Ioka Up for Sale Again?

http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Commercial/NH/Exeter/674095

My Column From Today's Papers

Chasing After Todd Palin in Fremont
By Lara Bricker
October 17, 2008 6:00 AM
Just when the media frenzy of the presidential primary seems a distant memory, we have been thrust back into the national campaign trail. Obama's picking apples, Sarah Palin's "ovah in Dovah" and Biden was also in the state. And oh yeah, there has been a giant cardboard version of Obama waving to motorists in downtown Exeter in recent weeks in case you haven't noticed.
There are only weeks to go before the big vote and the campaign is everywhere. This now includes the annual grass drags snowmobile event in Fremont. Hold yourselves back ladies; I was there when Todd Palin, snowmobile racing legend, made a stop last Saturday.
Link to the entire column: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081017-LIFE-810100444

Supporting Local History

American Independence Museum & Exeter Historical Society in Last Weeks of Statewide Membership Challenge

The Exeter Historical Society and the American Independence Museum have teamed up to offer a dual membership deal. In response to the $25,000 membership challenge posed by the Robert and Karin Finlay Foundation—which ends on October 31st--the two history-oriented non-profits are working together in an effort to increase membership in both organizations. Take advantage of this exciting opportunity to join both organizations and save 25 percent. Help preserve our town’s rich heritage by joining today!

For more information, contact Laura Gowing at the Exeter Historical Society at 603-778-2335, info@exeterhistory.org, www.exeterhistory.org or Julie Tiebout at the American Independence Museum at 603-772-2622, jtiebout@independencemuseum.org, www.independencemuseum.org.

Today's Story

Not like I need an excuse to schedule a massage (with this trial I'm covering my shoulders are beyond tight) but this was a really nice story to be able to write.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081014-BIZ-810140333

Nothing Like A Giant Cardboard Obama

I just couldn't resist stopping to get a closer look at this giant cardboard Obama that's been making his way around downtown Exeter recently. When will the Sarah Palin cardboard in a bikini make its way to downtown??

Hungry Like A Wolf

So I haven't heard any coyote's around my house lately, but this sounds interesting:

Coyote & Wolf in the New England Landscape
a presentation by
Chris Schadler, Wild Canid Ecologist

Wednesday, October 22, 2008 · 7:00 pm
First Unitarian Church, Elm Street, Exeter
free & open to the public (registration not required)

Do we really want ‘wilderness’ in New England, and do animals like the wolf have a place in our woods? Will coyotes evolve into wolves, and would we accept them? How do coyotes use the landscape and interact with humans – are we or our pets at risk?

After 28 years of research and many teaching awards, Chris is recognized across New England as a passionate and captivating speaker and a knowledgeable authority on wolf and coyote. Her presentation, punctuated with fascinating stories and photos, has packed halls around NH. It will appeal to adults as well as children of middle school age and up.

EEE Found in Town

The state Department of Health and Human Services announced today that mosquitoes from Exeter and Newmarket tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
These findings raise the number of EEE positive mosquito pools in the state this season to eight.
The infected mosquitoes found in Exeter were discovered in the area of the Brick Yard Pond on Kingston Road. The Brick Yard Pond Park located on Kingston Road will be closed until further notice.

Exeter Inn Update

So we've been straight out busy for the past month+, but did take a trip to the new restaurant at the Exeter Inn recently. I had posted earlier, when they first opened, about the lack of any wines under $9 on the menu. Well, either everyone's reading my blog (hooray), or others also made the same suggestion. They had a number of much more reasonably priced wines by the glass, including a few for only $4 a glass. I have to say that even at the other bars/restaurants in town you'd be hard pressed to find a glass of wine for under $5. So way to go Exeter Inn!

(But no, we saw no Two Buck Chuck, the $2 bottle of wine phenomenon that swept the country a few years back.)

Our local historian has a book out

So Barbara Rimkunas has published a book of her columns. There's a book signing coming up. Here's the details:

Get a jump on the holiday season while supporting the Exeter Historical Society by shopping at Barnes & Noble in Newington, New Hampshire. Barbara Rimkunas will be on hand at 1 p.m. signing copies of her new book, Exeter: Historically Speaking, a collection of Rimkunas’s Historically Speaking newspaper column. In an effort to raise funds to aid them in educating the community about the significance of Exeter’s past, the Exeter Historical Society is working together with Barnes & Noble Booksellers by hosting a bookfair—and book signing—at the Newington Barnes & Noble store.

On October 12 from 12 – 5 p.m., Barnes & Noble will contribute a percentage of every sale made with a special bookfair voucher to the Exeter Historical Society. Vouchers will be available online at the historical society’s website—www.exeterhistory.org—and in hard copy at the Exeter Historical Society.

The Barnes & Noble bookfair will help the Exeter Historical Society and the greater community of Exeter in a couple of ways. First, a percentage of bookfair sales will underwrite the fulfillment of their mission. Second, the libraries of Main Street School and Lincoln Street School have created wish lists for titles to enhance their library collections. Bookfair supporters may choose books from an in-store wish list display to purchase for the schools’ libraries. Purchases from the wish-lists will help both the schools’ libraries and the historical society.

Support Breast Cancer Research and Wash Your Car

I've known Wayne Raymond since I moved to Exeter over a decade ago now. I first met him through the fire department where he serves as the official photographer. Later, I got to know him and his family because I kept my horse Penny across the street from his home in Newfields. Wayne's wife Gail passed away in 2004 after a brave battle with breast cancer. Before her death, she raised funds for, and walked in, the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Exeter. She was a member of the team sponsored by the Tavern At River's Edge and I'll never forget Wayne coming to bring the money she and the family had raised in 2004 just days before Gail passed away.
Since then, Wayne and his sons Lucas and Mitchell have organized and run a benefit car wash each year to raise money for the annual Making Strides Walk.
This year, the the car wash will be held at Graham’s Sunoco on Portsmouth Ave., Exeter Saturday Oct. 4, from 8 a.m. until noon. All monies collected will be donated to breast cancer research through the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk the following weekend. Raymond is a member of the Tavern Nips team, sponsored by the Tavern at River’s Edge in Exeter.