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Articles by Robert Cook
Meals of Thanks Gives the Hungry the Gift of Hope
For the past three years, Dan Legueux and his team at New England’s Tap House Grill in Hooksett have been cooking up a storm around Thanksgiving to help people in need and thank those who make the greatest sacrifices for their communities.
Chiwonsio Kaitano Wants To Lead MacDowell Center to Greater DEI
Chiwonsio Kaitano is on a mission to elevate the MacDowell Center, a bastion of artistic diversity, to the next level. As the 10th executive director in the Peterborough organization’s history, she believes she was made for this challenge. “What we have done for over 100 years has worked extremely well. What we need to do is make sure we are an organization that stays relevant and represents artists well in 2023 and forward,” Kaitano says.
Creative economy the target of new marketing effort
Andrew Graham has always known that Portland is a great place to live and work, especially for people who consider themselves members of the creative economy. Graham, president of the Creative Portland Corp., hopes that now that the group has launched its new website, www.liveworkportland.org, and marketing campaign, the Greater Portland region will attract even more creative economy businesses and professionals.
Manchester Mom Credits Her Son With Detecting Her Breast Cancer Early
Robin Trafton describes her 3-year-old boy, Chase, as a typical kid who enjoys playing with his parents on their bed. A year ago, Chase actually helped save his mom’s life. Just before she was scheduled to meet with Dartmouth Health Breast Surgeon Kimberly Ellis in October 2022, Trafton says she and Chase were playing on her bed. “My son, a rambunctious 3-year-old, was wrestling on the bed with me and fell and crashed into my breast and I felt a lump,” Trafton recalls. “This was very apparent.
Economic boost eyed in arts campaign
A new marketing campaign launched this week to promote Bangor's art and cultural offerings is expected to draw more visitors to the city and possibly retain recent area graduates. The city and the Maine Arts Commission have created "Bangor Arts," a brand and website, bangorarts.org, to promote arts organizations, according to Shirar Patterson, the city's business and economic development officer and staff liaison to the Downtown Bangor Partnership.
Panel calls for Maine sports commission
The sports industry pumps as much as $1.8 billion into Maine each year, and that figure could be much higher if the state had a sports commission to actively recruit events. This was the consensus a panel of sports and tourism industry officials reached during the recent “Business of Sports in Maine” forum sponsored by the University of Southern Maine in Portland.
Shout Out: A Brotherhood of Song
Steve Valido smiles when he talks about the New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus’s most recent performance at Fenway Park. The Boston Red Sox invited Valido and more than 25 other members to perform before a June game during Gay Pride Week. As one of the members who joined the chorus at its founding in 1998 in Manchester, Validoa appreciates its significance. “We’ve come a long way,” he says.
Connecting with NH’s Native American Culture
The Granite State offers a bounty of powwows, events and exhibits celebrating Indigenous people Over four days in September, thousands of people will visit the Lakes Region town of Sanbornton to dance to tribal drums, enjoy communal feasts and experience how New Hampshire’s earliest residents respect the Earth. Native Americans and non-Native Americans alike will celebrate Indigenous culture at the 52nd Labor Day Weekend Pow Wow.
Curtain Call: NH Summer Theater 2023
Spotlight of greatness shines on this year’s Granite State summer theater The Granite State continues to offer a vibrant diversity of summer theater in nearly every corner of the state, appealing to year-round residents and tourists alike. Not having to travel to Boston or Broadway to catch beloved musicals and plays, theater-lovers can rejoice just about everywhere — from New London and Wolfeboro to Cornish and Portsmouth.
Along the Way: Day Trips into Black History
Earlier this year, “The Embrace” sculpture was unveiled on Boston Common to celebrate the moment when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, embraced after learning that Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize. Certainly, traveling to Boston to view this piece of art makes for a great DEI road trip, but there are also many historical sites and markers that honor New Hampshire’s Black history that are worth visiting as well.
Sarah Dak Turns Hair Braiding into an Art
On any given day, Glow Braids salon on Manchester’s Chestnut Street is buzzing with activity as the hair stylists give a myriad of customers the looks they want. But this isn’t just any typical hair salon. Glow Braids gives women, men and children customized braiding styles that are inspired by the Sudan where owner Sarah Dak is from. She has operated Glow Braids for four years, opening the space after she could no longer accommodate the demand she experienced at her Bedford home.
Shout Out: Talesha Saint-Marc
As a New Hampshire native and attorney for more than a decade, Talesha Saint-Marc knows the state and federal judiciary needs more diversity in the courtroom and on the bench. When the Bernstein Shur attorney was recently notified that she was chosen to serve as a federal magistrate judge in New Hampshire, she was overjoyed. Saint-Marc also made history as the first African American to serve on the federal bench in New Hampshire.
No to Patterns Sheds Light on the Seacoast BIPOC Experience
BIPOC panelists in a new Seacoast discussion series expressed optimism about the future even as they outlined the challenges of being among the very few people of color in their neighborhoods and towns when they first arrived in the state. Seacoast resident Courtney Daniel, a community activist, launched the “No to Patterns” series and held its first event this winter at 3S Art Studios in Portsmouth.
Portsmouth Locale Hero: Vernis Jackson
About this series: Meet our Local Heroes, a special band of folks dedicating their lives to making things even better in the great Granite State places they have chosen to live and work and play. If the City of Portsmouth is viewed as one of the most diverse communities in New Hampshire today, Vernis Jackson may have planted the first seeds 60 years ago.
Berlin Locale Heroes: Paul Grenier & Paula Morin Kinney
About this series: Meet our Local Heroes, a special band of folks dedicating their lives to making things even better in the great Granite State places they have chosen to live and work and play. Anyone who has visited Berlin lately will surely feel the cool vibe of change that flows like the mighty Androscoggin River and has not prevailed in this former paper mill city for a long time.
Shout Out: Fisto Ndayishimiye, Community Organizer
When Fisto Ndayishimiye and his younger brother, Alex, first arrived in New Hampshire from their native African country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, six years ago, he realized he had a lot to learn if he hoped to realize the American Dream. At 24, Fisto is making Concord Heights a better place to live for the many refugee families who settled there.
Seacoast Snowboarder Callen Hwang Soars to New Heights
On the surface, Callen Hwang is like a lot of other New Hampshire teens with her mind focused on friends, school, braces and her family. But that is where the similarities end for this 13-year-old Rye resident. Instead of attending Rye Junior High School this winter, Callen is taking an intense training program for snowboarders and skiers at Killington Mountain School in Vermont. Her days are split between making runs down the mountain in the morning and academics in the afternoon.
The Power of Art and Hope
On January 16, Manchester’s Currier Museum of Art invited people to experience the power of art and hope while spending a day celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Around 260 guests accepted the invitation and participated in discussions and enjoyed special gallery tours. Young artists from local schools had a chance for their work to be displayed in the world-class museum. Socks and warm clothing were collected to support the work of service and advocacy group Waypoint.
Ultimate Local Holiday Gift Guide
Our curated selection of New Hampshire shops and gift ideas are sure to excite and delight (almost) everyone on your list For your loved ones who prefer a gift that’s a little bit more hands-on, give them the gift of a locally made game. The Gundalow Game The Gundalows of Portsmouth are steeped in history as the once-mighty workhorses that transported goods and passengers to several Seacoast cities and towns for more than a century.
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