Mount Washington Valley News Brought To You By Horsefeathers

The Valley Voice - By Tom Eastman
The Conway Daily Sun - Aug. 28, 2009

Summer on the wane …

Summer is definitely on the wane, with most of us still feeling like we skipped the entire season, other than the past few weeks when more summerlike weather finally did arrive.
Not sure if you’re feeling the same, but do you think we could file a request with somebody for a July, Take 2?

As you know, we received a record-breaking 10.15 inches of rain in July, after 6.83 inches in June — and August has us up in the 6-inch range as well. It all adds up to a second crop of some giant and blood-thirsty mosquitoes, and even a second batch of black flies — Ed and Cathy Bergeron tell us they were eaten alive by the buggers while photographing some hummingbirds at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road earlier this month.

For the record, WMWV 93.5-FM “Morning Show” co-host Roy “The Bicycling DJ” Prescott says that summer doesn’t officially end until the fall equinox on Sept. 22 — so take advantage of these summerlike days, even after the kids go back to school.
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WOODSTOCK AND OTHER MUSICAL GROUPS REVISITED: It’s been a 40th anniversary Woodstock Music Festival month, and — following the story that the Sun rain in its Aug. 15 Weekenders edition on the festival — readers continue to write to tell us about their experiences in upstate New York in August 1969.

Cycling guru Dave Kinsman of Fryeburg, for example, says he was there; the just-back from a month of sailing Beverly Simmons says she and her friends tried to get there, before their car broke down in traffic; one certain owner of Horsefeathers/the Wildcat/and Decades was one of the 450,000 there for the three days of peace and music; and so was Karen MacDonald, who offered the following account:
“In response to your query regarding Valley people who made the pilgrimage to Woodstock … I did just that.  Along with three friends in a VW bug. And, because of a gem of a kid who pumped our gas on the N.Y. interstate, we were able to get all the way there. He told us that the ‘Staties’ had closed the turnpike, but that he knew of a ‘back way in.’ After eight miles on a one-lane dirt road, albeit beautiful hilly countryside!, we thought we had ‘been had.’ But that dirt road spilled us onto another … 1/4 of a mile from the stage. The rest is forever recorded in our personal histories. I even retrieved a Boom Box that I had loaned to some kids (strangers) at the Newport Jazz Festival earlier that summer. Talk about ‘Cosmic!’  What a world we had goin’ for us, eh?  Keeping that idealism alive.”
Thanks for the story, Karen!
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THEM FARGOS TO RE-UNITE? Word has it that the legendary Oxen Yoke and Red Parka Piub band of the 1970s and 1980s, Them Fargo Brothers, may be returning to somewhere in the valley come November for a re-union show. Bill Madison, now of Florida, is said to be working on it. We’ll keep you posted! (If you’re of the male persuasion, or perhaps just a quick female, you may enjoy seeing an old poster of Them Fargos in the male bathroom at Decades).
Do you remember their hit, “Ain’t No UFO Gonna Catch My Diesel?” It’s a funny tale about a trucker driving his 18-wheeler down Crawford Notch, when a UFO appears. Maybe Rich Gray will sneak it into the playlist a time or two at WMWV? Read the rest of this entry »

NORTH CONWAY, NH - Take a 16-year-old girl suffering from advanced aging, add one geeky puzzleistic boyfriend, stir in one drunken father, sprinkle a dash of pregnant, hypochondriac mother, top with a homeless, lesbian, scam artist aunt, and you get the recipe for ” by David Lindsay-Abaire, being performed by M&D Productions at 8 p.m. at Your Theatre at 1857 White Mountain Highway in North Conway. Call 662-7591 to make reservations.

NORTH CONWAY —  Cranmore Mountain in North Conway celebrates Halloween every weekend in October with the return of  , where visitors board the quad chairlift for a night-time ride to the summit for a haunted mountain-top tour. Coming back for its third year, the Ghoullog will be bigger, scarier and more fun than ever with the addition of new twists and turns to scare newcomers and return visitors alike.

The tour starts at the base of Cranmore Mountain and includes a night-time stroll through a haunted walkway to the Quad. After the 7-minute ride to the 2,000 foot summit of Cranmore, visitors tour the Ghoullog, where haunted happenings are sure to frighten and surprise the hardiest souls.

While at the summit, spectacular night-time views of North Conway Village below are sure to delight all comers. At the end of the tour, visitors enjoy a ride down the Quad chairlift to the base with a breath-taking vantage of the Moat Mountains and Mount Washington at night.

Event dates are Oct. 2-3; Oct. 9-11 (Columbus Day Weekend); Oct. 16-17; Oct. 23-24; and Oct. 29 - 31. Tickets are $25 for all ages with a $2 discount for online advance sales.

The Ghoullog will operate from 7-10 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. The ticket office, pub and outdoor food court will open at 6 p.m. on all dates of operation.

Cranmore’s ghoul-fest will offer refreshments including a full bar in the Bloody Noose Pub. The Ghoullog also features an outdoor food court offering fair food favorites like fried dough, sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches, popcorn, caramel apples, hot cocoa, hot cider and coffee. Read the rest of this entry »

NORTH CONWAY — Registration is now under way for entrants in the World Mud Bowl’s 27th annual Tournament of Mud Parade, set to proceed down North Conway’s Main Street Saturday morning, Sept. 12, at 10:30 a.m.
The theme for this year’s parade and World Mud Bowl is “Creature Muddy Feature,” according to parade chair Bobbi Steele-Marotta, who says the deadline for registering for the parade is Wednesday, Sept. 2.

“New this year, we are offering a children’s costume division, so we are hoping local kids will want to get involved, as Mud Bowl truly is a family event,” said Steele-Marotta. All eight teams entered in this year’s World Mud Bowl mud football championships will compete in the team class for floats that best exemplify the “Creature Muddy Feature” theme. In addition, an Open Class will also offer prizes for entries from the community. The parade is sponsored by Amoskeag Beverages LLC. of Bow, longtime sponsors of the World Mud Bowl and distributors of Lite Beer by Miller.
To register, call Steele-Marotta at (603) 496-4404.

Selected to serve as this year’s parade grand marshals are the 20-member restaurants of the Valley Originals independent restaurant association of Mount Washington Valley, who are being honored for their community service and spirit. This year’s World Mud Bowl returns for a 33rd year, with an eight-team, 13-game, double-elimination tourney, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11 through 13.

Read the rest of this entry »