PORTSMOUTH NH: Pontine Theatre’s 24-25 Performance Season continues 29 November – 15 December with A NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS. Performances are scheduled for Fridays @7pm, Saturdays @3pm and Sundays @2pm. The program includes Pontine’s original staging of William Dean Howell’s Christmas Everyday and Alice Van Leer Carrick’s Christmas in Our Town. The cast features Pontine Artistic Co-Directors, Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers. Live music is provided by New England Fiddle Ensemble’s Ellen Carlson. Following the performance the audience is invited onstage to enjoy an assortment of Christmas goodies. Pontine’s Portsmouth NH venue, the 1845 Plains Schoolhouse theatre, is located at #1 Plains Avenue in Portsmouth’s West End. The space is fully accessible with convenient free parking located onsite. Purchase tickets at www.pontine.org — $32 General admission, $29 for Seniors.
Author, editor, playwright and poet William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a resident of Kittery, Maine. In his story Christmas Every Day, a little girl’s wish to have Christmas everyday for a year is granted by the Christmas Fairy. The first day of Christmas is perfect. The following day it is Christmas again, and every subsequent day as well. It wreaks havoc with the economy. All the woods are cut down for Christmas trees. People get so poor, buying presents, that everybody had to go to the poorhouse.
In her reminiscence, Christmas in Our Town, Alice Van Leer Carrick tells of her treasured memories of a New England holiday in Hanover, New Hampshire in the mid-20th century. Her whimsical turn of phrase and witty allusions coupled with sheer sentiment goes straight to the heart. The performance concludes with a Christmas carol sing along led by Ellen Carlson of the New England Fiddle Ensemble and an onstage Christmas party. Purchase tickets at Pontine’s website: www.pontine.org — for information contact Pontine Theatre: 603-436-6660 or info@pontine.org, This production is underwritten by Piscataqua Savings Bank. Pontine’s 24-25 Season is supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.
Marguerite Mathews and Greg Gathers, Artistic Co-Directors of Portsmouth NH’s Pontine Theatre, perform A NEW ENGLAND CHRISTMAS, 29 November – 15 December. Photo by Michael Sterling
The 16th Seacoast Rotary Turkey Trot 5k runs on November 23rd starting at Strawberry Banke. Register at www.seacoastrotary.org . Like us on Facebook. This year’s race beneficiaries: Vouchers for Veterans and Great Bay Services.
Seacoast Artisans 25th Annual Holiday Fine Arts & Craft Show on November 9th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Great Bay Community College, Pease Trade Port, Portsmouth, NH Event Entrance Fee?: $7 Children 14 & Under Are Free
Details/Comments: ONE DAY ONLY! Longest and Finest Show on the seacoast. Please join us this year for an amazing show. We have teamed up with Kid’s Five & Older. They will run the raffle in the Cafe. All items donated by the Artists in the show. Gather will provide lunch.
Seacoast Women’s Network meets on November 19th from 5:30pm to 8pm at the Grill 28 at Pease in Portsmouth. Register by Nov 12th. Learn more at https://www.seacoastwomensnetwork.com/.
JINGLE BELL FAIR
Saturday, November 9th from 9 am – 2 pm at 127 Winnacunnet Road First Congregational Church-Hampton,
The Bakery group will offer Homemade Breads, Preserve, Pies, Cookies, and Candy. Unique crafts made by our church members such as Hand-knit/Crochet, Quilted/Sewn items which Talented Artists & Crafters of the church worked all year long for this Old Fashion Holiday Fair. Check out Attic Treasures, Fine Gifts, Jewelry and more. Also, there will be Gift Baskets which include Stonewall Kitchen items. You can pre-order church-made Holiday Boxwood Trees. Plus, a Silent Auction will take place. Watch for Santa walking around greeting everyone. Visit our Cafe` for Coffee & Blueberry Buckle (the Women’s Guild special recipe.) or NE Chowder & Sandwich.
South Berwick, Maine- Old Berwick Historical Society will present an online lecture titled “Countermagic and Protective Magic in Early New England” on Wednesday, October 23 at 7:00pm via Zoom. The lecture is free and no registration is required.
In early New England, magic was used to protect houses and generally ward off evil – horseshoes over doors, shoes buried in walls by fireplaces, hexafoils by doors, and witches’ bottles. In this talk, archeologist Tad Baker discusses this practice, including evidence of it at the local Chadbourne archeological site.
Emerson “Tad” Baker is a historical archaeologist and professor of history at Salem State University. He is well known in academic circles for his extensive work on witchcraft in Colonial America, as well as for his work on numerous archaeological sites along the East Coast of the United States. Baker ran the Chadbourne dig in South Berwick, ME, sponsored by the Old Berwick Historical Society, and is currently collecting data to support a dig focused on the early Scottish indentured servants that eventually settled along the Salmon Falls River.
The lecture is free and open to the public. The link to the lecture is posted on the home page of www.oldberwick.org. The lecture will be recorded and posted to the society’s website. The Old Berwick Historical Society’s 2024 lectures are generously sponsored by Kennebunk Savings and supported by historical society members and donors.
Pontine Theatre’s presents T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets performed by guest artist, John Farrell on the 26-28th of October. Performances at the 1865 Plains Schoolhouse theatre, located at #1 Plains Avenue in Portsmouth. The space is accessible and convenient free parking is available onsite. Performances are Friday at 7pm, Saturday @3pm and Sunday @2pm. Purchase tickets at Pontine’s website: www.pontine.org — for information contact Pontine Theatre: 603-436-6660 or info@pontine.org
Winter Storage for Motorcycles and Scooters at 603 Cycle Works in the Fox Run Mall. Reasonable rates. Call 603-507-2120 for availability.
Seacoast Artisans 25th Annual Holiday Fine Arts & Craft Show on November 9th, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Great Bay Community College. Entrance Fee $7.00.
