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Lakes Region Reflections

Posted by abohan Jumat, 13 Juli 2012 0 komentar

How do you like this?
Last night's "CBS Evening News" started out with a report from Laconia about Mitt Romney. (Couldn't really figure out where it was shot - perhaps behind the Margate in Weirs Beach?)
It's probably to be expected - and interesting to consider that if the seasonal Wolfeboro resident wins the November election, the Lakes Region would likely become the "summer White House" - and get the most attention it's gotten since "On Golden Pond" was filmed here in 1981.

And speaking of "On Golden Pond," the original play is being presented by Academy Award-winner author Ernest Thompson at Pitman's Freight Room in Laconia this summer. (Check here for details.) What's special about his production is that Thompson, who's also an accomplished actor, is for the first time playing a role in the show - and, he's directing it, another first. We've seen the production - and it's definitely worth seeing. (Dare we say, better than the movie?)

Finally, the Lake Winnipesaukee Museum has a great presentation for anyone who loves the Gunstock Mountain Resort today. "A History of Gunstock" is free and open to the public, beginning at 11 a.m. It's presented by Gilford author Carol Lee Anderson whose book, "The History of Gunstock: Skiing in the Belknap Mountains," won the 2011 Skade Award from the International Skiing History Museum.

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A Big City Guy Comes Home to Smalltown, USA

Posted by abohan Sabtu, 28 April 2012 0 komentar

This column by Joe Kock, Sr., was written several years ago, but it's a fitting reminder of what makes life in the Lakes Region so charming.

I was born in rural Pennsylvania, where, in early June, young boys shed their shoes at one end and their hair at the other, the former thereafter to be worn only to church and the latter to be regrown in time for school daze in the fall, and where life was a series of animated Norman Rockwell paintings.

It was pure and simple Americana, free of the frantic pace of city existence, with its standoffish interpersonal relationships, competitive atmosphere, stressful challenges, coldness, cruelty, crime and commercialism. Airs were to be inhaled, rather than put on, neighbors were friends, friends were for life, and the living was easy, even when times were hard. People cared about each other, and nobody seemed to be in a hurry to tilt at windmills, slay dragons or invade the Guinness Book of Records.

I couldn't, even as a barefoot boy, wait to escape from what I then perceived to be a restrictive cocoon, yearning as I did for the excitement, adventure, challenge and opportunity that only the big city had to offer.

Fast forward seventy years or so, during which period I tasted the thrill of victory, endured the agony of defeat, sowed and reaped the blessings of a loving family, avoided the grim reaper, entered a comfortable state of active retirement and, most recently, rediscovered Smalltown, USA.

I divided those intervening years between the urban hurly-burly of Philadelphia and the emerging metropolis of Miami, Florida, which has since grown to mini-hurly-burly status.

My gradual return to boyhood roots began with a getaway home in Key Largo, Fla., where there was and is, happily, little in the way of bright lights, traffic lights, honking horns or reasons to dress up and step out, and where the lifestyle is no more frantic than an afternoon siesta.

During my subsequent retreat from the coat-and-tie life of business and the chicken-and-peas life on the lecture circuit, that second home became a first and shoes again gave way to bare feet or Birkenstock sandals - ugly as spit, but celestially comfortable. (The hair remains intact all year around, unless and until Father Time or Mother Nature conspire to remove it.)

Key Largo's laid-back atmosphere is somewhat reminiscent of my birthplace, and now feels more embracing than confining, since I have conquered or outlived most of my demons and made peace with those remaining.

But my love affair with Smalltown, USA was consummated when Firstwife and I discovered Holderness.

It all started with a leaf-peeping tour of the New England foliage seven Octobers ago and progressed through summer visits of increasing length. These hiatuses led to home ownership in the Squam Lake area, made famous as the Golden Pond occupied by Hepburn, Fonda and a fish known as "Walter, that sonofabitch!"

Holderness has a birth date of 1761, a population of 1,930, and an elevation of 600 feet. "Downtown" consists of a post office, public library, science center, community theater, country store, filling station, marina, boat ramp, restaurant, and that's about all. Surrounding towns take up the commercial slack, which "slack" is part of the community's charm.

At the heart of that charm is the warmth and friendliness of the people who live there, both the thin-blooded Southerners who, like us, flee in terror before the first falling snowflake and the hardy folk who brave the elements when the ice lake is thicker than a ward heeler's head and even the fur-coated bears have the good sense to stay indoors.

Since only some fortunate residents have home delivery, the post office is a place at which to tarry and catch up with the local news; as is the "transfer station," a halfway house for rubbish, reached via the appropriately-named "Ta Da Dump Road."

Shopkeepers, local government personnel, police officers and those who fix things are uniformly unhurried, considerate and helpful; requests for service are most often responded to with a cheerful "no problem," or the indigenous "SHOO-ah."

Then there is that glorious Autumn, when nature seems to stretch a riotous drop cloth of color between lakes and sky, making the entire region an endless kaleidoscope of picture postcards.

It's called Holderness, but we've come to know it as HolderNICE, and this country-boy-turned-city-slicker has come back home!

He will, however, find solace in the summery winter of his other beloved small town in the fabulous Florida Keys.

How and why, Firstwife and I ask ourselves daily, did we get so lucky?

Joe Klock, Sr. is a freelance writer who spends his summers and falls in the Lakes Region, and the remainder of the year in Key Largo, FL . You can e-mail him at joeklock@aol.com or call (305) 451-0079

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"There's nothing to do here?"

Posted by abohan Minggu, 12 Februari 2012 0 komentar

Remember "Cow-Hampshire?"

That's how folks used to describe our home state - especially people who had moved up here from Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, etc. They loved our quiet nights and our generally calm atmosphere... except when they wanted Chinese food at three in the morning, or to see the newest 'art house' movie, or to hear some top-notch musical act.

It was especially true of where we are - the infamous "North of Concord."

"Can anything good come from North of Concord?"

Well, twice in the last week we've been reminded of how things are changing in the Lakes Region.

For residents and visitors, we no longer have to wait until the summer to be treated to some great artistic and cultural presentations.

On Saturday, we traveled to Pitman's Freight Room, an old wooden structure that used to serve as a freight depot for goods brought by rail to Laconia, to see "Political Suicide," a brand new four-part play written by Ernest Thompson. Thompson, you may recall, won an Oscar for writing "On Golden Pond" about 30 years ago. The film was shot in the Lakes Region, primarily on Squam Lake, and he fell in love with the area at the time. He moved back here to live, raise a family and, eventually, to start a company called Whitebridge Farm Productions, which produces films and plays, gives classes to writers, actors and others in the trade and is involved in other terrific, off-beat artistic projects.

Two observations: first, Thompson's play, inspired by the Republican debates, is a winner. The play is "witty, funny and poignant," to quote reviewer Warren Huse of the Citizen of Laconia. And, Thompson, who plays several roles in the four short plays, is also a wonderful comic actor... although he's just one part of a great cast made up primarily of local people.

Second, Pitman's Freight Room, which has been opened for some time, is an unexpected blessing to the Lakes Region. What was for a long time an antique store is now a great performance space - aged wood walls, charming antique pieces, relaxing furniture and atmosphere, a nice dance floor, modern amenities, etc. And every Thursday night, great jazz musicians perform - at only $10 per person admission; recently, Delfeayo Marsalis, the trombone-playing member of the famous jazz family, was here. (You're welcome to BYOB, BYOFood, BYOWhatever You'd Like, as long as you pay the cover price).

As if this all wasn't great enough, last Sunday afternoon, we traveled up to Plymouth State University to see flutists Aubrie Dionne and Peggy Vagts, assisted by pianist Christopher Gantner, perform a free lyrical concert at Plymouth State University... It's amazing to me how frequently we forget about the charms of PSU, and the town of Plymouth. At the "top" of the Lakes Region, the area always has something great going on. The Lamsom Library is one of the best in the state. The Flying Monkey on Main Street is as great a dining/performance center as you'll likely to find anywhere in the state and regularly presents top-notch acts; Judy Collins performed recently and Taj Mahal is coming soon.

Whatever happened to "Cow Hampshire"? Seem to us the Lakes Region has turned a corner on art and culture, and it's unlikely to turn back... Let's just not lose those One Voice Christmas Concerts, school plays and square/contra dances.

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Celebrities on Winnisquam, Winnipesaukee, Squam Lake, etc.

Posted by abohan Jumat, 06 Januari 2012 0 komentar

Recently the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce FB account asked about famous people who live in and around the area. Here was our input (slightly edited): "How about Mitt Romney?... Famous quilt-maker Patricia Delaney, retired editor of The NY Times Review of Books editor Rebecca Smuckler, stock car driver Brad Leighton, the best-selling business book author of "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, NY/Boston kids' dressmaker Mary-Alice Dalton, Duane Hammond (creator of the popular pig cartoon creations at pigsinapoke.com), Ernest Thompson (Academy Award winner author of "On Golden Pond"), former Red Sox player and now announcer Jerry Remy, George Butler (comrade of Arnold Schwarzenger and creator of "Pumping Iron," the photo book/movie that made the former California governor famous), folks artist Jim Lambert of Tilton, Helen Nordquist of Alton (played in the All-American Professional Baseball League during World War II), Dick Binnett (of the Skiing Hall of Fame), Harvey Garrod (NH's most well-known personal injury lawyer), romance author Barbara Lewinsky (who has written national best-selling novels including "Lake News," which takes place in a town much like Meredith where she has a seasonal home), ” the Marriott hotel family, Chris Whitecomb (a former FBI employee who appears on an expert on national TV news programs), famous Olympic skier Penny Pitou, author J.P. Polidoro (who's novel about cloning Ted Williams foretold actual events), the state's most famous criminal defense attorney Mark Sisti, Russ Thibault (the state's foremost economist)... Oh, also the rumor that Michael Jordan was seen playing hoops on a community court in Wolfeboro about 10 years ago!"

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