Arts In Reach Presents TABLESCAPES

PORTSMOUTH—
It seems fitting that Arts In Reach (AIR), an organization that challenges teenage girls to express themselves through art, is challenging regional designers to expand their creative boundaries and create over-the-top tabletop designs at a new event dubbed TABLESCAPES, to be held November 4-6 at the Jarvis Center in Portsmouth, adjacent to Portsmouth High School.
TABLESCAPES will open with a preview gala on Friday evening, November 4, featuring the first opportunity to view the stunning table designs, savor hors d’oeuvres, enjoy light jazz music and mingle with celebrity guest judges. Judges will present awards Friday evening for their selection of Best of Show, Over-The-Top Tabletop and Best Theme Interpretation, while attendees can cast their vote throughout the weekend for the People’s Choice Award.
Demonstrations will take place all weekend with ideas that will make entertaining easy while at the same time adding pop and panache to your party. Many of the demos are hands-on and give attendees the chance to taste or try a technique. Susan Tuveson presents “Discover Your Inner Chocolate” on Saturday at noon. Susan uses chocolate to teach foodies to identify how their mouth, olfactory senses and brain interpret flavors. At 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, attendees can meet Eileen Behan, author of “For the Love of Food.” Ms. Behan will show how to zip together fabulous appetizers. Sunday presenters include Nancy Briggs Guilmette of C’est Cheese. Nancy provides great step-by-step ideas for serving cheese for dessert. Jay Curcio of The White Apron and Kevin Powell of Vinilandia NH Wine Distributors will be doing a wine tasting and food pairing while demonstrating how to create a lavish party on a budget on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. On Sunday at 1:00, meet author and illustrator of the “Fairy House” books, Tracy Kane, and join in building a winter fairy house. Tracy’s demo is followed by “Finishing Touches: The Art of the Cupcake,” presented by Portsmouth Baking Company. Other demos include napkin folding, gift-wrapping and holiday decorating. TABLESCAPES will provide entertaining inspiration for every season. For a full schedule of interactive demonstrations and complete designer list visit www.airnh.org/tablescapes.
TABLESCAPES is the brainchild of Darcy Horgan, President of AIR’s Board of Directors. Darcy envisioned an event featuring imaginative, artistic, high-design, and genuinely over-the-top designs for your dining table. She rallied a group of AIR supporters and formed a committee who recruited some of the area’s most respected floral, home, party and entertaining designers to contribute their design expertise to an event that will not only inspire you to entertain but will also raise money for an organization that empowers teenage girls.
“TABLESCAPES will raise the artistry of your next party” Darcy Horgan states enthusiastically. “My intent was to come up with an event that reflected the arts based mission and cutting edge programmatic style of Arts In Reach. Just as we ask the teen girls in our programs to express themselves freely in their art, writing and performances, we reflectively asked the designers to present table designs with a complete open mind. The only limitations for the designers were the ceiling height and the size of the table. Beyond that, we simply asked that they WOW visitors with inspiring table designs, floral creations, unique centerpieces, and innovative entertaining ideas.”
TABLESCAPES opens with a Preview Gala on Friday, November 4, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Preview Gala tickets are $75. The event continues on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $15 Advance / $20 At the Door (Students and Seniors $15 at the door). Children accompanied by an adult are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at www.airnh.org/tablescapes or by calling 603-433-4278. Demonstrations are included with the price of admission.
Arts In Reach (AIR) is an innovative non-profit organization based in southern New Hampshire with a mission to empower teenage girls through mentoring and the arts. AIR provides progressive performing and visual arts programs during afterschool hours and school vacations for girls between the ages of 13 and 18 in Rockingham and Strafford Counties. AIR commits to making programs accessible to lower income youth by charging no fees and assisting in transportation. Girls develop confidence and gain key life skills such as collaboration, goal-setting, leadership, and communication while discovering new and creative means of self-expression. AIR envisions a community in which all young women are respected, supported, and enriched throughout their teenage years.
Photo caption: Arts in Reach recently held a Walk-a-Thon around downtown Portsmouth, pictured here. The organization is challenging regional designers to create entertaining “tablescapes” at an upcoming event by that name. (Courtesy photo)

Funny Girl: A review of Tina Fey’s Memoir ‘Bossypants’

By Chip Schrader

Book Reviewer
Tina Fey started off as an actress on television ads. She eventually landed a spot on Saturday Night Live’s writing staff, a move that evolved into Fey taking the seat of greats Chevy Chase, Kevin Nealon, and Dennis Miller as the anchor of the SNL news. Now, she has her own show, 30 Rock – a parody of the behind the scenes antics of Saturday Night Live – a movie career, and a hilarious memoir “Bossypants.”
“Bossypants” begins with Tina’s childhood, a surprise pregnancy, puberty, her father’s mild racism, and Summer Showtime. Summer Showtime highlights Fey’s coming of age in this teenage theater group where she catches the actor’s bug, and her friend comes out of the closet at a grand party that ends the summer. From these experiences she learns, “Gay people were made that way by God, but not solely for my entertainment.” A perfect example of Fey’s no holds barred documentation of her life.
As her star rose, Fey became an unwitting glamour icon. She unravels the sense of irony she feels with the light in which the public sees her. Chock full of blemishes, imperfections, and earthly human habits, Fey charms women readers proving she is just one of them, and male readers that there is a Tina Fey in every man’s wife.
Her recollections of the magazine photo shoots, adoring and snarky fan letters, awkward adolescence and motherhood dispels any myth of beauty one might hold of her. However, perhaps intentionally, Fey’s assessments of her self-image reinforce the deeper beauty of modesty and humanity with which she is truly gifted.
The only sure bet out there rests in the fact that nobody can get through “Bossypants” without emitting at least one hearty belly laugh between every five or so pages. She covers the challenges and pitfalls of working with men – particularly comedians with fixations on bodily functions – she has a memorable chapter of fashion advice for her daughter, and lets us in on the showbiz secrets and the Sarah Palin spoofs that made her a household name.
“Bossypants” is sharply written, and as the author, Fey is well aware of the phrase “too much information,” and relishes her disregard of the social mores that inspired the phrase. The anecdotes all seem to have a punch line, which to less gifted people can grow wearisome, but Fey is the funniest woman on earth.
Some chapters are straight ahead anecdotes and retellings of her life’s events, and others are checklists, script snippets, and outlines of witty observations and lessons she has learned in an ordinary woman’s extraordinary life. The honesty that anchors her humor is what makes her a winner. She is not afraid to admit to who she is, and she is a bold role model for any “Sarah plain and tall” who aspires to something greater. The candor, wit, humility, and finely crafted and inventive narrative make “Bossypants” a winner.
288 Pages, Reagan Arthur Books; 1st Edition (April 5, 2011).
Photo caption: (Courtesy book cover image)

Plans Progress for Hampton Christmas Parade

HAMPTON—
Yes, Virginia, there will be a Christmas Parade in Hampton this year!
Despite a small rumor to the contrary, the 2011 Hampton Christmas Parade is scheduled to march along a two-mile stretch of Lafayette Road on Saturday, December 3 beginning at 1 p.m.
The popular annual event is being organized by Experience Hampton, Inc. and the Hampton Recreation and Parks Department. This year’s parade theme will be “Hampton… One Beautiful Town.”
Local businesses and organizations are invited to enter the parade, and marchers and floats are welcome. Applications for parade entries are available at the recreation office on Winnacunnet Road, or online at experiencehamptonnh.org.
Donations are also being gratefully accepted; those wishing to help fund this year’s parade can make out a check to “Experience Hampton” and drop it off at the 401 Tavern on Lafayette Road.
Volunteers are also needed in a number of ways, from safety to fundraising to float building. For more information, contact Experience Hampton, Inc. at parade@experiencehamptonnh.org.
Photo caption: (Courtesy photo of a past parade)