NH Secrets Legends and Lore

The wit and wisdom of John Harrigan. The Bradleys of Thornton Gore, Bears and Bobcats

In her 89 years Evelyn Auger has served her state - she worked for Health and Human Services for many years; Served her family, raising five children and served her community with more than 40 years as a planning board member and a few terms as a Selectperson in her hometown of Sanbornton, New Hampshire. You might think that with all this she wouldn't have time for anything else but you'd be wrong. Evelyn has spent much of her life bringing historic women to life in words and dress.

It all began when she did a solo performance for her local historical society about Sanbornton native "Mother" Gilman" whose fictionalized correspondence with her son Moses, from the various battlefronts of the Civil War she created from historic records of his time and regiment. In that first performance, Evelyn read both letters from Mother Gilman to Moses and from Moses to her. When the Historical society asked her to come back for a repeat performance she recruited her grandson to play the role of Moses. With this first performance, dressed in everyday clothes, Evelyn was bitten by the acting bug; but something was still missing and it was right up her alley . . . period clothing. Evelyn loved both history and clothes so the wedding of historic fashion and historic figures was born. 

Joining us for the visit and lending their voices to the discussion from time to time you will hear the voices of her daughter Carol Barbour, friend and neighbor Janice Leighton Boudreau, and William Hockensmith Janice's husband. 

Dr Marc Lessard and both undergraduate and graduate students at UNH are at the cutting edge of pure science in the Atmospheric weather realm and the understanding of how earth's magnetic fields impact up the atmosphere and specifically the Aurora Borealis. Marc began his professional life at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard but longed for a greater challenge. That desire brought him back to school at UNH to get his PhD in physics and to work as a student at the then-newly formed Institute for Earth Oceans and Space. Today he heads the very same program where he interned as a UNH student. It's been a long and circuitous journey for Dr. Lessard but it has brought him to the pinnacle of a career of which he can be justifiably proud. Yet the generosity of his praise for his students, for the brilliance and dedication of his colleagues and for the tremendous focus and professionalism of NASA occupy the majority of his attention.

Perhaps his long and circuitous journey prepared him far better as a leader than an easier path might have. Dr. Lessards manner and modesty put me in mind of a quote from a famed Chinese philosopher. Long before we were launching rockets into the skies the philosopher Lao-Tzu said this:

A leader is best

When people barely know

That he exists,

Less good when

They obey and acclaim him,

Worse when

They fear and despise him.

Fail to honor people

And they fail to honor you.

But of a good leader,

When his work is done,

His aim fulfilled,

they will all say,

'We did this ourselves.’

House Speaker George Roberts from 1975-1980 has a lot to look back on. Under his leadership the te built the Legislative office building where public hearings are held. Prior to this the state, and the House committees rented or squatted in various spaces around the city of Concord because there were very few spaces for a growing state legislature within the Statehouse.

Yet while George is proud of the "LOB" he is most proud of the ways in which he worked to bring women into the mainstream of leadership in the House, a tradition continued by John Tucker.

Roberts was also convinced that creating civility among the political parties was often a matter of small things; like seating. He alternated R & D members so that each had two people from the opposite party on their left and right on the theory that if they saw the humanity in members of the other party they would be more civil even when they disagreed.

A few weeks ago I was perusing a local listserve here in the North Country and I came across a message and appeal for Earth Day volunteers. As I read the message looking for the organization seeking volunteers, I realized that there was no organization. This effort was being undertaken by a single person - Kim Wenger Hall. Like many of us, Kim was concerned about the effects of plastic waste on the planet. Not content to simply complain about it, she had taken action and was recruiting volunteers to help through a call to action sent to friends, relatives as well as those she may not even know. 

It's not that she was asking a lot - she was simply issuing a call to those who felt a similar concern to take personal action along with her. That's why she is an everyday hero, taking action through her own initiative.

The Rough & Tumble (Mallory Graham & Scott Tyler) received the award for 2019 Americana Song of the Year in the 18th Annual Independent Music Awards.

Their new single, "Ain't That the Way," will be released with an accompanying music video filmed by local NH filmmaker Elias Gillen on January 14th at 10am at Alumni Hall in Haverhill, NH.

A Rough, Tumble and Raucous Introduction!

A Rough and Tumble and Raucous Introduction: The Rough and Tumble Invite Their adopted Community to be part of their next album. Rough and Tumble a self-described Teeny Tiny Traveling Band has just put down roots after 8 years on the road with their two dogs in a 16' camper.

You're going to love their sound!

https://www.theroughandtumble.com

While she surely would be modest about it, Genevieve Aichele has played a significant role in bringing the city of Portsmouth from a somewhat nondescript seaside community whose economy was largely built around nearby military bases, to a vibrant arts-facing cultural center for the entire New England region. Even before she co-founded the New Hampshire Theatre Project 35 years ago, she and other performance artists had formed Kitchen Sink Mime and ahe had traveled the state with The Little Red Wagon UNH's children's production troupe. Her talents in story-telling, acting, and performing have been a constant that has served the greater good of the community.

Peter Stant Joined the Mowglis Family in 1978, graduating from the Den in 1982. He came because his elementary school friend Bruce Fergusen suggested that he consider joining Bruce. Peter would go on to join the inner circle and stroke the winning Blue Racing Crew. Peter is a fellow who developed a reputation as an empathetic friend, always eager to reach out to his fellow campers, especially those who were struggling.

Nestled in the Upper Valley of New Hampshire, and cutting across five different towns; nearly hidden from the average person, is a parcel of land larger than 60% of NH towns. The price of entry is a good ol' boy connection and a very fat wallet - filled with millions, or even billions, of dollars. Officially it’s now called the Blue Mountain Forest Association, but nearly everyone who knows about it calls it Corbin Park. 

Surrounded by 26 miles of impervious fence, walling off 26,000 acres and two mountain peaks, Corbin Park seems mysterious, though harmless enough. But it is built upon a foundation of grift, pain, and suffering that includes state-sponsored and institutional slavery, and, quite probably, a role in the near-extermination of the American Bison as a tool of genocide against the Cheyenne, the Sioux, the Crow and other plains Indian nations.

August Longpre invites people who have an interest or further information to contact him. Here is the Piece he wrote most recently.

https://augustlongpre.substack.com/p/corbin-park-history

EP 80 Kim Varney Chandler - Covered Bridges of NH

Several years of research by author Kim Varney Chandler went into the process of developing this extraordinary compendium of the Covered Bridges of New Hampshire, on top of the thousands of hours devoted to these bridges by the many communities, builders and individuals.

It seems that this all began as a project that evolved from the nexus of Kim's love for covered bridges and the advent of the Covid Pandemic. It only made sense to Kim that photographing and then writing about covered bridges was a safe way to be productive during the pandemic.  That is all to our benefit because she has produced, with the help of the talented folks at Peter E. Randall publishing, a book for the ages. 50 or 100 years from now I can imagine a lover of covered bridges with Kim Varney Chandler's book in hand exploring the covered bridges of New Hampshire.