Pink Week and fun on the farms

Published Date Written by Tom Eastman

IT'S THAT BACK TO SCHOOL time of year — at least for shopping moms.

One week and counting until Labor Day Weekend means we've still got a little time to squeeze in some traditional summer fun. Get it while you can.

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FIELDS ON THE SACO AND MORE: Two farming/dining events to help us all enjoy the best of the season are coming right up.

The first is the fifth annual Fields on the Saco, set for Aug. 25 at Sherman Farm. Cocktail hour is at 4:30 p.m., followed by dinner. The event will feature foods from Green Thumb Farms of North Fryeburg, Weston’s Farm of Fryeburg, and Pork Hill Farm of Ossipee, prepared by chefs from the American Culinary Foundation. It will feature music by Jonathan Sarty and the White Mountain Boys. Tickets are $125 per person; they may be reserved by calling (866) 483-8873 or (207) 935-3341 or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Next, Weston's Farm is hosting its first ever Community Thank You Dinner Tuesday, Aug. 28. Hope you got your ticket, because the free dinner is already sold out!

George Weston said that as of Wednesday evening the 500 tickets have been spoken for, so they've started a waiting list.

“It's been unbelievable Of course, we had no idea what to expect, this being a first-time event,” said George, whose family has been farming along the banks of the beautiful Saco there at Rivercroft Farm in Fryeburg since 1799.

The oldest son in every other generation has been named either John or George. Now that's tradition.

“So many people have stepped up and volunteered to help, and we will accept their offers,” said George and Lori Weston's son, John. “People seem to like how this event will be a community get-together.”

John said the Westons have wanted to do this for years as a way to thank the community for its support of local agriculture.

The dinner is to feature picnic chicken from Stone Mountain, native sweet corn and cherry tomatoes from Weston's, potato salad made with potatoes from Green Thumb Farm and Weston's peppers, and ice cream from Shaw's Supermarket, topped with maple syrup produced by Weston's.

“I'm not much of a cook, that's for sure, so we're going to be working with Carol Noonan and her staff of Stone Mountain. It's going to be a pretty simple meal,” said John.

The Westons are keeping their eyes on Tropical Storm Issac. George says should there be foul weather around this neck of the country come Tuesday, they could use some of the farm's barns for indoor dining.

Keep your ears of corn to the ground — the 28th, after all, is the first anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene, let alone the 186th anniversary of the infamous Willey Slide of 1828 in Crawford Notch, which come to think of it, George reminded us about last year.

For more information, visit the website at www.westonsfarm.com. And, if you didn't get your ticket on time, we'll give you a report next week on just how tasty it all was. What a guy, huh?
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BIG DAVE'S AND (LITTLE) SUE'S: Speaking of great food, Big Dave's Bagels and Deli Restaurant packed them in Tuesday night for the MWV Chamber's August Chamber After Hours. Dave and Sue Hausman and daughter Sarah and staff served up some of the best potato salad this reporter has ever tasted — three different varieties, including a zesty one with onions and celery. Stop by for some great breakfast and lunch food — you'll love the Hausmans and staff (even though Big Dave is a New York Giants fan). Relax — the tasty bagels, cream cheese and lox will help get you over it!
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COLD RIVER: Jonathan Sarty and Vince Pelote were on hand at After Hours to promote the debut of their upcoming Cold River Radio Show, to be featured at Theater in the Wood Sunday, Aug. 26 and presented by Mountain Top Music.

Said Jonathan to the audience, quoting from his website, “It has been a long road bringing this project to fruition. In the very early stages of project development I spoke with Doug Mayer an editor for NHPR who told me point blank, 'Producing a radio show is an immense amount of work.' At the time I remember thinking, 'It can't be all that bad.' Guess what? It is an immense amount of work! Far more than I ever anticipated and we have really only just begun.”

It ought to be a great start of something good. For ticket information, visit www.ColdRiverRadio.com.
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DISCO IN FRYEBURG? Motor Booty Affair, the wild disco group that annually entertains at Attitash's Spring Mania Snow Stage, and Full Circle will be playing at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds on Aug 24 as a fund-raiser for the Harvest Hills Animal Shelter. Got to Harvest Hills on Facebook for details. This is gonna be one swinging night at the fairgrounds!
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BENEFIT FOR PETE: Intervale local Pete Ostroski is continuing his World Cup Racing
career. Pete is presently ranked 107th in Word Cup racing, and needs financial support to continue his efforts. Local cyclists are presenting a benefit pizza dinner featuring Tuckerman's beer and more Aug. 28 at Matty B's, across from Attitash from 6 to 11 p.m. A raffle will be held, and musical entertainment will be provided by Rek-lis.
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TURNING PINK: The ever-entrepreneurial (and community-minded) Michael Kline says two promotions are going to be held in North Conway Village to help in the fight against breast cancer. As you may know, the American Cancer Society's 20th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer is being moved to a new course this Oct. 14 that will go from Whitaker Woods and through North Conway Village. The North Conway Village Association is going to have a team (The Village Tidiots) and local businesses will be hosts for the walk.

To gear up for the walk, the NCVA is encouraging village businesses to celebrate “Pink Week,” Aug. 24 through Sept 3. The second part of the North Conway Village Association promotionwill be “Paint the Town Pink,” to be held in October over Columbus Day Weekend.

“We've got five or six stores participating at this point, and we're hoping for more to get involved,” said Michael Thursday.

Everyone who purchases a $5 card at one of the participating stores as a donation gets a pink boa — so this ought to add a festive flair to the village this coming week. Stores such as Soyfire Candle, Fields of Ambrosia, White Birch Books, The Penguin, The Met and the Funky Bubble are playing up the pink product theme big time. (We understand that our sister Mary Borowski's pink “F” cancer caps are being sold at Soyfire, so get yours while they last).

For more information, call Michael at 986-8541 or the pink-strand-haired Joann Daly at Soyfire Candle at 356-8969.
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CLIMB AGAINST CANCER: Wendy Holmes of Jen's Friends reminds one and all that the 15th annual Jen's Friends Climb Against Cancer is taking place Sept. 15 at Cranmore. Call 356-5083 or visit www.jensfriends.org for further information on how to register and for pledge forms. It's always one of the most meaningful and moving fund-raisers of the year. As you know, 100 percet of all funds raised go directly to helo local cancer patients.
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IN OTHER NEWS: CRAZY ON YOU SHOW: The North Conway Firefighters Association are once again presenting a fund-raising concert at Cranmore. This year's is set for Saturday, Aug. 25, featuring Crazy On You, a Heart tribute band. The firefighters will start up the barbecue at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m...(MOSTLY) BACHFEST: White Mountain Musical Arts presents the 24th annual Bach Festival at Leura Hill Eastman Performing Arts Cener Aug. 24 through 28. Visit www.mwvevents.com...IAN RECOGNITION: Congrats to North Conway Asst. Golf Pro Ian Meserve, who was made an “Honorary Member of the N.H. PGA Chapter” last week. Way to go, Ian!...GOLD CARDS FOR EAGLES: Ian reports that Kennett High School Football Gold Cards are now on sale. They offer discounts to several local businesses and cost just $10...TUCK'S WORK WEEKEND: Friends of Tuckerman president Jake Risch tells us that Friends of Tuckerman Ravine and the U.S. Forest Service are seeking volunteers to help them with three upcoming trail work days on Mount Washington. The first work day is set for Aug. 25, and two other work days are scheduled for Oct. 13 and 14. Volunteers are asked to meet at 9 a.m. at the U.S. Forest Service garage at the north end of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Pinkham Notch Visitor Center parking lot and to be prepared for a day of work outdoors. Sturdy work boots, work gloves and rain gear are recommended. Volunteers should pack their lunches. Call Jake at FOTR at 367-4417 or e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ...'; document.write(''); document.write(addy_text34398); document.write('<\/a>'); //-->\n This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. MUD PARADE REGISTRATION: Registration is now open for the 30th annual Tournament of Mud Parade, set for Saturday, Sept. 8, at 10 a.m. in North Conway. This year's parade theme is “Mud Bowl, The Musical.” The deadline for registering with parade chair Bobbi Steele-Marotta is Monday, Sept. 3. To register, call 496-4404. Prizes are offered for first, second and honorable mention in the Open and Team Classes. Prizes are awarded to the winners' charity of choice. Prize amounts are $250, $150 and $100. Being honored as grand marshals of the parade are members of Schneider family in recognition of the contributions to the community made by late skimeisters Hannes (1890-1955) and Herbert (1920-2012) Schneider as Cranmore readies for its 75th anniversary season. Phil Haynes, Marilyn Miller and Karen Dolan are among the local residents who are working on a committee to create a memorial statue to Herbert. The group held a third meeting at Cranmore Aug. 21. Call Karen at 356-5543 for further information...ETC: Happy b-days to one and all, including (belatedly) a very special salute to Lisa Gilmore (8-29), Lianne Boelzner (9-1) and Lynn Jones (9-5)...RACE CAR & HOOT: The Wildcat Inn & Tavern on Tuesday night (Hoot night) will feature an appearance by local race car driver, Mark Lundblad Jr, who will have his race car at the tavern from 6 to 9 p.m. Mark was the 2011 rookie of the year. The Wildcat will offer a free ice cream cone with the purchase of one of his T-shirts...KUDOS TO PAUL D: We salute the yeoman work of Conway town engineer/public works director Paul DegliAngeli this week, who has been serving as interim town manager during town manager Earl Sires' vacation. Then, he also had to serve as acting town planner when Tom Irving had to leave town Tuesday. What's next, mayor? Governor?...GAS OUTRAGE: If anyone has any tips on what went down at Horsefeathers early Saturday morning regarding the vandalism and turned-on gas/extinguished pilot light, call Lt. Chris Perley at the CPD at 356-5715. We should all be outraged by this crime and the damage it could have caused not only to the Center of the Universe, but also the center of our beloved village. As village busnessowner Michael Kline put it, “It's scary, because it's not that anything didn't happen — it did happen, it's just that the intended end result didn't.”...On that disturbing note, keep your head up and your nose sniffing — and have a great week. See you at the farm events and the Cold River Radio debut.