A good morning in the Wild River Wilderness. Bria enjoys hot coffee and a bowl of oatmeal before we set off to hike some remote trails that are described in the AMC White Mountain Guide. The Wild River Wilderness rests between the Carter-Moriah Range down to the Wild River and up to the Basin Rim Trail. The Black Angel and Moriah Brook Trails’ access has been made more difficult since the closure of the Wild River Road and campground. We began our Wild adventure from the Basin Brook Reservoir/Basin Campground on Rte 113 near the New Hampshire-Maine border.
Wild RiveR WildeRness Wild TRails
by Amy Patenaude
The part I liked best when I redlined the AMC White Mountain Guide was hiking the lightly used wild trails. I have been accompanying Bria
as she works on tracing her red pen over all the trails on her maps. The Wild River Wilderness is near the New Hampshire and Maine border; between the Carter Range and Evans Notch. It is out of the way and isolated.
The five mile long Wild River Road and the campground at its end have been closed since last year due to severe washouts. No word when or if the road will open again. This impacts the access to the Wild River Wilderness.
Bria came up with a plan to backpack, set up a base camp and then hike as many new-to-her trails including a big day up Black Angel and down Moriah Brook Trails in the designated wilderness.
Abenaki Tower Program
On Wednesday, August 21st at 7pm, the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum will host Karen Burnett-Kurie, who will speak on the centennial history of Tuftonboro’s Abenaki Tower. Since seating is limited, advance reservations are requested, by e-mail to lakewinnipesaukeemuseum@gmail.com or by phone 603-366-5950. This program is free for Lake Winnipesaukee Historical Society members; for non-members there is a $5 fee.
The Abenaki Tower has provided residents and visitors alike with a spectacular panoramic view of Melvin Village, Lake Winnipesaukee, the Belknap Mountain Range, and the western slopes of the Ossipee Mountains for 100 years. Burnett-Kurie, whose family bought the summer cottage of a founder of the Abenaki Tower and Trail Association, will present an overview of the tower’s history, along with stories of memorable events that have taken place at the tower’s top. For those who have climbed the tower, she asks, “Did you assume you were climbing a fire tower? Or were you told the tower was used to spot aircraft during WWII?” The Abenaki Tower has been the site of first dates, marriage proposals, and even weddings over the
See TOWER on 27
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On The Trails & Summits Columnist
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— OBITUARY — PATRICIA LACROIX BRYANT, 76
LADY LAKE, FL ---- Patricia “Pat” Lacroix Bryant, 76, of Lady Lake, FL, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at UF Health Leesburg Hospital in Florida a�er a brief illness.
Pat was born on June 4, 1948, in Laconia, NH, the daughter of the late Albert D. Lacroix and Agnes Estelle (Blackey) Lacroix. She spent her younger years through high school in Laconia/Gilford. She graduated from Westbrook and Plymouth State Colleges. She lived most of her adult years with her husband and family in Meredith. Pat and Jim moved for a few years to northern Maine where they enjoyed new friendships and their horses. Many years ago, a�er returning to the Lakes Region, they finally decided to re�re to the Villages in FL. Pat led a full life raising her children and crea�ng a successful career for herself in the real estate industry. She was a hard worker who spent many of her younger years working mul�ple jobs at a �me including working for her parents who owned the Shore Diner, and later waitressing for her mother and stepfather at the Captain’s Table. She worked for many years caring for the horses at Castle in the Clouds. Her passion for horses eventually led to her ownership of many horses that she and her family cared for at their homes over the years. She would o�en be found working right beside Jim, clearing land, building barns, loading hay in the fields, building fences, and even protec�ng Jim from bears as he mended fences in the middle of the night. Pat loved animals of all kinds, small and large, especially the family cats. In addi�on to horses, Pat had many other hobbies over the years. She enjoyed many years of par�cipa�on in Toastmasters where she won many speaking awards. One of her greatest joys was holding the posi�on of Area Governor for Toastmasters in New England. She par�cipated in bowling leagues, enjoyed hiking, racketball, and tennis. In her later years her favorite ac�vity was singing karaoke (Jim would join in too).
Pat is survived by her loving husband of 55 years, James R. Bryant; son Jason Bryant and partner Suzy For�er; daughter Leslie Bryant and her wife Jennifer; sister Donna Reidy and her husband Rich; grandchildren Abigail Bryant, Benjamin Bryant and Jonathan Bryant; and many nieces and nephews. Calling Hours will be held on Friday, August 23, 2024, from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm in the Carriage House at Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paque�e Funeral Home, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH. For those interested, there will be a procession leaving Bryant Paving, 177 Waukewan St. in Meredith, at 4:30 PM, to a�end the calling hours. A Graveside Service will be held on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at 11:00 am at St. Lambert Cemetery, Province Street, Laconia, NH.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paque�e Funeral Home & Crema�on Services/603Crema�ons.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia NH 03246, is assis�ng the family with arrangements. For more informa�on and to view an online memorial go to wilkinsonbeane.com.
Who Will Be Tasked To Lead?
To The Editor:
The United States Marine Corps, as they say the few and the proud, and why is that. Date back, July 1966, Parris Island South Carolina where civilians were converted into the world’s premier fighting force. Once on the PI, there are two ways off that forsaken island, the first being graduation as a Marine or secondary in a box sent back to family and friends with some sorry ass excuse of how it happened.
Then it was off to the Nam where many were never to return and for what reason, do we ask.
Only military, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marines can understand that we were tasked to represent and protect our Republic. Right or wrong, we were conditioned to follow our leaders, many of whom didn’t lead us into battle but remained behind us. As few patriots from the past fought for our independence from British rule, many colonists sided with the British because of fear.
Fast forward to 2024.
Just as the patriots were set apart from the colonist’s that chose that path of least resistance in the early days of the Republic, we are now confronted with a choice as to who will be tasked to lead this great country into a new era of strength and prosperity. Some may pretend to be leaders but cowardly lead from behind.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may or may not realize this, but November is the most important election in a lifetime.
Just as the colonists that sided with the British, many Americans today will chose the path of least resistance and follow unknowingly the path of those that promote misinformation.
We are gifted to live in the greatest country in the world and many will never allow those attempting to take that away.
Francis Boksanske USMC Veteran
New Hampton, NH.
Weapons Proving Ground In Ukraine
To The Editor:
As a former Navy enlisted and officer, and in a family that had a close relative serve in every war from the Civil War to the War On Terror, I closely follow the impact of world affairs on our military posture. Ukraine is supported in its war with Russia with vast amounts of military equipment from the U.S. and European countries. This is necessary to prevent Russia from overrunning Ukraine and then threatening NATO countries. A side, but vitally important benefit, is the utilization of our military equipment in Ukraine enables us to evaluate its performance under battlefield conditions against a potential enemy.
The Ukraine War has re -
This newspaper was first published in 1883 by Mathew H. Calvert as Calvert’s Weirs Times and Tourists’ Gazette and continued until Mr. Calvert’s death in 1902. The new Weirs Times was reestablished in 1992 and strives to maintain the patriotic spirit of its predecessor as well as his devotion to the interests of Lake Winnipesaukee. Our newspaper’s masthead and the map of Lake Winnipesaukee in the center spread are elements in today’s paper which are taken from Calvert’s historic publication. Locally owned for 30 years, this publication is devoted to printing the stories of the people
vealed that tanks, other vehicles, artillery and troops can be exposed to destruction by inexpensive and readily available drones. This has necessitated revamping some of our forces to incorporate the use of drones in offensive operations and develop defenses against drone attacks. We have learned a lot about the effectiveness of our missile firing systems. Developing systems to counter GPS jamming by the Russians has become a priority for Ukraine and the U.S.
The war has enabled us to evaluate and improve command and control systems, communications, and weapon systems under battlefield conditions, which should prove valuable in any future encounters with a potential enemy. Also, the war is depleting and weakening the Russian military.
Donald Moskowitz Londonderry, NH.
and places that make New Hampshire the best place in the world to live. No, none of the daily grind news will be found in these pages, just the good stuff.
Published year round on Thursdays, we distribute 24,000 copies of the Weirs Times every week to the Lakes Region/Concord/ Seacoast area and the mountains and have an estimated 60,000 people reading this newspaper.
To find out how your business or service can benefit from advertising with us please call 603-366-8463.
BIRDS For The
New England’s Wild Birds & Their Habitats
a RaRe encounTeR
by Chris Bosak Contributing Writer
I nearly stepped on the subject of this column. One more step without looking at the ground, and the critter would have been underfoot. Thankfully, I looked down just in time.
I was taking my daily short walk at work and rounding the final bend when I looked down to see a gray tree frog. It was directly in the middle of the trail, and since tree frogs can change color to match the environment, it was difficult to spot.
To make matters worse, it just sat there instead of hopping away frantically like most frogs encountered in the wild. You’d never see a leopard frog or wood frog just sitting there on the trail. They start scampering away like their feet are on fire long before they are nearly underfoot. But this tree
A gray tree frog sits in the middle of a trail in New England last week.
frog just sat there. The ability to change color to match the environment has always fascinated me. Gray tree frogs are gray or brown when in trees and green when on the ground, assuming the surroundings are green. They also have lichen-like markings on their backs to further camouflage their presence.
As a kid, I was intrigued by chameleons
and anoles. I loved their appearance but was mostly in awe of their ability to change color. Remember when pet shops were a big thing in shopping malls? I can remember making a beeline to the pet store when we visited the mall and heading directly to the reptile section to look at the Jackson’s chameleons. Their three “horns” and pivoting, protruding eyes were
captivating. I also wanted to see what color they would be every time I visited. They were always green or brown or a combination of those colors.
This recent gray tree frog encounter reminded me that I don’t see these frogs very often. The frogs like it that way, of course, as they live solitary lives mostly in trees. They wouldn’t blend in so well with their environment if they wanted attention. I was probably six or seven the first time I saw one. We often heard them in our backyard in Niskayuna, New York, but never saw them. Until one day, one of my brothers found one in the Y of a tree and called everyone over to see. They were fascinating then, and they are fascinating now.
A gray tree frog’s best defense is its ability to blend in with its surroundings. That’s likely
See BOSAK on 14
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
“Love Letters From The Front” Program At Wright Museum In Wolfeboro
On Tuesday, August 20th, the Wright Museum will welcome Bob Dicicco. This is the eleventh program of the Wright Museum’s 2024 Education Series.
A musical tribute to the American GI’s of WWII. A poignant look at the letters from loved ones and the beautiful music that shaped the incredible era of the 1940s.
Doors open at 6:00 p.m., the program begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20th at the Wright Museum’s DuQuoin Education Center, 77 Center Street in Wolfeboro. Admission is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online at https://wrightmuseum.org/lecture-series or by calling 603-569-1212. Books may be purchased in advance at the Country Bookseller or at the lecture at the Museum.
The region’s leading resource for educators and learners of all ages on World War II, the Wright Museum features more than 14,000 items in its collection that are representative of both the home front and battlefield. For more information about the 2023 Lecture Series, or museum, visit wrightmuseum.org.
Lakes Region Art Association Annual Exhibit: “Celebrate Art”
Tilton, NH, [August 5, 2024] – The Lakes Region Art Association (LRAA) proudly invites the community to experience the vibrant creativity and artistic expression showcased at its 84th Annual Exhibit, titled “Celebrate Art.” This highly anticipated event runs until September 2nd offering a unique opportunity for art enthusiasts and the public to immerse themselves in a diverse array of artworks by talented local artists.
A Public Reception will be taking place on August 10, 2024, from 2-4pm. This event offers a chance for the public to engage directly with the artists, enjoy light refreshments, and cast their votes for the coveted People’s Choice Award. All members of the community are encouraged to attend and participate in this celebration of artistic achievement.
“We are thrilled to present our 84th Annual Exhibit and provide a platform for local artists to showcase their work,” said Sherwood Frazier, President of the Lakes Region Art Association.
“The Reception is a fantastic opportunity for art lovers to connect with the artists and influence the outcome of the People’s Choice Award. We look forward to a wonderful turnout and a great celebration of art.”
The exhibit features a wide range of artistic styles and mediums, reflecting the rich diversity of the Lakes Region’s creative community. Whether you’re an art aficionado or a casual visitor, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
The LRAA Gallery is located at Suite 300, 120 Laconia Rd, Tilton, NH - in the Tilton Tanger Outlet
Admission: Free and open to the public
For more information about the exhibit or the Public Reception, please visit lakesregionartassociation.com.
Garden Party To Support Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center holds a Garden Party to benefit their mission and celebrate the wonders of nature on Thursday, August 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
This exclusive adults-only cocktail party at Kirkwood Gardens promises an evening of camaraderie amidst the breathtaking beauty of nature. Mingle with fellow Science Center enthusiasts while enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and listening to the soothing melodies of a string trio from the New Hampshire Music Festival. Guests won’t want to miss the chance to participate in the exciting silent auction, featuring items highlighting the best of the Science Center.
New for 2024, the Science Center has partnered with the Rossino brand of Italian wines from Rossi Import. Garden Party guests will enjoy prosecco, rose, and white and red wines found exclusively at Gusto’s in Center Harbor.
Tickets are $100 per person and are limited. All ticket purchases are a donation to help support the care and feeding of the live animal ambassadors and environmental education programs at the Science Center.
Full details including purchasing tickets are available at www.nhnature.org/gala.
Science Center Members are invited to attend the 2024 Annual Meeting for Members at 4:30 p.m. also at Kirkwood Gardens.
Details at https://nhnature.org/programs/annual_meeting.php.
Gilmanton Old Home Day
Gilmanton Old Home Day Association annual event known as Old Home Day, will take place on Saturday August 17th. The opening ceremony will be held at 10am and the celebration goes on until 3pm. This year famous bluegrass band named Southern Rail will entertain along with a puppet show for kids with a variety of artisans selling their goods. There will be an art show in the meeting room of the church and an antique car parade. Activities will end with the famous rope tow.
Admission is free. Besides the bean hole dinner there will be delicious hotdogs, hamburgers and sausages and food prices are reasonable. All of these activities are conducted by volunteers. The Gilmanton Historical Society will have an exhibit in the schoolhouse. All this is happening at the grounds of the first church in Gilmanton, which is owned by the First Congregational Society in Gilmanton. On this historic site, was the first schoolhouse, carriage shed, and the cookhouse. Part of the grounds include the first cemetery known as Smith Meeting House Cemetery. Don’t miss this fun event!
On Sunday August 18th, the First Congregational Church will hold an Old Home Day Church Service at 4pm. There will be a husband-and-wife duet as part of the service singing a song regarding their family connection to the Smith Meetinghouse.
by Brendan Smith Weirs Times Editor
OOL
NEW HAMPSHIRE
iT Really is enough
I originally wrote this article in 2019. Occasionally when I am looking for an idea for the week’s column, I go back and browse through some older ones for some inspiration. I came across this one and it made me think. With all the talk this election cycle about the military service of candidates for office, there are the tens of thousands of stories of those who served that no one will ever be aware of. Some with incredible war stories and some with who simply served honorably. My dad was one of those.
I’ve written about my dad before, how he received a Bronze Star during World War II, how he had it hidden in his dresser drawer and never talked about it and how I never got the opportunity to ask him about it since we were both so young when he died. He was sixty and I was twenty-five.
I’ve often thought about it since. I can’t help it.
Years ago, when my mom was still alive, she gave me the American Flag that was placed on my father’s casket before he was buried. It is now in a beautiful case and hangs upon the wall in our dining room.
Years later, mom gave me some paperwork she had about my dad’s Bronze Star since I was so curious about it.
A couple of years ago my wife, Kim, framed a picture of my dad receiving the Bronze Star along with a citation that explained what it was for. That hangs on our wall as well.
Mom passed away in 2018. She had spent her last few months in a nursing home after living with my sister and her family who sacrificed so much to make mom’s last years happy
ones.
At the hotel where we all gathered at for Mom’s funeral, my niece gave me one of my mom’s precious keepsakes. Mom wanted me to have it after she passed.
It was a framed memorial to my father. It had the same photo I had of the Bronze Star being pinned on his chest along with a letter signed by President Reagan sent to Mom after Dad had passed, and, most importantly, it contained the Bronze Star itself.
I realize that getting a Bronze Star wasn’t rare, more than a few soldiers had received them during World War II and since. Some have a “V” on them which indicates valor. My father’s star did not.
Still, he was recognized for some things he did during the war. Part of what was on the citation reads as follows: ….for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations in North Africa and Italy from 12 May 1943 to 22 April 1945. As Chief Clerk in the Adjutant General’s Section, Headquarters 8th Port of Embarkation, Warrant Officer Smith (then Master Sergeant), with untiring zeal and devotion to duty that was an inspiration to the men working with him, was instrumental in the successful accomplishment of the mission of the 8th Port Headquarters during the launching of the Sicilian and Salerno invasions, the operation of the Anzio Port in support of the 5th Army, and the invasion of Southern France. His administrative ability, technical skill, and his willingness to assume an abnormal amount of responsibility reflects a great credit upon himself in keeping with the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
I have read the citation many times, trying to imagine what exactly it was that my father had done during the war. Was he involved in “Operation Dragoon”
a military operation in Southern France that took place a few months after D-Day? What part did he play in the Sicilian and Salerno invasions?
These were questions I would never have real answers for.
The other day I realized, maybe just knowing what I know, which isn’t much, is enough.
Another of my nieces, who lives in South Carolina, contacted me the other day. She needed some information.
Her thirteen-year-old son was going to do a school project.
He had decided, after studying other ideas, that he wanted to do a project on his great-grandfather, whom he never met, and the Bronze Star he received during World War II.
I was more than happy to send him the photographs of what I had: the picture of my dad receiving his Bronze Star, the citation that came with it and, of course, a photo of the Bronze Star.
I didn’t know what other ideas my great-nephew had planned to do for his project. Would he try to investigate more what his great-grandfather did during the war? Would he try to find out what these vague descriptions on the citation were actually about?
I asked my niece what his plans were for the project.
She told me he thought he would do it because his greatgrandfather, my father, was “the only person he could think of in our family who helped change history.”
My niece said she got a little choked up when he told her that. I did the same when she told me.
After all my years of thinking about the Bronze Star and what my dad might have done to earn it, I never looked at it that way. It really was as simple and as complicated as that.
I guess that really is enough.
“I Really Only Did It For The SocksStories & Thoughts On Aging”
Order your autographed copy today for $16.99 plus $3 shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like.) Make out checks or money orders for $19.99 to Brendan Smith and mail to: Socks Book c/o Weirs Times, PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 Or order online at BrendanTSmith.com (Autographed copies also avail. at the Weirs Times)
Letters From God
This series of Letters From God is an attempt to put the thoughts of God as revealed in the Scriptures as they relate to individuals and the nation of the USA
don’t thrive, they dissipate into death.
Letters From God
QUESTION Is Liberalism A Lot Of Lunacy?
A lunatic is someone who has lost their mind! They are not thinking clearly, and their thoughts are not consistent with what is right, what is proven to be good and what will, in the end, enhance their life. It is stupidity in the guise of wisdom and intelligence (Ecclesiastes 7:25) You are under siege from lunatics in the guise of “progressives” and “liberals,” on both sides of the political “aisle.”
Have you noticed that those who espouse liberalism have rejected not only everything I, your creator God, have said is right, good and wise but they have also rejected everything your country has believed and practiced as well? Consider the lunacy of turning your back on the proven benefits of my will and those of the past 250 years of your nation’s uniquely prosperous history, to embrace unproven beliefs and practices of liberalism that have never worked or brought prosperity. At the heart of liberalism is godless socialism or communism. Look back at the past and the present and discern if any who have practiced this form of government and leadership have
ever brought prosperity and quality of life to its citizens? You may appeal to some who started with a flurry, but all ultimately turned on its citizens and brought destruction not enhancement and sustained prosperity.
There are reasons for this universal failure. First, is that most who espouse the philosophy reject me. They are godless. They may wear the moniker of being “believers”, but their behavior belies the fact that they only use the title to deceive those who may fall for their canard and support their godless ways.
At the time of my son Jesus walked the earth, he rightfully described most of the religious leadership as those “who honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” (Mark 7:6). He described them as “blind guides” leading my people, Israel, blindly toward sinful practices that would result in being ruthlessly obliterated from their homeland by Rome in 70 AD. He told the people of Israel at that time, “leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14). At the same time the political leaders of Rome were not only godless, in that they never trusted me, but they made their Caesars, gods. Imagine any human and especially ruthless and evil leaders, being regarded as a god. How did they do? How will you do if you, like them of that day, fall for this fatal mistake. Lunatics
Another reason for the universal failure of lunatic liberals is that in their pride they think they are wise but in fact, they practice things that are so foolish and always ends in disaster. Remember that wisdom is following the design of the designer. Anything that contradicts me your creator and my design and expressed will is foolish and will lead to disaster, not delight. The examples of this foolishness are myriad in number. I told you that you and your leaders must fear me (Nehemiah 7:2) and only “the nation whose God is the Lord” will be blessed (Psalm 33:12). Yet you totally disregard my will and choose leaders who never look to me and my will. You want what you want, and you simply choose leaders who promise you everything to win your votes but can’t and won’t deliver. You choose leaders based on personality instead of integrity and policy which follows my design and will. Israel did the same and lost everything. Walk through my book, the Bible, particularly the chapters of 1st and 2nd Kings, which describes the leaders of Israel in the time of the united and then divided kingdom. Read and weep at the godless and sinful leadership that led them to their destruction. In like manner, your leaders have foolishly and categorically changed what I said is right, into what they say is right. Things like rec-
ognizing and embracing that I created only two genders, (Matthew 19:4) marriage being only between one man and one woman for life, (Matthew 19:5,6) sex being experienced only in that relationship alone,(Leviticus 18:22) trans lifestyle being an abomination to my design, (Deuteronomy 22:5) changing the minds and not the bodies of those who don’t see my design for maleness and femaleness, (Romans 12:2) this is especially true of children,(Mark 9:42) placing people in positions of responsibility based on competence and not any other arbitrary factor,(2 Chronicles) , ending racism instead of feeding the flames of radical racism by making decisions on race, (Acts 17:26) protecting the life of an unborn child instead of killing it, especially for convenience of the mother or father or to garner votes for political power and influence,(Exodus 22:21-23) crime being punished with penalties appropriate with the crime,(Exodus 21:24); borders being guarded and immigrants vetted to ensure they desire to embrace the values of your constitution and are not seeking your demise, (Nehemiah 7) leaders who instead of giving selflessly to their constituents, use their resources, received from the people they govern, to “buy” influence and power for personal gain at the expense of the safety and security of the people they govern(2 Samuel 15:1-6).
See LETTERS on 29
hoW noT To Pick a JeW FoR vice-PResidenT
by Ben Shapiro Syndicated Columnist
Last week, Kamala Harris chose her vice presidential running mate.
She could have picked the wildly popular, semimoderate swing state governor from Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Shapiro has a 62% approval rating in the state, which is ranked by Nate Silver as the most important election bellwether. Shapiro is charismatic, smart and bridges the gap between radical Democratic social policy and heterodox moderate views on education and Israel.
Instead, she chose the radical leftist candidate from the non-swing state of Minnesota who presided over the burning down of Minneapolis during the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020. Interesting choice. Shapiro seemed to be the obvious pick.
But there was one overriding problem with Josh Shapiro in the age of the Squad: Josh Shapiro is a Jew.
And there will be no Jewish vice president for Kamala Harris.
All of which tells you a lot about Kamala Harris, as both a candidate and as a person.
As a candidate, she’s a coward. She is in commanding position within her
See SHAPIRO on 29
slaveRy in ameRica
by John Stossel Syndicated Columnist
Today people are taught, when it comes to slavery, America was the worst
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine actually said, “The United States didn’t inherit slavery from anybody; we created it.”
An MSNBC “expert” claims “American slavery was worse because slaves were treated as property.”
“That’s complete nonsense,” replies political science professor Wilfred Reilly in my new video. “Generational slavery, (where) if you’re the son of a slave, you’re a slave ... that was extraordinarily common.”
Reilly’s new book “Lies My Liberal
Teacher Told Me,” rebuts anti-American propaganda that dominates many American schoolbooks today.
Partly thanks to the New York Times’ “1619 Project,” students are taught that “America’s slavery (was) unlike anything that had existed before.”
“There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging your historical mistakes,” Reilly responds. “I’m Black, Irish, a bit Native American ... Those are three peoples who have experienced a great deal historically. Nothing wrong with acknowledging that. But it’s extremely odd to focus only on the negatives of your society. And to exaggerate those!”
Kids are now taught that slavers bought people in Africa and shipped
See STOSSEL on 29
kabul collaPse emboldened global desPoTs
by John J. Metzler Syndicated Columnist
The collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban Islamic fundamentalists three years ago on August 15th, signaled an inflection point on the geopolitical scene. While the appalling stupidity of Biden/Harris Administration’s botched and humiliating withdrawal of American forces from this South Asian land stained and sullied the reputation the United States, the fiasco equally opened the floodgates to the deluge of refugees fleeing the toppled Afghan government in Kabul.
The immediate disaster was the terrorist suicide bomb killing of
thirteen U.S. Marines and the injury of scores more at Kabul Airport as the frantic evacuation of more than a hundred thousand Afghan civilians unfolded.
As U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (RFL) said following the harrowing debacle; “China, Russia, Iran look at this botched withdrawal and they see incompetence that they could exploit, which may lead to miscalculation.”
Afghanistan descended back into the darkness as the Taliban’s new Islamic Emirate regime seized power and turned back the clock on a semi-secular society. The blood and treasure of the United States and many NATO allies such as Britain, Canada, France, Germany and many others had been spilled. But in vain? Billions of dollars had been spent trying to
stabilize a tribal society and offer it a modicum of hope for social and economic alternatives, especially for women.
Joe Biden’s legacy remains waves of refugees, re-establishment of a rigidly Islamic religious Afghan society, and above all the withering loss of American prestige on the global level. The images of fleeing Afghans clinging to departing U.S. Air Force aircraft, evoked heartbreaking scenes of Saigon 1975. The shambolic seventeen day withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021 emboldened America’ s enemies around the world.
So how have events in far off Afghanistan changed or altered global security?
Afghanistan : Beyond the calamitous collapse of the Western-
backed secular Afghan government (I’m not saying they were virtuous nor competent), there was the political jolt and ensuing refugee surge fleeing the country. Importantly the massive U.S. operated Bagram Air Base, a key strategic asset on the nexus of China, Iran and Pakistan was lost. Moreover billions of dollars of American military supplies and weapons fell into the hands of the Taliban militants; many have since been sold on international arms markets.
Russia : Biden’s Afghan blunder brought a strange Schadenfreude to the Kremlin whose own Afghan invasion in the 1980’s started the whole tragedy, but later triggered the unraveling of the Soviet Union. Now Russian President Vladi -
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Not So LoNg Ago ...
Exploring ThE lEgEnd & lorE of our graniTE STaTE
by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr. Contributing Writer
This week we continue Robert Hanaford Smith’s series on the steam era on in New Hampshire.
“The chief attraction of the Weirs is the lake: sail-boats, row-boats, steam yachts, and steamboats are at one’s service. The waters of the lake teem with fish. There are many pleasant walks along the shore, and winding up the neighboring hills.”
So read an 1890 article in the Granite Monthly magazine. The article also emphasized that there were other places in New Hampshire that attracted tourists and that the way to reach them was by use of the railroads which had connecting routes to reach resorts around the state.
In 1890 the popularity of the Weirs was steadily increasing according to the magazine. There was a Methodist campground with a large open-air auditorium and many cottages. The veter -
The Winnecoette House was opened in 1879 and was the the first large hotel in Weirs Beach.
ans of the War of the Rebellion (Civil War) had established their reunion base in the Weirs, and there was George Week’s Lakeside Hotel, built in 1880, with broad piazzas on the shore of the lake. The steampowered locomotives pulled the railway cars that brought the tourists to the Weirs, but there were also other places to go. When I was a child towards the end of the steam locomotives there seemed to be but one railway company operating in the state, the Boston and Maine Railroad. In 1890 there were many railroad companies with the Concord and Montreal leading the way. As
today many tourists came from outside the state, and many Granite Staters took vacations in different parts of the state from the one in which they lived. People from Nashua, whether locals or out-of-Staters took the Concord and Montreal northward to connect with branches that led to different areas of the state. There was the North Weare Branch, the Portsmouth Branch, the Pittsfield Branch, the Belmont Branch, the Lake Shore Branch, the Pemigewasset Branch, and the mountain branches and beyond, connecting with rail companies like the Grand Trunk Railway and the Upper Coos Railway.
Summertime was the busiest time for the railroad with rail transportation coming much earlier than the gasoline or steam-powered or electric passenger car. Places where the ships and boats and railroads didn’t go might still be accessed by the stagecoach or other horse-drawn vehicle.
I suppose that there are people who “Discover” New Hampshire for the first time every year, but I imagine that back in 1890 there were new places that would become tourist destinations being discovered, though the Granite Monthly article from 1890 proclaimed
by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer
The quadrennial Summer Olympic Games ended in Paris on August 11. This international sports festival features countless compelling sports stories and thus rates at least a few sportthoughts here.
•The opening ceremony featuring the national teams floating down the Seine River was a novel, inspired idea. A river entrance won’t be an option for the 2028 games in Los Angeles where we’ll surely see the traditional march into the stadium. But the boat thing in Paris was a cool, one-time twist.
•Less cool was the much maligned “Last Supper” performance that was part of the opening ceremonies. Dancing drag queens are not universally popular, especially as part of an obvious parody of da Vinci’s painting of a sacred Christian event.
•The Seine was also a venue for some swimming competitions. Interesting idea. Presumably the wind and currents had negligible effect. But some swimmers claimed the water was filthy, which I’ll believe, having been to Paris several times.
•I especially love the team sport competitions like soccer and basketball. And I was happy Megan Rapinoe wasn’t part of the USA
summeR olymPics
male facilities in the Granite State. I was a proud co-sponsor of that measure.)
The Olympic Games involve millions of people and thus create millions of stories of all sorts, depending upon your sporting preferences and your country. Despite its controversies and hiccups this world competition remains a shining example of international cooperation, bringing people together from every continent. It’s usually good for folks to meet and engage other folks from other cultures despite the inevitable politics.
Interestingly, according to NBC, 55% of Olympic viewers were female. Women especially love the Games. The reasons for that are a subject for another day.
women’s soccer team to distract and depress as she did during the last Women’s World Cup tournament.
•Speaking of basketball (women’s), Caitlin Clark’s name came up plenty of times in Paris—from which the Indiana Fever hoopster was absent. Oddly, attendance for the USA women’s hoopster games lagged at times. For example, only 13,000 fans showed up to see the USA dominate Japan, 102-76, while over 27,000 showed up to see Spain play China. Even Nigeria/Australia pulled in 24,000 fans.
•And somehow a
male, Imane Khelif of Algeria triumphed over a female in a “women’s” boxing match. Angela Carini of Italy withdrew before the end of their boxing match after Khelif beat the crap out of her. “Progressive” idiocy obviously extends far beyond our borders as somehow the International Olympic Committee sanctioned transgender participation. Hopefully this travesty will be addressed before L.A./2028.
(Note: New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu recently signed HB1205 into law restricting biological male access to female teams and fe -
Now, to paraphrase Bill Belichick, it’s “On to Los Angeles.” That city has hosted the summer games twice before and if the past is prologue then we can be sure that L.A. will help put on quite a show in 2028. Hopefully without
See MOFFETT on
The Simple Feast The Simple Feast
The
Simple
by Eric N Gibson Contributing Writer
Do you remember being a kid during the summertime? I can remember a time before kids spent their summers in front of the TV playing video games while basking in the cool breeze of a “mini split”. When I was a kid, only the elderly had air conditioning. To escape the heat of the day you had to open the house at night and close it up by 7:00 AM. There were a lucky few whose mom had the family wagon packed and ready to roll by 8:00 AM, heading to the beach to catch an offshore breeze or spend the day at the lake.
The Simple mud Pies and summeR Fun
little corner of the world was ours to explore. Just where and how we were to answer the call of nature if said need arose was of little concern as long as we didn’t embarrass the family name in the process of accomplishing said task.
For those of us who were “stuck” at home, by 9:00 AM, and not a minute before, we were shooed out of the house. With mom at the door to give a brief cursory inspection to ensure we were presentable to the public, no overtly offensive odors and the minor smudge or smear being removed with a quick lick of the thumb and an earnest rub, we were set loose upon the neighborhood in search of adventure. Not to be seen inside again until lunch and preferably not until supper, our
Lunch was a hunter / gatherer’s affair. This is not to say that we were encouraged to mooch off the neighbors. Not hardly! Friends gave freely to each other and mom gave as good as we got. It was a time when food allergies were rare, almost nonexistent, so no one worried about an extra PBJ, a handful of cookies, and a gallon of “bug juice” going out the back door. In fact, PBJ’s and baloney sandwiches were the staples of our blue collar neighborhood. Those who got a PBJ were thankful it was not baloney and those
who got baloney were usually happy it wasn’t a PBJ. It was the classic, “greener grass” theory. It really didn’t matter what it was, it was just better because it wasn’t at your own house.
Back in the day we did the unthinkable, we dreamed, we created, and we played. And not only did we play, we played together . And what’s more, it was unstructured play that ebbed and flowed as kids from the neighborhood came and went throughout the day. There was no such thing as a “Play Date”. We either played together in our smaller groups, unstructured and unsupervised, or the older kids kept the younger kids in line when everyone played together. It was, for the most part, a peaceful coexistence because we knew a brother or sister
would “rat us out” to mom and dad at the first opportunity. In a neighborhood full of kids, we were like little magnets; two became three, then four, then six or eight or ten or more until finally someone decided there were enough of us to choose up teams and play Cops and Robbers (gasp!), Army (heaven forbid!), or Cowboys and Indians (someone just fainted!). Games that required us to run, jump, climb, chase, hide, capture, and even pretend to shoot at one another (how utterly unimaginable in this day and age!). And, aside from the occasional scratches and bruises, we lived to tell the tale and do it all again the next day. As far as I know, none of us ended up in Juvenile Hall or on a
Over 200+ new & used braided rugs available in our store – various shapes, sizes, colors & designs
on the TOWN OUT OUT
BOSAK from 3
why it sat in the middle of the trail and did not move. Even as I bent over and approached with my iPhone, the frog sat still. I took a few pictures and then stepped away to observe it a bit
longer. I never did see it move, but I’m assuming it hopped off shortly after I left and found a tree to shelter in.
Later, when I did an internet search on gray tree frogs to learn more about these creatures, I discovered something else interesting: it’s unclear whether tree frog is one word or two. I would say more sources spell it as one word, but many reliable sources, such as the Smithsonian National Zoo and New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife, spell it as two words. Two words makes more sense to me, so I went with two words for this column. (It is also found as gray and grey, but let’s not even get into that right now.)
Whichever way you spell it or whatever color it happens to be at the time, you can’t deny that it’s a treat to find such a rare sighting.
in the Clouds Adventures Start With
nh heRiTage museum TRail To
LOUDON - On Saturday, August 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the New England Racing Museum, member of the NH Heritage Museum Trail, will host Hot Rods, Muscle and More Car Show. Presented by Shea Concrete Products, the annual event will feature more than 250 vehicles with proceeds to support the mission of the New England Racing Museum.
“Our mission is to discover, preserve and educate the public on
the history of New England motor racing,” said Thomas Netishen, executive director. “This show is a fun way for the public to learn more about us and the region’s rich motor racing history.”
In total, the museum will award 20 trophies, including the Parker-Coraine Best of Show Trophy. Winners of this award receive a complimentary brick that will be permanently placed in the museum’s tribute wall. Winners are also invited to take a picture inside the museum with their winning car, or truck, at the conclusion of the show with the ParkerCoraine trophy.
According to Netishen, the Best of Show Trophy is named after Ted Parker and
Gil Coraine, each of whom have contributed extensively to the museum’s success. This year’s award, however, will have special significance.
“After a period of declining health, Gil passed away in February of this year,” added Netishen. “Gil was a local drag racing pioneer and former museum board member—he will be missed.”
Along with the car show, visitors will be invited to enjoy and explore New England motor racing history at more than 30 historical race car and motorcycle exhibits inside the museum. Visitors can also test their skills on an iRacing rig and four-lane electric slot car track.
The show will also feature a 50/50 raffle and an onsite food
truck. “Whether you are a fan of racing or not, the event is always a fun time with family and friends,” said Netishen.
The cost to enter a vehicle into the show is $20, which includes one passenger and two free tickets to view the museum that day of the show. The cost for spectators is $5 per person with kids under 12 admitted free. To learn more, visit NERmuseum.com.
In addition to the New England Racing Museum, member institutions on the New Hampshire Heritage Museum Trail are located in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, Merrimack Valley, and Seacoast. To learn more about The Trail or any member institution, visit nhmuseumtrail.org.
Photo by Stoddard Whitridge
Summer Fun! Summer Fun!
mounT WashingTon valley
salmon this summer
augusT aRTs & cRaFTs FaiR
roars,
just Wild Things: unpredictable and exciting. The same is true of wild salmon.
While farmed salmon is tame in taste — the result of controlled environments — wild salmon tastes like hardearned adventure. Its well-exercised flesh is lean and meaty. Its flavor is nuanced and robust from foraging for food. And its color is deep, ranging from hot pink to ruby red. If wild salmon’s firm texture or intense flavor has ever surprised you, know that you’re just tasting salmon that has run free — what a treat. Follow these tips to better understand, appreciate and cook this wild thing.
The best salmon to choose
You can find wild salmon in the fresh fish section of many grocery stores, but look in the frozen aisle, too. Often flash frozen shortly after being caught, frozen fish maintain their peak taste more than the defrosted fish displayed on ice. Simply thaw it by refrigerating it overnight uncovered on a paper towel-lined plate. Or, if you’re in a hurry, place the fish in a resealable plastic bag in a bowl of cold water, replacing the water every 30 minutes or so to keep it cold. Resources like Seafood Watch can help discern which salmon is sustainably raised. If the only option available is in the fresh case, choose fillets that are firm, shiny, uniform in color and don’t smell like much of anything.
in front of the Scenic Railroad
How different types of salmon taste
On Saturday and Sunday, August 1718, come and celebrate summer with American made arts & crafts at the Mount Washington Valley August Arts & Crafts Fair at Schouler Park, 1 Norcross Circle, Rt. 16, North Conway. Hours are Saturday 10am to 5pm & Sunday 10am to 4pm Located
See next page
There will be over 100 awesome exhibitors including handsome cedar wood furniture, amazing metal creations featuring Monty the Moose (please see the photo below), amazing hand painted glass/metal/ wood/mushrooms, beautiful folk art, custom leather belts &
Because wild salmon have more active lives and varied diets than farmed fish, their taut flesh tastes more complex and is nuanced according to their surroundings. (Think of it as the difference between a summer tomato ripened in the sun and a winter one from a greenhouse.)
Please call or email us today for information on diving classes.
beautiful totes/pocketbooks, awesome acrylic and watercolor fine art, NH maple syrups, hand poured soaps, soy candles, several jewelry styles including leather jewelry and crystal jewelry, charcuterie boards, unique macrame furniture, amazing wildlife photography, custom signs, fresh-squeezed lemonade & kettle corn,
and lots more.
Live Music with North River Both Days. Rain or Shine Under Canopies.
Free Admission & Free Parking.
Friendly, leashed dogs are welcome More Info Call Joyce (603) 387.1510 - joycescraftshows.com
Summer Fun! Summer Fun!
The Wholly RolleRs aT canTeRbuRy shakeR village
The Wholly Rollers will perform their final show as a group on Sunday, August 18 at 4:00 p.m. at Canterbury Shaker Village as part of the Music on the Green concert series. The group has played together for nine years and have performed regularly at the Village since 2018. “It feels fitting to be playing our last show at Canterbury Shaker Village,” said singer and multi-instrumentalist Dick Bennett.
“Music was such an important part of the Shakers’ life. Plus, we’ve consistently played there over such a long period of time we never fail to get an enthusiastic audience.”
Education Manager Kyle Sandler expressed gratitude for the many years The Wholly Rollers brought music to the Village. “We are honored to host The Wholly Rollers’ last concert,” he said.
gospel, The Wholly Rollers have performed in venues from northeast Massachusetts to the White Mountains. They have played for churches and many nonprofit events.
“We decided early on we were going to do this without charge for nonprofits,” explained Bennett. “And when we started landing paid gigs, we donated our pay back to nonprofits.”
different,” he said. “We decided we’d rather go out with a bang than a whimper.”
Held outside in a natural, intimate setting, Music on the Green features various types of music for all ages throughout the summer. Admission is free with a suggested donation of $20.
Music on the Green is sponsored by Coldwell Banker Lifestyles, New Hampshire Dance Collaborative (NHDC), and Kathleen Belko, Trustee. This event is rain or shine (except in extreme weather conditions).
In addition to Bennett, The Wholly Rollers currently include Brian Roff on vocals and guitar, Jeff Fetter on vocals, fiddle, and mandolin, Gary Schroeder on vocals and bait bucket bass, and Craig Whitson on vocals and guitar. Vocalist Tom Fredenburg was a member of the group until his passing in 2019.
With roots in bluegrass, old time, and
Bennett looked back fondly on the many memories the group made together. “We have thoroughly enjoyed doing this,” he said. “No one ever has more fun at a Roller concert than The Wholly Rollers.”
He did acknowledge, however, that this last concert will be bittersweet. “Everything in the universe has an arc of existence, and The Wholly Rollers really shouldn’t be any
Village tours are available before Music on the Green performances, while visitors are encouraged to explore the extensive trail system on the Village’s nearly 700-acre property. To purchase tour tickets or learn more about the Village, which interprets Shaker life through tours, exhibits, buildings, gardens, and programs, visit shakers.org.
Canterbury Shaker Village is a member of the NH Heritage Museum Trail, which connects the public with culturally rich heritage institutions in New Hampshire. For more information, visit nhmuseumtrail.org.
Summer Fun! Summer Fun!
The Best Summer Ever Starts Right Here! The Best Summer Ever Starts Right Here!
gReaT-gRandson oF old ToWn canoe
To sPeak aT nh
MOULTONBOROUGH- On Thursday, August 22 at 7pm,Old Town Canoe founder’s great-grandson, Benson Gray, will speak at New Hampshire Boat Museum (NHBM) as part of its Hulls and Hops Speaker Series. At the talk, Gray will focus on the history of canoes and his project to electronically archive hundreds of thousands of pages of historic build records.
Noting he has spent his entire life around old canoes, Gray said he started to “seriously research” them in 1993 after the death of his father. “The death of a parent often spurs an interest in learning more about your roots,” he said. “I had also recently joined the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association and was surprised by how many unanswered questions there were about canoe companies from the late 1800s and early 1900s.”
In 2016, a fire destroyed the original Old Town Canoe Factory, an event that proved to Gray how easily paper records could also be erased from history. “I knew computer scanning could preserve the records,” he said. “This information is even more useful in a database where it is possible to search for specifics.”
Records on the database include details about each canoe, including how and when
boaT museum
they were built. “It’s like a genealogy for canoes,” explained Gray.
“Many old canoe owners like learning about the history of their boats.”
According to Martha Cummings, NHBM executive director, Gray’s knowledge of canoe history is “unmatched.”
“His talk is very relevant to New England, where canoes have been used for thousands of years,” she added.
Taking place at NHBM’s Moultonborough Campus at 130 Whittier Hwy (Rte 25), the event will include beer and light snacks provided by Twin Barns Brewing from Meredith. Admission is free, although attendees are encouraged to make a $10 donation.
Founded in 1992 by antique and classic boating enthusiasts,
NHBM offers dynamic exhibits and engaging programs and events tailored to the diverse boating lifestyles and values of people of all ages.
NHBM is sponsored in part by Belletetes, Eastern Propane & Oil, Epoxy Floor New England, Goodhue Boat Company, Kingswood Press and Design Studio, KW Coastal, Lake and Mountains, North Water Marine, and Taylor Community. To learn more about NHBM, or other speakers in the Hulls and Hops Speaker Series, visit nhbm.org.
Benson Gray, great-grandson of the Old Town Canoe founder. He is sailing in his grandfather’s canoe.
Great Waters Season Finale At Brewster Academy
The Toomai String Quintet will grace the stage at the Pinckney Boathouse on Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 as part of the Great Waters’ Concerts in Town series. Consisting of world-class musicians, the quintet is an ensemble devoted to playing a variety of musical traditions from around the world, creating its string arrangements, and commissioning new works. This awardwinning quintet has been engaging audiences across the United States for over ten years, performing in concerts in collabora-
tion with presenters such as Carnegie Hall, 92 Y (New York City’s Global Center for Culture, connection, and Enrichment), and the Juilliard School. They have also appeared at the Lincoln Center, the Philadelphia Alliance, and the Americas Society. Formed in 2007 at the Juilliard School, the quintet is named after Rudyard Kipling’s short story “Toomai and the Elephants.”
The Curvey Family Foundation generously supports the Great Waters Concert in Towns series at Brewster Academy. Tickets may
be obtained by contacting the Great Waters office at 603-569-7710 or www.greatwaters.org.
Also It’s not too late to purchase tickets for the Great Waters Gala at the Castle in the Clouds on Wednesday, August 21st. The evening will include dinner, a silent and live auction, and entertainment by Broadway star Abby Mueller, Drama Desk Award winner (star of SIX and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical).
real Wanted Poster as adults.
We would also play games such as Hide and Seek, Sardines, or Tag, but ball was a favorite as this too involved everyone; Kickball, Wiffleball, Baseball, etc… When enough of us gathered we’d scatter off to get our mitts, bats, and balls. Our house was the “keystone” of the arch, a “U” shaped road of about twenty houses with a bulge, a cul de sac of sorts, on one bend of the “U” with home plate just off to the right of our driveway. Much to the annoyance of some homeowners whose prime real estate made up the “out field”, the cul de sac is where we would reconvene with our wares.
One neighbor in particular, whose front lawn comprised much of right field, would spy this group of urchins gathering and race to the ramparts. From her perspective you would think we were villagers gathering with torches and pitchforks, amassing to storm her castle. Standing in her doorway, awaiting the first infraction (a “pop fly” landing upon her lush green grass or a rogue ball kicked in a threatening manner toward her tulips), she was ready to verbally repel our advances for retrieval of the maleficent object. A row of arborvitae separating her driveway from her neighbor served as a screen, a thin veil which blocked her view of home plate and the specific perpetrator of the crime. This mattered little however, as we were all transgressors, each of us sharing a measure of guilt’s heavy burden. And whoa be unto they who dared to trespass if her husband were home,
1 Package chocolate cream sandwich cookies (about 36 cookies) crushed
1 ½ Cups Choc, Animal Crackers crushed
1 Stick Unsalted Butter melted
2 1/2 Tbsp. Veggie Oil
10 oz. Semi Sweet Baker’s Chocolate
1 14 oz. Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Packages Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
3 ¾ Cups Milk
1 8oz. Container Whipped Topping
Mini Choc. Chips, crushed cookie crumbs, or fresh berries for Garnish
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a bowl mix both types of crushed cookies with the melted butter and pour into a 9X13 baking dish / pan and pat firmly on the bottom and up the walls of the pan. Place this into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Let cool before the next steps.
- In a saucepan combine the veggie oil, semi-sweet Baker’s Chocolate, and the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and melt over low heat, mixing until blended smooth. Do not burn.
- Pour the chocolate mixture over the chocolate cookie crust and spread evenly.
- In a mixer combine the milk and instant pudding and whisk to form a thick pudding.
- Divide the pudding using half to spread on top of the chocolate “fudge” mixture.
- Combine the container of whipped topping with the remaining pudding to make a light chocolate “whipped topping”. Evenly spread this over the pudding.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or cover and serve the following day for a good set.
- Garnish with fresh berries or cookie crumbs at time of service.
as she would summon forth the “Modern Prometheus” to execute upon her command.
Recently one of the “kids” from the old neighborhood contacted me and we began to reminisce about the memories of our collective youth. The subject of Town came up. A favorite of all, we played this often, each of us having establishments: a restaurant, a gas station, a bank, and even a casino complete with roulette wheel. Yes, it’s true, my older brother did have a roulette wheel with a numbers board, chips, the whole kit and kaboodle. And, truth be told, our great uncle, who was in
his late 70’s, actually taught me, my brother, and my sister how to play poker. (I guess the Gibson’s just were not as squeaky clean as many were led to believe.) We would play Town for a while until someone got bored and decided to rob the bank or the casino. Then the posse was rounded up, deputized, and the chase was on, riding our bikes all over the neighborhood to catch the thief.
Reading my friend’s email brought a smile to my face, knowing that someone else remembered all these fun times of nearly 50 years ago or more. She said that her house was
ments of fun, I thought it only fitting that I find a recipe that illustrates the same.
Not one of dirt, sand, and clay but of another favorite medium… CHOCOLATE! This Rocky Bottom Mud Pie is chocolate in many of its most decadent forms. Easy to make it is without a doubt delicious and will feed a crowd. With a crushed crunchy cookie crust, a
smooth layer of fudge, and topped with both a gooey chocolate pudding and a creamy chocolate whipped topping, this version of mud pie is incredibly delicious. Great for celebrating or reminiscing with old friends, this Rocky Bottom Mud Pie is the perfect cool treat to top off any summer time simple feast. Enjoy!
Laconia Putnam Fund Presents
a restaurant because they had a picket fence with a stake missing, making for the perfect drive up window. As I read this I could picture it as if I were there again. And she served the best Mud Pies! According to my friend, the secret ingredient that made their Mud Pies the best? CLAY! “Clay makes the best mud for silky smooth Mud Pies!”
I decided to make mud pie as a tribute to the memories of summers past. What better way to celebrate that fleeting period in our lives when kids could be kids without a care in the world. A simple time filled with mo -
“Can’t Get Next to You” is a musical stage tribute that recreates the harmonies and choreography like no other show.
FREE TICKETS WILL BEGIN BEING RELEASED ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21ST AT 10AM
Three options to secure tickets:
1. Pickup at Colonial Theater Box Office located at 609 Main Street, Laconia, NH. Box office open Wed., Aug. 21 from 10 am - 2 pm.
2. Online at www.coloniallaconia.com
3. Call 1-800-657-8774 Colonial Theater, 609 Main Street, Laconia, NH. Box office is open Tues. Through Fri. 10 am - 2 pm.
that the beauty of the resorts in New Hampshire was then being “celebrated throughout the civilized world.”
Sunapee Lake, which one could access by the Concord and Claremont Railroad, was said to be “fast becoming a popular resort.” The fishing in Lake Sunapee was called “unequalled in New England.” There were nice hotels there and plenty of building sites. Back then we are told there were plenty of places to walk on the shores of Lake Win
NH Railroad Map from 1894.
nipesaukee. I wonder how easy it is to find a place in the present day to walk beside the shore of almost any lake in the Granite State without intruding on the private property of another. But concerning the tourist of 1890, what brought him/her to the Granite State? The pursuit of pleasure and health. And, according to the reporter
of those days, he/she had a great variety of resorts, offering those qualities, to choose from.
So where did the tourists stay if they had more than a day visit? Mostly they stayed in hotels. In 1879 a new, large hotel overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee named the Winnecoette was built. As difficult as it must have
SMITH from 9
Lancaster House in Lancaster, NH.
been, with New Hampshire’s often hilly and mountainous terrain, to clear the way to lay the tracks that enabled those steam locomotives to pull the cars carrying freight and people to mountain destinations, that goal was accomplished.
New Hampshire welcomes the tourist, he was promised back then “with the best of train service, over steel rails and iron bridges and a carefully guarded road-bed; meets him at the station with a tally-ho coach, a mountain wagon, or a buck-board, and offers him the largest variety of accommodation.”
The Breezy Hill House in Lisbon, with a broad veranda nearly surrounding the building, and a view of the whole Franconia Range, was considered one of the most attractive houses among the mountains.
In Lancaster, the Lancaster House was considered a good place to stop for a meal on one’s journey.
Moving along to Colebrook on the train, the tourist could take a free coach ride from the depot to one of the two good hotels in town. One hotel was called the Parsons House and it had all of the modern conveniences, including, in keeping with the age, steam heat.
I should point out that with the variety of railroad companies in New Hampshire, tourists might have to change trains several times to get to their destination.
So the places we have mentioned would have included riding on the Grand Trunk Railway and the Coos Railroad. The other hotel at Colebrook was the Monadnock Hotel. The Coos Railroad went from Colebrook to West Stewartstown which was the furthest north one could go in New Hampshire by rail, but it enabled that village to grow and be a thriving town. In 1890 new houses were said to be springing up on every hand. Fishermen would take the train to Stewartstown on their way to the Connecticut Lakes to fish.
I have tried to show that the tourist industry in New Hampshire during the steam-age, that is, from the mid1800’s to through the first part of the 1900’s, was greatly aided by transportation by land and water, powered by steam which was produced by wood or coal fuel and water. New Hampshire residents from the hills and mountains inland could ride the train to the seashore for vacation time, and those living along the
others New Hampshire gave charters to many rail companies, some that didn’t last long.
could head for a vacation in the forests, lakes and mountains.
And the trains brought people from all-over to enjoy New Hampshire, mainly for pleasure and health.
And the 1890 Granite Monthly article declared that the Boar’s Head hotel in Hampton was open with its ocean views and ocean breeze and a table upon which were “fresh lobsters, fried clams, broiled scrod, and baked cod, as in days of yore.”
Before the Boston and Maine Railroad outlasted most of the
On March 18, 1891 the Mount Belknap Railroad filed papers to be registered as a New Hampshire railroad company. The legislature issued them a charter, but the intended railroad to the top of Mt. Belknap never materialized. However, today, 133 years and almost 5 months later, the filing status of the Mount Belknap Railroad Company is listed as active.
St. André Bessette Parish
Mass Schedule at Sacred Heart Church Saturdays: 4pm; Sundays: 7:00, 8:30 & 10:30am Daily Masses: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 8am, Tuesday: 5:00pm
Masses Livestreamed at standrebessette.org Sacred Heart Church is open daily for private prayer www.standrebessette.org
coast
SMITH from 22
1800’s Boar’s Head Hotel, Hampton,NH
Reverend Marc B. Drouin, Pastor
Sunday morning we drove from Rte 2 south on Rte 113 through Evans Notch to the Basin Campground and we parked at the boat ramp/Basin Trailhead. Two Loons were singing and their chick was with them.
Our backpacks were heavy with all our gear and food. It was already too hot and humid and soon we were soaked with sweat. We dropped our packs and made a loop around Hermit Falls. Four backpackers were hiking down that had spent the weekend somewhere in the wilderness. At the Rim Trail junction we took a nice break on a ledge and enjoyed the view back down to the Basin Brook Reservoir.
We crossed the wilderness boundary as we started down the Black Angel Trail. My understanding is this trail was named by its trailbuilders when they came across a black tree stump that looked like an angel. I yelped after getting stung on the back of my ankle. Bria didn’t know why I was dancing around. But no other flying stinging bugs appeared
Yours truly hiking along the Wild River Trail on a good section of the railroad grade along the River. Trails in designated Wilderness areas do have blazes and have minimum trail maintenance.
thankfully. All the trails in the wilderness area have no painted blaze to follow. Many follow old railroad grades and logging roads.
At the Blue Brook tentsite we walked out and back on the spur and visited the ledgy brook
that is the site’s water source.
We crossed the brook and up out of the drainage and hiked down to the Wild River. With five miles behind us now we continued up river on the Wild River Trail. The old railroad grade was mostly easy
Bria pointing at the first of many waterfalls on the Moriah Brook Trail. From the intersection of the Carter-Moriah Trail to the High Water Trail, it is just over five miles. The Moriah Brook Trail follows its cascading waters all the way. As we descended the brook grew larger and we had to cross it many times. The water was roaring loudly as it crashed through the Moriah Gorge. The Brook empties into the Wild River.
to follow but the section where the River blew out the trail we had to climb down the back and walk on rocks and push through brush to get to the other side. Our first good taste of the wild conditions to come.
It was nearly ten years ago I hiked in this area and the washouts are worse than I remember, the River
is so wide. The Spider bridge on the Black Angel Trail washed out nearly 20 years ago and the bridge near the campground was closed shortly after I crossed it in 2015. By the looks it would have been completely washed away if they had waited. Since this area is a designated wilderness the only way across is to rock hope and wade. If the water is
too high then we’d have to change our plans. We were able to cross the River and our feet would stay wet from this moment on until we got back to the car Tuesday afternoon. We set up our tents near the intersection of Moriah Brook and High Water Trails. Since it was early afternoon we switched to our day packs and went off to hike the High Water Trail to the intersection of the Shelburne Trail. This was more like bushwhacking with the footpath disappearing and sections of the trail blown out. It was slow going and frustrating. We forded Bull Brook and then the River again. We took the road to the campground and then it began to rain so hard we could barely see. Down the steep bank and across the River again back to our campsite. Think positive, the rain had given us a nice shower,
Yours truly on the High Water Trail just north of the Moriah Brook Trail intersection. The High Water Trail has been washed away in many places by the Wild River. Route finding is difficult and often we had to bushwhack around the steep washouts.
at least we were clean. We hiked 12 miles.
All night long it rained hard and the lightning and thunder were bright and loud–it was a wild wild night. Bria and I agreed it felt like the ground shook. We both had leaky tent seams and we endured a wetter night than we would have liked.
Thankfully when we crawled out of our tents at 6am we saw a blue sky. By 7am we were heading south on the High Water Trail back to the Black Angel Trail that would lead us up to the Carter-Moriah Trail.
This section of the High Water Trail was a trail that was easier to follow although the brook crossings were difficult to find where the trail began again on the far side.There were lots of trees to climb over and around but the footbed was often soft. Nearing the ridge the character of the trail changes and rock climbing skills were necessary.
We decided to dash out and back to tag Carter Dome’s summit and then we began what felt like a race across the Carter-Moriah Trail. In the back
Collecting water to filter at the Imp campsite and shelter. An old carved out tree makes a unique and wonderful spigot. We took advantage of the water sources at the campsites we passed.
of our minds the whole day was the dread of hiking in the rain in the late afternoon.
We saw a handful of people on the ridge. It was the first time we could get a text message out to our husbands that all was swell. They had worried about our wet night because the lightning was quite the show back home too.
Our eyes were filled with the beautiful mountain vista. Bria led a strong pace and we
All that remains of the Black Angel Trail’s Spider Bridge is a concrete abutment on the east side of the Wild River. The Spider bridge has been out since 2006.
made it across South, Middle and North Carter mountains. Coming down North Carter to Imp is steep and we could see the clouds were looking darker. Bria said she pitied the AT thru hikers having to negotiate this terrain in full backpacks. We were glad we had our lighter day packs. We hiked down to the Imp campsite and no one was around. The new shelter is beautiful andmthe chairs at
the outlook were a nice place to drink and eat. We had six miles to go and we had no idea what condition the Moriah Brook Trail would be like but we knew we didn’t want to be on it in the rain.
UNION
When we reached the Stony Brook Trail we knew it was only a few feet more and we’d start down on the Moriah
Brook Trail. Bria remarked she had walked by the Moriah Brook Trail here many times. I recalled liking the Moriah Brook Trail and
See PATENAUDE on 26
PATENAUDE from 24
PATENAUDE from 25
meeting Jeff, the trial maintainer. We noticed someone had done very recent trail work and had clipped the hobble bush. This made following the trail more enjoyable while we admired Mount Moriah’s south cliffs high above us.
The trail follows and crosses the Brook many times.Our feet that had almost dried out while crossing the Carters became soaked again.
Moriah Brook is gorgeous and its cascading waters made me wish we were able to hike unhurried. As we passed by the loud Moriah Gorge we knew our hiking day was nearly done.
5:30pm we were back at our campsite and we had beat the rain. After 20 miles on these wild trails we were ready to rest. We filtered water to drink and we both ate in our tents as it began to rain. At least it was light rain.
In the Wild River Wilderness we are happy to find the trail signs. Bria at the Moriah Brook Trail and High Water Trail intersection.
crossing the river. It is loose and nearly vertical. We walked through the empty campground and up the Basin Trail along Blue Brook. This trail is such a gem. So many waterfalls and beautiful rock walls.
We decided to do one more thing as we crossed the wilderness boundary. We dropped our backpacks and went out and back to Mount Meader. There were a few blown down trees to climb around but it was nice to follow painted blazes along the trail.
We didn’t leave our campsite until 8 am. It took time to clean the slugs off our tents. After we packed up the only way you could tell where we had camped
was by the drier spots where our tents had been set up on the forest floor.
We crossed the Wild River again, the water was a little higher. Scrambling up the bank is harder than
We quickly retraced our way down the Basin Trail. At the car we dropped our packs and jumped in the water. We tried to wash the mud off our bodies. The water felt so nice. Next dry feet felt even better. People were having a picnic, we saw a man fishing and someone kayaking and there were other cars in the parking lot. Back out of the wilds we were again. We did enjoy our wild timeand Bria has now hiked 80 percent of the trails in the Guide.
Have Fun.
mir Putin saw a real chance to probe and provoke neighboring Ukraine. While the Russians were already fighting a low intensity war in Ukraine since 2014 when they seized the strategic Crimean peninsula, Moscow witnessed Washington’s weakness and would soon test and exploit it.
China: Beijing’s Xi Jinping regime tasted blood in the waters of the Taiwan Straits, separating the Chinese Mainland form democratically selfgoverning island of Taiwan. Memories of the political crackdown in Hong Kong were still fresh and now Xi was ready to perhaps take the last historic step to “bring Taiwan back to the motherland” as the Chinese communist propaganda long promised. The People’s Republic of China has never renounced the use of force to “reunite” democratic Taiwan with communist China.
U.S. indifference or incompetence in Afghanistan presaged a wider malaise in Washington’s strategic thinking, then not six months into the new Biden Administration. Equally it energized Chairman Xi’s willingness to seriously consider a still murky timetable to initiate offensive military operations against Taiwan.
Iran: Although the Islamic Republic of Iran never viewed the Taliban regime as a religious or political ally, Tehran nonetheless exploited the shocking shift in the South Asian power equation. Since the collapse in Kabul,
and the perceptions of American weakness, Iran has energized its proxy forces in the Middle East especially among Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, and the Houthis in Yemen. Equally it reinforced its Revolutionary Guards units militarily supporting Syria’s Assad regime. Much of Iran’s unbridled support of military proxies can be traced to the perception that American power is in retreat.
Afghanistan: Three years following the August debacle in Kabul the human rights situation in Afghanistan has dramatically deteriorated especially for women and girls. More than three million Afghans are internally displaced inside their own country. Since the collapse in 2021, an additional 1.6 million more people have fled the country adding to the overall number of 8 million Afghan refugees globally according to UN humanitarian agencies. Vladimir Putin has challenged and pushed the parameters of the post WWII European order on the steppes of Ukraine. Are Chairman Xi or the Iranian Ayatollahs planning the same?
John J. Metzler is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of Divided Dynamism the Diplomacy of Separated Nations; Germany, Korea, China.
MOFFETT from 11 years.
TOWER from 1
painful parodies.
Here’s an early prediction: Caitlin Clark will be on the USA women’s basketball team. Trust me.
Citius, Altius, Fortius!
Sports Quiz
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator and historian, is hailed as the Father of the Modern Olympic Games. When and where did the first modern Olympic competition take place? (Answer follows)
Born Today
That is to say, sports standouts born on August 15 include threetime American Olympic Beach Volleyball Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh (1978) and three-time American Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Brendan Hansen (1981).
Sports Quote
“The Olympics remain the most compelling search for excellence that exists in sport, and maybe in life itself.” –swimmer Dawn Fraser, three-time Olympic medal winner for Australia
Sports Quiz Answer
In 1896 in Athens.
State Representative Mike Moffett was a Sports Management Professor for Plymouth State University and NHTI-Concord. He coauthored the awardwinning “Fahim Speaks: Between Two Worlds: A Hollywood Actor’s Journey as a U.S. Marine Translator through Afghanistan” which is available on Amazon. com. His e-mail address is mimoffett@comcast. net
The Abenaki Tower and Trail Association, which maintains the tower and its trails, installed a State of New Hampshire historic roadside marker at the site in October 2023, which recognizes the significance of the location for area indigenous peoples. The Association is celebrating the tower’s centennial with numerous events in 2024, and actively fundraising for the ongoing preservation and necessary rebuilding of the tower. Wellknown Lakes Region artist Peter Ferber’s poster designed for the tower’s centennial, along with the Association’s centennial merchandise to support this fundraising effort, will be available at this event. See the Association’s website (www.abenaki.org) for further information on the Tower and events.
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own party -- a party desperate to prevent a loss to the dreaded scourge of Donald Trump. The base is once again enthused about her, despite her dreadful electoral history, mainly because they no longer have to pretend enthusiasm for the moldering corpse of President Joe Biden. Her own approval ratings have ticked up from the mid-30s to the low-50s. Whereas only 58% of Black voters said they would definitely vote in July -- when Biden was the nominee -- now some 74% say they will vote. Instead of trailing Trump by several points, Harris now leads him by a slim margin nationally, and is within the margin of error in all of the swing states.
Yet Harris is terrified of the pro-Hamas contingent within her own party: the people who are chanting in solidarity with Hezbollah on campus, who declaim their enthusiasm for the cause of a Palestinian population that by polling data, supports terrorism and murder by an 8-2 margin. Harris is frightened of a messy Democratic National Convention, in which Hamas flags fly while American flags are burned. She wanted to paper over her party’s dyspepsia on Israel -- and she couldn’t have a Jew on the ticket. Because the rift in the Democratic Party isn’t truly about Israel: Tim Walz, her actual VP pick, has positions on Israel nearly identical to those of Shapiro. It’s about one thing and one thing only: Josh Shapiro is a Jew. And a significant segment of her base doesn’t like Jews.
That’s true gutlessness.
And then there’s Harris as a person.
Harris wants to por-
tray herself as a moderate. She wants to jettison her prior political positions for the sake of winning, hoping that the media will continue to allow her to escape all scrutiny. Yet when it came down to it, she chose the Marxist from Minnesota -- a man who has said that “one person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness” -- over the moderate from Pennsylvania. She hasn’t been captured by the radicals in her party. She is a radical. She always was. Her entire record says so. She herself has said so. The Walz pick was comfortable for her because she is more comfortable with Walz’s extremism than with Shapiro’s pseudo-moderation.
So, what should Harris’ pick tell us, in the end? That she’s a radical, and that she’s a coward. That she will always, when given the opportunity, side with the most extreme in her party -- and that she is afraid enough of them that she’s willing to engage in the most cynical bigotry in order to curry their favor. That’s the kind of person who certainly should not be president of the United States.
Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and cofounder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
them to the United States. Few are taught that most were shipped elsewhere.
“Between 10.7 million and 12 million slaves from Africa went to the New World -- we got a little under 400,000,” says Reilly. That’s less than 4%.
“The extreme focus on slavery in the United States, why did that happen?” asks Reilly.
“One reason is that a lot of Black people survived here. Slavery was harsh, but a lot less harsh than clearing the Brazilian jungle.”
“But American Blacks are at a disadvantage,” I push back. “They have less capital, financial and educational capital. What’s the harm in pointing out how abusive white people were?”
“The harm,” he replies, “is that pointing out how abusive white people were is not going to get Black Americans any more capital. Most problems in the modern Black community don’t have anything to do with historical ethnic conflict 160 years ago.”
Reilly says today’s problems began when government welfare began.
“Crime in the Black community,” he says, “increased about 800% between (around) 1963 and 1993. Racism didn’t increase between 1960 and the modern era. You’re looking at the impacts of the Great Society, the welfare programs.”
It’s better to teach the truth, says Reilly -- almost every society had slavery.
“The Arabs were history’s premier slave traders. Muslims took so many blonde slaves out of the (Slavic) region, they gave the world the name ‘Slav,’ (for) ‘slave,’ to the global slave population.”
Arabs captured and
enslaved more than a million Europeans.
Years later, the first people who seriously tried to abolish slavery were white Westerners: The British and then Americans. They called slavery immoral.
“Yeah, the British Navy,” Reilly explains, “in a story almost no one now knows, sank 1,600 slave ships. They freed 150,000 people that were enslaved at the time.”
By contrast, Saudi Arabia only abolished slavery in 1962. And even now, the Global Slavery Index estimates that there are still 700,000 slaves in Saudi Arabia.
“Where there were no westerners,” Reilly notes, “you’d have a lot of slavery for a long time.”
American slavery was horrible. But it wasn’t unique. And we didn’t “create it.” Our culture would be healthier if we learned about that.
Schools dwelling on early America’s evils hasn’t helped Americans get over them.
Gallup polls show that
since schools started focusing on racism, race relations got worse.
“The idea of generational slavery, the idea of slave trading,” Reilly says, “none of that was unique to America. You don’t need radicalism to critique the worst excess of an existing system. All you need is incrementalism and honesty.”
Next week, I’ll report on another myth: the claim that, before Christopher Columbus, the natives were “kind stewards of the environment.”
Kids believe it. After all, it’s what Disney movies teach.
But that’s not true either.
And the list goes on and on but will soon stop. Not because of the choices of the lunatic leaders but because I stop them. When they fall so will you. For all who recognize and fear me, I implore you to wake up not “woke” down. Don’t fall for the lunacy that can’t prosper you. Climb back into my favor, choose wise and godly leaders, before it is too late.
I Love You, God
These letters are written by Rev. Dr. Sam Hollo of Alton, NH
