Local Celebrities Step Up for Dancing with the Dover Stars

DOVER—
Some of Dover’s biggest names are lining up to strut their stuff and win the title of top dancer.
Dancing with the Dover Stars, a fundraiser for the Dover Community Senior Center, pits 13 celebrity dancers against one another on stage during an evening of entertainment. Dancing with the Dover Stars will be held Saturday, March 12 at 6 p.m. in the Dover High School auditorium.
Celebrity dancers have been rehearsing for weeks in anticipation of the competition. Ready to tango are Mayor Scott Myers, City Councilor Bob Carrier, City Councilor Gina Cruikshank, Fire Chief Perry Plummer, Dover Police Officer Jason Feliciano, Public Library Director Cathy Beaudoin, Community Services Director Doug Steele, Recreation Director Gary Bannon, Dover High School Dean of Students Kimberly Stephens, Recreation Advisory Board President and Dover Middle School tutor Joe Tenuta, Woodman Park Elementary School teacher Jill Sears, Dover Community Senior Center member Alice Clark, and Kirt Schuman.
Each celebrity dancer has been paired with a professional dancer from several area studios. During the competition at Dover High School, three guest judges, along with the audience, will vote to determine the winner.
In addition to an evening of dancing, the event includes a concession stand and a raffle featuring prizes donated by local merchants, including one round of golf and cart for four at the Cochecho Country Club; a family pack of passes to the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire; and gift certificates to Ross Furniture, Jewelry Creations, Nicole’s Hallmark and Dover Wine Company. More prizes are arriving each day.
Tickets to Dancing with the Dover Stars are $10 and available at the Dover Recreation Department and Dover Community Senior Center, both located at the McConnell Center, 61 Locust St., Dover. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Community Senior Center. For more information, call 603-516-6436.
Photo caption: Dover Recreation Director Gary Bannon rehearses at the McConnell Center for Dancing with the Dover Stars, along with his instructor, Sue Dunlavey of Seacoast Set Dancers. (Courtesy photo)

Slow Food Seacoast and Friends Present ‘Taste of Place’

PORTSMOUTH—
Come celebrate our shared roots with great local food and fun upstairs at The Press Room on Thursday, March 10 from 5-7:45 p.m. Learn more about Terra Madre, known as the “farmers’ United Nations,” from local delegates who represented the Seacoast region at the Terra Madre conference in October 2010: John Forti of Slow Food Seacoast, Jean Jennings of Meadow’s Mirth, and Evan Mallett of Black Trumpet Bistro. These Seacoast representatives joined more than 5,000 delegates from 150 countries at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, to discuss how to create new economies and artisanal products around local agriculture, horticulture, and fisheries.
During the “Taste of Place” social, the local delegates will share the hope that they saw at Terra Madre in models of sustainable local practices in Italy and around the world. Evan Mallett will talk about being cleaner and greener, balancing aquaculture and wild fish stocks, and encouraging children to eat local and fresh ingredients in their school lunches. Jean Jennings will discuss the cost of good food and accessibility issues. She also is organizing some local musicians to entertain us! John Forti will talk about inspired land use, the Salone del Gusto (the world’s largest artisanal food marketplace), the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance (preserving at-risk heirloom produce and heritage-breed foods), and creating new traditions that will lead us to a better future.
In addition, Slow Food Seacoast will be distributing free seeds of native heirloom fruits and vegetables featured in the RAFT Alliance to anyone who is willing to grow, eat, and save seeds of these varieties to preserve them for the future, because the best way to restore at-risk varieties is to grow and eat them.
Admission to Terra Madre “Taste of Place” A Slow Food Seacoast Social is free. Black Trumpet Bistro will provide sumptuous internationally flavored appetizers made with local ingredients. Please patronize the cash bar to thank The Press Room for hosting this event. The Press Room is located at 77 Daniel Street, Portsmouth.
Photo caption: Beautiful produce in Eataly! (Photo by Jean Jennings)

National Weather Service Meteorologist to Speak on Storms

RYE—
The Seacoast Science Center’s Heritage Dinner Series brings John Cannon, Senior Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine to speak on Thursday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. In his presentation, “Tornados, Tsunamis and Nor’easters: the Challenges of Forecasting Coastal New England Weather,” Cannon will regale you with accounts of some of the region’s most dramatic storms. You’ll hear about and see rare images of the infamous storms including the longest track tornado to hit New England, the “meteo” tsunami in Boothbay Harbor, hurricane Bob and the famous Patriots’ Day storm.
Ever since Mark Twain’s famous quip about New England weather, “If you don’t like it, wait a minute,” we New Englanders have taken a certain amount of pride in our ability to withstand, and appreciate, a wide variety of weather. Along the coast, we are “lucky” enough to be impacted by ocean storms, which add drama, destruction and danger to our lives. Although we rely on our local weather forecasters, they rely on National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists to provide data and information for their predictions. Cannon is our regional weather forecasters’ weatherman.
Join us to hear the inside story on when and how the NWS works, what affects the accuracy of forecasts and how technology is improving our ability to understand weather patterns from one of the best. John grew up in New England, enjoying every Nor’easter and the rapid changes in the weather that Mother Nature could muster. He later moved to upstate New York and learned to love the extreme conditions of Lake Effect Snowstorms while earning a degree in meteorology from the State University of New York at Oswego. John worked as a weather forecaster in Albany, New York and is currently a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine. A resident of Gray, ME, John received NOAA’s prestigious national “Isaac Cline Award” for meteorology in 2009.
The cost is $45/person for Seacoast Science Center members; $55/person for non-members. The reception begins at 6:00 p.m., followed by dinner and presentation. Reservations must be made by March 18. Full payment is required to reserve your seat; please contact Nichole at 603-436-8043, ext. 26 or n.rutherford@seacentr.org to sign up. Sponsored by McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, PA, all proceeds support the Seacoast Science Center. Visit www.seacoastsciencecenter.org for details.