The Walpolean

The Walpole Historical Society will present Duty’s Faithful Child: A Visit With Louisa May Alcott , a monodrama written by Peter R. Nadolny and Performed by Jeanne L. Austin at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 30, 2016, and the Walpole Town Hall.

Famous as the author of “Little Women” and other books for young people, Louisa May Alcott was raised in the intellectual and philosophical center of Concord, Massachusetts, home of Emerson, Thoreau, and her father Amos Bronson Alcott, the leader of the Transcendental movement. Shaped by early experimental education and an untraditional family life, Alcott became a staunch supporter of abolition, women’s suffrage, and better education and employment for women.

Based on her journals and writings, the life of this remarkable woman, who supported her family from the age of seventeen, has been shaped into an exciting theatrical experience.

Jeanne L. Austin, a member of Actors’ Equity Association, has played in regional, stock, and dinner theaters in roles ranging from Rosalind in As You Like It to Amanda in The Glass Menagerie. Peter R. Nadolny, a retired clinical chemist and quality assurance consultant for the medical products industry, researches and writes the monodramas for HerStory Productions, a creative partnership they formed to present the lives of our foremothers in a dramatic, interesting manner.

For further information: contact us at

http://www.walpolehistory.com or blackberryslump@gmail.com

On Sunday, August 28, the 4th annual Amateur BBQ Pulled Pork Competition will be held at Alyson’s Orchard from 11AM – 3 PM. This fun summer event, sponsored by Alyson’s Orchard and The Pit Stop Smokehouse, is a benefit for the Fall Mtn. Food Shelf.

The public is welcome to sample the pulled pork and vote for the People’s Choice Award between 12 noon and 2PM. There is no admission charge for this event, but anyone who wants to sample must bring either one non-perishable food item to donate, or make a small, cash contribution to benefit the Fall Mountain Food Shelf.   There will also be BBQ food for sale to the public from the Pit Stop Smokehouse, a Beer & Soft Drink Tent to compliment the BBQ, and unique ice cream, mixed and frozen on the spot using liquid nitrogen, from Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yogurt!

Alyson’s farm stand store will be open with new, local products as well as fresh seasonal fruits and berries.   You can also Pick-Your-Own Paula Red and Ginger Gold apples. Other activities that day will include: face painting; free wagon rides through the orchard; children’s playground, and lawn games for kids of all ages! Be sure to visit their new baby goats and ‘Buddy’ the big bunny!   This is perfect summer event for the whole family!   The BBQ event will run from 11AM-3PM (tasting from 12-2PM) and their farm store is open from 9AM – 5PM Mon.-Thurs and 9-6 Fri-Sun. for the season. Don’t forget to bring home one of their delicious fruit pies or chicken pot pies for dinner!

You may remember hearing Lynn Lyons speak at FMRHS a couple of years ago.  She was so well received she is returning for a follow-up.  If you were there, I am sure you will be happy to see that she is back.  If you missed it, I would urge you not to make the same mistake again.  She is not only entertaining, she is very practical in her approach. – Lil

Parent/Community Presentation
“Managing Anxiety at School and Home: Strategies to Interrupt the Worry Cycle”
Presented by Lynn Lyons

Lynn Lyons, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who lives in Concord, New Hampshire and is in private practice there. For 26 years, Lynn has specialized in the treatment of anxiety disorders in adults and children.
With a special interest in breaking the generational cycle of worry in families, she is the coauthor of two books on anxiety, Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents: 7 Ways to Stop the Worry Cycle and Raise Courageous & Independent Children, and the companion book for kids, Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids. Her latest book, Using Hypnosis with Children: Creating and Delivering Effective Interventions is a how-to guide for helping professionals looking to incorporate hypnotic strategies for the treatment of depression, anxiety, medical procedures, pain, and sleep.
In addition to her private practice in Concord NH, she presents internationally to mental health and medical providers, educators, school nurses, and parents. She is known for her focus on providing concrete, usable skills and her integration of humor, homework, and clinical hypnosis.
http://www.lynnlyonsnh.com/

Thursday, September 8, 2016 – 6:00-8:00 pm
Fall Mountain Regional High School Auditorium

This free program will provide strategies to parents, grandparents, caregivers and educators for working with children of all ages.

This event is paid by Title I Grant funds.

Reaching Out to Over 13,000 Former Campers & Staff

The final Family Night of Meeting Waters YMCA’s 2016 Y Day Camp season will double as an Alumni Reunion for its more than 12,500 former campers and hundreds of former staff. The event will take place on Thursday, August 11^th from 7:00-8:30 PM at the Y’s Lewis Day Camp facility on Route 5/Missing Link Road in Springfield.

This is the 52^nd consecutive summer of the regional Y’s day camp. In the 60s, 70s and 80s, when camp took place on loaned space in Gageville and Saxtons River, it was known as Camp Weetomp. The name of the camp changed in the late ‘80s when Meeting Waters YMCA was donated 52 acres of land in Springfield, VT on which the camp has taken place since. At that time, the camp was named Lewis Day Camp to honor the several decades of leadership of Samuel Lewis, the former CEO of Robertson Paper. A few years ago, the name of the camp program was changed to Y Day Camp to emphasize the value of it being a YMCA program while the facility itself retained the name Lewis Day Camp.

Whether one attended or worked at the program as Camp Weetomp, Lewis Day Camp, or Y Day Camp, all are invited to reconnect with other former campers and colleagues as well as with the activities that have been central to the camp programming for 52 years.

“Sue and I have only been here for a little over one-third of all the years our Y has provided enriching summer experiences for area youth and teens,” said Steve Fortier, the Y’s Executive Director. “But, when we think about the number of lives that have been impacted by our Y’s camps over the past 52 years, it is very fulfilling. We, and our Board leaders, are hoping that hundreds of former campers and camp staff will join us to celebrate the rich history that we’ve created together.”

For more information about the Camp Alumni Reunion event, call the Y administrative office at (802) 463-4769 or email info@meetingwatersymca.org.

Meeting Waters YMCA is a charitable, social service organization founded in 1895. Its programs and services focus on youth development, healthy living, social responsibility and family strengthening throughout the Fall Mountain, Bellows Falls, Springfield and Brattleboro regions.

New Member Reception at Walpole Artisans Cooperative
August 26th, 2016
5-7PM

The public is invited to a reception at the Walpole Artisans Cooperative, 52 Main Street in downtown Walpole, NH. This group of talented artisans is pleased to welcome four new members into their gallery: Susan Roston, fused glass artist; Jason Ballard, custom woodworker; Tim Campbell, folk artist; and Philip H. Morgan, realistic bird sculptor. Guests will be treated to light refreshments as they meet the artisans and enjoy each new member’s work.

Susan Roston’s Flame Bowl

Susan Roston‘s work can be seen not only at the Walpole Artisans retail shop, but online at pinterest.com/sroston/; sros-ton.artfire.com; and on facebook.com/shimmerlinglass. A resident of Jaffery, NH Susan works in her home studio, firing glass in a kiln that rises to 1500 degrees where separate pieces of glass are permanently joined (fused) to create what she describes as “a puzzle, combining different shapes of glass to form pictures or designs”. These amazing assemblages inspire images of an ice cold landscapes, a mountain lake or a brilliant sunset. Each piece is freestanding, mounted on a custom-made stand that supports the glass and makes placement totally flexible. Recently Susan added fused glass jewelry to the Walpole shop. The same look and technique that one sees in her landscape pieces is miniaturized in pins and pendants as wear-able art.

Jason Ballard’s Bowl

Jason Ballard, who designs custom woodwork, comes to the gallery from Grafton, VT. Jason’s website says it all “My Minds De-sign” (www.mymindsdesign.com). Featured in the Walpole gallery are small tables, unique in style and material, just perfect as a focus piece in any setting, as well as carved bowls that rival nature’s own creations. Jason’s studio at 217 Main St. in Grafton, VT showcases this self-taught designer and builder who started his own business in 2008 and stresses that working one-on-one with a customer creates a personalized design that ranges from the simple to the amazingly exotic. Seeing Jason’s work in person is a treat to the eye as well as the hand.

Tim Campbell – Old Homestead

Our third new member, Tim Campbell is as likely found with his Jack Russell Terrier, Otis, as he is with his art in and around Keene, NH. The two go hand-in-hand. Reading about Tim on his website: tcampbellart.com, re-minds one of the lighter side of art. Tim’s creations inspire thought and humor, sometimes giving found objects a new lease on life and sometimes commenting on the social, political in his folk art. It’s easy to see why Tim’s work was selected by “Early American Life” magazine as the 2010 Best and Listed in The Di-rectory of Traditional American Crafts. Tim’s cards, postcards and Giclee prints are a wonderful addition to the shop’s collection and with Tim’s promise to include some “Walpole” sites soon, the local customers will be thrilled.

Phil Morgan’s Loon

Philip H. Morgan, realistic bird sculptor, goes by the nomenclature “Wooden Wings”. With the expertise of an artist and the background of one who has spent his career in the out-of-doors as a park ranger, the realism of Phil’s birds is truly awe inspiring. The delicate detail, the texture and color of each species is what Phil strives for and based on the sales he has experienced throughout New England, it’s safe to say he has been very successful. In addition to his full bodied, life sized carvings Phil produces his “FEATHERED FRIENDS BACKSCRATCHERS”. These backscratchers have become today’s Folk Art, as they not only serve a purpose but are pleasing to the eye. A visit to the Walpole Artisans will be worth the trip to see all of Phil’s work.

Walpole Artisans Cooperative is open 7 days a week. Sun & Mon11:30-3:00, and Tue-Sat 10- 5. The retail shop/gallery is located at 52 Main Street, Walpole NH. 603 756-3020. For artist who may be interested in joining the cooperative, stop in and talk with the artisit of the day who is working in the shop that day, or download an application from the website.

Visit Facebook/WalpoleArtisans for current information; or http://www.WalpoleArtisans.org.

Phil Morgan working on a backscratcher

Jason Ballard’s woodworking

Susan Roston – Mountain Valley

Tim Campbell’s Honey Bee

For centuries, playing cards, which were once printed on just one side, were repurposed and used for hundreds of other tasks. When a deck became incomplete, the remaining cards were utilized in many secondary ways, both practical and creative. Paper was rare and expensive, and these centuries-old “secondary use cards” can today reveal interesting historical insights into past centuries.  Because of this, these second-use cards are eagerly collected, analyzed, and studied.

Gejus van Diggele is one such collector, scholar, author, and lecturer of second-use cards.  According to him, thrifty New Englanders adopted this form of recycling valuable paper by using these orphaned playing cards as invitations to social balls.  In his collection of over 5,000 cards, he has only been able to glean 52 of these rare New England cards.  In other collections, he has found another 70 from towns like Bellows Falls, Alstead, Rockingham, Chester, Charlestown, Claremont, Westmoreland, and several other nearby towns. Eight of these invitations were issued in Walpole, and seven of those, dating from 1812 to 1817, were addressed to the same girl, Miss Susan Lane.

Mr. van Diggele will present a lecture and slideshow explaining the history of these unique little time capsules and show examples of their uses over the centuries.  He will highlight all that he has learned about the popular Miss Lane, one of nine children born here in Walpole in the late 1700’s.  The event is free, and the public is invited to attend.  Sponsored by the Walpole Historical Society, this Speaker Series event is Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, at 7:00 PM, at the Town Hall.

Justine asked me to let you know that there will be free popcorn, too! – Lil