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lectures'Flannel andFritz’ spotlights N.H. folkloristCourtesy photoNew Hampshire folklorist Fritz Wetherbee will give a talk at “Flannel and Fritz/' a spaghetti supper that marks the first of many events celebrating Mont Vernon’s bicentennial.UPCOMING EVENTSMont Vernon’s bicentennial is this year, but it began celebrating in 2002 with a Statehouse re-enactment of the presentation of a petition that led to the town breaking away from Amherst.“Flannel and Fritz is the first of many bicentennial events scheduled for this year. They are listed on the calendar at the town Web site (town.mont-vernon.nh.us).Other events include:Jan. 26: Super Bowl Soup and Sledding Party, noon, Lamson Farm. Free.Jan. 31 and Feb. 1: “The Moo-ving story of Mont Vernon,” a presentation by students about town history, Village School, 7 p.m.May 17: Bicycle rodeo, poetry slam, plant sale at Daland Library. Historical Museum opens for the season. (There will be no Spring Gala this year.)June 21: Purgatory Falls picnic.Aug. 9-10: Bicentennial event weekend throughout town.SeDt. 27: Lamson FarmBy DAVID BROOKS Telegraph staffMONT VERNON - If New Hampshire had an official state voice, the way we have a state bird and a state flag, it would belong to Fritz Wetherbee.Since his days as a Monad-nock area radio personality, through his tenure on public television and into his current appearances on the Channel 9 show “Chronicle, Wetherbee’s gravelly but soothing tones have come to personify the Granite State.IF YOU GO“Flannel and Fritz,” a spaghetti supper and talk by New Hampshire folklorist Fritz WetherbeeWHEN: Saturday, Jan. 18; 6-10 p.m.WHERE: Mont Vernon Village School, 98 Harwood Road.TICKETS: Tickets are $12; available at the Mont Vernon General Store, Post Office or from any bicentennial committee member. Patrons are asked, but not required, to wear a flannel shirt.INFORMATION: Call Dawn Lyon at 673-0493.Which is fine with the 66-year-old Wetherbee, a Milford native who now lives in Portsmouth. He loves telling people true stories about his state, the weirder the better.Wetherbee’s main worry’ is that too often people want to see the face that goes with the voice.“If I could do nothing but voice-overs, I would be happy,” he said in a recent interview, speaking of his frequent narration work for documentaries and TV shows. “I abhor public speaking. I have a usual response to requests: I say no.But Wetherbee didn’t say no to the Mont Vernon Bicentennial Committee, which is featuring him at “Flannel and Fritz,” a spaghetti dinner and talk that will start celebrations of the town’s 200th year.“We wanted to kick off the year with a big attraction. said Dawn Lyon, co-chair for the Bicentennial Committee Mont Vernon was able to snag Wetherbee because he has connections to the town that are both historical - his greatgrandfather Addison Wetherbee lived here - and personal. He graduated from Milford High School (class of 1954) in the days when Mont Vernon students attended upper grades in Milford, and has memories of town from such things as Scout trips to Purgatory Falls.That was the place to go, he said of the scenic falls along the border of Mont Vernon and Lyndeborough. “We wrent there a lot. Back before there was television, people got out a lot more.The kicker, though, was town resident Carl Silva, a family friend for as long as Wetherbee can remember. Silva, owner of two Silva Marts stores in Milford, is part of the Bicentennial Committee along with his wife, Jan, who owns the Mont Vernon Inn retirement home.They were able to get their friend to show up, and are also bankrolling the evening. Proceeds go to the Bicentennial Committee to pay for a host of other 2003 events.As the event’s name implies, guests are urged to wear a flannel shirt in keeping with Wetherbee’s folksy image.Fred Minot Wetherbee II isn’t sure how he came to be such an unofficial bard of folklore for New Hampshire.He admits, though, that he has the roots for it. He is an llth-generation Yankee (ancestor John Wetherbee arrived in Boston in 1630, notes his Web site), and is a man who remembers such tidbits as his grandfather telling about the arrival in Milford of kerosene lighting: He said it was the cat’s meow.”After getting out of the Army in 1960, Wetherbee hung around in Greenwich Village in New York writing poetry as a self-described beatnik, then returned to New Hampshire to make money for a family. He started out selling ads for the Monadnock Ledger newspaper in Peterborough but quickly moved into reporting and photography.His penchant for finding and distilling quirky’, fascinating stories, plus a skill with cameras and filmmaking, eventually led to what has become a long and distinguished career that includes three “New Hampshire Remembered documentaries, a national PBS show about New England covered bridges and films about everything from “Peyton Place” to the MacDowell Colony for artists.Locally, most people know him best for his 10 years as host of the “New Hampshire Crossroads show on New Hampshire Public Television, plus his work on the “Chronicle” lifestyles program out of Boston - unusual work for a man who would rather be heard than seen.“I come across better on television than in person,” he said. I have no presence.His current gig is an outgrowth of the Boston TV work. He writes and creates five short stories a week for “NewDay and barn dance.Nov. 11: Re-dedication of War Memorial, 11 a.m.Dec. 15: Town Tapestry birthday cake party, followed by fireworks display, Village School.Hampshire Chronicle” on Channel 9 out of Manchester.He credits producer Mary Ann Mroczka for the success of those spots, although it doesn’t hurt that Wetherbee has such a knowledge of New Hampshire that he can mention the need to think up 300 different state-oriented stories without a hint of panic in his voice.As for what he will do when he stands at the lectern in the Mont Vernon Village School, Wetherbee isn’t quite sure.But it should be funny, should be interesting, should be something to remember.And there’s no question that it will sound great.David Brooks can be reached at 249-3336 or Drooksd a teiegraph-nh.com.
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Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, US
Thu, Jan 09, 2003
Page 72
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NA, 07 Mar 2025
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