Events

Unless otherwise noted, events are open to all. The Main Events, however, are those specifically intended to bring the entire Lakes Region community together. Other events are listed in date order.

For a list of participating towns and directions, please click on the Locations tab above.

Main Events

• Saturday, October 2 – 1 PM. Kick-off Event at the Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, NH. Well-known journalist Mike Pride will discuss his book We Went to War featuring narratives from NH veterans and their World War II experiences. Mike will also invite at least one veteran as a guest speaker.

• Saturday, October 9. Battle for the Airfield: WW II Re-enactment and Living History Weekend, hosted by the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts. Patrons should make their own travel arrangements. Please contact Cab Vinton at the Sanbornton Public Library (286-8288) if you would be interested in car-pooling to Stow. The Weekend will feature:
  • military aircraft from the era, including an airborne reenactment of a battle;
  • re-enactors in German and American camps;
  • antique vehicles (1900′s through 1940′s); and,
  • veterans roundtable discussion.

• Friday, October 22 – 10 AM to 12:30 PM. Gilford Public Library. A Day in the Life of a Soldier / NH National Guard Vehicle Display. Come to the library and see what a day in the life of a soldier is like. Write a letter to a soldier, sample a MRE (Meals, Ready-to-Eat), try on a uniform and backpack, or take a look inside a National Guard military vehicle.

• Sunday, October 24 – 1 PM. Inter-Lakes High School, Meredith. Ann Barrows, co-author of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, will hold a question and answer presentation at the Inter-Lakes High School auditorium. Participants in book discussions across the Lakes Region are welcome to submit questions in advance via email. There will be an opportunity for book signing.

• Monday, October 25 – 11 AM. Inter-Lakes High School, Meredith. Ann Barrows will hold a question and answer presentation at the Inter-Lakes High School Auditorium for high school students and their teachers only.

• Saturday, November 6 – 2 PM. Big Band Concert at the Tilton Veterans Home. The Lakes Region Big Band will headline a USO-themed concert to celebrate our veterans with music from the Big Band era.

Events Listed by Date

• Thursday, September 16 – 7 PM. Rumney Historical Museum. The Home Front During WWII. What was life like for those who remained at home during the turbulent years of World War Two? Marcia Schmidt Blaine will talk about life in Rumney and neighboring towns during this time. A joint presentation by the NH Humanities Council, the Rumney Historical Society and the Byron G Merrill Library.

• Friday, October 1 through end of month. Somersworth Public Library. An Unusual Recipe Chapbook. Share your unusual recipes with the Somersworth Public Library, such as Mock Apple Pie, and each participant will get a recipe chapbook.

• Friday, October 1 – 9:30 AM. Bayswater Book Store, Center Harbor. Book discussion of Tatiana De Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, sponsored by the Bayswater Reading Group and the Nichols Library.

• Friday, October 1 – 4 PM. Meredith Public Library. A program on genealogy and military records will be presented by Library Director, Erin Apostolos. What type of information can be found in military records and how can these records be obtained?

• Monday, October 4 – 6:45 PM. Hall Memorial Library, Tilton. Kenneth Gorrell, the editor of Soldier of the Press, a memoir of his uncle and United Press reporter Henry Tilton Gorrell, who covered front-line fighting in Europe and Africa from 1936 until 1943, will be in Tilton to discuss the book. Henry’s manuscript was completed in 1943, but was left in a trunk in the attic of the family farmhouse in Northfield for more than 60 years. This wartime memoir was published for the first time in June, 2009. Kenneth is a consultant living in Northfield.

• Tuesday, October 5 – 5 PM. Jackson Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Tuesday, October 5 – 7 PM. Laconia Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Led by scholar Frumie Selchen.

• Tuesday, October 5 – 7 PM. Old Town Hall, Bristol. Lawrence H. Douglas will present his NH Humanities Council program, War at Home: World War II New Hampshire More than 60 years later we can still witness the cultural effects of World War II. A one-hour video documentary takes a look at life in the Granite State during the 1940s and helps generate discussion of the War’s impact on citizens’ lives and actions, and how it redefined the way we work, live, and play. Hosted by the Minot-Sleeper Library.

• Wednesday, October 6 – 7 PM. Gordon-Nash Library, New Hampton. Informal book discussion of the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society facilitated by Linda Dowal.

• Thursday, October 7 – 6:30 PM. Meredith Public Library. Lawrence H. Douglas will present his NH Humanities Council program, War at Home: World War II New Hampshire More than 60 years later we can still witness the cultural effects of World War II. A one-hour video documentary takes a look at life in the Granite State during the 1940s and helps generate discussion of the War’s impact on citizens’ lives and actions, and how it redefined the way we work, live, and play.

• Saturday, October 9. The traveling museum exhibit on German POW camps in the United States has been cancelled. The exhibit has been separately booked, however, to visit the Rindge Historical Society on October 9, from 10 am to 1 pm. Please confirm before driving down to Rindge! For more info contact Karla McLeod at 899-2208, or visit the museum’s website, traces.org.

• Wednesday, October 13, – 3:30 PM. Meredith Public Library. American Girl Program. Discuss American Doll Collection and the time periods each doll represents and events occurring in American history at that time. Special focus on Molly and the World War II era with discussion of how war affected Americans: family member’s away fighting, women going to work, victory gardens, rationing, and patriotism.

• Wednesday, October 13, – 7 PM. Sanbornton Public Library. Popular Music During World War II: Using Propaganda to Boost Morale presented by Calvin Knickerbocker, a NH Humanities Council Program.

• Thursday, October 14 – 6:30 PM. Laconia Public Library. UNH Professor Marion Girard Dorsey will speak on World War II from a global perspective.

• Thursday, October 14 – 7 PM. Gordon-Nash Library, New Hampton. Lawrence H. Douglas will present his NH Humanities Council program, War at Home: World War II New Hampshire More than 60 years later we can still witness the cultural effects of World War II. A one-hour video documentary takes a look at life in the Granite State during the 1940s and helps generate discussion of the War’s impact on citizens’ lives and actions, and how it redefined the way we work, live, and play. Presented by The New Hampton Historical Society and Gordon-Nash Library.

• Friday, October 15 – 7 to 9 PM. Old Town Hall, Bristol. The Minot-Sleeper Library hosts a USO Canteen that will include the following activities: a Spam cook-off, a 1940’s dance exhibition, a jazz combo, a letter and care package drop-off for service men and women, and much more!

• Saturday, October 16 — 10:30 AM. Tuftonboro Free Library. Author Titia Bozuwa in the Hamel Meeting Room. Ms. Bozuwa, resident of Sanbornville and author of three books, will speak about her personal experiences growing up in Holland during World War II and will read from her book In the Shadow of the Cathedral.

• Monday, October 17 – 6:30 PM. Hall Memorial Library, Tilton. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Wednesday, October 19 – 12 PM. Somersworth Public Library. Brown Bag Book Discussion. Bring your lunch and library will supply beverages and dessert.

• Tuesday, October 19 – 7 PM. Belmont Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Tuesday, October 19 – 7 PM. Pease Public Library, Plymouth. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Frumie Selchen, Director of the Arts Alliance of Northern NH will facilitate the discussion.

• Tuesday, October 19 – 7 PM. Dupuis-Cross Post American Legion Hall, Ashland. Dr. Allen Koop will present his Humanities Council program, Camp Stark: New Hampshire’s World War II German Prisoner of War Camp. Sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Town Library.

• Wednesday, October 20 – 10:30 AM. Moultonborough Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Wednesday, October 20 – 1:30 PM. NH Veterans Home, Tilton, NH. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Wednesday, October 20 – 12 PM. Gordon-Nash Library, New Hampton. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This is a brown bag book discussion so bring a bag lunch. The library will provide beverage and dessert.

• Wednesday, October 20 – 7 PM. Sanbornton Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Thursday, October 21 – 6:30 PM. Laconia Public Library. Historian Michael McKinley will speak on World War II and the Home Front.

• Monday, October 25 – 10 AM. Minot-Sleeper Library, Bristol. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Monday, October 25 – 7 PM. Somersworth Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Tuesday, October 26 – 12 PM. Hall Memorial Library, Tilton. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Wednesday, October 27 – 7 PM. Moultonborough Public Library. World War II Film Series — Eye of the Needle.

• Thursday, October 28 – 12 PM. Meredith Public Library, Meredith, NH. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Led by scholar Frumie Selchen.

• Tuesday, October 28 – 2 PM. Belmont Public Library. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

• Tuesday, October 28 – 6:30 PM. Gilmanton Year-Round Library. Presentation by John Dickey of the Gilmanton Historical Society on what Gilmanton was like during WWII. Followed by a book discussion led by Fromie Selchen, CEO of the Arts Alliance of Northern NH.

• Wednesday, November 3 – 7 PM. Moultonborough Public Library. World War II Film Series — To Be Or Not To Be, preceded by the 3 Stooges short, You Nazty Spy.

• Monday, November 8 – 7 PM. Moultonborough Public Library. Camp Stark: NH’s World War II German Prisoner of War Camp*, Dr. Allen Koop. During WWII 300 German prisoners of war were held at Camp Stark near the village of Stark in NH’s North Country. The history of this camp tells us much about our country’s war experience and our state. Co-sponsored by the Moultonborough Historical Society.

• Tuesday November 9 – 7 PM. Pease Public Library, Plymouth. World War II: “Truly Yours: Love Letters from the Front Line”. Mark Foynes, Director of the Wright Museum of WWII History, will share a series of letters between a NH war bride and a soldier who became a POW. He will also discuss a few of the museum’s artifacts. Those attending are welcome to bring their own WWII items for display.

• Tuesday, November 9 – 7 PM. Sanbornton Public Library. Dr. Allen Koop will present his Humanities Council program, Camp Stark: New Hampshire’s World War II German Prisoner of War Camp. Sponsored by the Sanbornton Historical Society.

• Wednesday, November 10 – 7 PM. Moultonborough Public Library. World War II Film Series — Mrs. Miniver.

• Friday, November 12 – 7 PM. Samuel H. Wentworth Library, Center Sandwich. Book Discussion: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.