St. Baldrick’s Day!

My husband Mike, at Jerry Remy's Sports Bar & Grill, July 2010

Have you ever heard of St. Baldrick’s Day?  It is an annual event that is usually held at around the halfway point to the next St. Patrick’s Day.  Volunteers have their heads shaved in public to show support for kids with cancer who lose their hair due to chemo, and to raise money for childhood cancer research.

This year, my husband Mike will be participating in a St. Baldrick’s Day event, as a shavee.  As you can see, he doesn’t have much hair to begin with, but he’ll be growing it out for the event.

He is a part of Team Last Call, who will be getting “buzzed” at the Wild Rover Celtic Festival, to be held on Sunday, September 12, at the Wild Rover Pub in Manchester, NH.  The event also includes a 5K road race, which benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  And of course, there is the entertainment, many great bands and dance groups will be performing.

Admission to the event is free, but you have to buy your own food and beer at the event if you want any.  And hopefully, you will want to make donations to the charities involved.  Parking is free in the garage across the street from the Rover.  For more info, visit the event page.  They had the first annual Celtic Fest last year, and it was a lot of fun.  It looks to be bigger and better this year!

If you can’t make it to the event in person, you can always donate to Mike’s cause online, at his official St. Baldrick’s page.  There will be pictures of all head-shavings posted, so you’ll be able to see who really got shaved!  Thanks in advance!

1964 – The Tribute

How would you like to see what Rolling Stone magazine calls the “Best Beatles Tribute on Earth”?  And what if I told you that it is not only in very easy reach, right here in New England, but tickets are just $10, as well?

Yes!  It’s true!  1964…The Tribute will be playing on this coming Thursday, August 12, at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, in beautiful downtown Manchester.  The team is out of town this week, so now the grounds crew and other staff are busy gearing up for this exciting concert.  No, there won’t be any patio cushions or anything, seating will be in the regular seating bowl only.  Not on the field, as they did for the Bob Dylan concert that was there a few years ago.

All tickets are $10, and there was some limited reserved seating available; that might be sold out by now, you’ll have to check.  All other seats are general admission, which means you can sit anywhere you like, except for the reserved sections.  We have our regular seats that we do for the ball games, and no doubt we’ll have to kick people out of them.  And so it goes…

Anyhoo, this concert is a benefit for Manchester’s gorgeous Palace Theatre; if you have never seen a show there, you are missing out.  No, this concert will not be there, or course, it will be at the ballpark, but I’m sure you will be able to learn much more about the theatre at this concert.

So this concert is only a couple of days away, so if you want to go, get your tickets now, before they sell out.  Gates open at 5PM (4:30 PM for Fisher Cats season ticket holders), and no doubt the Sam Adams Bar & Grill will be open for your drinking and dining enjoyment.  The concert itself will begin at 7PM, and there will be an Atlas Fireworks show right after the concert.

Please visit nhfishercats.com for more info and to purchase tickets.

Mike and I have always loved the Beatles, and are greatly looking forward to this concert!

Want to renew your wedding vows?

It doesn’t matter how long you have been married, or the exact date of your anniversary.  You can renew your wedding vows with other couples on a professional baseball field!

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats, of Manchester, NH, will be hosting their second annual “Renew Your Wedding Vows Night” on Saturday, August 7, prior to the 7:05 PM game vs. the Bowie BaySox.  Mike and I participated in the first annual event, and it was a lot of fun.  Since it was so successful, the Fisher Cats are doing it again this year.

If you would like to participate, you will need to contact Joel Leroy at the Fisher Cats to sign up – email him at jleroy@nhfishercats.com or give him a call at (603) 641-2005 ext. 111. He’s a nice guy, he’ll make sure you are signed up and let you know what you need to do.  You will also need to buy tickets to the game; you can buy them online at nhfishercats.com, or just talk to Joel if you prefer to order your tickets over the phone.

Prizes will be awarded at the ceremony.  There will be prizes for the Best-Dressed couple; the couple who won that last year had the bride wearing her original wedding dress (and a Fisher Cats hat on her head); the groom wore one of those T-shirts with a tuxedo printed on it.  Also, a prize for the Longest-Married, not us, I’m sure there will be someone married longer than ten years!  One couple will also win a six-night stay at Steele Hill Resort up in NH; if I remember correctly from last year, that was a “lucky envelope” thing.  Each couple was given an envelope and told not to open it until they were told to.  One couple got the trip, everyone else got two tickets to a Fisher Cats game later that season.  We got tickets to a game, I’ll never turn that down, and we went.  So everybody got something, and it was a lot of fun for all involved.  They will also once again have an Atlas Fireworks show after the game.

If you come, why not make a weekend of it, as we are?  We currently have the Sunday mini-plan, so we already had tickets for the game the next day.  So we’ll be staying at the Hilton Garden Inn that faces the ballpark, which is a very nice place, not too spendy, and you don’t have to worry about parking.  You can also primp up for your wedding there, and just walk out to the ballpark when it’s time.  But if you are more the camping type, and got a good rv insurance quote, I’m sure there are campgrounds that are not too far; I just don’t know where they are. I just know that you can’t park RVs near the ballpark or on the street in Manch, so you’d have to plan ahead. I prefer the hotel!

Even if you don’t want to participate, I’d love it if you wanted to come out and watch the ceremony anyway!  Gates open at 6:05 PM, the ceremony will be held shortly thereafter, before the 7:05 PM game time.  Would love to see you there!

Passport – A Craft Beer & Culinary World Tour

I heard about this for the first time on Facebook…don’t know why I’ve not heard of it last year, as we are members of Strawbery Banke Museum.  Don’t know why this was never announced in the member newsletter.  But that’s okay, we know about it now, tickets have been bought.

Passport is an event that will be held on the grounds of Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, NH, on September 25.  It will feature fine craft beers from New Hampshire and other parts of New England, paired with foods from some of Portsmouth’s best restaurants.  Please watch the video below to get an idea of what to expect.

If you can’t see the video here, try going to the Passport website and see it there.  Seeing this video definitely makes me all the more excited to go.  It’s clearly not a mob scene, as those Phantom Gourmet Food Festivals are, and you get more than a little teeny-tiny cup sized portion, also a hallmark of the Phantom Gourmet festivals!  The grounds of Strawbery Banke are gorgeous, and the weather should be lovely at the end of September.  It’s certainly a lot more fun than attending an SEM Chicago event, and certainly nicer than that Phantom Gourmet crap!

We decided to splurge and get the VIP tickets, which include a special reception with the brewmasters, and tastings of beer and food not included in the regular event.  And a VIP goodie bag, too!  VIP tickets are $85 per person and are very limited.  If you don’t want to spend that much, general admission tickets, to the regular event only, are $45 until August 15; after that they’ll be $60.

The VIP reception goes from 4-5PM, the regular event runs from 5-9PM.  All proceeds go to benefit Strawbery Banke and New Hampshire Public Television; both excellent causes and well worth supporting.  For more information and to buy tickets, go HERE.

Cheers!

Yarmouth Clam Festival

Looking for something cool to do this weekend?  Why not take a trip up to Yarmouth, Maine, and enjoy the annual Yarmouth Clam Festival.  This takes place from Friday, July 16 through Sunday, July 18.  In addition to great food, there will also be live music, arts & craft shows, horse & wagon rides, trolley tours, and much more.  See the website for details.

And of course, there is the traditional Clam Festival parade on Friday night.  This event is so popular that people are already setting up their lawn chairs to reserve the best place to sit.

Admission to the Festival is free, and proceeds from parking and your purchases at various booths will go to support local community stuff.

So don’t spend another boring weekend at the computer, researching stuff like treatment for adult acne and the like. We’re supposed to get a halfway decent weekend, so come on out and have fun!