Your Letters From the June 2017 Issue

Send letters to Editor Rick Broussard, New Hampshire Magazine, 150 Dow St. Manchester, NH 03101 or e-mail him at editor@nhmagazine.com.

Wrong Ocean
I pride myself on my fact-checking practices, but looks like I messed up on Dominican Republic geography. In my “Belated Thank-You” story in the April issue, I mistakenly wrote in the second paragraph that “the abandoned banana plantation” was on the Caribbean.

Turns out the Caribbean is on the southern coast of the DR and the northern coast is still the Atlantic. Can we please correct the record and state that the town of Sosúa is on the north coast?

On another note, it was a reader in the Dominican Republic who caught my mistake. Dover philanthropist Hugh Baver, who wants to build a baseball park and butterfly garden to thank the community that once rescued Holocaust refugees, told me one of his new connections in the DR is married to someone from Durham. So you just never know how far the reach of New Hampshire Magazine can be!

Darren Garnick
Amherst

Editor’s note: We all make mistakes. We’re happy to make these corrections to the online version and wish Hugh the best with his charitable efforts on that beach “near” the Caribbean. You can check out his inspirational project at sosua75.org.

Live Free State
I was struck by the similarities in your April article [“John Stark: A Hero for His Time and Ours”] between John Stark and Free Staters, principled small government activists who are moving to New Hampshire to help preserve and expand the liberties found here.

This country has strayed too far from its founding principles of rugged individualism and limited government. President Trump calls DC a “swamp.” This is too generous. It is a cesspool, and things will only get worse.

Instead of wanting to “Make America Great Again,” we should strive to “Make America States Again.”

Nothing can be fixed on a federal level. Let’s focus on our own backyard. Let’s work together to reignite the New Hampshire advantage: small, limited, local government where as much choice as possible is left to the individual. After all, who knows what is better for you and yours — you or a bureaucrat in a swamp?

“Heroism is putting your life on the line for a cause or for the sake of others.” Like us or not (and some do not), Free Staters see the Red Coats and the Tories coming, and we know, like General Stark did, that now is the time to take a stand.

Carla Gericke
Manchester
President, Foundation for New Hampshire Independence
President Emeritus, Free State Project

Pickity Place Photo Popped
I am the owner of Pickity Place in Mason, New Hampshire. Recently, New Hampshire Magazine contacted me and asked me to send them a picture of our little red cottage [“Navigator,” May 2017]. We were thrilled to be in the magazine. The only dilemma being that I was traveling and away from my laptop, which housed all of the terrific images that I have collected throughout the years. The picture was sent from my phone and was average at best. When I opened the May issue and saw the picture of Pickity Place, I was shocked at how beautifully photographer John Poltrack made the photo pop. He featured the massive white ash, yet the cottage did not get lost. Nice job! Keep up the good work.

Kim and Keith Grimes
Mason

The Arts Are Alive and Well
A huge thank-you to New Hampshire Magazine for revealing something everyone should know — the arts are alive and well in our state [“Visible Women,” May 2017]. From painters to metalworkers and everything in between, we are overwhelmed by the creativity of these regional talents. In particular, we would like to congratulate Soo Sunny Park and Vivian Beer, whose artworks are currently on view at the Currier Museum of Art.

Sculptor Soo Sunny Park is an artist whose work exposes the unseen. Her radiant installation BioLath, on view at the Museum through August 6, is a thoughtful investigation of light. The sculptural wire forms Sunny has created fill our Putnam Gallery space. They are suspended from floor to ceiling and reveal intricate shadows. We invite you to celebrate Park’s work and meet the artist at our upcoming event, Currier After Hours: Light and Reflection on June 1 from 6 to 9 p.m.

Equally eye-catching is Vivian Beer’s Anchored Candy No. 8. This dramatic red bench features an architectural block of steel on one end that balances a sweeping curve on the other. Beer’s work is a favorite for many Currier visitors.

We are excited to see what Park and Beer may create in the future. These relentlessly innovative artists are truly deserving of the title remarkable.

Steve Konick
The Currier Museum of Art
Manchester

Correction: Speaking of the fact that we all make mistakes, we owe photographer Jon Benton an apology. We mixed up two of our regular (and talented) contributors — Jon Benton, not John Benford, took the photos of the Gypsy Café in last month’s “World Wonders” feature story. Jon’s photos can be seen both in the May issue and at this link.