Lakes Region Rotary

July 26, 2025 — The Lakes Region Rotary Charity Car Show is one of those must-see annual shows for  car show aficionados. Held at Weirs Beach, one of New Hampshire's favorite tourist destinations, on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, it draws a large variety of cars, trucks and other conveyances every year.

This year was no exception. You can view a small selection of the vehicles present for this year's show at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/lakesregion25/ 

Classic Auto Show

July 19, 2025 — A day of brilliant sun, hard to find this season, found us at the Classic Auto Show at the Aviation Museum in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The perfect weather brought out some classics of the '30s, also mostly absent this season, along with '40s and '50s models, popular with my generation.

Of course, there were also the usual muscle cars, customs and street rods. Overall, a good mix with something to please everyone. You can see the best of what I saw at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/aviation2025/ 

BSAAC Car Show

July 13, 2025 — The 51st annual Bay State Antique Auto Club Car Show, held at the Endicott Estate in Dedham, Massachusetts, once a prime jewel of the New England antique car show season, has lost some of its luster.

The biggest show I've attended so far in this season of shows diminished by bad weather, the number of truly rare classic cars I've come to expect was disappointing. I'm not saying it wasn't worthwhile, it was. But it wasn't up to its high standards of previous years.

I've chosen some of the most interesting cars and trucks to photograph. I hope you enjoy my selection. There are also two quick videos. You can see it all at this link:

https://ww.linwoodstreet.com/endicott2025/

East Coast Lumber Car Show

July 9, 2025 — This show, sponsored by East Coast Lumber Building Supply Company in East Hampstead, New Hampshire was held at the Atkinson Resort & Country Club in Atkinson. For a show held on a mid-week afternoon, attendance was impressive. There was a good turnout and variety of show cars, and the day was warm with a fairly solid but still bright cloud cover. Cloudless skies have been hard to find so far this season.

Take a look. There are just over fifty photos. Won't take up much of your time and there are some interesting cars:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/eastcoast/

"Something Rotten!"

July 2, 2025 — In its 95th season, The Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, New Hampshire chose for its first presentation of 2025, Something Rotten! by Karey Kirkpatrick and Wayne Kirkpatrick. This production was directed for The Barnstormers by Jordan Ahnquist who is also assuming his new duties as artistic director.

It's 1590 in Elizabethan England and Nick Bottom (Ryan Halsaver) and Nigel Bottom (Jacob Erdody) are trying to stage a play, but they're competing with the greatest playwright the English language has ever known. Need I mention who? William Shakespeare (Lee Hollis Bussie, tall and dominating, preening and effete in garish costumes, in one of the best performances of the play).

When it's suggested to Nick they produce their play as a musical, he's dubious at first. You mean combine singing and dancing in the same play with dialog? Who ever heard of that? Shylock (Jorje Barranco) convinces Nick to go ahead with it and the resulting play is entitled "Omelette: The Musical" after Nostradamus misunderstands Hamlet as Omelette. That's not the worst pun in this production. Nostradamus is played by veteran comic actor Doug Shapiro, one of my favorites. He's always a show-stopper. He just takes all the oxygen out of the theater when he's on.

Outstanding song and dance numbers are the highlights of this production, performed by a multi-talented cast. There are also plenty of laughs. The story line is complicated. Nigel meets and falls in love with Portia (Mary McNulty). Brother Jeremiah (Scott Cote) discovers the lovers and imprisons Portia. Nick's wife, Bea (Rachel Alex Norman), discovers she's pregnant. In a court scene near the end, Nick, Nigel, Nostradamus and Shylock are sentenced to beheading.

 The format of the program doesn't make all the actors and their roles clear, so I apologize if I've missed or misidentified any. There was an error in lighting. A row of lights of different colors were mounted above the stage, behind the actors. Occasionally, bright white lights came on briefly, causing those of us nearest the stage to shield our eyes and rendering actors nearly invisible.

My complaints are minor. This high-energy, beautifully directed and staged production will be hard to top for the rest of the season by any theater.

Sara Coombs was the choreographer and Michael Ursula music director. Alison Pugh did masterful work on the many costumes.