Open Mic Poetry Night Comes to Downtown

A fun event coming up on Wednesday, June 10 at Water Street Bookstore. It's Open Mic Poetry starting at 3:30 p.m. New Hampshire Poet Laureate Walter E. Butts will be sharing his poetry. After that, we'll be opening the mic for you to share your own work.

More on Butts from his website:

W.E. Butts is the author of several poetry collections, including Sunday Evening at the Stardust Café, which was chosen as a finalist for the 2005 Philip Levine Prize in Poetry and selected winner of the 2006 Iowa Source Poetry Book Prize, and the chapbooks What to Say if the Birds Ask (Pudding House Publications, 2007) Sunday Factory (Finishing Line Press, 2006), White Bees (Oyster River Press, 2001), and A Season of Crows (Igneus Press, 2000). He has received two Pushcart Prize nominations and a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Award, and has taught in poetry workshops at the University of New Hampshire and has been a featured presenter at several community events and conferences.

In 2007, he was a visiting writer at Cornell College, Iowa. He is a member of the faculty of the BFA in Writing Program at Goddard College, and is listed in two editions of Who's Who Among America's Teachers. His poems appear frequently in such magazines as Atlanta Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Cider Press Review, Cimarron Review, Mid-American Review, and Poetry East, and have been anthologized in The Anthology of Magazine Verse (Monitor Books), Under the Legislature of Stars: 62 New Hampshire Poets (Oyster River Press, 1999), Open Door: A Poet Lore Anthology, 1980 – 1996, (Writer’s Center Editions, 1996), Heartbeat of New England: Contemporary Nature Poetry (Tiger Moon Press, 2000), Leaves by Night, Flowers by Day (Iowa Source, 2006), and elsewhere.

From the Save the Ioka Group:

On behalf of the SaveTheIoka.com team, I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in a special community focus group. These focus group sessions will play an important role as we work together to build the cultural center of the 21st century, through the creation of the IOKA Digital & Performing Arts Center.
Thanks to the generous support of the Exeter Fire Department, we have permission to hold these sessions at the IOKA Theater located at 55 Water Street. At this time we have a total of three, two-hour sessions scheduled with a maximum enrollment of 20 participants in each.
The dates and times are as follows:

Saturday May 23 at 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday May 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Sunday May 31 at 1:00 p.m.

With space limited, I anticipate the sessions filling up rather quickly so please R.S.V.P promptly and let me know in which session you are interested in participating. Please note that this is strictly on a volunteer, first-come, first serve basis.
Interested individuals can contact me at w.leweck@comcast.net or via phone at (603) 770-5282.
Thank you again for your interest and support in the SaveTheIoka.com Campaign and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Sincerely,
Wendie Leweck,
Co-campaign ManagerSaveTheIoka.com
w.leweck@comcast.net
603.770.5282

Learn About Natural Flea and Tick Remedies for Pets

Herbalist Carol Lizotte from Green Gems Herbals will be at White Lily Teas (now behind Serendipity) tonight from 5 to 6:30 p.m. or a free talk about how to keep your pets safe in the spring and summer. She will talk about natural remedies for flea and tick control, parasite protection and allergies. She will have some of her own products on hand at the store for purchase.

New Seafood Place Open for Business

I stopped in this week to check out the new R & B's Surf and Turf on Lincoln Street (in the old Circus Cafe place) and could not believe it was the same place inside. These two guys, Richard Cantrall and "Bub" Kershaw spent the past 5 months gutting and renovating the inside, took out 4 dumpster loads of stuff from the building, and reconfigured the space for more seating. They are serving up baked and fried seafood, lobsters, steamers, and handmade chicken tenders. I've not tried out the food yet, but the space looks great. It's BYOB right now and they have wine glasses and corkscrew on site.

They Did It

I was coming back into town this evening and couldn't resist driving by to see if the light was on at the Ioka.
Earlier today, Marc Murai of the Save the Ioka.com announced that if he raised the $10K needed for his good faith deposit by the deadline tonight, they would light up the marquee. If not, it would remain black.
Well, the light wasn't on, but Roger Detzler was climbing on a ladder to post up something to the effect of "We Did It" when I passed by.
I'm amazed that the group was able to raise the money in such a short period of time. I have to wonder if Clint Eastwood did chip in at the last minute. (See the story from Portsmouth Herald here where Murai talks about how he approached Eastwood).
I will say one thing for this fast paced campaign and last minute entrance into the mix by Murai, it has gotten the interested people in the community fired up. I saw some lady jumping up and down on the sidewalk like a pogo stick when Detzler was putting up the post tonight.
Will he be able to raise the rest of the nearly quarter million dollars by the next deadline? We shall see in the next episode of what is starting to feel like our own Exeter version of a reality show.

Ioka Group Issues Last Minute Appeal for $$

Press Release from the Save the Ioka.com group:

The SaveTheIoka.com community rally and fundraiser on Sunday May 3 at Swasey Parkway in Exeter drew in a crowd of about two hundred people that gave generously.
"We raised just over twenty-five hundred dollars, bringing our current fundraising efforts up to thirty-five hundred dollars," said Wendie Leweck co-campaign manager. "We are asking the community to donate any amount that is meaningful to show support for what will be the Ioka Digital & Performing Arts Center. Your donation shows our investors that the community does in fact want a performing arts center in Exeter."

Marc Murai, who signed an intent to purchase agreement on April 23 with Roger Detzler, current owner of the Ioka, has until May 6 to raise $ 10,000. If the SaveTheIoka.com campaign is unsuccessful in raising that amount, all donations will be refunded. If the $10,000 is raised, the money will be placed as a good faith deposit on the purchase of the theater and gives Murai 60 days to finalize his business plan and present it to potential investors. To show your support visit www.savetheioka.com or contact Wendie Leweck at wendie@savetheioka.com.

Rebecca Rule at Historical Society This Week

That Reminds Me of a Story: Yankee Humor and the New England Storytelling Tradition

Exeter, New Hampshire –Join the Exeter Historical Society on Tuesday, May 5 at 7:30 pm (with refreshments at 7 p.m.), for a presentation by Rebecca Rule, entitled “That Reminds Me of a Story: Yankee Humor and the New England Storytelling Tradition.” The program will take place at the Exeter Historical Society, 47 Front Street, Exeter, and is free and open to the public. This program is generously sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council.

Named “Thalia, Muse of Comedy” by New Hampshire Magazine, Rebecca Rule tells funny, true(ish), close-to-home stories, collected all over the state. Get the inside scoop on dump protocol, town meeting, blue-winged-teal, Perley’s dump sticker, and septic lagoons. Find out about Catherine’s battle with mosquitoes, who’s firing shots from the banks of the Cockermouth River, how come the Chief of Police is sitting in his cruiser half the night at the top of Hoyt Hill, and what some folks think ought to be the new state motto.

Ioka Rally This Sunday

A Press Release from Save the Ioka.com Group:

Exeter: Please join us this Sunday, May 3 at Swasey Parkway in Exeter, NH at 2:00 p.m. for a family friendly, town hall-style community gathering, hosted by the volunteers of both the SaveTheIoka.com campaign and the supporting community non-profit group.

On April 23 Emmy and Peabody award winning producer Marc Murai signed a preliminary intent to purchase agreement with Immer Besser LLC, current owner of the IOKA ® Theater located at 55 Water Street in Exeter, NH. At that time demolition of the interior of the theater had already begun. The agreement brought an immediate stop to any and all further demolition of the IOKA ® Theater and allows Murai until May 6 to raise $10,000 to put down as a non-refundable good faith deposit, which will be applied towards the purchase of the theater upon the signing of a purchase and sales agreement. Once the deposit is paid, a purchase and sales agreement must be signed by July 9, 2009 or the deposit will be forfeited. During that 60 day period, the plan for the ownership and operation of the IOKA ® as a modern digital and performing arts space will be developed.

This Sunday’s rally will introduce all of our community organizers and supporters and will also serve as an informational presentation to the public on the current progress of the grass-roots campaign. The public will also have the opportunity to ask questions of campaign manager, Marc Murai. Live music and food will be available. So pack up the family or grab a friend and come on down to the Swasey Parkway, because the time has come for You to help save the historic IOKA ® Theater... Once and for all.

To learn more about our efforts please visit www.SaveTheIoka.com or contact Wendie Leweck co-campaign manager at 603.770.5282 or wendie@savetheioka.com.