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By RAY DUCKLER

New London’s Town Meeting began as it has for the last 14 years, with students from the Kearsarge Regional Elementary School leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.Music teacher Nicole Densmore invited all students in...

By RAY DUCKLER

Before he died last spring from a rare blood cancer at age 76, the community knew the local newspaper editor was a well-rounded author, a prolific writer who loved the written word and its ability to summon clear images without being verbose.For...

By RAY DUCKLER

For years, lecturer Mohamed Defaa has sought to demystify the social, cultural and historical complexities surrounding the Middle East for Western audiences.Then, on Oct. 7 of last year, this combustible region, already a difficult subject to...

By RAY DUCKLER

Stephen Donahue retired from the United States Postal Service 12 years ago, at the relatively young age of 61.And these days, he’s busier than ever.Whether leading a Scout troop or climbing a ladder to hang a sign for a local business or installing a...

By RAY DUCKLER

Visiting United Shoe Repair downtown may not only result in improved shoes, but also may serve as an environmentally friendly act.D.J. Annicchiarico is on the ground floor of conservation, an individual whose multi-generational business dates back 115...

By RAY DUCKLER

Nancy Peperissa’s secrets to help people involve cotton and rice, two items she uses to craft items with others in mind.She crochets cotton to make soft skull caps for chemotherapy patients. The rice she inserts into a doll’s midsection gives it...

By RAY DUCKLER

Norm Yeaton dropped a stack of papers three inches thick, attached by a clip, onto his living room table.The thud said a lot, that an arduous research project by Yeaton – in an attempt to understand the sheer volume of people in Epsom whose last name...

By RAY DUCKLER

Ayn Whytemare doesn’t like the view from the top of her hayfield in Pembroke.From there, rising from pines like a lonely skyscraper, stands the smokestack used by the Bow coal plant, the last facility of its kind in New England. And while the visible...

By RAY DUCKLER

A Chipotle is set to be built across the street from the Merchants Way shopping plaza, giving patrons another dining option.Two years after the City of Concord approved the construction of a new Starbucks on Whitney Road – a site located off Exit 17...

By RAY DUCKLER

Bill Athanas saw the sign outside Laconia High School and flashed back to the hallways of Franklin High.He remembered walking past the plain Franklin High sign – white letters on a black background, flanked by two small brick pillars – and greeting...

By RAY DUCKLER

When Randy and Holly Silver saw their chance two years ago to open a business they’ve always wanted, they wasted no time moving forward.They went to the bank almost immediately after an offer was made to buy the Bittersweet Fabric Shop, a staple in...

By RAY DUCKLER

The jackhammer rattled away for a good 20 minutes Tuesday before a faded copper and lead container was pried from the corner of the Department of Justice building in downtown Concord that had been home to several banks.Dozens of onlookers and state...

By RAY DUCKLER

Each year during the Epsom Old Home Day weekend, master of ceremonies Paul Morency announces the winner of the annual Citizen of the Year award.A strange scenario unfolded last summer when Morency wasn’t allowed to announce the award. Epsom Select...

By RAY DUCKLER

The Canterbrook Farm in Canterbury is quiet these days, but years ago it was a haven for all things equestrian in New Hampshire.Virginia LaPlante, 88, and her late husband, Mike Plisko, moved to the 200-year-old farm in 1969, and over the years, it...

By RAY DUCKLER

The visions her father left behind will keep Maia Bradley smiling for the rest of her life.When she thinks of her father, Mike Bradley, she remembers his dedication to her, though he often wouldn’t talk about the great lengths he took. Think rising at...

By RAY DUCKLER

Now and then, Donna Kuethe, 71, feels like the second-oldest person among 24 others, each riding a bicycle across the country in an organized group to raise money for a cause of their choice.The youngest riders are 50.“Riding would have been different...

By RAY DUCKLER

Nancy Warner was one of 625 women who formed the Donut Dollies, a Red Cross-fueled program that mirrored other efforts to entertain soldiers during the Vietnam War.Through the years, however, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who knew this. In the...

By RAY DUCKLER

A proclamation read at the Boscawen Town Meeting last week, celebrating a man’s selfless acts dating back four and five decades, could not be announced quickly to voters on Election Day.Roger Sanborn, 76, had simply done too much. So wrote Elaine...

By RAY DUCKLER

Maddie Dionne smiled her way through much of a 90-minute conversation when speaking about life’s simplest things.They’ve taken on greater importance over the past 14 years.She has coffee with her son, Ken Dionne, each morning in New Boston, sitting on...

By RAY DUCKLER

Select board chairman Ed Millette did his best to explain why Chichester’s operating budget and tax rate needed to increase, saying that costs were up everywhere and more money was needed to meet the needs of residents.In classic fashion this time of...

By RAY DUCKLER

Voters in Pittsfield passed all 30 articles on Election Day except for the one that annually gains the most attention: the operating budget.The town’s proposed operating budget of $5.74 million failed by a 197-189 vote, meaning the town’s default...