De-Bridging in Nashua

We will be traveling by the time this update is posted about local goings on and there has been quite a lot of projects in the City of Nashua, NH, especially near the Clocktower mill apartments.

This is what greeted us earlier this week as we sat by the window enjoying breakfast. It wasn't an everyday sight for sure. Can you figure out what this is? 

Here's a couple of views showing exactly we saw at the window — Yes, a large crane.

Piling were driven into the river bed to check how far down to the river bottom. This project is  being done to replace the wooden bridge seen in the above lower left photo and below.

The bridge is behind the mill apartments and the City of Nashua is coordinating the work which is necessary as the wood is deteriorating. Years ago when the former mill, Nashua Manufacturing Company, was in operation the area below the bridge was an outflow for the water that powered the mill. Today, the bridge receives heavy regular usage from recycling and trash removal trucks, seasonal plows and auto traffic, all of which place more stress on the old wooden timbers. 

Work started earlier this week and it has been interesting to look down and check the progress of the workmen. We have a direct view of the bridge from our apartment windows.

This mother Mallard led her seven ducklings away from the river construction site. This was the first Mallard family we've seen on the river this summer. 

However, we have seen many families of Canada Geese this summer in various stages of growth.

There's been a lot of crane activity around the mill neighborhood. A couple of months ago these cranes were used for renovations in Le Parc De Notre Renaissance Français, the small pocket park that's adjacent to the mill apartments on Water St.

In recent weeks, the cranes have left and this photo shows the current state of renovations at the park. The building with the curved roof seen above in front of Clocktower Place will serve as an outdoor amphitheater for musical concerts and other events. The built-in seating that surrounds it is all concrete and bring-your-own seat pads and/or blankets will be needed for comfortable seating.

There's another small park area being developed along Main Street. The top half of the above collage is an architectural image of how the area below is expected to look once renovations are done. The white arrow points to a walkway that will lead from the pocket park.

When completed, the walkway will continue alongside a Main Street restaurant and become an extension of what is called the river walk. According to local officials, the park projects are anticipated to be done by year end.

Unfortunately we will miss watching the progress of these projects for the next 12 days. That's because by the time this is posted, we will be far away in — Alaska. This land-sea cruise (my first) is a pre-celebration of our 🥂 anniversary later this month. As we opted to skip the very costly onboard wi-fi package, posts about our adventures will likely be delayed until our return.

A Memorial Parade

Who doesn't love a parade?

We both do and for as long as we've been living in Nashua, NH, almost 10 years, we've always attended the Memorial Day parade here. Patrick is a U.S. Navy veteran.

The parade was held downtown along Main Street and started at 10:30 am from the Holman Stadium ballpark. It was canceled for a few years because of we-all-know-what.

Nashua police and fire department honor guards always start are the first units to march.

The city holds two parades to honor those who served. A Veterans Day parade in November  commemorates the signing of the WW I armistice at 11 am on November 11, 1918.

Lots of folks turned out on a perfect parade day with blue skies and sun after rain and cloudy skies had dominated most of the holiday weekend. A police estimate placed the Main Street turnout at roughly 2 thousand out of a current population of over 91,000.  Crowds were larger years ago, according to a 1958 newspaper article, the parade that year attracted some 13,000 people, a third of Nashua's then estimated 40,000 population

There are three high schools and three middle schools in Nashua, NH; two of the high schools and all three middle schools were represented by students in marching band units. 

The American Legion and Boy Scouts were represented by these young marchers.

Sidewalk crowds were enthusiastic to the point of using a notebook PC to video the parade.

A number of younger parade watchers along the route were dressed in colorful t-shirts.

Traditionally, fire engines and ambulances have signaled the end of the parade.

However, this year, it ended with these newest members of the Nashua Police Department (NPD) which recently established a mounted unit, featuring Mac, a Belgian draft horse, and Maddie, a Gypsy Vanner cross. This is a self-funded, non-profit unit, which means there is no financial burden to the community. The goal is to enhance public safety and community outreach. (FYI the horses had pouches behind them and did not leave any on street deposits.)

This canine was in a car that passed after it the parade ended and too late to view it.

Fields of Dreams display in Hudson, NH, by American Legion

We hope that bloggers in the U.S. had a good holiday weekend, however it was observed. Ours was spent at home in Nashua; we watched the parade and visited with friends.

Easter at the Arts Center

During the Christmas season, which was celebrated at home in Nashua, NH, we attended several musical performances at the Nashua Center for the Arts. 

Since we were also home for Easter, we decided to do a repeat and, in the past couple of weeks, attended three performances. All of these were quite different featuring a vocal group, a humorist and a symphony orchestra. An added bonus is that the performing arts center is walkable from the mill apartments.

Nashua Center for the Arts in downtown Nashua, NH

Opened in April 2023, the Nashua Center for the Arts is located on Main St in downtown Nashua on the site of an old apartment building and the former location of a well known shoe store, which relocated to a larger Nashua location. The remake-and-repurpose of 201 Main Street came with a price tag of $25 million. Bank of America, which has a downtown location donated half a million dollars; unsurprisingly, the theater has its name.

The center seats 750 and providing an intimate audience experience. The audience chamber orchestra level has a 430-seat telescopic seating system that can be retracted to create a flat floor venue for general admissions for up to 1000 people or a banquet set up for 270 people.

Voctave is an 11-member a cappella group from Central FL

Our first show was a performance by the a cappella group. Voctave with 11 members. This is twice the number of vocalists as in another well known a cappella group, Pentatonix, which has 5 members. Our orchestra tickets were complimentary thanks to the Nashua Public Library which offers residents discounted or free passes to many popular cultural institutions, including museums, symphony concerts, nature experiences and historical monuments. Free tickets to some venues, like the arts center, are available on a first-come basis. Funding is provided by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library of which we are members.

A cappella performances rely on vocalists' ability to create musical textures, rhythms, and harmonies entirely with their voices without instrumental accompaniment. This sets it apart from music where vocal parts are supported by instruments. The Italian term translates to "in the chapel" or "in the choir" highlighting its historical association with religious music.

Admittedly, we knew little about FL-based, Voctave, before this concert, but we're now fans of these multi-talented vocalists. The members of Voctave have diverse backgrounds in musical theater, contemporary Christian music, pop, barbershop and choral music. All have been part of the Voices of Liberty, a popular a cappella group that traditionally performs at Disney's Epcot Center, Orlando. The group also has performed globally.

Voctave was formed in 2015 by producer and arranger Jamey Ray and has become renowned for intricate and captivating vocal arrangements. The group brings together a rich tapestry of musical backgrounds and members have performed globally and contributed to numerous recordings, showcasing their versatility. 

American humorist Garrison Keillor at Nashua Center for the Arts

Yes, he's still performing! Our next show was a one-man performance by American humorist Garrison Keillor, who wore his signature red sneakers and sported very tousled (like just rolled out of bed) hair. Keillor is perhaps best known for his public radio programs. His style has been described as witty, observational, even satirical finding humor in everyday situations and human experience. At 83 years of age, Keillor is still performing and touring with scheduled appearances of his one-man show throughout 2025. 

From 1974 to 2016, Keillor created and hosted the radio show A Prairie Home Companion on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). It featured the fictional Midwestern town of Lake Woebegon with its quirky inhabitants and fictional product ads for Powdermilk Biscuits, The American Duct Tape Council, Catsup Advisory Board, Beebop-a-reebop Rhubarb Pie. The show provided the backdrop for much of Keillor's humor through The Lives of the Cowboys (Lefty and Dusty and Guy Noir, Private Eye. He's also authored numerous books, including novels and short story collections.

We were long-time fans of A Prairie Home Companion, listening to the show every Saturday night when we lived in VA. Fellow listeners may also recall the tagline that ended the show: Lake Woebegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking and all the children are above-average. 

Keillor and audience sing-along during intermission

The 90-minute performance we attended featured storytelling, poetry, and several audience sing-alongs even during intermission. Unlike most performers who leave the stage at this time, Keillor remained and encouraged the audience to stand and sing, which of course many did, including ourselves. 

Symphony NH at Nashua Center for the Arts

Our final show consisted entirely of music performed by Symphony NH, titled It's All Overtures which featured nine popular and well-known overtures including: The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) Overture to William Tell ( Gioachino Rossini), Overture to Treemonishato (Scott Joplin), Academic Festival Overture (Johannes Brahms) Overture to Nabuccoto (Guiseppe Verdi) and  West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein).

Symphony NH was established in 1923, and holds the distinction of being the longest-running professional orchestra in NH with a particular tie to the City of Nashua. It began as a group of musicians from Nashua that performed two concerts each season here. At one time also called the Nashua Symphony Orchestra, the organization changed its name in June 2012 to Symphony NH to reflect its expanded mission to inspire and enlighten through exceptional live music serving the state, not just in the City of Nashua.

Today, the symphony consists of top musicians from all over New England with concerts performed not only in Nashua, but throughout Southern New Hampshire. The symphony has been acclaimed for memorable performances, including premieres and its wide-ranging repertoire from Bach to Bernstein to the Beatles and more.

Symphony NH musical director Roger Kalia

Conducting Symphony NH was American conductor Roger Kalia who has been acclaimed for bringing a fresh view to classical music for the unique energy he brings to the podium. It had been previously stated that this performance would be one of his final concerts here. 

That's because, in 2023, Kalia announced his decision to step down as Symphony NH Music Director after six seasons at the end of the 2024-25 season. Kalia will assume the role of Artistic Director of the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra during the 2025-26 season. We are glad to have attended this wonderful performance that showcased not only his conducting skills but the talents of the Symphony NH musicians.

We hope that your Easter holiday was enjoyable. Aside from attending the performances, we shared dinner with two residents, who like ourselves, remained home for the holiday.

All photos in this post were taken during the attended performances and were not prohibited. In a pre-show announcement, photos were encouraged to share on social media. The sole stipulation being that no audio recordings, videos or flash photography was permitted.

BIG Movie & Book Buys

☘️ Happy St Patrick's Day🍀 from us and Maxine (photo below).

First, braggin' rights to many fellow bloggers, who correctly named Big as the 1988 movie featuring Zoltar, the antique fortune telling machine in the previous post.

Correct first response was from Kathy followed by Ginny, Emma (mimmylyn), Rita, Michelle and Denise. Also, braggin'rights twice to Emma for providing this synopsis: Of course I remember the movie. It was Big. The first time it was shown was when the boy was at the carnival and wanted to ride a ride that a girl he had a crush on. He was unable to ride because he was too short. He came upon the Zoltar machine and made a wish to be big. The next morning he was indeed 'big'. He spent the rest of the movie waiting to see Zoltar again so he could be back to normal. When he saw Zoltar at the end of the movie his wish is again granted.

Big starred actor Tom Hanks who also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. However, at the 1989, 61st Academy Awards he lost to Dustin Hoffman who won for Rain Man. Ironically the late actor Gene Hackman was also a Best Actor nominee for the film, Mississippi Burning.

My total book sale purchases were under $10

The annual book sale of Friends of the Nashua Public Library was a huge success. We attended the Friday night preview which was quite hectic with book sellers looking for bargain buys. I bought a couple of books the first night, David O. Selznick's Hollywood and a Simple Weeknight Meals cookbook (America's Test Kitchen. It's not that we needed another recipe book, but this oversize softcover is similar to a couple of other ATK books, so it fit well in the bookcase.

Always room for an ATK cookbook

On Saturday, I volunteered for 6 hours basically tidying up books and adding more to the sale tables from the overflow books stored below. It's amazing how tired you can get bending up and down after doing so for a couple of hours. After that, sorting and re-filling tables in the paperback fiction room was much easier. Boxes there were all displayed on tables and it was just a matter of condensing and filling in empty spaces in boxes.

The other books shown in the above photo were all purchased Sunday, the final sale day, when I went to return some borrowed books and to browse the sale (without volunteering) just as a buyer. 

My 2-day buying total was $9.50 and that was a definite bargain when compared to the $193 suggested retail cost for all six books. Most hardcovers with the exception of very large oversized ones (like Selznick's Hollywood) were priced at $2; paperbacks were priced at $1 or 50 cents. So, you can readily see why book sellers always attend this sale in large numbers. The Friends' goal is to clear out as many books as possible since more will be donated in time for the 2026 sale.

The official sales tally hasn't been announced yet, but I heard from other Friends members (in the know) that Preview Night sales were around $17,000. This was before the general buying public shopped all day Saturday and half-day Sunday. (Once it's known, I'll share the total in a future post.)

Maxine was all decked out in her finest greenery for a St. Patrick's Day celebration which will take place at the Hudson Senior Center this week.

She's a permanent resident at this senior center where we meet to play dominoes weekly. There's no resident housing there; Maxine hangs out in the center office when not celebrating a holiday and never misses the chance to dress for the occasion. In reply to a blogger's comment, it does look like she's holding an angry stuffed cabbage 🥬.

Parading for Veterans

Nashua, NH, held its annual Veterans Day parade yesterday. It started at 11:11 am, which marks the exact time and date when WW I official ended with the signing of the armistice on November 11, 1918 on the 11th hour of the 11h day of the 11th month. 

The marchers gathered in Holman Stadium then proceeded a short distance to the main parade route on Main St. The parade had been cancelled in 2023 due to bad weather. It usually lasts about 15 minutes with a luncheon for participants afterwards.

Start of the parade down Main Street, Nashua, NH

There is no apostrophe in Veterans Day as this day doesn't belong to a single veteran (veteran’s) or multiple veterans (veterans’) as a possessive apostrophe would signify. It is a day for honoring all veterans, no apostrophe is required.

Local police and fire members are always in the lead 

Veterans Day (originally Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the U.S. observed annually on November 11th to honor military veterans. It was renamed in 1954 after President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill rededicating it after the return of service personnel from WW II and the Korean War. Federal and state offices are closed as are post offices and banks. Most schools are also closed although it's not a requirement.

These participants dressed in period costumes 

The widespread use of the poppy flower to commemorate veterans began in WW I. Moina Michael, an American woman, was inspired by the 1915 poem In Flanders’ Fields, written by Canadian soldier and physician, Major John McCrae. In this poem, McCrae described the poppies that blow between the crosses, row on row, a reference to the blood-red flowers that sprang up among the soldiers’ graves. Michael sold poppy flower corsages to raise money for veterans and their families.

School bands from Nashua schools 

The first Veterans Day celebration took place in Birmingham, AL, in 1947 when Raymond Weeks, a WW II veteran, organized a National Veterans Day celebration. This event which took place on November 11 included a parade and other festivities to honor veterans.

The parade included several vehicles, but is mostly a pedestrian event 

It wasn't always celebrated on November 11. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Bill. This bill assigned the fourth Monday of October as the date for Veterans Day, but many states disapproved of this decision. In 1975, President Gerald Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11.

This young lady received a lot of applause as she twirled down Main St 

In 2016, President Barack Obama signed the Veterans Day Moment of Silence Act. Each Veterans Day at 2:11 p.m. EST, the current president will order a moment of silence lasting two minutes.

Parade viewers included family groups, local schools closed for the day 

NYC hosts the nation's largest and oldest Veterans Day parade with a procession along Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. An estimated 20,000 marchers were expected to participate this year. The city hosted the first parade to honor veterans on September 10, 1919. It was called the Victory Parade and celebrated Army Gen. John J. Pershing and 25,000 soldiers. 

Just a couple of the various youth organizations 

Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, is the central location for official and national ceremonies dedicated to Veterans Day. Ceremonies are held at the memorial amphitheater, where the Tomb of the Unknowns is located.

Muskets were fired several times along the parade route 

Other countries including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia also honor veterans on or near November 11 where this day of commemoration is called Remembrance Day. There are similarities and differences between these observances and America's Veterans Day.

Your turn — Did any observances take place in your state or country ?

What We Did . . .

Last weekend follows up an earlier post this week. That one featured an outdoor sports car show in Hudson, NH, as the first free event that day. Later on Saturday afternoon, we went to a(nother) free event downtown event. The Nashua Summer Stroll was within walking distance of our mill apartment home, so no parking space needed.

Main Street was blocked off to vehicular traffic for several blocks from mid-afternoon to early evening. Municipal garages provided free parking as there were limited on the street options on side streets, where meter parking was enforced.

It was a sunny and very warm summer afternoon as residents and out-of-town visitors enjoyed live entertainment, street dancing and more.

One of the most popular attractions was the chalk children and adults used the provided sidewalk chalk to write (or scribble) on it.

As expected on a Saturday afternoon, all the downtown restaurants on Main Street were open, but with waiting times at most. A quicker food option was to buy food from the various street vendors. The usual fare included hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, fried dough and ice cream — all the food groups at such an event.

The Nashua Fire Department gave children and adults the chance to sit in one of the trucks. Many did so, but not in the photo above.

This event was sponsored by Positive Street Art, a Nashua non-profit which provides educational workshops, community events, and artistic services. PSA has painted many large murals in the downtown area, including the two above.

Last weekend was a great one to be outdoors. Unfortunately, this upcoming weekend is predicted to be a rainy one. The local library, as part of its ongoing Sunday Cinema Classics is showing the 1973 film, The Sting. It's a good indoor option, and also Free.

Welcome to a new month of what has been a warm hot summer for many folks. We hope that your adventures, whether near or far, have been as wonderful as our own with more to come for all.