More fun things to do in the north country! A Chicken Wing Cook off and River Day at the fabulous Northern Forest Heritage Park

On August 21 NFHP celebrates WINGZILLA/River Day! Two Great Events, Same Day, Same Place! Attached is the WINGZILLA poster. WINGZILLA is a BBQ Chicken Wing Cook-Off competition presented in cooperation with the Berlin Fire Department.  Additionally it is a Two (2) Person Luck of the Draw Horseshoe Tournament. Enter your favorite BBQ Chicken Wing Recipe for a chance to win a cash prize up to $200.00! Whatever you recipe, sweet, hot or something in between can be entered in this Cook-Off! Mark Belanger has claimed first place three years in a row and he says he’s tired of winning!! WHO WILL UNSEAT MARK on August 21? The Berlin Fire Fighters are challenging all Fire Departments around the State for a chance to win prizes from Fire Department Supply Vendors including Valley Fire Equipment, NES Fire & Safety and Minuteman Fire & Rescue Apparatus. Fire Departments also eligible to win cash prizes!!

via www.berlinnh.gov

Yesterday's announcement of Clean Power Developments deal with Gestamp of Spain takes its project one step farther down the road to reality and will bring another 23 jobs to Berlin. And the best part about this project is that it's located appropriately outside of down and won't negatively impact Berlin's downtown businesses.

Berlin - In a special hands-across the border partnership with Skye Theatre in Carthage, Maine, St. Kieran Arts Center is proud to announce that it will host a new Celtic Mondays Mini-Series beginning on Monday July 26th and continuing each Monday night in August at 7 PM. Bringing in top international bands in Irish, Scottish, and Franco traditions, the series will link to selected Maine Celtic Tour partners, and be a first of its kind in New Hampshire.

via www.stkieranarts.org

Can't believe the social media rock star, Dave Carroll -- who wrote and starred in the United Breaks Guitars That's him on the left with me and Shel Israel  
video seen by more than 100 million people (and which costs United more than it would have cost to replace 51,000 guitars) is comign to my little town of Berlin, NH. Hope to see you there!

Dedicated to improving lives and livelihoods, the Women's Rural Entrepreneurial Network's mission is to inspire, create, and connect through economic, educational, personal, and community development.

via www.wrencommunity.org

Berlin Farmers Market, for which I have longed for years, opens Thursday. Of course I'll be giving a speech in Newport News, but I'll be there in spirit, and will see you there next week

Can-Am, the division of Bombadier Recreational Products, Inc. that manufactures and distributes ATVs, is the title sponsor for the Can-Am Jericho ATV Festival on July 10 and 11, which is being held in Jericho Mountain State Park in Berlin, NH.

via www.prlog.org

More info on the ATV fest

Seek the Peak is a hike-a-thon fundraiser to benefit the nonprofit Mount Washington Observatory. Now in its tenth year, Seek the Peak is a great way to get out and experience the White Mountains while helping a great cause.

via www.seekthepeak.org

More fun things to do in the north country this summer. Support the Mt Washington Observatory -- our favorite place to get the weather -- by participating in Seek the Peek

NH ATV Festival July 10-11: Out of state riders welcome!

via www.polarisatvforums.com

Another great reason to visit Berlin, NH this summer!

I'm having a bad hair dayFirst things first... this is our 100th post at Cool as a Crazy Moose. Yay us. Please allow us a little self praise. Secondly this article isn't about a moose as is the focus of this blog. Our motto, borrowed from the New York Times, is "All the moose that's fit to print." Since the story originates from the north country of New Hampshire where it's "all about moose", then we can discuss this topic here. Yes Virginia, there is a Superman. He lives WAAAYYY up there in Colebrook, New Hampshire where he resides in his fortress of solitude, AND he drives a brake-less 1947 Willy Jeep. (who but superman would try that?) Surprisingly he is also a news reporter as is Clark Kent. I have been a fan of his for years. I am what some may say a "flatlander," a term that describes anyone that lives below the notches. My only source of his writing is through my sister who, and I know this sounds very old fashioned in today's technology, uses scissors  to cut his articles out of her local weekly Baysider and mails them to me using the US Postal Service. Yes, they all do arrive and rather timely at that. Who is this mysterious person you ask? He is none other than John Harrigan of the North Country Notebook and that little paper called the Manchester Union Leader. I am amazed at what this man can do now and what he has done in the past. He is no spring chicken after all.I'm also having a bad hair day I have been keeping a list of his various roles. He has been a lumberjack, maple sugarier, a fire fighter. He nearly burned down his house using a Thanksgiving turkey AND helped to extinguish the blaze. It's a long story and very hilarious as he tells it and no one was hurt and no damage was done... except the turkey. In his illustrious news career he has held about every postion there is known in the industry. He is a writer, editor, publisher, photographer, worked on the presses. Heck he probably even delivered the papers by throwing them at peoples front doors! That's all well and good but what else has he done you might ask?? Currently he owns an estate where he is a farmer, a hay bailer, raises animals, does his own tractor repair work. (he also chases tractors) He is obsessed with, and he freely admits this, wood piles. He has described in minute detail the process in which he collects his wood a year in advance from his forest and lets it cure. He cuts these trees into a certain lengths, then after it's cured it gets cut again into another certain length to fit into his outdoor wood furnace. (another obsession) I can't see as I blame him for having these obsessions as he is helping America become a little less oil dependent. John is a hunter, fisherman, canoeist, camper, hiker and many other of the outdoor arts. He may even be an artist for all I know. He wakes up every day at 4:00 AM, feeds the pets and reads several newspapers. As a good newsman, I'm sure they are read cover to cover. At this time he also cooks. In fact he cooks most of the family meals, something that he thoroughly enjoys. As he reads his papers he is cooking breakfast. Bacon, muffins, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, waffles, brews the coffee, and many other items are prepared. I would love to awaken to those aromas every morning. At the same time he is planning and preparing lunch and the evening meal. But get this, the later meals are not cooked in the kitchen, they are cooked on his workshop wood stove as he works. Wow talk about multitasking! I can just envision him building a bird house and stirring the pot of stew at the same time. All this is probably accomplished before 9:00AM. Hey isn't that the US Army's motto?Did someone say smile?With all these jobs past and present one would think he wouldn't have time to himself. Well yes, he has managed to squeak out time enough to take a train from Boston to the West Coast and back, and write out it. John prefers to do things the old fashioned way. His articles are filled with the way things used to be. Northern New Hampshire is the perfect place to learn about these ways as the old ways lasted a bit longer there than other parts of the country. I enjoy reading about those times. I guess I'm an old soul. Mr. Harrigan, you are a north country superman. You might not be able change clothes in a phone booth (what's that?), or stop bullets or go faster then a speeding locomotive, but you sure can turn back time through your writing. P.S. If there anything this guy hasn't done please let me now.... Harold

via coolasacrazymoose.blogspot.com

Great post on the North Country's own John Harrigan

Very cool festival at the heritage park this weekend check it out

Dick Huot speaks from northern NH, not far from this New England vacation spot, with the understated confidence of a man who knows he’s part of something bigger than himself, something you don’t need to exaggerate.  Off the top of his head, from a small corner of a tiny state, he lists the wildest, most vibrant explosion of activities a rural traveler could reasonably expect to find.

via thebalsams.com

More cool stuff happening in Berlin