Featured during the event will be a live cooking demonstration and conversations with local organic farmer Roger Noonan. Also on site will be a local beekeeper, fun activities for all ages, and of course Stonyfield yogurt samples!

The event will be held from 11 AM until 1 PM at the Visitors Center located at 10 Burton Drive in Londonderry. All are invited to attend! The Visitors Center will also be open for yogurt purchases during their regular Saturday business hours, 9:30 AM until 5 PM.

The First Parish Church in current East Derry, as of 1895.

Held from 9 AM until 3 PM, Heritage Day will encompass several historical landmarks in Derry. These include the church Meetinghouse and cemetery, Taylor Library, the Upper Village Hall, the East Derry Historic District, the Historical Museum, and many more.

“Heritage Day is a great, fun way for everyone to learn more, whether it’s finally seeing the inside of the old meetinghouse you’ve driven past for years, discovering where Derry’s founders lie in the cemetery, or learning the value of those curious antiques passed down from your relatives,” said Rev. Sue Remick, interim senior pastor at First Parish.

Events during the day include:

• Antique appraisals by antiquities and collectibles expert and resident Hercules Pappachristos from 10 AM until 12 PM. The informal verbal appraisals are only $5 per item with up to five items per person. Photos are suggested for large furniture; coins, stamps, and jewelry aren’t covered but private appraisals can be arranged.
• Highland Games Exposition and Contest. Features historical talks at 10 AM and 1 PM and a chance to watch or try some of the games. Demonstrations include the caber toss (the throwing of tree trunks) and the stone put (similar to the shot put). Contests include the sheaf toss (open to all, attempt to throw a bag of wheat higher than others) and the mini caber toss (open to all, a safer version of the regular caber toss).
• Tours and talks of Forest Hill Cemetery. Features TJ Cullinane and the Friends of Forest Hill.
  

  The First Parish Church as seen from Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry.

• Historic games and crafts for kids sponsored by the Girl Scout Troops of the church.
• Bagpipe and Irish Step Dance performances featuring local bagpiper Kirk Brunson and award-winning dancing team Hilary and Lauren Gorgal. Bagpipe performances will be held throughout the day and site; dancing demonstrations will be held at 1 and 2 PM.
• Live craft demonstrations by Mike Gibbons of Nutfield Pottery and flax spinner and weaver Shirley Walker.
• Displays and guided tours of the church.
• Lecture by Derry town historian Richard Holmes at 10 AM. The talk is titled “Derry’s History and Our Forgotten Famous Citizens.”
• The History Museum will be open with special hours from 10 AM until 2 PM.
• Breakfast, lunch and refreshments available throughout the day.
• Much more!

To learn more about this event, visit the First Parish Church online. To read a brief history of the church’s meetinghouse, select Read More.

First Parish Church was established in 1719 by the original settlers of Nutfield, which today includes Derry, Londonderry, Windham, and parts of Manchester.

The current meetinghouse was built in 1769 as a single-story structure, and was cut in half and stretched 24 feet in 1824. An original slender steeple was replaced with the current federal-style tower at that time.

In 1845, the meetinghouse was divided into two floors, with the church sanctuary on the second floor and town offices and meeting space on the first. A major sanctuary remodeling in 1884 added the current stained glass memorial windows, new furnishings, and new finishes. The meetinghouse’s appearance has changed little since that time.

In 1953, the first mechanical heating system not fueled by wood or coal was installed, repairs were made to the tower, and the existing sanctuary flooring was put down. In 1973 (the Noyes Building) and again in 1985 (Currier Hall), successive large additions south of the original building provide new classrooms, offices, restrooms, and a fellowship hall. In the 1990’s significant repairs were performed on the tower understructure and visible steeple cupola.

A professional architectural assessment in 2011 identified multiple structural issues requiring repair and rehabilitation, including the foundation, roof and tower timber frames, electrical, and exterior trim and finishes. Planning and fundraising efforts are now underway to accomplish these improvements by the Church’s 300th anniversary in 2019.

During his years at Boston College, Walker was awarded with the Sophomore Scholar award, the Deans’ Scholar award and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during his Junior year. He has also earned Departmental Honors and won the Paul J. Sally, Jr. Distinguished Alumnus prize. This is an award given to a graduating senior who has shown true, academic distinction in a demanding program in Mathematics.

Walker also spent the last two summers doing advanced mathematics research through a Boston College study grant in 2010 and a NSF-REU Fellowship at Louisiana State University in 2011. He will continue his studies in mathematics in the PHD program of Brown University.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Susan A. (Clark) Bull of Londonderry, three sons, David Kevin Bull and his wife Priscilla Jean of Londonderry, Dana Robert Bull and his wife Stacy of Bow, NH, and Andrew Francis Bull and his wife Sherrin of Derry, NH, four grandchildren, Adam David, Jacob Alden, Elisabeth Ann, and Charlotte Lynn, one great granddaughter, Ava Marie, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. He was predeceased by his brother Ronald D. Bull.

Friends and family may call on Thursday May 17, 2012 from 4 – 7:30pm at the Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 290 Mammoth Road, Londonderry. A service to celebrate David’s life will be held at 7:30pm at the close of visiting hours with cremation to follow. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Breathe New Hampshire, 145 Hollis St., Unit C, Manchester, NH, 03101.

Visit the Peabody Funeral Homes website to leave a condolence note or view others.

Downstairs/Upstairs: Sisters Gift Shoppe at the Crossroads Mall will host an elegant art show on two floors this Friday night. The show will include works by Londonderry High School art students.

On Friday May 18, Sisters Gift Shoppe, at the Crossroads Mall in Londonderry will host a rather interesting version of a popup gallery. Entitled “Kajimato: The Art of Emotion,” the event will feature carefully curated artworks by emerging and established artists from southern New Hampshire. Each of the 15 artists participating will show art of a specific category or style; everything from sculpture and painted glass to still life, landscape and abstract will be represented. Many of the artists have won awards for their work and some will show never-before-seen pieces.

“This will be a fun, classy event,” says co-organizer Andy Mack Jr. “The work I’ve seen from both the veteran artists and emerging artists is simply amazing. Southern New Hampshire has a rapidly growing and deeply talented arts community. It’s exciting to be a part of it!” Sister’s Gift Shoppe co-owner Jill Morland feels the anticipation as well. The expert home decorator loves what art can do for a home. “Every house should have a conversation piece,” Morland said. “Sometimes that happens by the placement of things that you wouldn’t necessarily find there. Could be whimsical or it could be [something] thought provoking.”

Additionally, the event will be a first-time commercial show experience for several talented student artists from Londonderry High School, selected by art teacher Mimi Johnson. Judged by their veteran  peers, one student will win “gallery space” for two months at the newly expanded Coffeeberries, a coffee shop and cafe at the Apple Tree Mall. The student will also win “virtual” gallery space online courtesy of the Londonderry Commerce and Visitors Center as well as art representation/promotion through Andy Mack Jr and Londonderry Fine Art.

This large office/retail space offered by a commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis Northern New England will be temporary home to a "popup gallery" Friday night

During the show, interested parties can take a closer look at the space, shown by owner Grubb & Ellis, a commercial real estate firm based in Northern New England. There are two spaces that can be leased individually or together; a nearly 4,000 square foot professional space upstairs and the soon to be available 2000+ square foot space occupied by Sisters Gift Shoppe. The home décor, gallery and design shop will close at the end of May, as co-owners Jill Morland and Kathy Galvin have new opportunities that necessitate the move.

Ashley Evans, Amanda DeAngelis and Emmy Dumaresq all live in Londonderry and play for the NE Crusaders.

The New England Crusaders is a club program focused on the development of girls basketball players in the New England Region. This past weekend, several Crusader teams competed in the New Hampshire State Tournament at SportsZone in Derry. The Crusaders’ fifth grade team played well, posted an undefeated record and won the title of New Hampshire State Champions!

The team, which is made up of players from Bedford, Londonderry, New Boston and Manchester, logged two wins versus the Flames and one against the Heat. Their 3-0 record earned them the opportunity to compete for the coveted title versus the Rivals. The Crusaders won that contest 36-11.

The NE Crusaders Fifth Grade Team -- New Hampshire State Champions!

Ron King, Head Coach, said, “The girls played some great basketball. Each one of them contributed to this win. In my opinion, they are the best twelve 10 year old female basketball players in New Hampshire.”

We’ve all seen them in the movies, of course. Every scene filmed in a mansion usually has one shot of the dusty mahogany-paneled library, with row after row of leather-bound books, neatly lining the shelves. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of owning, my own library. And I’ve gotten a good jump on it, thanks to some bargain pick ups at auctions, yard sales at libraries, and the deals you can get with The Literary Guild and The History Book Club.

But alas, most families of average means rarely go to that extent to build a book collection. Instead, the home library generally resides in a much smaller room in the house. It’s called the bathroom. And the book collection is often little more than a stack of magazines on top of the toilet tank, or a pile of newspapers on the floor – but not always.

In my efforts to blow the lid, so to speak, off this earth-shattering potty story, I’ve gone undercover, making the round of various bathrooms, to survey the reading selections and bring to you first-hand the scoop about what people read while sitting on the throne.

The sophisticates of the world appear to enjoy National Geographic. A stack of these often adorns the shelf behind the most ornamental toilet seat covers. Full of pretty pictures and stories just long enough to keep you riveted to the seat beyond the necessary time to do your thing, the National Geographic reading experience may tie up the family bathroom for a good half hour. There’s something about a story on the orange maki fish of Singapore that seems to stimulate the bathroom experience. Knowledge is bliss.

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader, a series of thick paperback volumes, is designed specifically for the bathroom reading experience. You gotta wonder about Uncle John though… Popular in the 1990’s, these library resources are full of short stories and interesting factoids that are just long enough for the guy or gal who wants to get in there, do his or her thing and get out, while picking up an interesting tidbit or two along the way. The Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not are also fond alternatives for these quick visits, with the added benefit of pictures for visual sitters.

That series of yellow “Dummy” books appears to be quite popular. They too are well designed for the quick squat, with brief paragraphs on various topics. Wannabe computer geeks naturally gravitate to the “Computers for Dummies” volumes. I’ve also seen “Religion for Dummies” and “Cooking for Dummies” – although I personally can’t identify with reading about cooking while on the pot. But some apparently can, and God bless ‘em.

Women seem to have a ready supply of romance novels available and, I’m told, many become so engrossed in their stories that supper goes cold and the children head off to bed by themselves before mom realizes that the muscle-bound prince with girded loins has rescued his fair maiden long before mom will tuck the kids in that night. Inevitably, young kids also have their stash of books under the sink. Generally, theirs are the kind that can also be read in the bathtub – 6-page vinyl books that make the grunting sounds of various animals when you press the pages. An interesting twist on bathroom reading.

I’ve seen piles of TV Guides in a number of bathroom libraries. Why people would save those, I don’t know. Others collect Time Magazine, Newsweek, and People magazine. To my mind, those deserve to be in a bathroom, if not a bathroom library. Just in case you run out of toilet paper. Sports nuts collect their intellectual periodicals – Sports Illustrated, Baseball Today, even the slick ESPN Magazine, often strewn among old sports sections from the Globe, Herald, and an occasional New York Times for wayward Yankees fans.

I understand that those who have substantial bathroom libraries often undergo panic attacks when forced to use the facilities in a home where potty reading is not considered a priority. They resort to reading the ingredients on a can of air freshener or the back of the toothpaste tube. A few secretly admit to pulling out their wallets and reading the information on their driver’s licenses and credit cards, just to placate that thirst for knowledge that is stimulated during a sit down.

All in all, I am truly pleased that America is on the road to building these home libraries. I look forward to the day when enough books line the walls of every bathroom that you’ll need the Dewey Decimal System to find your favorite literature before sitting down – although, all too often, people truly can’t wait that long before dropping the seat (guy’s perspective) and hunkering down for the primary reason they came in there.

In the meantime, I suppose a small collection of the periodicals listed above is good for the inquisitive mind. A square of toilet paper makes a great bookmark. The innovative among us know how to rig up an old spice rack to serve as an easily accessible bookrack within potty distance. Be proud of your modest bathroom libraries, America! Knowledge in the john is free – and you don’t even need a library card.

Visit Londonderry Hometown Online News every Tuesday Morning for another one of Joe’s great columns! Select “Share this story” and share your favorite columnist with your friends!

Joe’s Two Cents – It’s Great To Be Alive is Joe Paradis’ first published book and gathers 40 of his most popular stories, enhancing them with humorous photography. The book is a compilation of forty of Joe’s best short stories.

Injecting humor into topics from everyday life, Joe answers those earth-shattering questions we all have about the beach, the bathroom, the junk drawer. From guys’ tools to girl talk. High school seniors to the senior years.

This classic collection has been updated to include pictures and a short introduction for each story. Until now, only God knew what possessed Joe to write about these things. Now you can too!

Joe Paradis is one of Londonderry’s most popular columnists and authors. Visit his web site at www.joes2cents.com today and order his latest autographed book, “It’s Great to Be Alive!”

This garden workshop is the third of a series. Each workshop is $15 per family, or $40 for all four remaining sessions. All workshops will be held from 6:30 to 9 PM at the Hilton Auditorium of the Rockingham County Nursing Home at 117 North Road in Brentwood.

To register, contact Ron Christie at (603) 679-5616 or ron.christie(at)unh.edu. Because of limited space, registration is required.

The series continues through September with three more workshops:

• May 29, “Permaculture, Composting, Cover Crops, and Green Manures”
• September 11, “Extending Your Growing Season”
• September 25, “Closing Your Garden, Assessing Your Success, Planning for Next Year”

For a workshop flyer, click here.

UNH Cooperative Extension provides New Hampshire citizens with research-based education and information, enhancing their ability to make informed decisions that strengthen youth, families and communities, sustain natural resources, and improve the economy. For more information on UNH Cooperative Extension programs in Rockingham County or the Master Gardener Program, call (603) 679-5616 or visit them online.

At 8:30am, all seventeen teams marched in a parade down the track to their positions on the field. Some of the athletes were so eager to get started that they ran. Once all of the teams were on the field, Londonderry North School’s Gabby Geraghty sang the National Anthem. Shortly after, the running of the torch marked the beginning of the games.

To help the athletes with their competitions, many volunteers dressed in neon t-shirts lined the track. Athletes were able to participate in numerous track events as well as a variety of field events. Some of these included shotput, long jump, and javelin tosses. Winners of each event were presented with a ribbon, given by members of the Londonderry Police Department.

Overall, it was a heartwarming and exciting afternoon.

For more pictures of this event, visit our Darkroom!

Kurt Kendall began Twins as a small store in half this same building fifteen years ago. Beginning with less than one hundred boxes of cigars, the business has since expanded to include over 1,000 brands, two other New Hampshire locations, and the revival of a once-lost brand of favored local cigars. But the story begins long before 1997.

Twins Smoke Shop offers much more than fine cigars.

In 1989, Kendall was operating his own local excavation company. When Hurricane Hugo hit the area, he made the decision to leave New Hampshire and move to South Carolina. Then, in the mid-1990′s, he moved back to New Hampshire. By then, his twin brother Kevin was operating a gourmet grocery deli in Connecticut and had added cigars to his business.

Kurt Kendall, owner of Twins Smoke Shop and recreator of 7-20-4.

Kevin convinced Kendall to move to Connecticut and join him in opening a cigar shop. The 90′s cigar boom was in full swing and demand was rapidly increasing, especially in the “ritzy” community where his brother was. Moving again and finding a location for the store, Kendall was told someone had just opened a cigar shop in the same area when he sought permits and approval.

Rethinking his strategy and returning to New Hampshire, Kendall was offered a chance to rent the smaller portion of a building to begin an automotive shop. His hopes still high for selling cigars, Kendall decided to open the cigar shop and, rightfully, named the store Twins Smoke Shop. For ten years, Kendall operated out of the small room, selling cigars from around the world. When the neighboring company left, he expanded into the rest of the building.

Three years ago, Kendall discovered a smoke shop in North Conway, New Hampshire that served liquor. Under law at the time, any place in the state that was licensed to sell liquor was considered a restaurant. Working with the Cigar Association, he lobbied to get the concept of a cigar bar passed, which allows shops to sell cocktails without being forced to serve food. Kendall then opened a cigar bar in the area of the store that used to be the original shop. Here, Kendall now serves a full selection of liquor, beer, and wine.

Twins Smoke Shop features a full bar and lounge area where patrons are invited to relax surrounded by nostalgia-inducing chairs and memorabilia while enjoying fine cigars.

Over the years, Kendall’s love for cigars grew and culminated in the re-creation of a forgotten blend; he began collecting memorabilia from the original 7-20-4 cigar factory in Manchester, New Hampshire, learning the history of the brand. Started by Roger Sullivan in the late 1800′s, the factory was built in the 1900′s and became the largest manufacturer in the world. The company sold between fifty and eighty million cigars per year.

Kendall says he found himself dreaming about bringing the brand back on the market. “I lost sleep at night thinking about this brand. I gotta bring it back, I gotta bring it back,” he said. Three years ago, Kendall’s dream became a reality.

Seen here are the original RG Sullivan's 7-20-4 sign and Kurt Kendall's 7-20-4 sign.

While re-creating the blend, Kendall worked with lawyers to successfully gain rights to the 7-20-4 trademark. He now ships the cigars to over three hundred locations nationwide under a slightly modified version of the original trademark. Working with manufacturers in Honduras and Nicaragua, the blend is shipped to Londonderry where is it aged for 120 days in Spanish cedar boxes before moving to shelves.

Kendall as he views for the first time the article about him in this month's Cigar Snob.

Kendall and his 7-20-4 cigars have been featured in a number of cigar publications across the country. He was featured in this month’s Cigar Snob magazine and his cigars have been highly rated by Cigar Aficionado, the cigar industry’s leading publication.

A company built on friendships, Twins Smoke Shop is a true local business success story. Cigar lovers from all over stop by Kendall’s shop to browse, visit and have a smoke or drink.

The original Twins Smoke Shop is located at 128 Rockingham Road in Londonderry. There are also locations at 1275 Hooksett Road in Hooksett, New Hampshire, and the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester.

Visit Twins Smoke Shop online.