12/02/2021 Weirs Times by The Weirs Publishing Company

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

VOLUME 30, NO. 48

THE WEIRS, LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE, N.H., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021

COMPLIMENTARY

“Blessed Bargains” Open Saturdays

A blackpoll warbler eats a berry from a bush in New England earlier this month. Your knowledge of warblers might CHRIS BOSAK PHOTO help you find out where you are on the birdwatching spectrum

The Spectrum Of Birdwatching by Chris Bosak Contributing Writer

Birdwatching can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it. I’ve said it before, but that is one of the things I like most about the hobby.

If you are content being able to identify a handful of birds, then that’s fine as long as you enjoy it. If you can’t sleep unless you know the species, age and sex of every bird you see, then that’s fine as well. Most of us, including

myself, fall somewhere in the middle. The middle, of course, is a pretty vast area. Knowing a robin, blue jay, cardinal and a few other species is in one area of the middle. Knowing your sparrows, shorebirds, gulls and ducks falls in

another area of the middle. Warblers are a good indicator of where you fall on the spectrum. Can you identify a handful of male warblers in the spring? Or, can you identify male, female, and immature See BOSAK on 23

Every Saturday during the month of December, Blessed Bargains Thrift Store will be open from 9:30 am to 2 pm at the First Congregational Church on Main Street in Farmington. Start your shopping downstairs for all your Christmas needs. There will be an assortment of holiday gifts, household items, warm clothing for adults and children, toys, books and much more. Blessed Bargains is located in the basement of the church with its entrance from the TD Bank parking area. Then visit Santa’s Gift Shoppe in the Fellowship Hall of the church. You will find everything for your tree from the bottom tree stand to the star on top with lights, ornaments, and garland in between table trees, children’s Christmas books, stocking stuffers, toys and an array of collectibles, all kinds of decorations and gift wrapping things, all at bargain prices. The First Congregational Church is located at 400 Main Street in downtown Farmington. For more information go to their website www.farmingtonnhucc.org.

& AD RE

SHARE ONLINE FOR F

THE

WEIRSTIMES.C

RE E

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

NO PRESSURE, NO GIMMICKS, NO KIDDING! 159 D.W. Hwy, Belmont, NH • 603-524-8821

•Septic Pumping •Drains Unclogged •Septic Pump Repair & •Septic System Installation Inspections From the Lakes to the Mountains, We Are At Your Service! MOULTONBOROUGH: 476-5557 | MEREDITH: 279-4313 www.lampreyseptic.com

APACHE

Tax Preparation Prior Years Unfiled Returns Our Specialty!!! How self-employed individuals can repay deferred Social Security tax How can low-income families register for monthly Child Tax Credit payments Focus on fraud: Romance and Remarriage in later years Late Filer? No Problem Statutes of Limitation for Tax Collection Protect Your Tax Returns from Past Years Why You Should Always File Returns for Past Years, Even if You Haven’t Filed In Years Time Limits for Refunds and Audits Remedies for Missing Tax Documents Are My Social Security Benefits Taxable? Records You Need to Keep

ApacheTax@yahoo.com 732-501-2985

Crazy Spending Behavior To The Editor: President Biden with the support of Senators Shaheen and Hasson is about to open the Strategic Reserves. What a profound idea. Begin removing the oil from the reserves which will deplete the only oil immediately available in the event of conflict. This administration with the support of lunatics has no plan for anything. The White House also investigating inflation’s root causes which is printing money with no end in sight. This is not rocket science and as a result the dollar will continue to lose value which is tragic and unnecessary. The American people are going to pay a high price as energy which is the driving force in any economy rises. Store shelves are the indicator as everything has to be transported to the retailer. Products require vast quantities of energy during the production process. It is comical to watch New Hampshire’s Senators taking a bow for a proposed bridge that the cpuntry cannot afford. Their comment is that it is that it will cost nothing. No Jean and Maggie, it is not paid for as Federal and State taxes once again will be increased. This nonsense has to stop and be replaced with basic common sense. It is a political move to get votes. Not many years ago Ferdinand Marcos the Philippine President was shown handing out dollars to people to gain approval. The money actually was taken from the treasury. I see similarities here where politicians

make every effort to win approval by giving the people something. This behavior does not serve any of us very well. Step up to the plate and Bring this crazy spending behavior to the President’s attention. Kenneth Bowers Wolfeboro, NH.

Food Insecurity Within Our Military

To The Editor: Most of us are celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with family members, and enjoying bountiful meals, but what about approximately 160,000 families of active-duty military personnel who cannot afford to feed their families. The food insecurity primarily impacts the most junior enlisted service members from the E1 to E4 ranks. According to the organization Feed America approximately 30% of these military members face food insecurity. The lowest military ranks suffer with low pay along with high living costs at many base locations in the United States. The frequent moves required by the military makes it difficult for spouses to find work. Additionally, an Agriculture Department rule prevents military families from accessing food stamps. Although there are charitable organizations providing some assistance, I am sure our military personnel prefer not to access charities for food. Maybe the Defense Department should review the pay rates for junior enlisted ranks and also provide increased living expense funding for high

cost of living locations. The food insecurity can adversely impact our military members and their families, and could have negative effects on our national security. Note: In the 1950s I was a Navy enlisted E1 with promotions to E2, E3, E4 and E5. Donald Moskowitz Londonderry NH.

Thanks From Animal Shelter To The Editor: The Franklin Animal Shelter would like to take this opportunity to reassure our friends and members of the greater Franklin community of our commitment to the dogs and cats in our area. Out of an abundance of caution, the Shelter has been closed to the public for a few weeks because some of our cats have been sick. The staff has used that time to clean the shelter top to bottom, and to build out our cat kennel area to better provide for the safety and comfort of the animals. We continue to accept donations during our listed operating hours, and hope to reopen to the public fairly soon. Additionally, the Board of Directors is pleased to announce that we are in the process of hiring a new Shelter Manager to oversee operations starting in 2022. Interested parties are welcome to view more information on and submit applications through the Shelter website. Currently, our long time employee Krista Hebert is serving as our Interim Shelter Manager during this challenging time. The staff of the shelter See MAILBOAT on 30

Our Story

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 over 20 years, this publication is devoted to printing the stories

of the people 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 30,000 copies of the Weirs Times every week to the Lakes Region/Concord/ Seacoast area and the mountains and have an estimated 66,000 people reading this newspaper. To find out how your business or service can benefit from advertising with us please call 1-888-308-8463.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Not So . . . o g A g N Lo

Exploring ThE lEgEnd & lorE of our graniTE STaTE

High Wind, Hurricane, Or Tornado? The Portland Gale And Other Items

by Robert Hanaford Smith, Sr. Contributing Writer

Painting of Steamer Portland by Antonio Jacobsen, 1891. was one of those who perished on the steamer Portland. Harry Young was a well-known Boston artist and lived in Auburndale, MassaSee SMITH on 24

L I V I N G RU S T I C

EE FR Local Delivery & Setup

PLYMOUTH MEREDITH 603-238-3250 603-279-1333

599 Tenney Mtn. Hwy.

Junction of Rt. 3 & 25

residence of J.E. Henry, to be one of the worst a number of old build- blizzards ever known to ings and a large amount hit Woodstock in that of timber in exposed month. places.” The same storm If it really was a tor- caused severe destrucnado that struck Lincoln tion along the New Engon that late November land coast, including the day, it did not match an sinking of the steamer earlier July 4th twister Portland off Cape Cod, that struck Hampton c a u s i n g t h e s t r o n g Beach in that year of winds to be known as 1898 and resulted in the Portland Gale. All of human casualties. And I the passengers and crew don’t know if the Wood- on that ship were lost at stock winds reached sea. The exact number a level that could be of casualties remains designated a hurricane uncertain, and accounts by the weather bureau. I have read have placed The news in The Item the number as being did reveal that winter from around one hunseems to have set in dred to 192 persons. by early December and Many vessels O u r Nadditional ew m e S h opwere probably before the destroyed or damC o12th S t o r ewith ! the number of L a r g e r aged month arrived. The West Center Harbor reporter total people killed as a called the Sunday snow result of the storm estistorm the heaviest of the mated to be at least 400 season and indicated and perhaps as high as that the wind came after 1,000. the snow, The storm in Harry D. Young, idenNovember was thought tified as “a Laconia boy,”

y oz

Cabin Rust ic

-F ur ni

ture & Mattre sse

In Woodstock it was a high wind. In nearby Thornton it was a hurricane, and in Lincoln it was a tornado. Each description was on the same newspaper page and apparently referenced the same storm that hit New Hampshire on November 27, 1898. The correspondents in the various towns reported their interpretations of the storm in The Ashland Item on Dec. 10, 1898. In Woodstock the report was, “The high wind of Sunday prostrated many telegraph and telephone poles. Fences and standing timber have been destroyed to a larger extent than for years.” As for Thornton, readers were informed that the “hurricane of Sunday night blew down a number of buildings in various parts of the town, and did an incalculable amount of damage to forests, fences, etc.” And in Lincoln the Sunday night tornado was said to have blown down “a chimney on the

OPEN DAILY 9am-5pm • SUNDAYS 10am - 4pm • CozyCabinrustiCs.Com

is coupon

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

$199

o Chimne ide

spection

603-520-7217

Sweeps • Stonework Brick Repairs • Liners Caps • Installations Fire Place Makeovers

Chimney Swe

Fully Insured

MOVING ON

Property Clean-Out Solutions ESTATE SALE MOVING FORECLOSURE DOWN-SIZING Let us help with moving or clean-out of your personal property Haul items to storage unit if needed. Haul & Disposal of unwanted items. Contractor available for preparing property for sale.

OVERWHELMED?

Call Doug @ 603-809-1444

Three New England Pike Hotspots by Tim Moore Contributing Writer

New England isn’t one of the first places most northern pike anglers think of when planning their next destination fishing trip. In fact, most anglers (even local ones) are surprised to learn that there are northern pike within a twohour drive of central New England. They are even more surprised to learn that there are several trophy pike fisheries where an angler can target fish in the 40” range. Here are three New England pike hotspots that you might want to add to your list of future fishing destinations: Connecticut River, New Hampshire/Vermont The Connecticut River forms the border be-

The author no longer guides for pike, but this 43-inch was the largest ever caught by one of his clients back when he did guide for them tween New Hampshire and Vermont. The six southernmost dams of the river create numerous setbacks, most of which hold northern pike. The river is also dotted with both cartop and boat launches providing easy access to most of the setbacks for boaters and kayakers. An angler can expect pike to average 5 pounds, but fish over 40” are caught frequently enough that anglers should be rigged and ready for fish of that size. Soft plastic baits such as the Daddy Mac Whisperer rigged on a 3/0 offset Trokar hook are my favorite lures for shallow water fishing. When the water

warms and the fish move deeper, 4” swim shads retrieved along the outer edge of weed lines will almost always produce fish. Moore Reservoir, New Hampshire/Vermont Moore Reservoir is actually a 3500-acre impoundment on the Connecticut River that is formed by the 178’ high Moore Dam in Littleton. There are a total of five boat launches around the lake, giving boat and kayak anglers equal access to prime spots. This undeveloped lake is where the current New Hampshire state record, a 44 ½” – 26 lbs. 9.44 oz. beast, was caught in 2013. I have person-

ally caught fish there that were over 40” and have lost fish that were state-record contenders. Metal lures such as the Juice Mini 8 from Bigtooth Tackle are deadly, but a 3” red Daredevil or ½ ounce spinnerbait also works well. Expect fish here to average 8 pounds, but be ready for a giant because there are many. Belgrade Lakes, Maine The Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine is one of Maine’s top fishing destinations. The Belgrades are a chain of seven lakes. Four of these lakes (Great Pond, Messalonskee Lake, Long Pond and See MOORE on 30

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

F O O L NEW HAMPSHIRE A

in brendan@weirs.com

Live Free or Die.

*A FLATLANDER’S OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE

Books For Christmas 2021 This is certainly my favorite time of the year. As a voracious reader (whatever that means) I always look forward to sharing with by Brendan Smith you the hottest Weirs Times Editor new books that will be available this holiday season. And with the new omicron version of the virus, you can bet that those in charge will be doing their best to scare you to death so that you never leave your home again. So, as long as you’re going to have all that available time, what better way than to spend it engrossed in some on the latest, soon to be, bestsellers? Here are some of my favorites. •Jack Bottlefield’s newest bestseller “Beef Broth For The Mind” is a heartwarming (in terms of acid reflux) collection of stories from people who were inspired by the famous “Chicken Soup For The Soul” series but then, after they finished the book, didn’t change a thing in their lives. Bottlefield is convinced the book will resonate with everyone, sell millions of copies, and make him very rich. •For you history buffs who don’t like to spend a lot of time reading about history, you will appreciate the “Illustrated History of Illustrated History” bringing together the best parts of Illustrated History Books published throughout the years. No more annoying words, just lots of pictures to help make you a history expert. (For those who do like to read, but don’t have the time since you are always looking at your phones, “The Social Media Guide To History” is a great alternative as it provides a plethora of posts about history written by average people who post history stuff they read from other people on the Internet.

entral Baptist hurch

Two volumes will be available depending on which point of view you prefer. Of course, not all of it will be accurate, but at least your knowledge of history will be the same as others online who think like you. After all, that’s what really matters.) •No Christmas season book list would be complete without the latest in Self Help, but it is hard to know which one to choose since there are so many, especially if you are the indecisive type. That is why I am picking the “Self Help Book Guide For Indecisive People To Help Them Choose The Best Self Help Books To Help Them With Their Indecisiveness.” This mammoth volume of Self Help Books published through the years gives you a quick synopsis of each book to help you decide which one is best for you, or maybe not, but it could be…or not. •Travel has been limited since the start of the pandemic, but travel lovers will not be (too) disappointed with Travel writer James Happenstances’ latest “Zooming Around The World.” Contained to his own apartment, Happenstance contacted folks throughout the world by Zoom, then had them hold their computer screens in front of their windows as he took screenshots. These wonderful photos encompass the entire 375-page travelogue. No travel book collection will be complete without it. •On the fiction front, bestselling horror writer, Billy Prince’s new book “Fifteen Years To Flatten The Curve” takes us to the year 2035 when the Covid pandemic scare officially comes to an end after six thousand, three hundred and thirty-three variants as the World Health Organization finally runs out of names for them. The story follows James Gilhholly who has been stuck in his home since 2020 to finally emerge upon hearing the news and finally feeling safe. (Spoiler alert: Unfortunately, while crossing the street

on his first day free, James slips on a discarded mask and can’t get up before being run over by a truck delivering toilet paper to a local supermarket.) •If you have been a couch potato for the last eighteen or so months “The Couch Potato’s 30-Day Exercise Plan” is a must. Learn how to utilize the simple objects within your reach to increase your stamina so you can stay awake for more shows. There’s the “Remote Control Power Lift,” “The Recliner Pull Biceps Workout,” “The Snack Dip Stretch,” and many more. In fact, just picking up the book and putting it down a few times holds amazing benefits. (The chapter on thumb workouts using your phone alone is worth the price.) •The foodie on your Christmas list will love “Holiday Recipes From The Cabinet.” With this wonderful recipe book you will be taught ways to cook a complete holiday meal using things that have been in your cupboards for years. “Wow, I Forgot I Had This Pasta Souffle,” “Flour, Water and Herbs Past Their Expiration Date Christmas Muffins,” and “It Still Smells Good What Could Happen Soup,” are just a few of the wonderful recipes within reach saving aggravating trips to the store when you could be home reading “The Couch Potato’s 30-Day Exercise Plan.” (Also available is the companion book, “Holiday Recipes Using Forgotten Items From Far Back In The Lowest Shelf Of The Refrigerator.”) So there you have it. Hope this helps a bit with your Christmas list. Happy Reading. Brendan is the author of “The Flatlander Chronicles” “Best Of A F.O.O.L. In New Hampshire” and his newest release “I Really Only Did It For The Socks - Stories & Thoughts On Aging.” All are available for purchase at BrendanTSmith.com, or at the offices of the Weirs Times.

Central Baptist Church of Gilford, NH Independent, KJV 401 GILFORD AVE.,GILFORD, NH • CENTRALBAPTISTNH.ORG

NOW ON SALE! BRENDAN SMITH’S NEWEST BOOK! “I Really Only Did It For The Socks Stories & 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)

NOW ON SALE!

BRENDAN SMITH’S NEW BOOK!

Skelley’s Market

Whether you are a vacationer or a full time resident of the Lakes Region, Skelley's Market is the place to go for your shopping needs. Located on route

Skelley’s Market Services Include: • Gas 24 hours a day • Fresh pizza • NH Lottery tickets • Beer and Wine • Sandwiches • Daily papers

• Bailey’s Bubble ice cream • Maps • Famous Lobster Rolls • Fish and Game OHRV Licenses

PIZZA SPECIAL 2 for $18 2 Toppings Every Sat. Night 5-9pm

“I Really Only Did It For The Socks Stories & Thoughts On Aging” cream, a lobster roll or anything else you may need. You will be glad you did! Stop by Skelley’s Market today and enjoy some great food, Bailey’s Bubble ice

Order your autographed copy today for $16.99 plus $3 shipping. (Please include any inscription you would like.) Make out checks or money 374 Governor Wentworth HWYand mail to: orders for $19.99 to Brendan Smith Moultonboro, N.H. 03254 Socks Book c/o Weirs Times, Call 603-476-8887 • F: 603-476-5176 PO Box 5458, Weirs, NH 03247 www.skelleysmarket.com Or order online at BrendanTSmith.com (Autographed copies also avail. at the Weirs Times)

Skelley’s Market

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Black Lies Matter I dare you to look, with a clear and unfiltered lens, at the bloody nightmare we once called the United States of America. Connect the dots. Contemplate the utter chaos in every major city while Black Lives Matter militants, academics and bureaucrats prattle on about “systemic racism” and “two-tiered justice.” It’s about much more than the horrific mass murders by Michelle Malkin and attempted murders in Waukesha, Syndicated Columnist Wisconsin, where the annual Christmas parade will now forever be stained by the wanton acts of alleged killer Darrell Brooks -- a convicted sex offender and domestic abuser who sailed through George Soros-funded Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s soft-on-black crime revolving door like a Six Flags season pass holder. Look at Philadelphia, home to another Soros-funded DA, where four black teenage girls beat the stuffing out of a group of Asian students on a SEPTA train in broad daylight last week. The lead aggressor, a hulking female in a hijab, brutally punished one Asian girl for asking her to stop harassing her friends. Viral video shows how Ms. Islam-Is-Peace tackled the intervener to the ground and beat her over the head with her shoe and clenched fists. Not a single adult intervened. Un-prosecutor Larry Krasner, who campaigned on “restorative justice” policies to protect black teenage criminals from prison sentences, has now filed “ethnic intimidation” charges against the SEPTA gangsters. But who would he have believed if there had not been video? And what would he have done if the victims were white? The mother of the profanity-spewing brute told NBC10: “My daughter did not mean it. When she gets the opportunity to, she will give a sincere apology. ... As you can clearly see in the video, my daughter is Muslim. We do not carry ourselves that way. We carry ourselves with respect, modesty and humility.” Where have I heard that before? Ah, yes. The “that’s not who my daughter is” defense was most recently invoked by former NBA player Corey Benjamin, whose little thugette was caught on video just a few weeks ago in Garden Grove, California, sucker-punching an Asian girl at a basketball game. The black girl’s mom goaded her daughter from the sidelines and jeered, “Go and hit her.” See MALKIN on 28

Reality Remains Undefeated This week, a 39-yearold black man in Waukesha, Wisconsin, plowed a maroon Ford Escape into a Christmas parade of children and older women. Five people were killed and another 48 were injured. The moby Ben Shapiro tive of the suspect is Syndicated Columnist unknown; if the media have their way, it will remain that way. The media apparently only care about why suspects commit violent acts when motives can be credited to their political enemies. There is one thing we do know: the suspect should not have been on the street. He had a rap sheet longer than the first five books of the Bible. His latest alleged crime took place on Nov. 5, when he was charged with resisting an officer, bail jumping, recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and battery. First, he allegedly slammed the mother of his child with his fist, and then ran her over -- wait for it -- in a maroon Ford Escape. He was released on Friday ... on $1,000 bail. Two days later, he ran his vehicle over innocent victims. The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office has now opened an investigation into the low bail. But we already know just why the bail process allowed the suspect back out onto the street: equity demanded it. In May 2015, Jeffrey Toobin wrote in The New Yorker about “The Milwaukee Experiment.” The piece was a long, sycophantic love letter to John Chisholm, the District Attorney of Milwaukee County, who had embraced criminal justice policies geared toward rectifying “the racial imbalance in American prisons.” According to one of Chisholm’s admirers, “Chisholm stuck his neck out there and started saying that prosecutors should also be judged by their success in reducing mass incarceration and achieving racial equality.” Not reducing crime. Reducing the number of people in jail -- and more particularly, the number of black Americans in jail. Ch-

isholm himself admitted the costs of his policies in 2007: “Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into a treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen.” Chisholm, of course, was right. San Francisco proved the same point this week when large, roving gangs began looting high-end stores. On Friday night, San Francisco’s Union Square witnessed a massive group of looters smashing and grabbing at a Louis Vuitton store; meanwhile, thieves congregated to steal product in Walnut Creek, Pleasanton, Hayward and San Jose. None of this ought to be a surprise. San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin announced that he would end “mass incarceration” and cash bail; he stopped prosecuting shoplifting cases -- in 2020, just 44% of shoplifting cases were prosecuted. The result: stores are closing down in San Francisco thanks to the automatic surcharge of people stealing their product from the shelves. Reality with regard to criminality isn’t all that complicated: when you free criminals unjustifiably in a misguided attempt to achieve “group equity,” innocents suffer. When you take cops off the street, freeing criminals to work their will, innocents suffer. When you refuse to prosecute crime, criminals spot an opportunity. Voters can either continue to deny reality and pay the price, or they can wake up to the simple fact that reality always wins. Until they do the latter, the criminals -- and the politicians who enable them -- will be the only winners. Ben Shapiro, 37, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers “How To Destroy America In Three Easy Steps,” “The Right Side Of History,” and “Bullies.”

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Thank Private Property Happy Thanksgiving! But beware the “tragedy of the commons.” It almost killed off the pilgrims. Now, via Washington, D.C., it’s by John Stossel probably coming Syndicated Columnist for us. Tragedy of the commons is a concept from an essay by ecologist Garrett Hardin. He wrote how cattle ranchers sharing a common parcel of land soon destroy that land. That’s because each rancher has an incentive to put cattle

on the common. Soon, the extra animals eat all the grass. Shared grazing space is destroyed because no rancher has an incentive to conserve. If the ranchers put up a few fences and divide the land, each rancher has an incentive to limit grazing. That saves the grass and the cattle. Sharing things and “public” property sound nice, but only private ownership reliably inspires people to conserve and protect. No one washes a rental car. I bring this up now because the Democrats’ new multitrillion-dollar spending bills are all about ex-

panding the commons: more free highways, free health care, free day care, free money for parents, housing subsidies, tax credits for electric vehicles, etc. All these handouts discourage responsibility by making it easier to take from the “commons.” Save for retirement? Why? The government will cover it. Save up for college? Why? Government will give you grants and loans and then forgive those loans. I bring this up now because this same sort of thinking nearly killed the pilgrims. When they came to America, the pilgrims decided to share every-

thing. The governor of Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, wrote that the pilgrims thought “taking away of property and (making it communal) ... would make them happy and flourishing.” Food and supplies were distributed based on need. Pilgrims would not selfishly produce food for themselves. In other words, they, like Sen. Bernie Sanders and many American young people today, fell in love with the idea of socialism. The result was ugly. When the first harvest came, there wasn’t nearly enough food. Many pilgrims See STOSSEL on 29

Taliban War Booty Exceeds Most Countries Military Spending When the Taliban forces overran Afghanistan a few months ago, not only did they capture a country continuously in conflict by John J. Metzler since the initial Syndicated Columnist S o v i e t i n v a s i o n in 1979, but they equally seized huge stockpiles of American supplied weapons provided to the defeated Afghan military. The unexplained and reckless U.S. pullout from the strategic Bagram airbase, a lynchpin of allied operations and resupply, fell into the Taliban’s waiting hands like a ripe Central Asian Pomegranate. Beyond the horrible human and

psychological cost since the Taliban takeover, there are estimates that approximately $85 billion in American supplied military equipment, munitions, aircraft, uniforms and vehicles were seized by the fundamentalist Taliban forces. Give or take a few Humvees, that’s a huge weapons cache! The $85 billion figure would give the Taliban militants one of the world’s largest militaries fresh out of the box. Equally the value of the booty exceeds the military spending of South Korea by nearly two times ($46 billion), or Japan ($49 billion), Germany at ($53 billion) and Australia at ($27 billion). These are formidable numbers. Now I’m the first to caution that the Taliban are not up to the train-

ing nor expertise to use much of what they grabbed. They can certainly learn how use some of the seized equipment. Ominously they can sell or barter much of the excess to international arms brokers, Islamic terrorist movements, and rogue regimes. Think about the security ramifications. We have already seen Taliban military parades in Kandahar city, the spiritual hub of the fundamentalist movement, where Humvees and light armor are on display. We witness Taliban “special forces” wearing U.S. uniforms with high tech night vision gear and brandishing sniper rifles. So it’s a military given that captured ordinance brings a tough but not very

tech-proficient militant force up to a whole new level of capacity. The $85 billion number was raised by Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN), who said that the U.S. military left behind 75,000 vehicles, 200 aircraft and helicopters, and 600,000 small arms. In fact the Taliban now has gift wrapped and delivered military equipment giving them a powerful regional punch. Again, it’s fair to say that fortunately the Taliban has neither the pilots nor the maintenance skills or the logistical expertise to operate most seized aircraft. In many cases American forces disabled many helicopters right before the hasty withdrawal. Many aircraft were flown out of the country by See METZLER on 30

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

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.

to you, my creation of human beings (1 Peter 5:8). They’re on a death march, due to their sin and rebellion, that will be terminated with a fiery end, when they are entombed in hell forever (Revelation 20:10). Between now and then they will do everything they can to take as many of you with them as possible. One of the angels has risen to the top of their malignant chain. He was once the brightest of them all and his name is Lucifer, which means “the bright morning star.” He, like the rest of his followers, is vastly more powerful than you. He is also desperately wicked and has no qualms about taking the life of any man or woman, who will fall prey to his deceptions. Because he can live in dimensions that you cannot see or enter, and at the same time dwell in the limited dimensions in which you live, he can see & practice his deceptions among you. I have called him the “Prince of the power of the air,” for he lives in and travels among you with stealth, because he is invisible to your eyes (Ephesians 2:2). Don’t think that this is not possible for there are many things that are real yet not visible to your eyes. None of you can see the COVID virus and yet it is very real. It is in the air that you breathe, on doorknobs, books and hands that you touch. When you come in contact with it, it will unleash its evil upon you and then you will know it is real, but by

then it will be too late. I’ve also called him the “god of this world,” because so many have surrendered their lives to him through his deception (2 Corinthians 4:4). Much of the world is under his evil spell and active leadership. I warned Adam & Eve, knowing they would be approached by the Devil, that should they disobey me they would die a double death. The first would be separation from me, the source of life. I have no sin or evil. They were created without sin and therefore could live in fellowship with me and derive life from me. Once they sinned, our relationship would break and being separated from me, their life source, death was inevitable. The second death would be a physical death that would lead to an eternal separation from me. They would spend eternity in the hell hole that is reserved for the Devil and his minions. Unfortunately, they were deceived and the evil of the Devil, spread to them, their children and then to all humanity. The malignancy spread rapidly so that by the time of Noah, the Devil’s influence was so prominent that I cut off the malignancy with a flood, in which only 8 remained faithful to me and were delivered (Genesis 7). Since then, every form of evil has been a result of the Devil’s deceptions and humanity’s gullibility to his dastardly charm. As I predicted in my book, his influence is

Letters From God

QUESTION: Is There an Actual Devil and is He Behind The Evils in the World? I am happy to answer your question, but sad that you and many others have failed to read my book, the Bible. It speaks clearly of the person and presence of the Devil and other angels who, since their creation, have been in active rebellion toward me and attacking you for being my children. The Devil was first disclosed as the tempter to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). He was created before them, along with a host of other angels, that I brought forth. Angels are real persons, even as you and all humanity are real. I created them differently from you and they have the ability to dwell in dimensions that are beyond your limitations, just as I do. They were created to serve me and my good purposes, even as I created you (Hebrews 1:14). Like you, and much of humanity, they’ve chosen to rebel against me and reject my will. In their rebellion they seek to serve only themselves and their interests. Their interests are primarily to oppose me and to damage and destroy as much of my creation as possible. They hate me and everything about me and this hatred extends

once again spreading throughout the earth and will lead to the final judgement that will lead to the return of my Son, Jesus, whom I sent to pay the penalty of sin for all who repent and return to me. It will also lead to the consummation of human history and the entombment of the Devil and all who follow His deception. Yes, the Devil is real and so is his destiny. You still have time to return to me, receive my Son’s payment for your sins and enjoy life that I give, instead of death the Devil desires. Don’t wait!

GRAY MATTERS

Counseling & Wellness, PLLC Leslie A. Gray, LCMHC, RYT

Relationships can be both amazing and challenging. Even more challenging? Finding a Couple’s Counselor. Join us for a 6-session, in-person Couple’s Workshop. Call 603.260.1101 today for more details and to purchase your tickets for this limited seating event. 109 Court Street Laconia, NH • graymattersnh.com

—SW—

SUZANNE’S WINDOWS

I love you, God These letters are written by a New Hampshire pastor.

—Hunter Douglas Certified Consultant— Suzanne’s Window Treatments, LLC Alton Bay

781-272-7878 • suzanneswindows.com

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

THE SIMPLE FEAST

A-1 Firewood

Your Son

Quality Hardwood

• Green or Seasoned • Cut, Split & Delivered • Buyer of Standing Hardwood

www.a-1firewood.com

603-978-5012

by Eric N Gibson Contributing Writer

Two simple words, ŸOUR SON¨. Whenever a sentence starts with ÿour¨ and ¨son¨ from my wife, there is a part of me that wants to say Üh-oh!¨, because it imparts sole ownership upon me. As if I am solely responsible while absolving herself of any culpability. If I recall my high school level biology class correctly, I´m only responsible for half. And my civics class indicated only until he turned 18. And that hurdle was cleared a few years ago… In this particular case those two words were part of the sentence, Ÿour son wants to raise pigs again this year.¨ It was sometime back in February or March of this year, if I remember correctly, when my wife said this to me. But, it brought me back to a time years ago, remembering a similar phone call... Ÿour son just got drawn for the Pig Scramble!¨ It was my wife´s voice on the phone. I had usually taken the weekend of the fair in July off but for some reason I was working this day. Business was slow so

I excused myself from the floor and found a place where I could listen in to what was unfolding on the other end of the phone. At about 12 years old, it was Hunter´s last year to qualify for the Pig Scramble at a local fair before aging out. We were hoping he had forgotten about it but the words ¨next year¨ were like a promise firmly etched in his mind for nearly twelve months and ¨next year¨ was now here. Hunter was ready, willing, and holding us to that promise. A Pig Scramble, for those not in the know, is a fun event for kids that is still held at some fairs. A few piglets are released in a big fenced area and usually a few more kids than piglets, not too much bigger than

the piglets, are picked at random from entry forms. The kids are lined up away from the piglets, and at the word ¨GO!¨ all pandemonium breaks loose as kids and piglets scatter in all directions. Piglets squealing, kids panting and puffing, and falling face first into the dirt. (Just keep telling yourself it’s dirt.) A complexity of sounds, some delightful, some frightful, mixed with a crowd of onlookers cheering, laughing, and carrying on. The objective is to catch a piglet anyway you can, and techniques do vary. Kids are encouraged to catch a piglet by the leg and hang on and that is usually when the squealing really begins… by both the catcher and the one getting caught. Grabbing at legs,

pouncing on backsides, trying to wrap arms around bellies, and just about any other method one can think of is witnessed at these events. But in the end it is the one who is fearless enough to hang on to the leg of a kicking, squealing, ¨dirt making¨, 15 pound pink ball of energy that will win the opportunity to grow out a piglet and, by season’s end, have a 200 pound pig ready for processing. ÖH! He´s got one! He´s got one!¨ My wife´s voice was filled with nervous excitement. Öh, oh no, wait… it´s OK, he lost it.¨ We both breathed a sigh of relief, both of us torn between wanting Hunter to catch a piglet but perhaps dreading all that catching one implies. After what seemed like a lifetime of listening to the play by play, hanging on every word she spoke, both our hearts going up and down as Hunter got a hold of one and lost one, the commotion began to settle off in the background. Fewer and fewer piglets were available for the catching. Fewer squeals from the piggies and cheers from the crowd were being heard. Ïs that it?¨, I asked, half hoping it was finished, but too realizing Hunter would be upset at not catching a pig. Ï think so.¨ Her voice didn’t sound so sure. ÖK, I gotta get back up to the floor.¨ I hung up and started See FEAST on 13

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 — Serving ServingLaconia LaconiaDaily Daily

Blazers And Mountain Men by Mike Moffett Contributing Writer

Here I am in the famed Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley National Park. As I look out my window I see that iconic gigantic waterfall spilling water hundreds of feet down the granitic rock slabs that tower over the valley. And I have a column deadline. Part of me wants to write about the hiking trails and the breathtaking scenery here. But Amy Patenaude already has that Weirs Times “beat,” so to speak. So I must ponder other sports aspects of the several weeks of our west coast swing. And an obvious column topic emerges. The NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. In part because I attended a Blazers-Bulls game at Portland’s Modi Arena on November 17. But also in part because of Blazer Hallof-Famer Bill Walton, aka “The Mountain Man.” While I suspect that Walton probably hiked these Yosemite trails way-back-when, the truth is he was a beach boy from San Diego before he led UCLA to several NCAA hoop titles and an 88-game win streak. Then he grew a beard after going to Portland, where the Grateful Dead devotee led the Blazers to the 1977 NBA title. His long-haired,

Weirs Times sports columnist Mike Moffett had to show his media pass to Portland Trail Blazer official Brandi during recent Blazers-Bulls game at the Modi Arena.

Mr. Mr.CC’’ss Taxi Taxi 267-7134 or 527-8001 267-7134 or 527-8001 OPEN AT 5AM DAILY OPEN AT 5AM DAILY

ton win an NBA title. He was quite clean-cut as a Celtic, having left his “Mountain Man” look back on the west coast. Anyway, I messaged the Blazers that I was in town visiting family and friends and was interested in press credentials for the Bulls game. After all, I am a Weirs Times sports columnist. The Blazers obliged and I showed up at the press entrance at the Modi where my name was indeed on the media list. But I’d have to wear a mask. This was Oregon, after all. And

MAINE LICENSED & CERTIFIED MEDICAL CANNABIS CAREGIVER The sports columnist recently checked out Yosemite Valley’s famed Half Dome rock formation rough-hewn look gave him a “back country” mien quite incongruous with his NBA contemporaries—and his “Mountain Man” image endures.

Knee and ankle problems cut short his NBA career, but he did have one wonderfully healthy 1985-86 season with the Celtics where he helped Bos-

I’d have to show proof of vaccination. “Your papers, please!” Aye caramba! I didn’t have my vax passport. See MOFFETT on 28

• • • • •

Discreet, confidential, caring Woman owned business Grown in organic soil Free consultations by appointment 10% discount for seniors and veterans CALL OR TEXT FOR MORE INFO 207-808-0494

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

OUT on the TOWN Great Food, Libations & Good Times!

Vintage Film Set In NH To Get First Screening In 100 Years

Open Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri & Sat 10:30am - 4:30pm BUYING COINS, SILVERWARE & WATCHES

WE BUY GOLD & SILVER! We do FREE Jewelry Evaluations!

1429 Lakeshore Rd., Gilford, NH - Diagonally across from Walmart

CONCORD - It’s a film that hasn’t played in theaters since its original release exactly one century ago. And it’s set in fictional ‘Hampton Center, N.H.,’ a small town where a pair of big-city crooks

hide out from the law. It’s ‘Straight is the Way,’ a Paramount release that proved a modest box office success in the spring of 1921. The film then completely disappeared— OPEN Tues. - Sat. 11am - 10pm

“Th e Fin est Sze chu an & Ma nda rin Cui sin e in the Lakes Reg ion ” Celebrating

For Health Conscious People ...

Serving Lakes Region!

& VEGETARIAN DISHES

RS SPECIAL GLUTEN FREE ITEMS 21 YEAth e

Laconia’s Best Pizza Delivered To Your Door!

PIZZA / CALZONES • SALADS SUBS / SYRIANS • SEAFOOD

TAKE OUT & DELIVERY

302 S. MAIN STREET, LACONIA • 524-9955 • SOUTHENDNH.COM

CALL FOR TAKE OUT Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 11:30am - 8pm 331 SOUTH MAIN ST., LACONIA

603-524-4100 SHANGHAINH.COM

The

Copper Kettle

T A V E R N

Turkey • Steaks • Prime Rib • Seafood OPEN DAILY FOR LUNCH & DINNER

Trivia In the Tavern THURSDAYS @ 7pm

Exit 23 off I-93 • 233 Daniel Webster Hwy • Meredith 603-279-6212 • HartsTurkeyFarm.com

Connect With Us!

u V a j é D Café

—OPEN DAILY FOR DINE IN & TAKE-OUT— Mon - Fri 5:30am - 2pm / Sat 5:30am - 12:30pm & Sun 6:30am - 12:30pm

603-524-7773

311 Court Street • Laconia, NH

until now. Next month, Red River Theaters of Concord will host the world repremiere of ‘Straight is the Way,’ which boasts a screenplay by twotime Academy Awardwinning writer Frances Marion. The film will run twice on Thursday, Dec. 9: once at 5:30 p.m., and again at 7:30 p.m. General admission is $12 per person, $10 for Red River members. Both screenings will feature live music by Jeff Rapsis, a New Hampshire-based silent film accompanist who arranged for permission to screen the movie, which was transferred to digital

media earlier this year. The story follows two burglars who flee to rural “Hampton Center, N.H.” to hide out in the unused wing of a mansion, where an impoverished family faces eviction. Exposed to small town values, the pair resolve to change their ways. Tickets are general admission $12; Red River Theatres members $10. For more info and to purchase advance tickets, visit www.redrivertheatres. org or call (603) 2244600. For more about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

OUT on the TOWN

WEIRS TIMES’ BEER FINDER

Great Food, Libations & Good Times!

FEAST from 10

off to the stairs. Barely back into its belt case, my cell phone rang again. ¨HE GOT ONE! HE CAUGHT A PIG!¨ My wife was nearly screaming through the phone. ¨He who?¨, I asked. The silence was only broken by the background noise of the fair. ¨He who?¨ Again no reply. I could hear her talking, but not to me. ¨HE WHO? WHO GOT ONE?¨, my voice becoming more intense as I realized she was talking about Hunter but I was still in denial. ¨YOUR SON! Your son caught a pig! YEAH HUNTER! Someone lost their grip and Hunter caught it and held on. YEAH HUNTER!¨ She was carrying two conversations, one with me and one cheering for Hunter. I could only muster a half hearted ¨yippee!¨ as I began thinking of how much ¨FUN¨ we were in for over the next four months. And that is how we got into raising pigs. It started with one and not knowing anything about what we were doing. Then a few, two or three every couple of years, from about late spring to mid fall. As we have gained experience we have measured the trade offs; once even uttering the words, ¨Never again!¨ But we still do it. We always convince ourselves that while it can be expensive, there are ways to offset some of the costs, and the rewards will be mostly physical and intrinsic rather than

financial. Once processed the products; chops, roasts, hams, bacon, and ground meats are there on the table to experience; to see, to smell, and to taste. We know where our meat has been, where it came from. There is a connection. You know what these pigs have eaten as you have seen them grow. There is a sense of pride gained from raising a small critter into a large healthy animal. The responsibility it instills in your child or children as they raise an animal; feed it, water it, and keep it and its pen clean is worth more than they will ever learn from a video game or a movie When I hear the words ¨your son¨ these words also make me proud. I know how much he has learned about raising animals. I recognize in him a desire to carry on some of the traditions and values that this family has imparted on the next generation. And I know how hard he has worked to bring food to the table of this house and contribute to the Simple Feast!

WHAT’S ON TAP THIS WEEK? RESTAURANT | DAIRY BAR | MARKETPLACE | TAPHOUSE Serving Lunch & Dinner Dine in or Takeout 7 Days A Week

JOHNSON’S TAPHOUSE

Featuring 36 BEERS on Tap!

69 State Route 11, (just south of the Alton circle) New Durham, NH

603.859-7500 | EatAtJohnsons.com

NEW Craft Beer Destination in The Weirs! HOME OF

36 Rotating Craft Taps • Great Lake Views • Delicious Pub Food Mon. 4-9pm Tues/Wed. Closed Thur. 4-9pm Fri. & Sat. Noon-10pm Sun. Noon-7pm

TRIVIA!

EVERY MONDAY NIGHT 6:30 - 9pm $25/$15/$10 Gift Certificates to 1st - 3rd Winners

603-409-9344 • 59 Doe Ave, Weirs Beach, NH

ACKERLY’S

Grill & Galley 83 Main Street, Alton 603.875.3383 Akerlysgrillandgalleyrestaurant.com Moat - Stout 603 - Amber Stoneface IPA Shipyard - Pumpkin Great Rhythm - Resonation

COPPER KETTLE TAVERN

At Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant 233 D.W. Hwy, Meredith 603.279.6212 hartsturkeyfarm.com Henniker - Working Man’s Porter Concord Craft - Safe Space Stoneface - IPA Moat Mtn - Blueberry 603 - Winni Amber Ale ...+6 More On Tap

D.A. LONG TAVERN

At Funspot 579 Endicott St N., Weirs 603.366.4377 funspotnh.com Schilling - Dorst Foundation - Gingerbread Jubilee Two Roads - Holiday Ale Prairie - Christmas Bomb! Blaze - Broadbill Litherman’s LTD -Amadeus ...+6 More On Tap

JOHNSON’S TAPHOUSE

215 Laconia Rd. - Tilton • 603-286-2223 273 Loudon Rd. - Concord • 603-715-8600

www.wrapcitysandwiches.com

MORRISSEYS’

Porch & Pub 286 S. Main St., Wolfeboro 603.569-3662 Morrisseysfrontporch.com Smithwick’s Guinness Harp Concord Craft Safe Space Concord Craft Coffee Stout Stella Artois ...+11 More On Tap

OVER THE MOON FARMSTEAD

1253 Upper City Rd, Pittsfield overthemoonfarmstead.com CIDERS: Little Apples - Apple Champagne; BEER: IPA w/Honey: Braggot IPA SESSION MEADS: No Need To Argue cranberry mead; Double Barrel Heather -aged in Whiskey barrels; Little Inuendo -Peach Raspberry; Razz Raspberry Champagne Mead

PATRICK’S PUB

18 Weirs Rd., Gilford 603.293.0841 Patrickspub.com Patrick’s Slainte House Ale Great North - Moose Juice Guinness Tuckerman - Pale Ale 603 - Winni Amber Ale Woodstock - Moody Brew IPA ...+9 More On Tap

THE WITCHES BREW PUB

At Johnson’s At The Craft Beer Seafood & Steak Xchange 69 Rt 11, New Durham 59 Doe Ave., Weirs Beach 603.859.7500 603.409.9344 eatatjohnsons.com/ FB @craftbeerxchange newdurham Downeast – Cider Donut Clown Shoes -Rainbows Are Real Moat Mountain – Czech Pils Maine Beer -Zoe Lithermans – Misguided IPA Downeast -Cider Donut Fiddlehead – Second Fiddle Pipe Dreams -Captain Crunch 3 Floyds – Zombie Dust Pale Ale Great Rhythm -Squeeze Smuttlabs – Snaccident Stout Six Point -Resin ...+30 More On Tap ...+30 More On Tap ** Tap listings subject to change!

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

GIVE THE GIFT THAT WILL 603-279-7114

246 D.W. Hwy, Meredith 1181 Union Ave, Laconia SparkleCleanCarWash.com May not be combined with other discounts. Expires 12/31/21

Buy 5 Basic washes for $30 2 Works for $25 or 3 VIP for $50

Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction Ornaments Now Available LACONIA — ’Tis the season to support the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction, and local businesses are now selling decorative ornaments for instore display or to take home. The ornaments cost $1, $5 or $10 and help raise money for the auction, which will be held this year from Tuesday, Dec. 7 through Friday, Dec. 10 at Tanger Outlets in Tilton. The ornaments are four-inch-round cardstock decorations that customers can write their names on for display at a business or to take home. All proceeds benefit the auction. Ornaments are available at: Café Déjà Vu, 311 Court St., Laconia; Crazy Gringo, 306 Lakeside Ave. Laconia; Franklin Savings Bank,

treet Antiq S n i o& COLLECTIBLES U e n S U

Located in Downtown Rochester with Plenty of Easy Parking Open Mon. - Sat. 10am-5pm Browse our store on Facebook. Sun. 11pm-4pm Find us and like us! Closed Wednesdays

19 UNION ST., ROCHESTER, NH • (603) 332-0202 • www.UnionStreetAntiques.com

11 Sawmill Road, Gilford; Gilford Country Store, 1934 Lake Shore Road, Gilford; Gilford Hills Tennis & Fitness Club, 314 Old Lakeshore Road, Gilford; H. Salon, 28 Weirs Road, Gilford; Hermit Woods Winery & Deli, 72 Main St., Meredith; Live Love Lake, 7 North Main St., Wolfeboro; Middleton Building Supply, 157 Main St., Meredith; Nahamsha Gifts, 63 Main St., Meredith; Patrick’s Pub & Eatery, 18 Weirs Road, Gilford; The Wine’ing Butcher, 28 Weirs Road, Gilford; The Wine’ing Butcher, 81 Route 25, Meredith; Shooter’s Tavern, 190 DW Highway, Belmont; and Winnipesaukee Bay Gulls 2, 18 Weirs Road, Gilford, and Winnipesaukee Bay

Gulls, 118 Whittier Highway Moultonborough; and Laconia Village Bakery, 660 Main St., Laconia. Gilford Country Store, 1934 Lake Shore Rd, Gilford; Nahamsha Gifts, 63 Main St, Meredith; and Live Love Lake, 7 North Main St., Wolfeboro; offer five percent off nonconsignment store purchases if one buys a $5 ornament and 10 percent off if one buys a $10 ornament. The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction is a charitable event held every December in central New Hampshire. Countless volunteers and donors have turned the Auction and its many fundraising events, including, It’s for the Kids

Community Challenge (formerly PubMania), into a major annual campaign. In the 39 years that the community has come together for the Auction, more than $6 million has been raised for local charities, all through volunteer efforts, community donations and corporate sponsorship. The Greater Lakes Region Charitable Fund for Children is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that helps community organizations in the Central New Hampshire region. For more information about the Auction, the nonprofits it supports and how you can help, visit ChildrensAuction. com.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Three Indoor Trees For The Holidays by Melinda Myers Add a small-scale living evergreen to your holiday celebrations. Consider one that is suitable for growing indoors so you can enjoy it throughout the year. The Lemon Cypress makes a great miniature holiday tree, centerpiece, or gift for a friend. The fragrant chartreuse foliage of this dwarf evergreen continues to brighten your winter décor long after the holidays are over. You can find them as topiaries or in their more natural pyramidal form. Grow them in a sunny window and turn the plants occasionally to ensure all parts receive equal sunlight and grow evenly. You’ll have the best results if you keep your plant in a cool location free of cold and hot air drafts. Water your mini holiday tree whenever the top few inches of soil are dry. Wait until spring when plants begin to actively grow and need a nutrient boost before applying fertilizer. The Norfolk Island pine has long been a favorite of indoor gardeners. Its pine-like appearance makes it a great holiday tree. Add a bit of garland and a few small ornaments for a festive effect. Grow this plant in a cool, well-lit location free of drafts of hot and cold air. Avoid dry air and soil to keep the needles and branches green, flexible, and healthy. Water thoroughly whenever the soil is just slightly moist. Boost the humidity around this and oth-

Rosemary represents love and remembrance, a great sentiment to share during the holidays. Growing Rosemary indoors can be challenging. Don’t let past failures stop you from trying. Just keep experimenting until you find the location and maintenance routine that keeps your Rosemary thriving. If the plant turns brown, move it out of sight to the back of your indoor garden. It still smells good when you give it a pet and no one, but you will know. Change things up this season with the addition of one or more of these indoor evergreen trees. They are sure to brighten your spirits and holiday décor.

Norfolk Island pine makes a great indoor holiday tree especially when combined with holiday plants or decorated with garland and small ornaments. er plants with a gravel tray. Place pebbles and water in the saucer. Set the pot on the pebbles above the water. As the water evaporates, it increases the humidity around the plant. Switch out the ornaments when celebrating other holidays. Use hearts for Valentine’s Day, eggs for Easter and orange lights for Halloween. Rosemary wreath and tree topiaries are festive as well as fragrant and edible. Give the leaves a pet to enjoy the fragrance and lift your spirits. Or pluck a sprig to add welcome flavor to your winter meals and beverages.

Rosemary was as popular a Christmas plant as mistletoe and holly until the 20th Century. It’s not clear why this plant fell out of favor, but it is growing in popularity as a holiday plant. You can find it in many garden centers and florists this time of year.

Old Man Winter Is Planning A Big Bash...Don't Get Caught Empty Handed

www.toro.com

www.toro.com User-Friendly Features

Power Max $1199.

Power Max

899.00

• Chute, deflector and anti-clogging system are

Power Max sub zero material. User-Friendly made of a durable, rust-free • Chute, deflector and anti-clogging Features

system are made of a durable, rust-free • Ideal for large areas/heavy snowfalls 899.00 sub zero material. • Powerful Engines • Ideal for large areas/heavy snowfalls • Powerful Engines • Toro Quick Stick Chute Control • Chute, deflector and anti-clogging • Toro Quick Stick Chute Control. system are made of Clog a durable, rust-free • Toro Anti system for faster cleanups. • Toro Anti Clog system for faster cleanups. sub zero•material. 3 Year Limited Warranty. • Ideal for large areas/heavy snowfalls • 3 Year Limited Warranty

• Powerful Engines

• Toro Quick Stick Chute Control. TRI COUNTY POWER EQUIPMENT, INC • Toro Anti Clog system for faster cleanups. • NH 3 Year Limited 229 MESSER POWER STREET LACONIA 603-524-4750 TRI COUNTY EQUIPMENT, IN Warranty.

See dealer or toro.com (toro.ca for CanadianSTREET residents) for warranty details. Product pricing & special promotions are subject to dealer options. 229 MESSER LACONIA NHavailability, 603-524-4750

TRI COUNTY POWER EQUIPMENT, IN 229 MESSER STREET

LACONIA NH 603-524-4750

See dealer or toro.com (toro.ca for Canadian residents) for warranty details. Product availability, pricing & special promotions are subject to dealer options.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener’s Handbook and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” DVD series and the nationally-syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.melindamyers. com.

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES FOR MEN & WOMEN

603.569.0400 5 SOUTH MAIN ST. WOLFEBORO, NH

Taking Holiday Bread & Pie Orders ! Great Selection of Trees • Wreaths - Handcrafted on the Farm! Gift Baskets • OUR OWN Poinsettias! and Much More! moultonfarm.com • Open Daily 8am - 5:30pm

18 Quarry Road (Off Rt. 25) • Meredith, NH

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Funspot Gift Card Promotion To Benefit Mix Cash & Cans The Little

CHRISTMAS COTTAGE & CANDY SHOPPE Located In Alton Bay, across from Shibley’s Ice Cream

603-520-1745

and GIFT SHOP

Mix 94.1fm presents its 35th annual Cashand-Cans money and food drive for the holidays now through December 17. The fundraiser, started by Mix 94.1fm’s Fred Caruso in 1987, raises food and money for a number of central New Hampshire charitable organizations, from food pantries to soup kitchens to toys-fortots programs. Sunday December 5th will be a unique way to benefit Mix

Celebrating 67 Years of Family Dining! Now Taking

HOLIDAY ORDERS

GIFT CARD SPECIAL OFFERINGS: NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5 Buy $75 Gift Card, Get a FREE $15 Gift Certificate DECEMBER 6 - 19 Buy $75 Gift Card, Get a FREE $10 Gift Certificate (Bonus Gift Certificates valid 12/26/21 - 5/31/22)

OPEN DAILY FOR LUNCH & DINNER

Simplify Your Holiday Gatherings ... Order Prepared Foods To Go! Whole Roasted Turkey, Sliced Turkey, Gravy, Stuffing, Butternut Squash, Whipped Potatoes, Apple Pies, Pumpkin Pies & more!

233 Daniel Webster Hwy, Meredith • 603-279-6212 • HartsTurkeyFarm.com

Fred Caruso of Mix94.1 FM holds Funspot Gift Cards. Cash & Cans. It’s a Funspot Gift Card Fundraiser at Funspot from Noon-3pm. “We’re very excited to have Funspot and the Lawton Family involved once again with

year’s Cash & Cans campaign,” Caruso said. “For a minimum ten dollar donation to Cash & Cans, you’ll receive a ten dollar Funspot gift card; donate twenty dollars,

get a twenty gift card; donate fifty, get fifty; donate twenty dollars in non-perishable food items, get twenty dollars in gift cards. It’s really is a win-win for everyone. Funspot gift cards make great gifts and stocking stuffers.” During the Cash & Cans campaign, Caruso and morning cohost Amy Bates will be accepting monetary and non-perishable food donations with 100% of the proceeds right here in our central New Hampshire community. “We live in a wonderful area, neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends, people helping people they’ve never even met. That’s what Cash-and-Cans is all about,” said Caruso. “This year, we’d like to dedicate this year’s Funspot Cash & Cans Fundraiser in memory of Funspot founder Bob Lawton. Bob was an icon in our community, always See PROMO on 19

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Holiday Choral Concert Honors The Angels Among Us PLYMOUTH - The P e m i g e w a s s e t T H E PE M I G E WA SS E T CH O R A L S O C I E T Y | S E A S O N Choral Society (Pemi Chorus) will be performing its holiday concert “Snow Angel” for an indoor audience for the first time since December 2019. Returning to its traditional and other New Hampshire seasonal selections venues in Gilford, Franklin and Plymouth 2 0 2 1 W I N T E R CO N C E R T S has been highly anticipated by William Gunn, Music Director Laura Belanger, Accompanist | Alex Ellsworth, Cello the chorus and their enthusiasADMISSION BY DONATION tic audiences. OUR VENUES REQUIRE MASKS & VACCINATIONS Music Director Thursday|December 2 | 7:30 Will Gunn has Gilford Community Church|Gilford Friday|December 3 | 7:30 programmed a St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church|Franklin concert of both Sunday|December 5 | 3:00 PSU Silver Center|Plymouth familiar and new pemichoral.org seasonal works, highlighted by composer Sarah Quartel’s “Snow Angel.”

Snow Angel PM

Made on EARTH SPIRITUAL BOUTIQUE

Books for the Soul Jewelry for the Heart Gifts for the Spirit Clothing for the Body In-House Seamstress

603-569-9100 33 N. Main Street Wolfeboro, NH

VIP UNLIMITED WASH CLUB!

“We dedicate our p e r f o r mances to the “angels” who have made it possible for us to sing together a g a i n — doctors, nurses, and scientists who have made incredible advancements in the last 18 months to allow us to rehearse safely. So It seems fitting to center our concert

G CERTIFIFT MAKE ICATES GR GIFTS! EAT

SCAN CODE OR SIGNUP ONLINE

Auto • Marine • Motorcycle • RV

ring e f f O w No sories s e c c A Truck

7 Pine Street, Wolfeboro, NH ExecutiveDetailNH.com • 603-941-0123

program around angels,” said Gunn. Sarah Quartel’s cantata with solo cello tells the story of three angels who speak to the innocence and faith of children, rooted in the comfort from the angel’s protection. “Even though we have been rehearsing and will be performing in masks, I think it is completely worth it!” said Gunn. “The joy of being able to sing together again—even masked—has meant See ANGELS on 22

on’S GreetinGS S a e S

Dealer In Most Everything!

HEATH’S SUPERMARKET 12 C Main Street Center Harbor, NH 603-253-4312

EM HEATH’S ACE HARDWARE LOCATIONS 1084 Union Ave • Laconia 603-524-1601 318 Whittier Hwy Ctr. Harbor • 603-253-4381

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

TUBACHRISTMAS! LARGEST SALE OF THE SEASON

20STOREWIDE FRI - SAT - SUN DECEMBER 3rd - 4th - 5th

% OFF

REGULAR PRICES

HUNDREDS OF STYLES! THOUSANDS

WINTER BOOTS WORK BOOTS ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR CASUAL & DRESS FOOTWEAR SLIPPERS OF PAIRS! SOCKS AND ACCESSORIES FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY! brand exclusions apply visit store for details

RT. 16 NORTH NH (NEXT 569-3560 TO Meredith, NH 279-7463 • •Wolfeboro, NH RITED) 569-3560 MEREDITH, NHCONWAY, 279-7463 WOLFEBORO PHONE: 356-7818 HOURS: M-THUR 9-6; FRI-SAT 9-9; SUN 10-6 NORTH CONWAY, 356-7818 • LACONIA, NH NH 524-1276 MEREDITH, NH • WOLFEBORO, NH • LACONIA, NH • ROCHESTER, NH North Conway, NH NH 356-7818 • Laconia, 524-1276 STRATHAM, NH • KEENE, NH • GREENFIELD, MA

NORTH CONWAY WINTER HOURS

Returns To Wolfeboro

Ring in the holidays by attending the 16th annual TUBACHRISTMAS concert in Wolfeboro on Saturday, December 11 from 2 to 3 pm at All Saint’s Episcopal Church, 258 South Main Street. Bring your family and friends to enjoy a free public concert of holiday music and traditional carols, which will be performed by a low brass ensemble. All in attendance

are required to wear a mask. The concert features the low brass instruments, such as tubas, baritones and euphoniums, usually seen at the back of the band. Donations will be gratefully accepted and will go directly to the L.I.F.E. Ministries Food Pantry to help provide food and other necessities for area residents. The Wolfeboro TU-

1934 Lake Shore Rd, Gilford gilfordcountrystore.com • 603-366-6250

63 Main Street, Meredith nahamshagifts.com • 603-937-1922

Join us for our

HOLIDAY FAIR

Saturday December 4th Home of WINNIOPOLY !

AND NEW FOR 2021..

HIKE-OPOLY !

BACHRISTMAS concert returns to Wolfeboro after missing in 2020. It is a regional event with players from various community, university, and school bands, as well as professional musicians, both working and retired. Any low brass players interested in performing should contact the local TUBACHRISTMAS co-coordinator or visit TUBACHRISTMAS at www.tubachristmas. com. According to the conductor, “The arrangements are wonderful, very fresh and appealing, for they focus upon the melodic capabilities of the instruments and their rich, mellow sound when played together in close harmony. For the audience, it’s very much like listening to familiar music being performed in an interesting new way, quite warm and welcoming.” Harvey Phillips, a renowned tuba virtuo-

so and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Indiana University, School of Music, founded TUBACHRISTMAS in 1974. He conceived it to honor the great tubist and teacher, William Bell, who was born on Christmas Day 1902. The famous American composer, Alec Wilder, agreed to arrange a few carols for low brass ensemble, and the very first concert was held on the Ice Rink Stage of New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza in December 1974, with over 300 participants. Since then, the popularity of TUBACHRISTMAS has grown considerably among performers and audiences alike, and in 2021, concerts are scheduled in cities and towns across America, plus several foreign countries. Nancy Donahue, who studied with Harvey Phillips at Indiana University, is returning for her sevSee TUBA on 19

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

TUBA from 18

PROMO from 16

enth year as the Conductor of the Wolfeboro TUBACHRISTMAS. The public is invited to attend the Wolfeboro TUBACHRISTMAS concert, which will begin at 2 pm in the sanctuary of All Saints’ Episcopal Church on Saturday, December 14. If you have never heard a TUBACHRISTMAS performance before, you are in for a musical treat, so mark your calendar, bring your family and invite your friends. For more information about this concert, contact the local TUBACHRISTMAS co-coordinator, Joe Ewing, at 603-569-3861 or visit the TUBACHRISTMAS website.

helping out different causes through Funspot.” A complete Cash and Cans broadcast schedule is available at www.mix941fm. com. Donations can also be made through the mail. Please make checks payable to Mix Cash-and-Cans and mail to Mix 94.1fm, PO Box 941, Franklin, NH 03235. And Venmo, @Mixcashandcans. For more information about the Cash & Cans program email Caruso at fred@mix941fm. com. Mix Cash & Cans is a public service of Mix 94.1fm, a locally owned and operated Northeast Communications radio station.

Gift Certificates Make Great Gifts!

Auto & Marine

603-527-8090 29 EAST GILFORD EAST DRIVE, GILFORD NH

The Conley Tree Farm 75 Acre Choose & Cut Cut your own tree.. It’s a great family experience! OPENING FOR THE SEASON SAT. NOV. 20TH

OPEN WED. - SUN.

9AM - Sunset

(Closed Mon. & Tues. )

527 Meaderboro Road, Farmington, NH

603-833-6589 • www.conleyfarm.com

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Cornerstone VNA Offers Virtual Holiday Grief Support Group YOUR HOME FOR HOME & GARDEN Extensive Selection of Made in America Flags!

68 Center Street, Wolfeboro, NH

603-515-9032 • flagsoverwinnipesaukee.com

ROCHESTER - Cornerstone VNA will be hosting a 4-week Virtual Holiday Grief Support Group for adults. The goal of the group is to help individuals cope with feelings of grief, loss, and sadness, which can be especially challenging during the holiday season. The Holiday Grief Support Group will take place on Wednesdays, beginning December 1, from 3:00 pm until 4:30 pm and will continue to meet on Dec 8, 15, and 22. According to Rev. Maureen E. Steer, MDiv, Holistic Disciplines Coordinator, “As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 world of loss and change, it is

more important than ever to gather to support one another.” Any grieving individual can join the support group from a computer, tablet, or smartphone at

https://www.gotomeet. me/MaureenSteer. For more information contact 603-994-6976. Cornerstone VNA currently serves Rockingham, Strafford, Belknap and Carroll

Counties in New Hampshire and York County in Maine. The team at Cornerstone VNA provides award-winning care and support through five distinct programs: Home Care, Hospice Care, Palliative Care, Life Care-Private Duty and Community Care. For 108 years, Cornerstone VNA has been committed to bringing services to people of all ages so that families can stay together at home, even when facing the challenges of aging, surgical recovery, chronic or life-threatening illnesses or end-of-life care. To learn more about Cornerstone VNA, visit www.cornerstonevna. org or call 800-6911133

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Merry, Merry Canterbury Holiday Season Events At Shaker Village Visit Canterbury Shaker Village this December 11 & 12 and 18 & 19 for magic shows, dance performances, and much more. The Village Store will be open both weekends, and during all events offered. Hot cocoa and hot cider will be available in the Store, along with a wide variety of holiday gifts items. Admission to Merry Merry Canterbury is $20 for adults, $15 for members, and all children are free. Admission price includes all events, expect Candlelight Tours which must be reserved ahead. Masks are required, and the Village requests that all visitors be vaccinated. Go to https:// www.shakers.org/merry-merry-canterburydecember-11-12-18-19/ to buy tickets. Saturday & Sunday, December 11 & 12, 1 – 5 PM

Stairway to the Clouds, Horse Barn, 1 – 5 PM Ascend the “Stairway to the Clouds”, where sights, sounds, and smells of the season intoxicate the spirit. Downstairs in the Barn, make Pomanders and Cinnamon Tree Ornaments, perfect for children of any age. Absolutely Magic Show, Hubbard Gallery, 2 & 4 PM Featuring Andrew Pinard, bring the whole family to enjoy a magic show fit for the season. Holiday Carols, Outside the Horse Barn, 5 PM The Canterbury Singers present stirring

Shaker Song and beloved holiday carols. Saturday & Sunday, December 18 & 19, 1 – 5 PM

Stairway to the Clouds, Horse Barn, 1 – 5 PM Ascend the “Stairway to the Clouds”, where sights, sounds, and smells of the season intoxicate the spirit. Downstairs in the Barn, make Pomanders and Cinnamon Tree Ornaments, perfect for children of any age. Birdie Dance Performance, Hubbard Gallery, 3 PM Lorraine Chapman the Company presents the world premiere per-

formance of Birdie. Inspired by the Shaker Entertainments, this

performance tells the story of the Alberta MacMillan Kirkpatrick’s, the last girl to be adopted by the Shakers. Candlelight Tours, Dwelling House & Meeting House, 4 & 5 PM Candlelight Tours return! These special evening tours will take guests through the Dwelling House and the Meeting House. Learn all about how the Shakers celebrated the holiday season. Limited capacity, $50 per person, tickets must be reserved in advance.

Selling “All Things Loon” and More! Great Stocking Jewelry • Art • Books • CDs • Clothing • Cards • Hardware Stuffers and Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List!

OPEN WED - SUN 10-4

LL STREET I M Meat Mar ket

Premium Meats & Fresh Seafood Mon-Sat 10am-6pm Sunday 10am-5pm

67 Mill Street, Wolfeboro

603-569-0022

D.A. LONG TAVERN

Sweatshirts, Tee Shirts, Socks and More for Adults & Kids Plus....Books, Puzzles, Calendars, Nature Guides, Totes, Mugs, Clocks, Holiday Cards, Area Rugs, Linens, Music, Stuffed Animals, Throws, Pillows and So Much More! For Info CALL 476-5666 (LOON) 183 Lee’s Mill Rd • Moultonborough Shop Open Thur.-Sat. 9-5 at the Markus Wildlife Sanctuary All proceeds benefit LOON research and protection in NH

Always Lots Of Fun On Tap! EXCEPTIONAL CRAFT BEER LIST • COCKTAILS • WINE

GRAB A BITE TO EAT! Made to Order Pizza, Chicken Fingers Hot Dogs & French Fries

Explore our rotating draft selection with 12 carefully curated offerings!

TAVERN HOURS Open Every Day, year round

Open Daily At Noon Sun. - Thur. noon -10pm Fri. & Sat. noon - 11pm

Located Inside Funspot, Rte. 3, One Mile North Of The Weirs Beach Sign 579 Endicott Street N. • Weirs • NH • 603-366-4377 • funspotnh.com

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

ANGELS from 17

Offering House Plants, annuals, perennials, trees, shrubs, Vegetables and Herbs.

NH GROWN CHRISTMAS TREES, CUSTOM WREATHS & HOLIDAY DECORATIONS —Open Every Day—

252 Middle Road, Center Tuftonboro, NH www.SpiderWebGardens.com 603-569-5056

so much to all of our chorus members.” This sentiment is expressed in the fifth movement of “Snow Angel”—“Even though the snow may blow, there’s not a wind can stop my music.” Other pieces in the concert that may be new to the audience and will likely become new favorites, are “Christmas Memories” by Rosephannye Powell and “In Winter” by Victor Johnson. The Pemi Chorus is very fortunate to have a music director as talented as Will Gunn. He is the direc-

tor of music at Plymouth Regional High School (PRHS) where he conducts the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Chamber Singers. Choirs under Gunn’s direction have consistently received high ratings at local and regional festivals. He is also the Treble Choir manager for the New Hampshire All-State Festival and President of the NH chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. The Pemi Chorus is a regional community chorus based in Plymouth, NH, with a wide ranging musical

repertoire. Members come from communities throughout the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. The chorus is accompanied by collaborative pianist Laura Belanger, and for this concert by Alex Ellsworth on solo cello. The Pemi Chorus December concerts have become the go-to concerts in the area to usher in the holiday spirit, and they are so pleased to be able to perform again this year. All three concerts allow admission by donation, and each venue requires masks

and vaccinations. Thursday, December 2, 7:30 pm — Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Rd., Gilford, NH Friday, December 3, 7:30 pm — St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church, 108 School St., Franklin, NH Sunday, December 5, 3:00 pm — Plymouth State Univ., Silver Center, 17 High St., Plymouth, NH

Merry Christmas To All from The Largest Arcade in the World!

FUNSPOT GIFT CARDS Purchase online at FunspotNH.com or at the Bowling Counter Over 600 Games for All Ages

OPEN ALL YEAR

20 Lane Bowling Center • 18 Hole Indoor Mini-Golf D.A. Long Tavern • Restaurant • FREE Party Room Funspot Gi Cards are good for tokens, mini-golf, bowling, food & beverages.CARDS NOT VALID FOR BINGO.

Rt 3, 579 Endico St. North, Weirs Beach, NH • 603-366-4377 • www.FunspotNH.com

Nautilus Circuit Hammerstrength Basketball Court 23

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 — BOSAK from 1 warblers in the spring and fall? Warblers are tricky that way. Similar to my overall knowledge of birds, my warbler skills fall somewhere in the middle. I know most of the spring warblers, male and female, by sight and sound. By no means have I mastered them but I do pretty well in the spring. The fall is another story. Obviously, I can identify the warblers that look the same, or very similar, in the fall as they do in the spring. I’ve never struggled to identify a male or female common yellowthroat in the fall. However, many warblers in the fall look nothing like their flashy spring selves. Plus, throw in the first-year birds and it adds greatly to the confusion. I encountered this challenge a few weeks ago when I saw a small bird eating berries in a bush. I knew it was a warbler, but I didn’t know what kind. It didn’t look like any of the photos you see in a field guide. I flipped through a few of my field guides and came up with some ideas but nothing that satisfied my inclination to always get the right identification. So I did what I always do when I encounter such a challenge. I turned to my friends who are better birders than I am. In this case, I asked Frank. I have been doing the Christmas Bird Count with Frank for about 20 years so I knew he wouldn’t mind a quick warbler question. I sent him a photo of the bird. It is always helpful to have a photo. Whether the photo is good or bad, it is good to have. It won’t always positively identify the bird, but it often does.

Will this be a good year for siskins, red polls, or CHRIS BOSAK PHOTO grosbeaks (above)? A photo is far better than a lengthy description of what the bird looks like. In this case, the photo was pretty good and Frank was able to identify it as a female or immature blackpoll warbler. The faint and splotchy yellow on the bird’s breast and belly, as well as the markings on the face and head, were the telltale descriptors. To me, it is satisfying to be able to identify the birds you see, particularly if it takes a little research to do so. But I am never shy about asking for help. I would rather ask for help than live with the frustration and uncertainty of not knowing what I just saw. Besides, I have no delusions of grandeur about my birding skills. Yes, my skills are good, I have lots of experience in the field and I have a great enthusiasm for the hobby, but

I am far from an expert. I am not going to be identifying any firstyear Thayer’s X herring gulls any time soon.

For the most part, I have found that birders are more than happy to help out another birdwatcher, whether it is identifying a bird or assisting in finding a bird. Over the years, I have received many messages asking me to identify a bird. Usually I can tell right away what the bird is and reply immediately. Other times, however, the birds are tricky and I turn to my more knowledgeable birding friends for help. I am always happy to receive and respond to such messages. If you are looking at something and you’re not sure what it is, feel free to snap a picture, regardless of quality, and send it along. I am happy to help and enjoy the challenge. Happy birding everyone. As winter approaches, be ready for some different birds to show up. Will this be a good year for siskins, red polls, or grosbeaks? We will have to wait and see. Remember, if something shows up

at your feeder, or if CLASSES: you see something in Chris Bosak mayOnbe Booty Yoga, the field that stumps reached The at Ball, chrisboBarre, you and you’re dying to sak26@gmail.com TRX/HIIT, or know what it is, reach website THE PLACEthrough FOR his E Cardio X-train, -SITsomeone outONto who www.birdsofnewengE R ILD CA CHhelp can the ID. If land.com Pilates, Zumba, LE Bwith AVAILA Spin & Core you’re content just enjoying the view, that’s RACQUETBALL KID’S CLUB TENNIS FITNESS fine GILFORDHILLS.COM too. • 603.293.7546

FITNESS CLASSES!

314 OLD LAKESHORE ROAD • GILFORD

Tennis & Fitness Club 45,000 S Q. F T. FAC I L I T Y!

SCHEDULE CLASSES & CHILDCARE VIA OUR NEW ONLINE PORTAL! EQUIPMENT: Free Weights Cardio Room Nautilus Circuit Hammerstrength Basketball Court

THE PLACE FOR

FITNESS CLASSES! FITNESS

ON-SITE CHILD CARE AVAILABLE

TENNIS

CLASSES: Booty Yoga, On The Ball, Barre, TRX/HIIT, Cardio X-train, Pilates, Zumba, Spin & Core

RACQUETBALL

KID’S CLUB

GILFORDHILLS.COM • 603.293.7546 314 OLD LAKESHORE ROAD • GILFORD

24 SMITH from 3 chusetts, with his wife and one child. The Laconia native had boarded the steamer on Saturday night to go to Portland with the intention of exhibiting a collection of water colors there. He was the son of Mr. & Mrs. L. D. Young of Laconia and a cousin of Mrs. Caleb A. Huckins of Ashland. The wooden paddlewheel steamship had provided passenger service between Boston and Portland for a period of nine years. Storms were not the only source of distress to some families in early winter of 1898 in New Hampshire. More than

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 — one source of sickness brought grief to more than one family. The Cross family of Bridgewater was stricken with typhoid fever. The fifteen year old son of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Cross died from the fever on October 29th, and on November 28th his father also died at the age of 37. Mrs. Cross and a worker at the Cross place, Grant Spiller, were very sick from the same disease and were being cared for by a trained nurse from Franklin. A wellliked employee of the Boston and Maine railroad from Woodstock, Edward Cloud , also

died of typhoid, leaving a wife and two small children. Another victim of typhoid was Elmer E. Kendrick who died on Sunday, December 4, 1898, after a sickness of around seven weeks. Kendrick was from Ashland and was just 36 years of age at the time of his death. He was a foreman at the hosiery mill and very active in town and community affairs. One wonders how he could be involved in as many activities and organizations as were noted in his obituary. Mr. Kendrick was chief of the board of policemen, a member

Ad from the Dec. 10, 1898 Ashland Item. of the fire department, leader of the Ashland Cornet Band, member of Roblee’s band in Lakeport, of Chocorua Lodge A.F.A.M. In Meredith, Belknap Lodge I.O.O.F. Of Meredith, Pemigewasset Chapter R.A.M. Of Plymouth, Mt. Hope Chapter O.E.S. Of Ashland, Ashland Lodge of Rebekahs, and the Free Baptist Church where he sang in the choir. Scarlet fever was also reported in Ashland to the extent that, at the advice of the Board of

Health, all schools in town were closed until the health board felt it was safe to reopen them. Not all the news items carried by The Ashland Item was bad or sad news, however. Deer hunters might like to know that Thornton hunters were active and successful in that late nineteenth century year. I’m sure that Leon Brown’s neighbors were excited to read that he had bought a fine Winchester rifle. More interest was probably captured by being informed about who had shot, or maybe I should say, harvested, deer. Edward Gilman was from Bristol, but he “captured a fine deer,” while hunting in the Gore in Thornton. Lester W. Bradley “shot a fine specimen of a deer,” J.T. Bradley “ shot and killed a 200pound buck deer,” with an antler spread of 19 and ½ inches and four prongs on each antler, which was the best specimen to be killed in the area. Will McDuff of

Tilton was also a successful deer hunter on Chapman Mountain in Thornton. A Meredith Center woman, Mrs. N.B. Plummer, while in her home, saw a hawk attacking her poultry. Mrs. Plummer opened a window and grabbed a gun and fired. “That hawk won’t catch any more poultry,” according to the Item. I don’t want to omit the fact that church news was granted considerable space in the newspaper of 1898. One interesting item was that Mr. Ira D. Sankey, then of Brooklyn, New York, presented the Free Baptist Chuch at Squam Bridge in Holderness with fifty copies of a new song book entitled “Sacred Songs, No.1, “ which were scheduled to be used for the first time on December 11th. Readers may recognize Mr. Sankey as Evangelist Dwight Moody’s associate and song leader at his Chicago church. For those who don’t recognize Moody’s name, he was a prominent crusader, pastor, and evangelist for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One more thing from this sampler of the 1898 newspaper offerings: the Carey Furniture Company offered some suggestions for Christmas shopping. A gift, they indicated should be appropriate, beautiful, useful, durable, and “It should not be too expensive, so that it would be a hardship for the giver to be generous.” On that infamous Sunday of November 27th John McIntire and Nellie Huckins were united in marriage in West Center Harbor by Rev. J. Franklin Babb of Ashland. “May their cup of happiness be full to overflowing,” was the newspaper’s blessing.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

ACAM

American Classic Arcade Museum

FARM FRESH ICE CREAM

250 ARCADE CLASSICS!

(IN SEASON)

Located Inside Funspot

BOWLING GAMES

INDOOR MINI-GOLF

KIDDIE RIDES

D.A. LONG TAVERN

CASH BINGO

FREE PARTY ROOM

BRAGGIN' DRAGON RESTAURANT

YOUR FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT SUPERCENTER SINCE 1952! Route 3, 579 Endicott St N, Between Meredith and Weirs Beach, NH 603-366-4377 • www.FunspotNH.com • OPEN ALL YEAR

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Super Crossword

PUZZLE CLUE: OVER THINKING THINGS

B.C.

by Parker & Hart

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Sudoku

Magic Maze THEME THIS WEEK: FOUND IN A CAN

Caption Contest OUR PICK FOR BEST CAPTION

Runners Up : The cure for acid reflux before the invention of Tums. - Robert Ferlito, Lynbrook, NY. Mabel tries to find which diner has been stealing the silverware. - Jim Henson, Hinsdale, NH.

CAPTION THIS PHOTO!!

PHOTO #888 Send your best brief caption to Joe and his friend should us with your name and location within 2 weeks of publication have been shut off date... Caption Contest, The much earlier! - Joe Vitali, Weirs Times, P.O. Box 5458, Belmont, NH. Weirs, NH 03247 -Bob Patrick, Moultonboro, email to contest@weirs.com PHOTO #886 Be forewarned, a waitress can make “examples” of diners who forgot to tip last time.

NH.

The Winklman Aeffect

by John Whitlock

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

MALKIN from 6 Papa Benjamin claimed he was “shocked and disappointed at my daughter’s behavior as this is not a reflection of the values and standards that my family holds.” Never mind that Mama incited the violence or that the boxing Benjamin had assaulted two other female basketball players just weeks prior. But this is not who they are. And it’s never their fault. Look at the living hellhole of New York City, where homeless lunatics push random strangers off subway platforms, repeat offenders rob and beat pedestrians on their way to work, and druggies urinate, defecate and fornicate openly on once-safe tourist thoroughfares.

Look at Oak Brook, Illinois, just outside woke-hijacked Chicago, where mobs of diverse thieves carted off $120,000 from a Louis Vuitton store on Wednesday afternoon. Look at Walnut Creek, California, where roving bands of black-clad gangs absconded with $200,000 worth of merchandise from Nordstrom. Similar crime rings hit luxury stores in Hayward, San Jose, and Los Angeles. We are all supposed to pretend we can’t discern the race of the criminals so “experts” can castigate us for using racist terms like “looting” to describe ... looting. We are hectored repeatedly by the Biden administration that “white supremacy” is the root of all this country’s problems.

CNN reported as “news” this week that “there’s nothing more frightening in America today than an angry White man.” Systemic racism and two-tiered justice won’t allow black criminals to get a fair shake, we are propagandized over and over -- even as a new catch-andrelease carousel-riding Darrell Brooks emerges with numbing regularity by the week or day. The scourge of Soros DAs has ushered in nothing but misery, filth and death across the ravaged plain in the name of social justice, but if we just tear down one more Thomas Jefferson statue, strip away one more Confederate general’s name off a military base and toss another trillion or two or 10 or 20 at “diversity, inclusion and equity” initiatives

to make white people atone for their alleged sins, peace and harmony will prevail. Fraud upon fraud upon fraud. How many more innocent Dancing Grannies and schoolchildren have to die for the Big Lies? When will more good people stop reflexively cringing in the face of accusations of “racism” and call out the racist system of two-tiered justice that is actually bringing America to its knees? Michelle Malkin’s email address is MichelleMalkinInvestigates@ protonmail.com. To find out more about Michelle Malkin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

THE CLASSIFIEDS AUTOS WANTED

I WILL BUY * Fine Antiques * Art * * Jewelry * Silver *

Judy A. Davis Antiques

One Item or Entire Estate ~ Cash Paid For:

All Antiques: American and Continental furniture, paintings, oriental rugs and bronzes. Historical documents, old books and maps, nautical items, barometers and sextants. Old prints, movie and travel posters. Old photography, cameras and musical instruments. Gold and Silver U.S. and foreign coins. Civil war and all military items, guns, swords, medals and old flags. Old advertising, wooden and metal signs, vintage whiskey and wine, old weathervanes, old pottery, old jugs, crocks and textiles, lamps and lighting, glass and china. Old toys, banks, trains, sports memorabilia and comic books. Over 40 years experience in the antique business. Chinese and Asian arts, jade, ceramics, oriental textiles, furniture and art. Classic cars and motorcycles, gas pumps, oil cans and signs 25 years and older. All estate and contemporary jewelry, diamond rings, brooches, Patek, Rolex, all watches and charm bracelets. All Fine Gold and Silver Jewelry. Sterling silver flatware, tea services, trays and all silver and gold. Certified by Gem School of America Member: New Hampshire Antique Dealers Assn.

603-496-1811

603-934-5545

jlake@metrocast.net

CASH FOR CARS! We buy all cars! Junk, high-end, totaledit doesn’t matter! Get free towing and same day cash! NEWER MODELS too! Call 844-813-0213

FINANCIAL WESLEY FINANCIAL GROUP, LLC Timeshare Cancellation Experts. Over $50,000,000 in timeshare debt and fees cancelled in 2019. Get free informational package and learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free Consultations. Over 450 positive reviews. Call 855428-7954

HEALTH & FITNESS DO YOU HAVE CHRONIC KNEE OR BACK PAIN? If you have insurance, you

may qualify for the perfect brace at little to no cost. Get yours today! Call 1-800-2170504 OXYGEN-Anytime. Anywhere. No tanks to refill. No deliveries. Only 2.8 pounds! FAA approved! FREE info kit: Call 1-855-917-4693

MISCELLANEOUS 4G LTE HOME INTERNET Now Available! Get GotW3 with lightning fast speeds plus take your service with you when you travel! As low as $109.99/mo! 1-888-674-1423 DISH NETWORK $59.99 for 190 Channels! Blazing Fast Internet, $19.99/mo. (where available.) Switch & Get a FREE $100. Visa Gift Card. FREE Voice Remote. FREE HD DVR. FREE Streaming on ALL Devices. Call today! 1-833-800-0411

MOFFETT from 11 Fortunately, I had a photo of my inoculation doc on my cell phone and in I went. There’s always special aura associated with entering a venue filled with 15,000 energized people—be it a sports event, a concert, or a political rally. I loved it. I’d done some Blazer homework and noted their new coach was former Celtic Chauncey Billups. Damian Lillard and Jusuf Newkirk were among the Portland standouts as the team returned from a road trip below .500. The Bulls featured the likes of Zach Lavine and had one of the best records in the league. Chicago took a big lead and seemed to be in control. I toodled around the arena with my media pass, just enjoying the ambience and taking photos. Then the Blazers made a run and took the lead as the crowd got into the game. There’s nothing like the rush one gets when 15,000 people explode when a three-pointer gives their team a lead. Portland prevailed 112107. Lillard scored 22 with Newkirk adding 18. Lavine had 30 for the Bulls. I hurried outside and grabbed an Uber drive back to our quarters. (I was a bit uncomfortable being in the big city at night, given that Portland’s been the scene of some violence over the past year. Indeed, the city would endure another riot following Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal two days later.) Anyway, from Portland we went on visit to the Oregon state capitol in Salem, Crater Lake, a Reno casino and now Yosemite. After I file this col-

umn on this beautiful Thanksgiving Day, I’ll head up a trail towards that waterfall, grateful to live in such a beautiful, free nation. And I’ll be imaging Bill Walton, the Blazers’ “Mountain Man,” doing likewise years ago before his ankles went bad, taking giant strides towards a summit, the Grateful Dead playing in his earphones during his ascent, as he listens to Jerry Garcia sing “Just Keep Truckin’ On.” Sports Quiz What team did Bill Walton play for in between his time with the Blazers and the Celtics? (Answer follows) Born Today That is to say, sports standouts born on December 2 include Boston Bruin hockey goalkeeper Gerry Cheevers (1940) and tennis star Monica Seles (1973). Sports Quote “I had the only beard in the Western Hemisphere that made Bob Dylan’s look good.” – Bill Walton Sports Quiz Answer The Clippers. State Representative Mike Moffett was a Sports Management Professor for Plymouth State University and NHTI-Concord. He coauthored the awardwinning “FAHIM SPEAKS: A WarriorActor’s Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hollywood and Back” which is available on Amazon. com. His e-mail address is mimoffett@comcast. net.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 — STOSSEL from 7 died that winter. If the Wampanoag American Indians hadn’t helped them, all might have starved. It was the tragedy of the commons. No individual pilgrim owned crops they grew, so no one had an incentive to work harder to produce extra to sell to others. Since even slackers got food from the communal supply, they had no incentive

to work hard. Many didn’t. Strong men thought it was an “injustice” that they “had no more in division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could.” Women had to cook and clean for other women’s husbands, and they “deemed it a kind of slavery.” The shared farming, Bradford concluded,

“was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit.” When the Pilgrims ran out of food, they “began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop ... that they might not still thus languish in misery.” Their solution was

private property. They split up the collective farm and gave every family a plot of land. That was a big success. “It made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been,” wrote Bradford. “The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little ones with them to set corn.” Before, they “would allege weak-

ness and inability.” Thanks to individual plots of land, food shortages turned into a surplus that became the feast we now call Thanksgiving. “All men have this corruption,” Bradford observed. In a common, everyone wants to take as much as they can. Private property created prosperity. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for pri-

vate property. It’s why I can eat turkey. John Stossel is author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.” For other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit www. creators.com.

SERVICES DIRECTORY Paul C. Dupont & Son Building

Dumont Cabinet Refacing & Counter Tops

Old Fashioned STONEWALL

— AN AFFORDABLE ALTERNATIVE —

RESTORATION

Cabinet refacing includes new doors and drawer fronts of your choice

Cabinet refacing DOOR SAMPLES BROUGHT TO YOU! starts at only • New Countertops

Refacing (Save Big!) 35% Cost •• Countertop New Drawers • Custom Vanities of cabinet replacing.

Specializing in Dry Fieldstone or Granite Walls New Wall Built 35 Years Experience

• Closet Storage

Free Estimates.... Compare & SAVE BIG! • Meredith, NH 603-279-6555

Contact Tony Luongo

603-471-1954

MOVING ON

Call Doug @ 603-809-1444

Experience with WATERFRONT PROPERTIES Major Credit Cards Accepted

35 Years Experience In Surveying, Site Planning & Septic Design 603-539-4900 • land-tech.com

Since 1976 !

SIDING • WINDOWS • DOORS KITCHENS • BATHS Interior & Exterior Renovations

Alton Bay 875-2132

INSURED • REFERENCES • SNOW PLOWING

Bruce Thibeault PAINTING Over 30 Yrs. Exp.

• Staining • Urethaning • Res./Comm. • Quality Work • Interior/Exterior • Wallpaper Removal • Pressure Washing • Window Reglazing • Screens • Free Estimates • Fully Insured

WindoWs • doors • siding

Visit HarveyBP.com

CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATE

603-387-0015 —— 603-387-0026

BLACK BEAR MASONRY Colonial Colonial SidingSiding

Property Clean-Out Solutions ESTATE SALE • MOVING FORECLOSURE • DOWN-SIZING Overwhelmed with Clutter? Contact us for your solution!

Installing Harvey Building Products

364-2435 BruceThibeaultPainting.com

Specializing in Brick and Stone Fireplaces, Chimneys, Walls, Walks, Patios, Gardens 35+ Years Serving Wolfeboro & The Lakes Region Blackbearmasonry@yahoo.com Call, or text! 603-387-2655

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

MAILBOAT from 2 have rallied behind Ms. Hebert and are doing an amazing job of keeping the animals safe and well cared for during this time of transition. The Shelter is now preparing to send out envelopes for our Annual Appeal. This is our major

fundraising push each year, and proceeds go to ensure the care and safety of every animal that comes to us. If you get an envelope in the mail, please consider a donation to us. Donations can also be made through our website. All donations are fully tax deductible.

OUR NEW LOCATION IS NOW OPEN! Free Estimates for New Installations & Replacements of Your Existing Heating & Cooling Systems.

The staff and board of the Shelter would like to wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season. We are always amazed at the support the greater Franklin community gives to the shelter, and we look forward to serving community needs into 2022 and beyond.

Ask Abou Our Preseasto n Heating Specials!

Your Comfort Is Our Business! 78 Whittier Highway, Moultonborough, NH

603-253-9233 • callahanac.com

METZLER from 7 Afghan pilots before the collapse. Still by using subcontractors from places like China or Pakistan much of the equipment can become operable again. The Taliban military has not become a serious risk to the U.S. military, but in the context of the region where they operate in South Asia they have emerged as formidable. Equally much of the night vision goggle technology, helicopter avionics and drone technology has clearly become very likely “available for a price” to some of America’s most serious enemies. On a less technologically but probably more realistic grounds, what about the windfall of infantry rifles, sniper rifles, hand guns, ammunition, and very durable drive around Hummers which give the

GILPATRIC METAL RECYCLING, LLC Bring us your ferrous and non-ferrous metals to recycle!

—Call for pricing

We Buy CATALYTIC CONVERTERS - See Nick for Pricing BUSINESS HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 7am to 3pm Closed Sat. & Sun.

Fully Licensed Facility License Number: 19J-001 Permit Number: DES-SW-PN-11-006

Office: (603) 744-3453 Fax: (603) 744-6034

201 Abel Road, Bristol, NH 03222

**IF USING GPS, TAKE RIVER RD TO ABEL RD. (DO NOT TAKE PEAKED HILL RD.)

Taliban an enhanced battlefield firepower and mobility? We are not talking about helicopter gunships but very lethal and maneuverable and ready to use weaponry which add firepower and mobility to Taliban forces. Such small and medium weapons booty allows Taliban a qualitative jump in military capability as well as an excess of material perfectly suited to international arms brokers. Given the $85 billion number, there has been predictable political pushback by the Bid+en Administration’s acolytes and the “Beltway experts” to allege the actual amount of lost and captured equipment is much lower by at least half. Possibly. Naturally there’s political spin, “revisiting” and updating of the actual numbers, all couched in Washington’s venerable CYA mode. Nonetheless these are formidable and embarrassing losses. This does not excuse the shameful and stupid pullout from the Bagram base which opened the treasure trove of military ordinance to a dangerous and rising regional force. But beyond the tragic loss of U.S. equipment, the psychological and political setback to America’s standing globally has been battered. 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.

MOORE from 4 North Pond) contain trophy pike upwards of 20 pounds. Like Moore Reservoir, metals are the preferred lures by the majority of anglers, but I still prefer a white Daddy Mac Lures Whisperer rigged on a 3/0 offset Trokar hook, or a 6” or 8” paddletail shad. My biggest pike in the Belgrades to date was 11 lbs 3 oz. and came on a White Whisperer, but I have seen fish over 40” on a number of occasions. Being a resident of New England I can personally tell you that the scenery is breath taking, which only adds to the experience of fishing for a species with the power and ferocity of northern pike. This year, the fall has been so warm that it is still possible to get out and get some of these toothy critters before ice forms. If you’re a fan of catching big pike and you’re looking for a pike-fishing vacation destination, you may want to add one or all of these New England hotspots to your list. Tim Moore is a fulltime professional fishing guide in New Hampshire. He owns and operates Tim Moore Outdoors, LLC. He is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association, and the producer of TMO Fishing on YouTube and the Hooked with TMO Fishing Podcast. Visit www.TimMooreOutdoors.com for more information.

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —

Coupon expires December 30TH, 2021

Call to schedule your FREE hearing test right away. A $295 value! Offer expires Dec. 30TH.

Veteran Owned & Operated • We accept all major insurance plans.

www.puretonecenter.com CENTRAL NH LOCATION SEACOAST AREA LOCATION Located on Route 4 in the Epsom Medical Office Building, 1/4 mile West of the Epsom Traffic Circle

Orchard Medical Office Park 875 Greenland Rd., Ste A-5 Portsmouth, NH

603-736-0017

603-294-0375

— THE WEIRS TIMES, Thursday, December 2, 2021 —