June Letters

After Before and After

We enjoyed your well-written article on our home very much [April issue]. Even though we’ve lived through the redecorating experience, it was lots of fun to see the before and after. My daughter got a kick out of my thinking she may become a glassblower — who knows?!

If anyone wants to know, my family member who painted the chest has her own business in Essex, Mass. Her name is Martha Bannon and her shop is of the same name. She was recently featured in Better Homes & Gardens. Very talented! Thanks for doing such a great job!

Cindy Martin
Meredith

Delighted in D.C.

I am the daughter of Frank Barndollar, whose interview was published in your April issue under the Senior Life section. We were delighted to see the

article and particularly the picture. It is one of the better photos of my Dad in a long time, and besides, we loved our high school pictures showing in the background!

Sherry Barndollar Rock
Washington, D.C.

Pin Sales Flourish

Thank you so much for the terrific article about the Flourish pin in the May issue. Since the piece was published, we have received at least one order every day, including one from Connecticut and one from Ohio. We are delighted with this honor!

Ellen Fineberg
Executive Director, Women’s Business Center

Yes, We Had No Recipe

Again, a wonderful issue! I love the magazine and have given subscriptions to several friends. I have a question regarding the recipe for Banana Oatmeal Muffins, featured on page 63 of the May issue; I can’t find the ingredient list for the topping. I want to make the muffins for expected company, so would it be possible to obtain it?

Ilse Altherr
Lancaster

Editor’s Note: Ilse, sorry about the omission. Here’s the recipe. It’s a simple one, but it’s the finishing touches that make things perfect.

Topping for Banana Oatmeal Muffins
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch each, nutmeg and cinnamon
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Combine and set aside.

Feeling Like a Native

I’d like to join your focus panel. I’m a relative newcomer to New Hampshire, having moved here five years ago. Retired, 75, and busy singing barbershop, playing in geezer bands and making stuff out of wood. I spent most of my working life in marketing communications. A fair amount of that time was spent measuring communications effectiveness, print and broadcast.

My name is Lowell Monroe, but I go by Bill Monroe. We live in Contoocook, and feel as though we’ve lived here a long, long time. I believe the statement, “If you live in a small town and suddenly realize you don’t know what you are doing, don’t worry, everyone else does.”

Bill Monroe
Contoocook

A Charmed Life

I just read your Editor’s Notes in the March issue and totally agree to your concerns regarding New Hampshire’s changes. I love what we have here but see our town in the Lakes Region growing in changes that may not be right. As a retail business in Center Harbor and Laconia, we deal with all of the tourists that come to New Hampshire to be in the mountains and fresh air and they don’t want New Hampshire to have the same urban chains and megastores (except maybe in the cities of Concord or Manchester). Most are from New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and they love the hometown charms and talking with them when they come through our doors. We end up telling them the local hot spots and places to go just like a Chamber of Commerce does. I don’t want our town and the Lakes Region booming out of land and natural resources. Those are all of the charms that we love so much.

Anyways, I am extremely passionate about these issues and would love to be included in your focus group.

P.S. We met you when we won with Yikes! “Best Gallery of American Craft in NH” at the Best of NH party.

Diane Campbell
Moultonboro

Editor’s Note: About 50 readers have signed on to the New Hampshire Magazine focus group, which was first mentioned in the April issue. Anyone interested in serving can still sign up by sending a note to editor@nhmagazine.com. And this year’s Best of NH party is on for June 24. Check the ad on page 62 for details. See you there.