Letter To The Editor
For
many years my family and I have often had the pleasure of
attending musical performances and religious services at the
Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul at St. Paul’s School in Concord.
This magnificent church will soon be celebrating its 125th
anniversary. When I’m at a concert or service there it’s easy to
imagine I’m in an historic English cathedral.
St.
Paul’s School Chapel Music Director Nicholas White is a
remarkably accomplished choir director, organist, and composer.
His has held positions at Cambridge University, Washington
National Cathedral, Columbia University, and elsewhere. He is
also Music Director at The Boston Cecilia, a choral society
founded in 1876.
This Sunday, April 8th, at 4 PM, Mr. White will be
conducting a service of Choral Evensong at the Chapel with the
combined choirs of St. Paul’s School and the Episcopal High
School of Alexandria Virginia. The public is welcome, and it’s
free.
Choral Evensong is an Anglican tradition that began in 1549, but
its roots go back to the monasteries and churches of the Middle
Ages. The approximately 45 minute service at St. Paul’s is held
several times each academic year. It is celebrated using the
traditional Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
The
Chapel is on the campus of St. Paul’s School, 325 Pleasant
Street in Concord. For more information visit the website of the
Keiser Concert Series at St. Paul’s School.
Michael Faiella
Bumblebee Haven
Sarah Madore’s digital photo Bumblebee Haven was selected
for the cover of the Northwood Annual Report from a large group
of artwork submitted by Coe-Brown Northwood Academy students.
The colors and intensity of the photo evoke a feeling of a New
England summer. Sarah is a senior at Coe-Brown and has
taken a variety of art classes over the four years which have
helped her to develop her own style. She always leans
toward drawing and painting, and also pursues photography as a
hobby.
The
annual report also includes many other photos and drawings of
Coe-Brown students throughout its pages. The Northwood Board of
Selectmen and the Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Art Department has
worked collaboratively for many years to include student artwork
on the pages of the annual report.
If
you have not yet picked up your printed copy of the report, be
sure to stop in the town office during regular business hours
Monday-Friday 8-4. The report includes financial reports of the
town and school district, reports of boards and committees,
meeting dates, contact information, vital statistics and much
more.
This Weekend’s LRPA After Dark Feature:
1919’s “Broken Blossoms”
Join Lakes Region Public Access Television at 10:30 p.m. this
Friday and Saturday night (April 6 & 7) for our “LRPA After
Dark” presentation of 1919’s silent film masterpiece, D.W.
Griffith’s “Broken Blossoms,” starring Lillian Gish, Richard
Barthelmess and Donald Crisp.
Cheng Huan (Barthelmess) is a shopkeeper who moved to London
from China with the hopes of using his Buddhist teachings to
change the violent ways of Western civilization. After several
years in the city’s squalid Limehouse District, he has become
disillusioned, often spending his free time smoking opium. One
bright light in his dreary existence is Lucy (Gish), a lovely
young girl who sometimes shops in his neighborhood. Lucy lives
with her father, the brutish alcoholic boxer “Battling” Burrows
(Crisp). Burrows regularly beats Lucy for any mistake, including
accidentally spilling soup on his hand. After a particularly bad
beating, Lucy wanders the streets and collapses in Huan’s shop.
He dresses her wounds, nurses her back to health and through
kindness, restores her humanity and dignity. She experiences
hope and happiness for the first time in her wretched life, and
the two begin to fall in love. By chance, one of Burrows’
friends discovers Lucy in Huan’s shop and tells the boxer. He is
outraged that Lucy is associating with a foreigner and goes to
the shop to seek his revenge. What will happen to young Lucy and
her hero Cheng? Can their innocent yet forbidden love survive?
Anyone familiar with the films of director D.W. Griffith knows
that he usually favored spectacle, including high production
values, lengthy film times and elaborate sets. “Broken Blossoms”
premiered in May of 1919, and critics and theatregoers alike
were stunned by the story’s relative simplicity: three main
characters, a straightforward story, and a brisk running time of
88 minutes. Critic were enchanted both by Gish’s ethereal beauty
and Barthelmess’ restrained performance. It was a hit then, and,
unlike some of Griffith’s more controversial films (“The Birth
of a Nation” in particular), is considered one of his finest
movies, and a silent film masterpiece. While contemporary
viewers will note that the film’s ideas about race are woefully
outdated (Huan is known as the “Yellow Man”), there is still
much about the film that transcends time and place, particularly
in its views of good and evil in everyday life. In the
decades since its release, “Broken Blossoms” continues to win
over film historians and critics. “Broken Blossoms” is included
in author Steven Schneider’s book 1001 Movies You Must See
Before You Die. In writing about “Broken Blossoms”, noted film
critic Roger Ebert wrote:
Griffith in 1919 was the unchallenged king of serious American
movies … “Broken Blossoms” was seen as brave and controversial.
What remains today is the artistry of the production, the
ethereal quality of Lillian Gish, the broad appeal of the
melodrama, and the atmosphere of the elaborate sets. And its
social impact. Films like this, naive as they seem today, helped
nudge a xenophobic nation toward racial tolerance.
What else do you need to know? Grab your popcorn and meet us
after dark for this treasure of the silent screen.
Obituaries
Merritt P. Kathan II
Merritt P. Kathan II, 53, a long time resident of Northwood, NH,
passed away December 13, 2017 at his home in Ashland, NH, of
heart condition.
Born October 31, 1960 in Boston, MA, he lived in Warren,
VT, Deerfield, NH and Epsom, NH, but it was in Northwood, NH
where he settled down and raised his two children with former
spouse Heather Head Kathan of Newton, NH. Merritt P. Kathan III
of Lakewood, Washington, who has a son and Kaitlyn Marie Eason
of Dover, NH who has a daughter, a son and is expecting another
daughter in May.
Merritt was the redheaded youngest brother of 8 children:
brothers Anthony Kathan of Webster, NH, Eric Sutphen of Epsom,
NH, Charles Dean of Hampden, ME and Harry Dean of Allenstown, NH
and sisters, Pamela Dulong of Allenstown, NH and Carole Nichols
of Weed, CA. He was predeceased by brother William Sutphen of
Pembroke, NH.
Merritt’s final resting place will be in Warren, VT beside his
mother, Irene E. Zela and father, Merritt P. Kathan.
A
celebration of life will be set for late summer at his church,
Liberty Baptist, in Nottingham, NH, Date and time to be
determined.