Topsfield Auto Show

June 13, 2026 — It was a busy day in the town of Topsfield, Massachusetts. A car show was held on the spacious and attractive grounds of the Congregational Church while just across the street the Strawberry Festival was going on in the Town Common.

The 300-year-old church made an attractive centerpiece for the car show which offered a good variety of classics from the '40s on up, a few trucks and a custom here and there. Another impressive building overlooking the show was the 1873 Topsfield Town Hall.

In the Strawberry Festival across the street many craft booths offered a variety of locally made products, some farm machinery, a live band and delicious strawberry shortcakes that kept people lined up to sample them all day.

You can see some of the action at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/topsfield/

 

Goffstown and Marlborough

June 6-7, 2026 — I thought the weekend was lost. Right up until Friday all the meteorologists were predicting heavy rain and thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. They couldn't have been more wrong. Saturday was muggy with a thin cloud cover most of the day, but no rain. The Goffstown Rotary Car Show in Goffstown, New Hampshire, took advantage of the unexpected dry weather and hosted a large turnout of cars and spectators. This and Bow Rotary are a couple of my must-see shows to start off every season. A lot of the same cars show up year after year and it's difficult to find cars I haven't photographed before, so I try to make up for the repetition with different photographic compositions.

Sunday was even better with bright sun, occasionally blocked by puffy white clouds, at the Marlborough Main Street Care Show in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Marlborough is turning into a primarily custom and personal car show, much bigger than Goffstown Rotary but I had trouble finding more variety. But it's still great show in a very photogenic downtown with its city hall tower and the ornate First Baptist Church anchoring one end of Main Street. A marching band comes through once at every show, scattering the crowd. This year Heather Storm, television host, producer, director and car expert, greeted spectators and posed for pictures with them.

You can see my coverage of Goffstown Rotary Car Show at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/goffstown2026/

And Marlborough Main Street Car Show at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/marlborough26/

May 20, 2016 — Good turnout for the Bow Rotary Car Show in Bow, New Hampshire, hosted by the Rotary Club. It was the first warm, summer-like day of the season in a cool, wet spring so far. There were some exceptional imports and a good selection of American brands, vintage as well as nearly new.

Bow Rotary is a relatively small show I often begin the season with. It draws many of the same cars year after year, and I refrained from photographing some I have shot many times before. Still, I came away with 55 photos, not a bad score. You can see those I admired most at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/bowrotary26/

Blizzard of '26

February 23, 2026 — It was nearing the end of the coldest winter in about a decade. There was no January thaw, no breaks from the relentless cold. Snow was frequent, but in the 2 to 5-inch range for the most part, until this one. Once again, terms like "Bomb Cyclone" and "Bombogenesis" were being bandied about to describe the brutality of the storm. Snow was coming down at a rate of 4 inches per hour at its greatest intensity. Snow depths exceeded three feet in some communities. 

The storm blitzed New York before moving north into New England. Hardest hit were southeastern Massachusetts, the Cape and Rhode Island. Comparisons to the Blizzard of '78 were inevitable. In 2026, Providence, RI's 37.9 inches topped the 27.6 that fell in the city in 1978. 

But overall, '78 is still the champ, hands down. Peak wind in '78 was 111 miles per hour in Scituate, MA as opposed to '26's 83 on Nantucket Island. The '78 storm raged for days, '26 barely over 24 hours. The '78 storm lasted through four tide cycles with major flooding, '26 through one with minor flooding. Tragically, there were 100 storm-related deaths in '78, none reported in '26.

The storm was four days ago and many communities are still digging out. Many are still without power, but crews are doing a fantastic job of getting everyone back online. 

Christmas 2025

December 24, 2025 — Changeable, conflicting weather forecasts this year put in doubt my annual Christmas trip to the South Shore to spend time with my extended family. But the unpredictable weather broke just right for travel, and we all got together to celebrate togetherness, gifts, great food and lots of good cheer and laughs.

The Yankee Swap, as usual, was the highlight of Christmas Eve. They used to set a limit of $10, but in recent years some pretty classy gifts have been donated. Before you swap, you should give some thought to just what you're holding in your hand.

I find it hard to believe, but I'm now at the top of four generations. I have great grandnephews and great grandnieces whose names I don't even know.

Share some of the fun with us in this series of photos and videos at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/christmas25/