Barnstead Community Market Has Local Printmaker Join The Co-Op
Not Your Average Bike-Week Merchandise
In the summer of 2010, Julianne Morse and her husband Jeremy set out to
cross the country on their 1976 Honda 500 motorcycle. No one believed
they could do it. The bike was too small, too old, the distance too far.
Julianne and Jeremy conceived of the trip even before owning a
motorcycle. They began planning; Jeremy researching motorcycle options,
and Julianne using her artistic skills as a printmaker to carve
woodblock prints of vintage motorcycles. The prints were to be sold at
an annual vintage motorcycle fair that the couple traveled to each year
in Rhinebeck, NY, and were created to help fund the trip.
The prints were a success. Each color in the print is a separate layer
that is hand carved and printed. It takes an enormous amount of patience
to carve and print each tiny spoke and engine component of the bikes.
Not to mention some prints have four colors, which results in each print
being inked up and printed by hand four times.
The types of bikes Morse has chosen to depict were balanced by aesthetic
and practical considerations. "I wanted to have a variety of motorcycles
represented, while some bikes I just really wanted to print because they
look cool, like scooters. The bikes are rendered as flat Pop-Art style
images, so you can’t get away from wanting to depict classic funky
styling like scooters or the Honda Dream, which Elvis rode."
Julianne and Jeremy bought a $400.00 motorcycle and drove it over 10,000
miles across the United States, visiting over 20 National Parks and
Forests.
Morse holds an MFA in Printmaking and Cultural Studies from Stony Brook
University. She teaches at Southern New Hampshire University and is
Special Projects Coordinator, NH State Council on the Arts, Concord, NH.
She is a native of the Suncook Valley.
Morse’s prints are now being sold at the Barnstead Community Market on
Parade Road in Barnstead. Her prints are 8 ½" x 11", matted and ready
for framing. She also has printed up T-shirts with 6 different
motorcycle gas tanks. Barnstead Community Market is open Friday 1:00 –
7:00, Saturday 9:00 – 4:00 and Sunday noon – 4:00.
Dream Big! At The Barnstead Library
The Oscar Foss Memorial Library invites children of all ages to
participate in our "Dream Big-READ!" Summer Reading Program. We will be
exploring many nocturnal things; dreams, stars/planets, bats, owls,
spooky things and more during our weekly activities. Our "Summertime
Songs and Stories" and "Arts and Crafts" programs will be held every
Wednesday from 10 am-12 and are free and open to the public.
Registration opens June 1st and continues through the month, closing on
June 25th. You can begin to record books on June 18th but your first
book must be recorded by July 2nd. We are starting our summer program
with a funtastic kick-off "Pajama Party!" on June 28th from 6-7 pm. Call
the library to register or for more information about this event.
A minimum of 6 age/grade appropriate books are required to complete the
program for children in pre-school through grade 6.
For teens in grades 7 and up, we have a separate program called "Own the
Night." Special activities have been planned and the minimum reading
requirement is 3 age/grade appropriate books, with at least 250 pages.
Everyone’s last book must be recorded by August 10th to qualify for the
completion of the program. Our "Dream Big-READ!" Summer Reading Program
finale will be on August 13th with the very exciting "Norman Ng Magic!"
Be on the lookout for more information about our special activities and
feel free to call 269-3900 or stop by the library for more information
about our exciting summer reading program.
Barnstead Master Plan Web Page Launched
Information about the Barnstead Master Plan is now online. Residents are
encouraged to visit the new web page for background details, project
status and links to relevant documents. The page will be updated
periodically as the process reaches various milestones.
To access the page, visit
www.barnstead.org, select "Town Business" on the sidebar, then click
on "Master Plan Committee."
This month, the committee began to contact town leaders for insights
that will help shape the questionnaire and enhance the value of public
meetings. Liaison with professional consultants is also underway.
The committee is growing at a nice pace, attracting a couple of new
members each month. The group includes residents from the general
community as well as members of several town boards. Anyone who feels
strongly about Barnstead’s future is urged to consider participating.
Committee meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00
pm at the Barnstead Parade Fire Station. The public is welcome. To
contact the committee, email
[email protected], or call the Barnstead Town Hall.
Greetings From The Trans Siberian Railway
Submitted By ess Emory
I’ve left Mongolia and am on my way to Moscow. This is what’s been
happening since my last check in.
When I planned my trip to Mongolia, there were two different fiber
topics I was interested in: increasing numbers of cashmere goat herds
and environmental concerns with deforestation and the use of
factory-made versus hand-made felt in gers (traditional Mongolian
tents).
Wealth is pouring into Mongolia with the second largest gold and copper
mine due to open in the next year or two. You wouldn’t know it looking
at the weather-worn faces that walk the streets of Ulaanbaatar, many men
stumbling around drunk and beggars at every turn. The majority of poor
Mongolians are looking for new ways to make ends meet. Cashmere is an
easy answer as a kilo of cashmere will go for 37 USD and yield a yearly
income that far surpasses other occupations. Problem is, there isn’t
enough grass and goats are destructive grazers unlike sheep and yaks,
which eat only the tops of the plants allowing them to regrow and
provide more food. Driving through the Mongolian steppes, there is
barely any grass and thousands and thousands of grazing animals, herded
by motorbike with men in long traditional dresses called dels. In a few
years, I doubt that Mongolia will be able to support the goat numbers it
has now, though there is no regulation or consideration for the future.
Gers (Mongolian wool tents) are omnipresent in Mongolia, from the
suburbs of Ulaanbaatar to the deep valleys in the central mountains. A
felt artist I talked to in Ulaanbaatar said that many of the gers being
lived in now are factory-made, but my trekking into the countryside
yielded only handmade felt gers that are made by dragging the felt along
the stony ground of the steppes behind a Mongolian horse. It is hard to
say if the traditional felt is dying out or not, especially with such
low population density (of the 2.5 million people who live in Mongolia,
at least half live in the city-Ulaanbaatar being the only real city in
the country).
When you visit a ger, it is traditional to walk in and sit to the side,
taking a cup of salty Mongolian tea. The fare is about the same in terms
of culinary complexity-because of the climate, Mongolians subsist on
butter, oil, meat jerky, and bread. Fruits and vegetables are usually
nowhere to be seen and it is a wonder that these people make it through
long, hard, incredibly cold winters without a variation in their diet.
They do though, with big smiles and emphatic storytelling.
While I did not enjoy my time in the city, the Mongolian countryside is
similar to the countryside anywhere: friendly people who always have
time for a cup of tea with the neighbors.
My time in Mongolia came to a close when I hopped a ride on the Trans
Mongolian/Siberian Railway. I was in between seasons, which meant the
car was largely empty and the heat was off. I was relieved about the
second fact as I heard it could be sweltering, but wasn’t so ecstatic
when I woke up to a blizzard in the middle of Siberia; I quickly
tunneled back under the blankets. After five days of constant rocking,
interesting conversation and endless pots of instant noodles, I arrived
in Moscow.
From here, it is on to St. Petersburg and a ferry to Finland to explore
all that traditional Finnish wool has to offer. After a short two week
stay, I’m back in Iceland for National Day and the solstice, and then
home. I can’t believe it has been eleven months already.
Bits and bobs: In an effort to get people to drink less, the Mongolian
Government has banned the sale of alcohol on the first of every month.
Prayer barrels spin on the dashboards of most cars. Steering wheels can
be found on the left or right, with no real trend. Natural gods are
prayed to as much if not more than other gods-tea is thrown to the four
directions when brewed and rocks are piled as monuments.
Garbage trucks are all gifts from the people of Japan and play ice cream
truck music. Vodka is tested for poison before drinking: dip your ring
finger in and flick three times to the sky, if it is clear and not black
you are safe to drink. Enter a ger with your right foot, never turning
your back on the far wall unless you are leaving the ger. Do not walk
between the uprights on a ger as the owners will divorce. Do not step on
the doorway of a ger as it symbolizes the ger owner’s neck. Do not point
your feet towards the Yellow Hat Buddhist shrine located opposite the
ger door, or at the stove located between the support uprights. Women
always sit to the right of the door of a ger as this side is
representative of the moon, and men on the left where the sun is.
Mongolian tea is omnipresent and made by brewing green tea, adding yak
milk and salt. The amount of salt ranges from tangy to chugging salt
water, depending on the family.
Five more weeks until Barnstead.
Salvation Army Soup Kitchen
Every second Saturday of the month members of the Center Barnstead
Christian Church serve a meal to people in need at the Laconia Salvation
Army. Volunteers from the church make the meal, help with serving and
clean up afterwards.
The theme for this month’s meal is favorites. We will be blessing the
people who attend with our favorite casseroles, soups, crockpot meals,
salads, rolls and dessert. Usually between 40 - 50 people attend this
free meal between noon and 1:00 pm. During the meal we fellowship and
get to know those who come, and a devotion is shared from God’s Word.
The Center Barnstead Christian Church is located on Route 126, next to
the Town Hall. Sunday School begins at 9:00 am and the Morning Service
follows at 10:00 am. For more information, please contact the church at
269-8831.
Letter
Barnstead had another great turn out for this past Memorial Day Service
and Parade. Commander Locke, Post #42 American Legion, opened the day
with a short speech followed by past Commander and now Chaplain for the
Post with a short prayer.
Our guest speaker, SSGT Martel, had almost 200 Proud Americans
listening to every word. He focused on President Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address and compared it to wars from the past through today. He spoke on
why our men and women have paid the ultimate price of losing their lives
so we as a free people will always be treated as equals, free to speak,
to attend our Churches, attend schools of our choice without the fear of
punishment or worse.
After he finished, Taps was played and the Parade was led by Chief Ken
Borgia, followed by Post 42’s Color Guard, and both members of the Post
along with our Women’s Auxiliary. Following and bringing so much more to
the Parade, was the BES band, Prospect Mountain’s Band, Boy Scouts, the
Fire Department and some members of the Select Board up front with Jim
Barnard and friend doing a good job. After the 21 Gun salute at the
Bridge and the tossing of a wreath into the River by George Morgan, Jim
Bernard got an unexpected rider in Laverene Bly, which added some humor
and applause from all. Hope Leon is still speaking to her.
Also, before the Parade kicked off, Patriotic Music was played by the
BES Band and songs by the Choir. After the great service and parade,
there were great treats, plenty of soda, and ice cold water.
This year we want to thank the new owners of The Barnstead Country
Store, Patrick and Michelle Collins for their generous donations. We
wish them well in their new endeavor. Also we thank Danis Market from
Pittsfield for their donations.
For all who partook in Barnstead’s Memorial Day remembrance, we must
never forget those who gave their lives for us. God bless all who came
out on a beautiful day.
Jack O’Neil
