painting in my studio.”

Travel has definitely expanded Fabiana’s world, but she has found her permanent home, full of happiness and creativity, it rural Ossipee, where her paintings bring “calmness to the eyes, peace to the heart, and fulfillment to the soul.”

(Normally, from May to October, Calming Seasons Art Studio is open on weekends, but with COVID-19 virus restrictions, it is best to call ahead at 603-733-9594 or visit www.fabianawalshfineart.com for updates.)

Nostalgia Saturday Drive

Day Tripping

Nostalgia Saturday Drive

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

When the pandemic forced closures back in March, one of my first thoughts was, “How am I going to day trip?” I love to take out-of-the-way drives and find unusual places and interesting people. It makes for good story material, but best of all, it is what makes the Lakes Region such a fun place to live.

Without the ability to stop at flea markets, little backwoods shops and now and then, a great old-fashioned diner or ice cream shack, I thought my day tripping adventures/column was shot to pieces for a while. 

Yet, upon giving it some thought, I realized one does not need to always get out of the car and talk to a lot of people. Sometimes all you need to do is get in the car and drive, seeing some fun places along the roads.

On a recent Saturday drive with no specific destination in mind, I found some places to share. I have been to these places before and as fate would have it, revisiting – even if just from the front seat of my car – evoked nostalgia. None of these places requires you to actually get out of the car and/or mingle around groups of people (but if you choose to do so, be thoughtful and wear a mask and stay at least six feet from others).

I started my day trip on a rather chilly, windy but very sunny first Saturday in May. I headed from Gilford and Laconia and then took Rt. 106 toward Meredith. I took a left onto Meredith Center Road and noticed, for the first time, leaves budding on the trees. Spring was really springing on this warm day, and as always, it changed the landscape from bare ground/brown to a lighter hue with luscious green here and there. 

Turning onto Rt. 104 in Meredith Center, I headed towards the Newfound/Bristol area with the idea of taking a drive around Newfound Lake. I grew up in Bristol and like to return now and then to visit relatives or spend a summertime day at Welllington State Park. But on this day, I just wanted to see the lake and enjoy the warmer weather. 

If things had not been shut because of the pandemic, I would have stopped at the Minot Sleeper Library in downtown Bristol, which is a favorite of mine. It is a wonderful little building, built around 1885 (with an addition to the original structure in recent years). Information at www.minotsleeperlibrary.org tells us, “On January 16, 1884, the town of Bristol voted to accept the gift of a library building and land from Josiah Minot and Solomon Sleeper and to manage and maintain a public library. The Minot-Sleeper Library became the first building erected to specifically house a public library in the Lakes Region at the time, when it was officially opened to the community in 1885.” The building has some really beautiful architectural features, such as the windows and beautiful interior woodwork; once things open up again, it is worth a visit.

I headed on Lake Street towards Newfound Lake, passing the former Millstream ice cream spot. These days, the area is the site of some picnic tables and an information area. There is a pedestrian bridge as well, and nice views of the nearby Newfound River, making it a relaxing place to stop for a picnic or snack or to take a little walk on a warm day.

Continuing on Lake Street, I was soon at an area commonly known as the “foot of Newfound Lake.” Here, cabins and the beach mark (unofficially), the beginning of the lake. I headed on past the Inn on Newfound Lake (Mayhew Turnpike) and decided to take a left-hand turn onto North Shore Road in the Hebron area.

Grey Rocks Sign

While one might assume there isn’t much in the “village” of Hebron, that would be an incorrect assumption. The drive will take you past some really nice views of Newfound Lake (including glimpses of a not-too-far-away island with one cottage, often seen in photographs extolling the beauty of the area) and the entrance to the Newfound Audubon Center. I didn’t stop at the Center, knowing it would likely be closed for now, but not far from there, I did make a stop at the Grey Rocks Conservation area, also on North Shore Road.

There is a large parking area and a sign with information on the various trails. The area is maintained and owned by the Newfound Lake Region Association and they have done a marvelous job conserving and offering a lot to the public at this special place.

If you like to hike, but don’t want a mountainous, long path, this is a great place to take a walk/gentle hike. I parked my car and took a flat, well-maintained path along the cove area. There are plenty of strategically placed benches for those who want to sit and take in the scenery or rest, but I headed on the path, and enjoyed being near the lake and in the woods. Paths/trails are clearly marked, offering a great way to enjoy an hour. 

Grey Rocks is also the place where the Eco Boat Tours launch in the summer months. I took the tour for a Laker story a few years ago and had a thoroughly wonderful time on Newfound Lake. If you are interested in taking a boat tour, call the Association for the latest updates on COVID-19 restrictions at 603-744-8689 or visit www.newfoundlake.org.

Back on North Shore Road, I was soon in the village of Hebron. There is a town green and a gazebo, as well as a charming little library (again, not open at this time) as well as the Hebron Village Store, where one can stop for a snack, drinks, and groceries. 

A hiking path at GreyRocks

I next headed on West Shore Road just because I like the view of the amazing ledges at this area of the lake. I can recall, as a kid, taking a Sunday drive around this area. My mother, who hated deep water and heights, would shut her eyes tight until we were well past the ledges area. Why? Because the road, which twists and is narrow, has the lake not far from the road on one side and the cliffs and rocks on the other. Legend has it, this is the deepest part of the lake, and is almost bottomless (probably just a myth). The area is fun to drive but take it slow because this is not a road for speed!

I completed my Newfound Lake tour and headed from Bristol to Franklin on Rt. 3A (from the downtown area). This route was once the main thoroughfare between points south and north, but is less well traveled because Interstate 93 gives a quicker route. I grew up not far from Rt. 3A and can recall the steady stream of traffic. It brought back many memories when I drove by the former Giles Dairy Bar on Rt. 3A (Franklin). Across the road was once a wonderful dairy bar with tasty ice cream; it lices on in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to enjoy a treat there on a hot summer’s day.

Ledges by Newfound Lake

On Rt. 3A, watch for a left-hand turn to a parking area with picnic tables. This is a look-off area for the Franklin Falls Dam. It is an amazing view of the mammoth dam and the wide Pemigewasset River. For further information on the dam, and the many hiking trails on the property (across the Pemigewasset River), visit https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/.

I continued my drive and took a left-hand turn onto Central Street and on through town towards Tilton. I decided my last stop would be the marvelous Tilton Arch. Although I have written about the Arch for the Laker in the past, it is worth a mention here. It is hard to miss the hulking Arch, which sits on a rise overlooking the area. Many years ago, it was the project of one wealthy man – Mr. Charles Tilton. The story goes that Mr. Tilton had the arch built in adjacent Northfield, with the idea of his final resting place being a huge stone tomb (under the arch). For reasons best left to a longer story, Mr. Tilton was never placed in the tomb upon his death. (He was buried elsewhere in the town of Tilton.) The amazing Arch remains and it is a great place for photos or to simply sit in the sunshine on the grass. Reach the Arch by traveling through Tilton to 9 Summer Street in Northfield.

The Tilton Arch

The afternoon drive brought back a lot of memories and provided me with some fun photos. I did not get out of my car for any length of time and indeed, one could do the entire drive and never leave a vehicle. 

I wanted to affirm to myself that a day trip adventure was still possible, amid the virus restrictions. Luckily, that proved to be the case.

Painting the Lakes Region with Liane Whittum

Painting the Lakes Region with Liane Whittum

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

Photos courtesy Liane Whittum

Tioga River, painting by Liane Whittum

Artist Liane Whittum drives a lot. She also observes a lot and she paints a lot. These things are all part of Liane’s life as an artist, although one might not expect driving would be part of a creative routine.

Liane, who lives in the village of Hill, New Hampshire with her husband and daughter, spends as much time as possible each day in her home studio. These days, the time is cut a bit short as she homeschools her daughter, due to school closures because of the pandemic. 

However, Liane, who is a well-known and sought-after artist in the Newfound Lake area, finds her day-to-day life artistically inspirational. This includes driving her daughter to appointments and even such mundane things as a trip to the store. “I seem to paint things I am around the most,” Liane explains. Some of her observations are inadvertent and can seem quite random; while most of us would drive by an old trailer or swampy area, she is immediately attracted to the colors, the composition and the mood created by the subject matter.

“I am drawn to different parts of New Hampshire. I like the postcard beautiful scenes, but I am interested in the other side as well,” Liane explains. “It is all part of what makes up the places where we live.”

When viewing Liane’s paintings and drawings, her skill and her sharp eye for a scene are readily apparent. We see places we know, and think to ourselves, “Oh yes, I remember that view or that highway, but I never saw how colorful or randomly beautiful it is the way Liane sees it in a painting.”

The paintings evoke not only a recognition of places, but they also prod at our memories and bring back remembrances of a day heading north on I-93 to look at foliage; a farm we passed where the spring mist rose from a field; a trailer park with claustrophobic snowbanks on a cold January evening when the street lamps just came on to cast a pink glow. We recall what the heat of a July day felt like as we drove a country road when the fiery orange sun slid behind the mountains at sunset or the lonely, almost frightening feeling of an old, abandoned home beside a secondary road. 

Liane describes her painting style as “realistic interpretation of the area where I live; sometimes with non-traditional subjects.” Indeed, the subjects range from beautiful landscapes to such things as a roadside parking area with storage trucks or a seemingly simple still life of a pear. Nothing is off limits for Liane and can be a way for her to interpret and learn about the world.

Although she now lives with her husband and daughter in rural Hill, Liane was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and moved at age five with her family to Contoocook, New Hampshire in 1982. She lived in Contoocook for most of her childhood, graduating from high school there. She began her career at age 19, designing and painting for a furniture company based in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Unlike most young people fresh out of high school and headed to college, Liane has painted many commissioned pieces purchased by private collectors, and her work has been carried in stores across New England, including Pier 1 Imports. Her immediate entry into the world of a professional artist speaks to her immense talent.

In her 30s, Liane fulfilled her lifelong desire to attend art school. “My husband was supportive and he helped me for four years so I could attend New England College. It was a good fit for me as a mom and because of my schedule. I have a degree in studio arts, with a major in painting,” she says. 

Like many artists, Liane has fashioned her life as a creative person to blend with her role as a parent. While she did not choose a traditional career path, Liane often takes on commissions and she is represented in galleries and also teaches private classes. She has a definite following and people all over the Newfound area and far beyond cherish her paintings.

As for her painting style, Liane says, “I am sort of a blended traditionalist, which is realism with a little bit of Impressionism. I focus a lot on realism, and when I do plein air painting, my style is a lot looser because when outside, I have to work quickly.”

She relates stories of particular places she has painted and some are amusing or informative. For example, she saw the trailer park with snow across the street from a gym (her daughter is a competitive gymnast and Liane drives her to the gym often). It might seem like a random thing to paint – a trailer park – but Liane liked the light, the colors and composition. With this subject and many others, she might make sketches of the scene and/or take photographs for reference. It is certainly near to impossible to paint outside in the cold winter, so reference sketches and photos are extremely helpful when Liane gets back to the studio to paint.

Spring in Bridgewater, painting by Liane Whittum

Another drive she took, this time to Jaffrey, New Hampshire to help hang an art show, took her past a factory where she had a moment of inspiration. “I saw the old factory, which was a minty green in color, on an overcast day, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I am going to plein air paint there!’” Certain colors, she explains, feed her and give her a desire to capture what she sees and to share it with others.

Liane sites many influences on her painting, from White Mountain region artist Erik Koepel, because she likes “his traditional way of doing things” to New Hampshire artist Byron Carr. She also loves the art of John Singer Sargent and Ivan Kramskoi, an artist who spearheaded a Russian genre of painting, Edward Hopper to Dutch still life masters. Liane speaks glowingly of instructors from New England College, including Inez McDermott, Daryl Furtkamp, Devin Mozdierz, Peter Granucci and Jay Bordage.

Recently, after learning of some rather discouraging media coverage of the pandemic and its effects on her area, Liane decided it would be her call to action to do something positive at this difficult time. “It made me ask myself what I can do to change the discouraging mindset,” she comments. “We aren’t just victims of our circumstances and I told myself I would get out and paint something nice; something meaningful although the weather wasn’t great. I chose a scene where I once painted and always wanted to return.” The scene, a farm not far from her home, is the subject for her uplifting mindset of doing what she can to project the positive during these pandemic times.

As a full-time artist, Liane has experienced the joys of being her own boss and the freedom to create every day. But it means she must be in charge of a lot of different things and wear many hats. Part of her creativity means challenging herself, such as a recent commission to paint a pet and its owner. She wanted to experiment and do the painting to accept the challenge of something new and she has learned much from the process. 

Talking about individual paintings, Liane starts by saying she often likes to paint unusual things. “I like a lot of man-made structures, such as buildings. I also like light, and sometimes I can see the composition as a painting as I am driving by something. It strikes me – it feels like a painting already and it has key elements, such as a late afternoon atmosphere. I am trying to focus on that golden hour, when light casts shadows. The sun is warm and it gives off a wonderful feeling. And I am interested in painting night scenes - nocturnes - and such things as snowbanks under parking lot lights.”

 Liane painted “Afternoon in Bridgewater” last April. She started first with a sketch on site and then did a plein air painting and finished by taking a lot of photos of the scene at different times of the day. “I recently went back there again and took more photos,” she says.

“January Dream”, the painting of the trailer park with snowbanks was painted using photos, due to the fact that it was wintertime and too cold to paint outside. 

Another painting, called “4th of July”, gives the viewer a front seat in Liane’s car with the road ahead and a very hot sun setting behind the trees. Liane says this very view, when she and her husband and daughter were driving to Andover, New Hampshire, on the 4th of July, inspired the painting. “We were on Rt. 104 in Danbury. It was late afternoon and we were on our way to see the fireworks. There were bugs the ed on windshield of the truck, as often happens in the summer, and the sunshine picked up and reflected off the bugs. I decided to include them in the painting.” Liane recalls the bugs looked rather like little fairies flitting through the air and the painting certainly has a highly atmospheric feeling.

Most of her paintings are smaller in size: 9 x 12 or 12 x 16, although she is now working on a painting of downtown Bristol that is around 14 x 24. No matter the painting’s size, a variety of people collect Liane’s artwork, from locals to out-of-staters and collectors from farther afield. 

Although it is difficult to get studio time, due to temporarily homeschooling her daughter during the pandemic closures, Liane remains positive and grateful for all she has and her many talents. She looks forward to having a presence at the August League of NH Craftsmen Fair at Sunapee, New Hampshire. As a member of the NH Art Association, Liane will be participating in the group’s tent display at the fair during a plein air day.

Always looking ahead, Liane hopes, when things open back up after the pandemic recedes, to get back to New York City and also to keep painting local scenes and perhaps gain entrance to more galleries. 

As she drives the highways and backroads of New Hampshire, spotting places bucolic as well as areas others would view as mundane, Liane embraces and interprets it all, painting with skill and fondness the many scenes of the Lakes Region.

(Liane is a juried member of the NH Art Association. She has won many awards, including the Washington SQ Outdoor Exhibit Award and the Gamblin Material for a Landscape in Oil Award from the Salmagundi Club in New York City. Her work is available at Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery at NH Art Association in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the Prospect Hill Home Gallery in Sunapee, New Hampshire. To see more of Liane’s work, visit www.lianewhittum.com or email liane.whittum@yahoo.com.)

Carving an Artistic Life

Carving an Artistic Life

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

It started quite modestly. Wes Ripple was helping his wife, Suzanne Connor, with the Evergreen Fair, an event she ran at the University of New Hampshire. Many artisans were selling and exhibiting at the fair, organized by Suzanne, who is a talented quilter and artist (www.suzanneconnor.com). 

“I was there to help Suzanne,” recalls Wes, “and there was a bird carver at the show. I got talking with him about his bird carving and I was interested in what he was doing. He had kits for sale and I bought a chickadee bird carving kit.” The carver was Erwin Flewelling from Maine. (His website is http://www.nestlewoodbirds.com.) He has been a great resource and mentor to Wes over the years.

The first kit was a learning experience for Wes, but he soon realized he could do more if he got additional tools. “I bought a wood burning pen, paint and brushes,” Wes says.

Once his first bird carving was completed, Wes was hooked and he bought another kit. By this time, he began to see the possibilities of artistic wood carving and while he is modest about his skills, saying, “I can’t draw and I am not an artist”, the finished products say otherwise.

Carving by Wes Ripple

One of the first things Wes probably realized as he began to pursue wood carving in earnest was that this is not a hobby or art form for an impatient person. “It takes me about two to three months to complete a bird carving,” he explains in his quiet voice. He adds that while some carvers complete projects much quicker, he enjoys taking his time to research and plan out, as well as carve, each bird. 

From time to time as was speaks, Suzanne joins in to further add encouragement; clearly, this creative couple are a perfect match, with Suzanne being outgoing and husband Wes quiet and measured in his answers to questions about bird carving. 

“I have been doing bird carvings for about 15 years,” Wes goes on to say. “I’ve been retired for 2 ½ years and it gives me more time to dedicate to carving.”

Over those 15 years, Wes has continued to learn more and more about bird carving, talking to other carvers, and studying all he can about the many thousands of birds around the world. He looks at photos of birds online, in books and magazines, and even has traveled to the Cornell School of Ornithology, where one of the world’s largest collections of stuffed birds is housed. That trip, according to both Suzanne and Wes, was an amazing experience, with a huge collection of birds available for Wes to study and measure. That was a great help for his bird carving, because it allowed Wes to get measurements exactly correct and to see many of the lesser-known, as well as popular birds, up close.

Wes has a small studio in his house, which is located in a peaceful, beautiful location right on a pond in the Tilton area. Wildlife is abundant at the pond, which is just steps from Wes and Suzanne’s home. While he works at bird carving, Wes can see birds coming to the bird feeders and visits from wildlife at the pond, right from his studio window. (Suzanne also has a studio in the home for her quilting projects.)

Wes has outfitted his studio space with all the tools necessary for bird carving. If one assumes the studio is a huge shop with all sorts of massive wood cutting machinery, that could not be further from the truth. The tools in the studio are not large and everything fits seamlessly in the modest space where Wes works. 

One of the first pieces of equipment Wes bought as he really got into wood carving was a Dremel, a hand-held rotary tool to aid in finishing a carving. “As I progressed,” he recalls, “I bought more kits and bigger tools, such as a high-speed grinder for detail work. And I have learned air brushing for painting and fine detail painting of the birds I carve. “

All the tools are quite helpful in bird carving, a “hobby” anyone with some time and a desire to do something with their hands could probably accomplish. But Wes is a natural talent and his work long ago was elevated from hobby status to that of a working artist, although he is modest to acknowledge that fact.

Perhaps his philosophy is a key to understanding how he approaches the art form and one of the reasons Wes has won many awards for bird carving. “I am trying to tell a story when I carve a bird,” he explains. “I think about how I want to show the bird and how it should be displayed. I started simple in bird carving, but I now know it is also about storytelling.”

To clarify, Wes uses a bird he carved as an example: A White Breasted Nuthatch perched on a branch with pine cones. A sculptural piece of beauty and grace, the carving won a number of awards at the Ward World Championship in Ocean City, Maryland in 2016. 

The idea for the carving came about a few years before Wes retired. “On my lunch break at work, I would take a walk near my office. One day on my walk, I found a branch with some pine cones attached. I thought to myself that it would be a good branch for a bird to perch on, and later, I remembered it and used that idea as a habitat for the bird I wanted to carve.”

The habitat, or object the carved bird stood on, was an important part of the overall piece. Wes could have simply carved a White Breasted Nuthatch and it would have been acceptable and lovely, probably displayed on a small stand. But, as an artist, he went beyond and imagined a setting for the bird, in this case, the branch with pine cones. This is what Wes means when he says he wants to tell the entire story when he does a bird carving.

Storytelling, or providing a habitat for each bird carving, has led Wes to hone additional skills. He now incorporates carved flowers and vines crafted from copper wire covered in a putty and painted appropriate colors into the overall finished piece. Birds he has carved can be perched on a vine with berries or near large flowers with twisted vines wrapped around a piece of driftwood or a tree stump. 

“Every part of carving is a challenge,” Wes says. “It is all handmade and I have to be a sort of master of all trades to do a carving, but I enjoy all of it.”

The wood used for carving is mostly tupelo, which is a southern hardwood that comes from the swamps of Louisiana. The portion of the tupelo tree that is in the water is what Wes uses, and he surely cannot find this specialized wood in NH. He special orders tupelo wood online and when he can, he buys it from wood vendors at shows.

The wood comes in large blocks and Wes uses every piece as much as possible. For a bird carver such as Wes, a piece of tupelo wood is as desirable as diamonds would be to a jeweler. He explains that when he starts, he must find the grain of the wood and cut the bird template following the grain. It is painstaking work that requires planning and knowing ahead of time what bird he wants to carve, its pose and size.

The most popular birds among collectors are Cardinals and Blue Birds and Wes has created carvings of each. All the birds he carves are incredibly lifelike, but also works of art because of the skill Wes brings to each project. And again, they are works of art because each is placed in a habitat, perched on a birch log or emerging from a hole in a tree or on a berry branch, for example.

Wes refers once more to the memorable trip he and Suzanne took to the Cornell School of Ornithology, spending a few days to see the birds. He reiterates that it was extremely helpful to see just about every stuffed bird species one could imagine and to have the opportunity to measure the birds and take photographs for reference. 

As a skilled carver, Wes creates birds to actual size, almost always knowing what he wants to carve ahead of time. “I plan to carve a Cardinal soon,” he says when asked what projects are upcoming.

Along with the bird carvings, Wes does feather carvings. Because it is illegal to own a real feather, the carved feathers are a great opportunity for someone to have a lifelike feather that has been carved from wood. Those who love nature and birds will appreciate the carved feathers, which are very lifelike. Called Spirit Feathers, each large feather comes with a printed explanation on the back of the display box that tells a story. For example, the Red Tailed Hawk Spirit Feather, the printed information says, symbolizes guardianship, strength, and farsightedness.

The feathers also come in lapel pin size and make great and unusual gifts or pieces of jewelry for nature lovers. Both Spirit Feathers and the smaller feather pins have proven very popular with those who appreciate Wes’ carvings. “I just did a farmer’s market and sold a number of the Spirit Feathers,” he says.

Currently, Wes is between projects, but will start soon on a carving of an Eastern Bluebird, then a Cardinal. His eyes light up as he mentions a bird that is on his carving wish list: a shorebird. One can only imagine what Wes will create when it comes to a shorebird, in its special water habitat.

To view the carvings of Wes Ripple or to purchase his work, visit www.wesripple.com. Wes will be at an open house he hosts with wife Suzanne called Gallery in the Garden on August 1 and 2 on their property (information at www.GalleryintheGardenNH.com.) Wes will also be exhibiting at the Button Factory in Portsmouth, NH on Saturday, December 5 for an artisan event.

What started modestly with a bird carving kit and a small carving knife, has become a passion and art form for Wes Ripple. It encompasses all kinds of skills, the opportunity to travel to bird exhibits and to talk with other bird experts, as well as a passion for the graceful, sometimes elusive, but always fascinating, birds around us.

Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

Yesteryear

Meet the Notables (and once famous) People of the Lakes Region

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

When we think of famous people, the names of well-known politicians and movie stars and musicians come to mind. Although it might be hard to believe, those who came before us had their own rock stars of sorts. In the 1700s and 1800s, news traveled much slower. Thus, it took time for people to learn about those who were doing amazing things. 

Maude Ferguson of Bristol, NH served as a state senator in the 1930s. (Photo courtesy Bristol Historical Society)

The Lakes Region of New Hampshire had its share of famous people, and most of them rose to fame by their unusual talents and deeds.

Looking far back in time, New Hampshire’s Royal Governors, and more specifically the Wentworth’s, ruled the state for years leading up the Revolutionary War. After the war and freedom from England’s rule, the Wentworth’s lost the power and position they once enjoyed. However, the name Wentworth is still to be found in the Lakes Region, where the last Royal Governor, John Wentworth, had a summer home, making Wolfeboro the “First Summer Resort in America” in the 1700s. It also is the name of one of the area’s prettiest bodies of water, Lake Wentworth.

The governorship of the Wentworth’s started with John Wentworth, who, according to Wikipedia.org, was born in England in 1671 and died in Dover, New Hampshire in 1730. He was trained as a sea captain and appointed by Queen Anne as a counselor for New Hampshire in 1712. By 1714, he was lieutenant governor of the area. He also reigned over the Province of Massachusetts. After his death, his three sons – Samuel, Benning and Mark Hunking Wentworth – (he had 13 children) rose to prominence over time.

Benning married Abigail Ruck of Boston around 1720; they had three children who all died before their father. After Abigail’s death in 1755, Benning created quite a stir when at the age of 64, he married the family’s youthful housekeeper, Martha Hilton. 

The last of the Wentworth’s to rule New Hampshire was Benning’s nephew, Sir John Wentworth. He is the best known of the Royal Governors, and especially in the Lakes Region where he built his summer mansion on the shores of the lake named for the Wentworth family. Their summer estate was large and they entertained lavishly until the Revolutionary War caused them to flee to Canada. 

And what of another early person of fame, Jeremy Belknap? Exploring and heading into the unknown was what Belknap, an 18th century New Hampshire citizen, seemed to live for and what he did best. Unexplored areas and rough wilderness trails did not daunt him. In the 1780s, Belknap, who was living in Dover, New Hampshire, set off to see for himself what the White Mountain region of the state was like.

   Belknap was born in 1744 and died in 1798, and in his relatively short life was never content with one profession or residence. He was known to be a minister, an historian and a scientist. It was in the title of scientist that Belknap decided to travel through the White Mountain region. He made the dangerous and taxing trip with a group of fellow scientists and called his trip a “genuine tour of the wilderness.”

   Traveling from Conway to the White Mountains was done by way of an 18-mile road (if it could really be called that). Belknap wrote in his journal of this part of the trip as traveling “through an old road; i.e., one that was cut 10 years ago, and has been disused for several years; and ’tis now grown up with bushes as high as a man’s head on horseback, full of wind-fallen trees, deep mires, and broken bridges...” What a rock star of an adventurer!

In the 1700’s, Isaac Lord arrived in the village of Effingham and would soon show the locals what hard work and vision could create. He was not wealthy when he came to town, but his was the story of a true, early-day entrepreneur who rose from obscurity to prominence.

According to information on the Friends of Effingham Library website, Lord was a peddler and this may have been why he stopped in Effingham. With an eye to his future, it didn’t take Lord long to start building up a business and buying property in the area. 

Eventually, Lord built a home on Lord’s Hill. In The Granite Monthly from the early 1900’s, it was written of Lord that he established himself in a comfortable home and had a slave named Cato. (A small rise in the town was later named Cato’s Hill.) 

Lord built a store and a house, which he enlarged over time, according to Tales of Effingham by Lawrence P. Hall. This was followed by a second store, which Lord built across from the first store. He converted his residence into an inn/tavern. Eventually he came to own a store and post office, a tavern and sawmills; quite a success story for a man who started from scratch.

Lord prospered greatly; by 1802 he was reported to have over 1,500 acres of forested land and over 20 acres good for tilling. In a position to provide for a wife, Lord married Susanna Leavitt. But Mrs. Lord found the village too quiet and longed for the social life to be had in Portland, Maine. The couple moved to a mansion in the city but eventually Lord returned to Effingham where he lived out his life in a large home.

Elsewhere, a child was born in faraway Europe. A woman of true royal lineage, Lady Blanche Elizabeth Mary Annunciata Noel was born on March 25, 1845 at Exton Hall in England. She was the daughter of the second Earl of Gainsborough and Lady Ida Harriet Augusta Hay. The Earl and his wife traveled in the same circles as the country’s nobility: Queen Victoria was godmother to little Blanche. 

As a young woman, Blanche met Irish commoner and organist, Thomas Murphy. Hired as a music teacher for young Blanche, it did not take long for romance to blossom. In fact, the attraction may have been instantaneous. Blanche was said to have been pretty, with a charismatic personality. 

Such a match would have been frowned upon due to the differences in their social standing, but perhaps Blanche’s father eventually gave in to a marriage between his daughter and a commoner. Other stories claim the couple eloped. While Blanche found Thomas hard to resist — he was educated, talented, and also very charming — how that charm held up when the couple made a difficult seven-week Atlantic Ocean crossing to reach America is not known, but Blanche later wrote that the trip was taxing. 

Thomas got a job at a Conway, NH area boys’ school in an area called Three Elms. He taught music and French and Blanche, a well-educated lady, filled in for her husband when needed. Blanche loved the Conway area with its woods, mountains and flowers which might have reminded her of Exton, her English childhood home. 

To help make ends meet, Blanche began to submit articles for publication. Certainly, this brought her added fame among her neighbors. Blanche was somewhat of a famous personage in the Conway community, but sadly, she died unexpectedly while only in her 30s in March of 1881 after catching a cold which turned into a serious illness. 

For a woman to enter politics in New Hampshire in the 1930’s was unusual, but that is what Maude Ferguson of Bristol in the Newfound Lake area did. Maude attended the Greeley School of Elocution and Dramatics in Boston, and historical information states that she was an elocutionist, which is the study and practice of oral delivery and the control of voice and gesture. 

She was the chairperson of the Bristol Republican Women’s Committee, and she served on the Bristol Board of Education. Maude moved on to the NH House of Representatives and was given positions on the revision of statutes and the state library. She was the first woman to serve on the Judiciary Committee. Politics must have agreed with Maude, because she rolled up her elegant sleeves and jumped into the race for the Republican nomination for state senator in the fifth district. She beat out two male candidates and was the first woman to serve in the senate. 

For three years, Maude served as state chairperson of the Legal Status of Women of the NH League of Women Voters. She also was past grand matron of the Order of the Eastern Star and past president of the Bristol Woman’s Club, to name but a few of the offices she held.

Maude passed away in 1932, and the entire Bristol community, as well as the state, mourned the loss of this amazing woman. It is a mark of her importance in the community to note that when her funeral was held in Bristol, businesses were closed as a mark of respect. Flags were lowered to half-mast due to her position as senator. Tributes poured in from local groups, as well as the NH Senate, NH Governor Winant and many others. Those who attended her funeral included state senators, Laconia’s mayor, state representatives, and more. The work she did certainly helped open doors for women everywhere.

These are but a few of the people who rose to fame while living in the area; a few more to add to the list were Black magician Richard Potter, and Peyton Place author Grace Metalious, among many others. 

Sweet Maple Weekend

By Kathi Caldwell-Hopper

It marks the winding down of winter, and it means spring cannot be many weeks away. When you see smoke billowing from the chimney of little sugar shacks all over the Lakes Region, you will know it’s maple syrup season, the sweetest time of year for maple lovers.

Maple syruping is so popular in NH that it has even taken an official flair, with the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association (NHMPA) kicking off NH Maple Month on March 5 at 11:30 am at Mapletree Farm in Concord. At that time, a ceremonial tree-tapping will take place, with Governor Chris Sununu on hand for the Governor’s Tap.

Boiling sap at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

According to information provided by NHMPA, for nearly 50 years, the Governor’s Tap has welcomed the start of maple sugaring season in NH. Each year, the event is hosted by a different NH sugar house to highlight the richness of the state’s maple sugaring landscape. 

Most of us love the taste of maple, but as those who make maple syrup will tell you, it is a long process and sometimes you stay up all night tending to the syrup. You watch the weather; you know that certain temperatures and conditions will make for a better season of maple syrup. You tap the trees, you tend to the sap house, you stoke the fire and you do it again and again.

Maple producers in New Hampshire love what they do, from opening up the sap house and getting everything ready for a late winter/spring season of maple syrup production to the first bottle of sweet maple syrup they produce each year.

If you want to learn in-depth about maple syruping, and the history of this centuries-old practice, The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, Inc. is definitely helpful. The non-profit trade association is dedicated to promoting the high quality of NH’s maple sugaring tradition. The NHMPA organizes several public events throughout the year, including NH Maple Weekend on March 21 and 22 this year, with sugar houses open to the public; NH Maple Sugaring Month; the Felker Prize for NH youth and the tapping of the first maple by the Governor. Learn more at www.nhmapleproducers.com.

New Hampshire Maple Month continues throughout March, celebrating NH’s great maple sugaring tradition. Over the weekends of March 7 and 8, March 14 and 15, March 21 and 22 and March 28 to 29, sugar houses across the state welcome the public to experience the process of maple sugaring, with many offering sugaring demonstrations, free tours, samples and family-friendly activities. The largest event, the 25th annual NH Maple Weekend, takes place on March 21 and 22. 

Sweet maple syrup at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

On Maple weekend, visitors can experience the sap boiling process and ask questions. Some of the sugarhouses have been making maple syrup for years. For example, this year marks the 45th year of maple sugaring at Maple Tree Farm’s current location where a state-of-the-art sugarhouse expansion took place in 2017. The sugarhouse sits on the edge of New Hampshire’s largest and, perhaps the only, tapped planted maple orchard. (Mapletree Farm’s sugarmaker Dean Wilber has been making maple syrup for 73 years. He remembers being seven years old and driving his uncle’s horses in his sugarbush. A lot has changed in maple sugaring techniques since then.)

Big Lake Maple in Wolfeboro will take part in Maple Weekend; this is their fifth year of producing maple syrup. Big Lake Maple started in 2015 when owner Ken decided to tap a few of the trees behind his parents’ house as a fun little winter project. Maple sap was collected into milk jugs and boiled in pots on turkey fryers. Ken and his father, Marc, produced enough maple syrup for the family to enjoy. Over the next two years, Ken upgraded the setup to two altered oil drums with hotel pans to boil off syrup. The 50 or so taps produced about 5 to 10 gallons of maple syrup each year. The 2018 season was welcomed with 60 or so taps and small upgrades to the homemade evaporators. Big Lake Maple produced roughly 16 gallons of maple syrup that year. The 2019 season saw massive upgrades to the operation. As we head into the season of tree tapping and maple syrup production, Ken says, “With the 2020 season beginning, we’re excited to see what this season will bring us!”

Big Lake Maple will be open to the public on March 21 from 10 am to 5 pm, during Maple Weekend, with sampling, products for sale, sap production in full swing, and more. “We do a lot with buckets,” Ken adds. “If visitors bring their kids, we let the youngsters help collect the sap in buckets.” This is a fun way for kids to get hands-on learning. With over 300 trees, Big Lake Maple is located at 31 Richard Road in Wolfeboro. Visit www.biglakemaple.com for information, or visit their Facebook page.

In the Tilton area, head to Just Maple at Green Acres Farm for a variety of maple products, and lots of fun during Maple Weekend. Maple syrup production at the farm began over 20 years ago as a 4H project. Just Maple owners Roger and Barbara took a liking to maple syruping and are going strong in the business today! For over 10 years, Just Maple has participated in Maple Weekend and the business is among the most popular on the maple tour. There are tours, free samples, the Just Maple store, information on how to tap trees, and a look inside the sugarhouse where sap is boiled and becomes maple syrup. Just Maple is located at 475 School Street in Tilton; call 603-520-2373.

Tending to the fire for sap production at Big Lake Maple. (Courtesy photo)

Robie’s Sugar House and Sawmill at 217 Town Pound Road in Alexandria is a unique place. Owner Brett Robie is in his 15th year of operating the maple syrup house and will be open on Maple Weekend so the public can stop by, see how syrup is made and sample treats. During the warm weather months, Brett operates a sawmill on the property that was originally run by his grandfather many years ago. For information, call 603-455-2171.

These are but a few of the many sugarhouses that will be open during Maple Weekend in NH. Each has a unique story and many have been in families for generations, with maple sugaring traditions and practices passed down over the years.

According to www.nhmapleexperience.com, Native Americans were the first to discover that sap from maple trees could be turned into maple syrup and sugar. We cannot be certain what the process was like those many years ago, or how the discovery was made, but maple sugaring has been going on for generations.

Today, the maple syrup production season generally runs from mid-February (or a bit later) until mid-April. The process, in simple terms, goes like this: sap in maple trees is frozen during the cold winter and when temperatures rise a bit, the sap in the trees begins to thaw. It then starts to move and builds up pressure in the tree. If you have noticed sticky sap oozing from any cut in a maple tree, this is the sap that is used for maple syrup production. Ideal conditions for the sap to flow are freezing nights and warm, sunny days, which create the pressure for a good sap harvest.

If you drive around the state, you are likely to see buckets and plastic tubing around maple trees here and there. This is how maple producers tap the sugar maples. They drill a small hole in the tree trunk and insert a spout, and then a bucket or plastic tubing is fastened to the spout. If you assume the sap dripping from the tree looks like amber or darker colored maple syrup, you would be wrong. The sap at that point is clear. Once collected, it is taken to the sugarhouse and boiled down in an evaporator over a very hot fire. Steam rises and the sap becomes concentrated until eventually is turns to syrup. It is taken from the evaporator and filtered, graded and bottled. It is not a quick or easy process; it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

Plan to attend Maple Weekend in NH on March 21 and 22 and talk with the experts about how they make maple syrup. You will hear the pride in their voices and share their enthusiasm for maple sugaring, a process that takes patience, diligence and often a respect for an old-time practice passed from one generation to the next.

For information and a list of NH sugarhouses and maple syrup events, visit www.nhmapleproducers.com.