5 Things to Do In NH This Weekend

1. Get into gardening! The Milford Garden Club will be holding its’ annual Plant Sale Sat. May 19, 8:30-1 on the Community House Lawn at the corner of Union and Elm, Milford. There will be a large selection of locally grown perennials as well as annuals, herbs, and vegetables. Area vendors will be offering soaps, ceramics, teas and more. Stop by the raffle table for a chance to win handmade and garden related items, the bake table for yummy treats, and the kids’ corner for a fun craft. Musical entertainment will be provided by the CabbageHeads. 

2. Super duper! The Majestic Theatre will present the dinner/dessert theatre presentation: PUTTIN ON THE RITZ- The Music of Irving Berlin. During his 60-year career Irving Berlin wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for 19 Broadway shows and 18 Hollywood films, with his songs nominated eight times for Academy Awards. Over the years he was known for writing music and lyrics in the American vernacular: uncomplicated, simple and direct, with his aim being to "reach the heart of the average American" whom he saw as the "real soul of the country." All inclusive dinner theatre on May 18 & 19 at 7:30pm and on May 20 at 1:30pm. $35.00 Friday/Saturday and $32.00 Sunday.

3. A day of peace. The Tibetan Buddhist monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastery will create a sacred mandala over the four days before opening, and disperse the sand Opening Day, Sunday, May 20 at Canterbury Shaker Village. The program will include a costumed Snow Lion Dance, participatory Om Mani Padme Hum stone painting activity, comparative discourse on Buddhist and Shaker principles, and Saturday morning yoga (first 50 registrants). Come for a day of activities Saturday or Sunday, or for a multiple day experience. Please call the Village 603-783-9077 x230 to register for Yoga Class.

4. Gerbil fans unite! Lovers of these furry little guys should head over to the Holiday Inn in Nashua for the 2012 New England Gerbil Show. Serious gerbil owners and breeders may compete in official judging for the Best-in-Show honors while the public votes for the Photo Contest award winners. A fun Pet Class competition for younger kids gives awards for pets' endearing characteristics, with ribbons awarded for qualities like Cutest Face, Fastest Wheel Runner, Friendliest, and Best Whiskers. Older children may enter their gerbils in our “Mock Show” and learn from the AGS’s Youth Judges what makes a winning gerbil. In the “Gerbil Olympics” pets can compete in events like Tube Chewing and HamTrak Racing. There will be a Gerbil Agility demonstration, specialty gerbil-related merchandise, a parade of painted ceramic gerbils, a raffle and silent auction, and a 4-H pocket pets exhibit.

5. Spooky! Head over to the Manchester City Library on Saturday to hear Stories, Stones and Superstitions of New England. From burial grounds in the Connecticut woods, to the farm fields of Western Massachusetts, to the mountains of New Hampshire and the shores of Maine, take a virtual tour of New England’s graveyards, direct from the pages of Roxie Zweigler’s book: Haunted Cemeteries of New England. Zweigler will discuss Colonial burial customs and beliefs, and share ghost stories from some of the most beautiful and long forgotten cemeteries in the northeast. Learn about the ancient symbolism, stone carvers and stories behind some of New England's oldest gravestones. Copies of her book will be available for purchase.