Annual Somersworth Pumpkin Festival this Weekend

SOMERSWORTH –
For families looking for something memorable to do together, the 8th annual Somersworth Pumpkin Festival might be just right!
Organizers of the event have worked hard over the last few years to gear the festival toward children of all ages, offering activities that parents and children can do together, according to Festival Director Darryl Cauchon — All with one common theme — pumpkin, pumpkin, and more pumpkins!.
The event, set to take place on Saturday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will feature pumpkin carving, pumpkin painting, a pumpkin catapult, pumpkin smashing, pumpkin bowling, pumpkin basketball shooting, pumpkin putt putt golf, pumpkin masking making, scarecrow making, pumpkin pie eating contests, stage entertainment, a Pumpkin Parade, among a myriad of other activities.
With crowds continuing to increase dramatically over the past four years, Cauchon said they decided to double the number of pumpkins ordered over last year, double the amount of scarecrow making supplies, bump up the cookies and cupcakes for the pumpkin cookie/cupcake decorating area, just to name a few, in an effort to meet demands.
“There’s something for everyone at our Pumpkin Festival,” Cauchon said. “Families can carve a pumpkin together, make a scarecrow together, paint a pumpkin together, take a hay ride together, get their picture taken together with an autumn backdrop, march in the parade together.”
“Yet an older boy or girl can still have fun on their own by smashing a pumpkin, bowling with a pumpkin ball, triggering the potato launch gun or pumpkin catapult, or carving a pumpkin on their own,” Cauchon added.
The festival takes place in front of the Somersworth Plaza on Main Street, near General Electric and the Public Library and will be held rain or shine. All pumpkins and supplies are included within the cost of the $10 bracelet for children, with adults attending for free.
New this year will be the potato launch, a “Mummy Wrap” contest in which teams will try to wrap their “mummy” from head to toe with paper towels, and a bead necklace making area. Additional stage acts will also perform, including the Extreme Jump Roping Team, the Dance Envy dancers, the Murray Irish Dance Academy and the Country Clogging Express.
The Doug Mitchell Band will return to highlight the main stage, which will also feature local choruses from the Tri-City Christian Academy and Somersworth High School. Tricky Dick the Magician will perform at 3 p.m.
The popular Jack’s Dash will take place, allowing festival-goers to trick-or-treat at a number of participating downtown stores. Costumes are encouraged but not required to take part in this, as well as the Pet and Pumpkin Parade, which kicks off promptly at 3:45 p.m.
Amato’s Restaurant will be selling pizza and subs, and the Boy Scouts will be serving up hot dogs and hamburgers. The Lions Club plans to offer fried dough and other groups, primarily from the high school, will have cotton candy, nachos, chowder, and other items up for sale. Somersworth Girl Scout Troop 20095 will also be participating in the festival with a chili cook-off to raise funds for their group.
For the third year, the event will fall under the umbrella of the Somersworth Festival Association, which took over following the closure of the city’s Main Street Program. “The SFA helps out a lot, most of all by allowing the use of their large tents, stage, their tables, chairs, and a host of other equipment needed to make the festival run smoothly,” Cauchon said. “A strong contingent of their members also pitch in with volunteering throughout the day as well.”
Volunteers are still being sought to help out the day of the festival and anyone interested in lending a hand, even for an hour or two, should call Cauchon at 817-9751 or e-mail him at dcauchon@somersworth.com or Anna Houde at annahoude@yahoo.com.
Photo caption: The 8th Annual Somersworth Pumpkin Festival offers pumpkins galore! (MetroCreative photo)

Opening Scenes

By Chip Schrader
Movie Review Editor
“Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” opens with a stack of files and papers slammed onto a desk and voice naming the contents that is being laid down. A money clip with no money, and an old cell phone the size of a shoe are among the items that Gordon Gekko is given back upon his release from prison. This sets the tone for the follow up story of a man who was free and very wealthy during a whole different era booming from Reaganomics, and now yesterday’s news.
In this sequel to Wall Street, Oliver Stone draws inspiration from the market crash, credit swaps and defaults that have plagued our economy for the last few years, and it is perfect fodder for Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) who just got out of prison for the same reason this crash occurred. The central character is greed, and Oliver Stone delivers a devastating upper cut to our banking industry that is all too true and fully exposed in this film.
Michael Douglas’ portrayal of Gekko is nothing short of Genius. To witness Gekko’s evolution alone, this film is worth watching in spite of the fact Douglas plays second billing to Shia LeBeouf as Jake Moore. While LeBeouf’s acting talent is budding, it is hard to take a movie where seasoned heavyweights like Douglas and Josh Brolin play beneath LeBeouf. Brolin and Douglas have a menacing edge to their characters, they are weathered and gritty while LeBeouf at times, seems like Hello Kitty in a Lions’ Den.
While Jake is a sympathetic and idealistic character, he is too child like on the outside to make him a believable Wall Street up and comer. His soft side, which is vital to his character, is still too pronounced. At times, LeBeouf look frightened and weak when he is face to face with Josh Brolin in the film’s key moments.
The biggest flaw is in the writing, Jake Moore is not an interesting enough character to carry the film for the first hour. He would be better named John Doe as he doesn’t stand out or really grow as the story progresses. There are several scenes with Jake trading on the market floor that are dazzling visually, but blur the storyline. Furthermore, while the dialog is amazing and clever, there is no momentum to the story. The viewer enjoys the ride even though it is merely a leisurely stroll through Central Park.
On the other hand, those interested in Gekko will find the last third of the film satisfying as Douglas takes over more of the scenes, and the rare appearances of Susan Sarandon playing as Jake’s mother, is arguably the best performance in the film.
The bottom line, Oliver Stone shot this film understanding the beauty of New York as a back drop, and the camera angles and movement were breath taking. The acting is brilliant, and very quotable, the best was Gekko telling Bretton James (Brolin) “Stop telling lies about me, and I’ll stop telling the truth about you.” The bad side, the writers needed to keep the camera and action around Gekko instead of scenes like that of a motor cycle race between Bretton and Jake that randomly finds its way into the film.
Even with the flaws, the film is gorgeous to watch as each scene is staged with lavish background scenery, and the intrigue is infectious in spite of the lack of suspense or urgency to drive the story. The acting and directing is top notch, the writing is flabby, but “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” still nudges into the “must see” category, transcending most sequels. 3.5 out of 5.
Photo caption: Movie Poster for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (Courtesy photo)

Dover Main Street Announces Award Winners

DOVER —
Dover Main Street hosted their Annual Meeting and Volunteer Appreciation Trolley Tour of Dover on Monday, September 27, 2010. This event was proudly sponsored by DF Richard and Federal Saving Bank along with support from Red Hook Brewery. The gathering brought together the Board of Directors of Dover Main Street, City Officials and many of the dedicated volunteers of Dover Main Street.
The festivities started with a gathering at the Café in the Cocheco Mills to announce new board members, a brief overview of the State of Dover Main Street and an awards ceremony. Then all attendees were invited to board the chartered trolleys for a historic tour of Dover. The tour included stops at local restaurants to pick up food samplings. The supporting restaurants included Rebel Chef Catering Co., Kelley’s Row, Harvey’s Bakery, Christopher’s Third Street Grille, La Festa Brick & Brew and the Orchard Street Chop Shop.
There were five awards given to individuals or organizations that exemplified the spirit of Dover Main Street. The first award was presented to Kathie Frobes in honor of her father, Joe Parks, in recognition of his valuable contributions to creating the Vision of Downtown Dover.
In 2007 Dover Main Street board of directors voted unanimously to name the Chestnut Street/Central Avenue Riverwalk project area in honor of Joe Parks. Mr. Parks donation of plant materials and his offer of unlimited access to his gardens served as both an impetus and a foundation for solicitation and support of transforming an overgrown area into a unique specimen garden in the center of our downtown. This award was given as a thank you to the Parks family for their dedication to making Dover a beautiful place to live and for having the vision to make it a pleasant place for many generations to come.
The second award was given to the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce in recognition of their valuable contributions to the community through Adaptive Re-Use of a Building. In April of 2009, The Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce proudly moved into the former Unicel building at the corner of Central Avenue and Sixth Street. Because of this move they were able to add “Visitor’s Center” to their name to emphasize the new information center that is now a much appreciated feature of the offerings at the Chamber. The re-use of this building has made the Chamber the destination for all visitors to the area, the place where the weekly farmer’s market is held, where a multitude of non-profits hold their meetings and a hub of activity.
The third awarded was presented to Centrix Bank & Summit Land Development in recognition of their valuable contributions to the community by having the Best New Construction Project. In June of 2009, Centrix Bank opened its doors to the new property that enveloped the look and feel of Dover. The property kept the historic look of what Dover so proudly boasts but also added a feeling of something new and a standard by which all new development should look to. Their use of space is the model that National Main Street promotes with mixed use and multi levels. Dover Main Street and the area merchants appreciate that Centrix Bank chose Dover to create such a beautiful building in and appreciate how much they support of the Dover community.
The next award was given to Connie Roy in recognition of her valuable contributions to Building Partnerships in Dover. Connie is the immediate past president of the Chamber and has assisted on many Dover Main Street projects including the Reveals, the Riverwalk, the Joe Parks Gardens, Clean-up Days, and with the Dover Girls’ Soccer teams. The Dover Dines posters, the tear off maps, the Taste of Dover posters and signage, the Clean-Up day posters and so many other promotional pieces, Connie designs them all. She sets the bar high as an example of what one person can do for an organization.
The final Dover Main Street award presented was to Thom Hindle in recognition of his valuable contributions to the Preservation of Downtown Dover. Thom was honored for his dedication to preserving the history of Dover. He is a noted Dover historian, he is the Woodman Museum’s curator who has almost single-handedly managed that facility for many years, a local history author, documentary photographer and Dover memorabilia collector. The preservation of Dover’s history through photographic restoration has been a passion of Thom’s and much appreciated by future generations.
Dover Main Street is a not for profit downtown revitalization organization that operates under the auspices of the National Main Street Center, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The mission of the organization is to “preserve the past, promote the present & facilitate the future...”. For more information about Dover Main Street or to become a volunteer please call 603-740-6435, email director@dovermainstreet.org or visit www.dovermainstreet.org.