Exeter Area Chamber to Host Bruins Alumni Benefit Game

EXETER—

The Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the 2nd Annual Bruins Alumni / Seacoast Alumni All-Star Benefit Hockey Game presented by Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics on Saturday, December 17 at 1:30 p.m. at The Rinks at Exeter. The event benefits the Chamber Children’s Fund and the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce and is sponsored by Core Orthopaedics, Unitil, Cobham, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank, The Provident Bank, Perkins Lawn Mower & Saw Service, Proulx Oil and Propane, Clear Channel Radio, The Rinks at Exeter & Shooter’s Sports Pub.

Many all-star Bruins Alumni will be on hand for the 60-minute game, including Rick Middleton and Ken Linseman. (The line-up of participating Bruins Alumni players may change without notice.) Pre-game activities, raffles and good ol’ half-time fun mixed with the Bruins Alumni and Seacoast Alumni hockey action will add up to an exciting day in Exeter.

Purchase tickets from the Chamber online at www.exeterarea.org/shop and also at the Chamber office, 24 Front Street, Exeter. Tickets are also on sale at Exeter Bowling Lanes/ Shooter’s Pub at 10 Columbus Ave. and The Rinks at Exeter, 40 Industrial Ave.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door. Advance purchase is recommended, as seating is limited. For more information, contact the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce at 603.772.2411 or events@exeterarea.org.

Photo Caption: Children and adults alike received autographs and photos at last year’s event. (Photo courtesy Exeter Area Chamber)

Santa is Coming to Dover

DOVER—

The holidays are approaching fast and before your calendar gets booked make sure you mark your calendar with the following dates. Once again, Dover Main Street, is gearing up with some exciting family holiday events and you don’t want to miss out.

The events will kick off with the annual tree lighting ceremony on Friday, December 2. Bring the children to the Rotary Pavilion at Henry Law Park for the 6:00 p.m. lighting. Immediately following the tree lighting ceremony the children are welcome to visit with Santa and let him know what is on their wish list this year. Watch the wonder of your children’s eyes come to life as they sit awhile with Santa. Then, take a quick turn up the road and visit the Festival of Trees at Dover City Hall.

On Saturday, December 3, it is back to the workshop for Santa and Mrs. Claus. Families are welcome to stop by The Noggin Factory from 10:00 a.m. until noon and again from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to visit with Santa. Bring your camera and capture this special moment. During the lunch hour you will be able to catch up with Santa as he checks in with the merchants and shoppers of downtown Dover.

Holiday events will continue throughout the month including the cookie-decorating event at Café Ciabatta from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on December 10. The cost for this event is $2.00 per cookie and Mr. and Mrs. Claus will be on hand to help the children create a Christmas masterpiece. Immediate following Santa will head down Central Avenue for his Santa stroll and will eventually stop for a rest at Café on The Corner. There, he’ll be joined by Dover’s Mayor, who will read a story to all in attendance.

On December 11, there will be recreational public skating at the Dover Ice Arena from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Children will be welcome to gather around Santa and Mrs. Claus from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. for story time and holiday songs.

Join us at Kaleo Coffee located in the Janetos Plaza for a pancake breakfast with Santa from 9:00 to 11:00 on December 17. Dover Kiwanis will be providing a special breakfast for children and families as they stop by to see Santa. Immediately following the breakfast, Santa and Mrs. Claus will take one last stroll around downtown Dover to make sure that everyone is prepared for Christmas.

The grand finale of the Dover Main Street Christmas festivities will be on December 22 at high noon. There are more than 20 businesses in downtown that will be collecting non-perishable items during the weeks prior to Christmas. On December 22, all of the donated food will be collected into shopping carts and there will be a Shopping Cart Parade down the sidewalks of Central Ave. The food and donated items will arrive on the doorstep of the Dover Food Pantry to help them make the season a little easier for some of our local families.

Volunteers are always welcome and needed to assist in planning and completing projects. To find out more information, to sign up as a volunteer, or to donate to the Dover Main Street Program, contact the office at 740-6435 or email director@dovermainstreet.org.

Photo Caption: (Photo courtesy of Dover Main Street)

History in the Making: New Gundalow Launching on December 10

PORTSMOUTH—

After nine months of hard work, flying sawdust, hundreds of trunnels, gallons of paint and sealant, miles of cotton and hemp oakum – the new gundalow under construction at the Puddle Dock Shipyard on Strawbery Banke is ready to launch.

“This will be the first wooden boat launched out of Portsmouth in nearly thirty years,” remarked Executive Director Molly Bolster. “Over three hundred years of shipbuilding are part of our local history, and we are thrilled to continue that legacy.”

York, Maine resident and Master Shipwright Paul E. Rollins, Sr., has worked with a crew of boat builders and volunteers since April to build the 64’ long, 18’ wide traditional wooden sailing vessel. Additional work will be carried out on-shore and on the boat through the winter to be ready for public sails next spring. The mast, when completed early next year, will stand at twenty feet tall, with a 65’ yard. Over 1,000 square feet of sail will power the new boat, and when needed, a 200hp diesel engine will help move it along the rivers. Licensed by the US Coast Guard for up to 49 passengers, the new gundalow will draw about 2-1/2 feet.

In early December, the shipyard cover will be dismantled to allow for the boat to be transferred from the shipyard by professional house movers to the launch site at Peirce Island. On Saturday, December 10, the public is invited to witness history in the making as the gundalow built in Portsmouth is launched into the Piscataqua River off of Peirce Island, co-sponsored by Appledore Real Estate, Piscataqua Savings Bank, RBC Wealth Management, and the Portsmouth Recreation Department. Ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. with official remarks, followed by the naming of the new boat and the launch at 11 a.m. The new gundalow will then be towed by Steve Root, Portsmouth Harbor Towing to Prescott Park by Sheafe Warehouse and rafted next to the Gundalow Captain Edward H. Adams, launched twenty-nine years ago. Tours of both the new and vintage gundalow are available for Gundalow Company members only due to limited capacity. (To join call 603-433-9505 or enroll online at www.gundalow.org.) In-kind partners for the launching include CMA Engineers, Friends of South End, PPMTV, Portsmouth Harbor Towing, Prescott Park, and Strawbery Banke.

The temporary shipyard cover that protected the new gundalow during construction at Puddle Dock is available for purchase. The building will be partially dismantled and available for pick up by November 30. The conceptual design for the building was by the Portsmouth High School Architecture class. The professionally constructed building is 35’ wide x 80’ long x 16’ featuring rough sawn pine posts and frames, plywood shear wall corners and pre-fabricated Boise Cascade trusses, all assembled with GRK screws. Further information and details are available.

For more information, details of the launching, or to become a volunteer, www.gundalow.org, info@gundalow.org or 603-433-9505.

Photo Caption: (Photo by Ralph Morang)

Parade Buttons Support Hampton Christmas Parade

HAMPTON—

Check out the Hampton Christmas Parade buttons on everyone you see in Hampton! As we move closer to parade day, you will see more and more brightly colored parade buttons proudly announcing that Hampton is “One Beautiful Town.”

Experience Hampton, a local community group organized to create and support events that show Hampton to be a great place to live and work is selling parade buttons to help raise funds to support the Hampton Christmas Parade, which begins at 1 p.m. on December 3.

Buttons can be purchase at Art Experience and Marelli’s Market in downtown Hampton, The Galley Hatch, The 401 Tavern, the Old Salt, and Hoaty’s restaurants, and The Coffee Break Café at the beach. What a great way to create a memory of a festive, action-packed day for years to come and to help support such a great event. And the best news….they cost only $2 each! Show your support and wear a button.

For more information go to www.ExperienceHamptonNH.org.

The Music Hall and Strawbery Banke Museum Present Vintage Christmas

New this year: Vintage Christmas Pop-Up Market, extended free trolley service, Market Square Carolers

PORTSMOUTH—
“We have a real shot at becoming the Christmas Capital of North America.” That’s how Music Hall executive director Patricia Lynch put it to the hearty agreement of the community collaborators who make Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth happen each year. At a gathering to start planning for the seventh year of this citywide event, they agreed that Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth steeps the entire destination in the incomparable, authentic sense of a classic New England holiday.
Presented by cultural anchors The Music Hall and Strawbery Banke Museum, it’s a month of Strolls, Shows and Stayovers in the historic seaport of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Listed as “one of the Top 100 Events in North America” (ABA) and “one of the Top Ten Things not to miss in New England” (Boston Globe), Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth has people returning year after year to the small city that Travel Guide of America calls “the crowning glory of the New Hampshire Seacoast.” Now in its seventh year, Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth will once again offer the irresistible Candlelight Stroll that Strawbery Banke Museum has created for 32 years, the live holiday shows, opera broadcasts and films in The Music Hall’s landmark Historic Theater and the new intimate Music Hall Loft on Congress Street, and the welcoming stays in the elegant and delightful holiday downtown. There are many components to the event that stretches over the month of December. In addition to the live holiday programs, The Music Hall this year adds the new Music Hall Loft to the party, with a Vintage Christmas Pop-Up Market in the Loft to make it easy for visitors and locals to get in the spirit of the season.
Now in its 32nd year, the Candlelight Stroll at Strawbery Banke Museum continues to bring alive family holidays through nearly 400 years of Portsmouth history with each century’s own local traditions: harpsichords in the Chase House, fiddles in the Cider Shed, a dramatic Victorian Christmas tree at the Goodwin’s and sizzling potato latkes in the Russian Jewish 1920s home of the Shapiros. Each historic house vignette is lit by flickering candles in wood and glass lanterns and tiny white lights (a perfect atmosphere for a romantic proposal, which is exactly what happened a year ago).
Connecting these sparkling moments in holiday time are the vibrant streets of Portsmouth, brick sidewalks hung with wreaths, 19th century storefronts (tax-free shopping in New Hampshire!) festooned with the makings for the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce Holiday Doors of Portsmouth competition. New this year are the Market Square Carolers, middle school choirs who will be serenading shoppers in the downtown. The City of Portsmouth itself adds a free Vintage Christmas Trolley to the mix, providing a comfortable ride around the downtown loop of shops, hotels, parking, and performance sites—with two new stops this year, one at Vaughan Mall with access to both Music Hall venues on Chestnut and Congress Streets, and the other at the Sise Inn, providing access to the parking at the Masonic lot. The popular Trolley shuttles patrons around the historic seaport each Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening for the first three weekends in December. And hotels, including the Sheraton Portsmouth, offer packages that tie the whole experience up with a bow.
Lynch continues, “Make your plans now for the perfect holiday visit during Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth. Get ready to cuddle up with a free trolley ride through red-bricked Market Square, stroll through the snowflakes to the many eclectic shops, step back in time through living history at the festively decorated Strawbery Banke Museum, sample Portsmouth’s famous culinary specialties, or enjoy a first-class show at The Music Hall. Portsmouth is the perfect town for Vintage Christmas since it’s a charming mix of the contemporary and historical. It’s all about celebrating the winter, the warmth, the light, and our collective memories of holidays past.”
Joining the two nonprofits this year will be Presenting Sponsors Churchill’s Garden Center; the City of Portsmouth; LunaChics; Upper Crust; Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce; and Seacoast Media Group; Lead Sponsors: Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel and Weather Partner 107.1 WERZ. Great Bay Academy of Dance, which produces “An 1836 Portsmouth Nutcracker,” will be participating as a Community Partner. A handy calendar/map will be available to visitors to make it easy to get around town.
For a full schedule of events, updates and more information, visit the Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth website: www.vintagechristmasnh.org.
Photo caption: Illuminated Gazebo at Goodwin Mansion. (Photo courtesy David Murray Clear Eye Photo)

Opening Scenes: ‘J. Edgar’

By Chip Schrader

Staff Movie Critic
“J. Edgar” begins with an exterior shot of the FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. A man’s voice laments the “disease” of communism that plagues this country. After the shot of the building pans up showing its looming presence, the scene changes to a shot of Dillinger’s death mask and a confiscated machine gun. The voice continues to rant about radicals and their danger to society in an almost Nixon-esque manner. We finally see J. Edgar Hoover pacing in his office while narrating his life story just beyond the machine gun and death mask on display.
At first, it is difficult to match Leonardo DiCaprio’s nearly child-like voice with the elderly Hoover he is made up to portray. For the first scene or two, he isn’t believable. Once the film settles into Hoover’s recollections, and DiCaprio plays the younger Hoover, the seeds of believability are planted and begin to flourish. Scenes after this, DiCaprio fits the elderly Hoover as well as he does the young one.
Eventually, we are introduced to a young Helen Gandy, played by Naomi Watts, whom Hoover unsuccessfully courts as a mate, but successfully finds her to be a lifelong secretary and confidant. Watts transforms herself in this role to the point she is unrecognizable, but the most interesting, and possibly most important introduction in Hoover’s life was when he met Clyde Tolson. Skillfully portrayed by Armie Hammer, the depth of Tolson’s connection to Hoover was subtly portrayed, and as they grow together, there is a tenderness between these men that has never been seen before in cinema.
“J. Edgar” is among many of director Clint Eastwood’s fine films: “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” “Mystic River,” “Unforgiven” and “Bird” to name a few. The cinematography is haunting and hypnotic, two qualities that have been Clint Eastwood’s signature.
Drawing from a bright gray color scheme and heavy use of shadows, “J. Edgar” might have an evenly paced story line, but the intensity of the imagery is where some of the greatest drama is created. Hoover’s career spans Al Capone’s St. Valentine’s Massacre, the kidnapping of the Lindberg baby, and takes America through the turbulent Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations.
With “J. Edgar” being one of the earlier Oscar contenders, it is hard to speculate how it will be recognized. The acting is excellent, particularly with the performance of Armie Hammer. The screenplay and cinematography deserve a nod, as does the direction. Watts and DiCaprio turn out excellent performances, but Watts’ performance represents a fuller transformation. The film’s slow pace and lack of edginess may cause it to be overlooked.
Bottom line, “J. Edgar” is a rock solid film by a director whose career is as distinguished as a director as Eastwood is an actor. Like with many biopics, the action is slow but the intrigue and unraveling of world history outside of the walls is gripping. While the quietness of the film might come off boring to casual filmgoers, those who love classic film noir and American history need to see this movie. It is finely crafted and deserves savoring. 4 out of 5.
Photo caption: (Courtesy movie poster image)

Passport to Prizes Kicks Off Holiday Shopping

DOVER—
The Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce begins its Passport to Prizes holiday raffle program on Black Friday, November 25. The program encourages residents and visitors of the Garrison City to shop in Dover this upcoming holiday season.
Passports can be picked up at any of the eighteen participating businesses or the Chamber Visitors Center starting November 25. Shoppers may have their Passport stamped at any five participating businesses and then turn their completed Passport into the Chamber to be entered into a holiday raffle.
Five raffle prizewinners will be selected starting Monday, December 19, with the Grand Prize drawing taking place on Friday, December 23. The Grand Prize winner will receive a rocking chair (Ross Furniture), a $25 gift certificate to Red’s Shoe Barn, a $25 gift certificate to the Dover Adult Learning Center, a $10 gift certificate to Lucy’s Emporium and $10 in parking tokens donated by the City of Dover Parking Commission. Additional raffle prize winners will receive a combination of gift baskets and gift certificates from participating businesses.
“The Passport to Prizes program is designed to promote what most residents already know; it is easier to accomplish your holiday shopping here in Dover,” commented Chamber Executive Director Molly Hodsdon Smith. “You can find everything you need from our friendly, local merchants, and you can’t beat the warm holiday ambience that has been created by our colleagues at Dover Main Street.”
Shoppers are encouraged to turn in their completed Passports to the Chamber of Commerce on 550 Central Avenue by December 16 to be eligible for all of the raffle drawings. Anyone with questions about the Passports to Prizes program are encouraged to contact Chamber of Commerce Community Events Manager, Michael Mengers at 742-2218 or at michael@dovernh.org. Also, follow the Chamber on Facebook for additional Passport to Prizes information and for raffle prizewinner updates.
Participating businesses include: Red’s Shoe Barn, Jewelry Creations, One Second Computers, Ross Furniture, Janetos Suprette, Naser Jewelers, Nicole’s Hallmark, Central Paint & Coatings, Photosmith, K-9 Kaos, Strafford Appliance, Herbal Path, Noggin Factory, Philbrick’s Sports, Ralph’s House of Tone, Lucy’s Emporium, Dover Cyclery, PagePro Wireless and Dover Wine.