Exeter Life

In this episode, Lara chats with Dan Provost, a well known English teacher at Exeter High School whose hidden talent is making reclaimed wood art. His studio, known as Wally's Basement, is hosting an open house on December 18 from 10 to 2. 

In this episode, Lara sits down with Executive Chef Paul Callahan at Vino e Vivo in  Exeter. Chef Paul's food has been getting rave reviews since he arrived at the downtown wine bar earlier this year. Lara finds out the secret to his roast duck as well as how he became a chef. They also chat about his menu at the most recent wine dinner. For more information, visit www.vinoevivo.com 

An enormous black horse named Hercules, his owner Gerry Scott, and a yellow lab named Molly have been creating quite a buzz visiting downtown Exeter in recent weeks. When Lara heard the trio were headed to Water Street on Halloween, she headed down to get the scoop. For more information visit https://www.horsesoveramerica.org 

Regular Exeter foodies are all abuzz about the new restaurant, Ambrose, inside the Inn by the Bandstand in Exeter. It opened earlier this summer with little fanfare, no announcement and has been discovered largely by word of mouth. Lara goes behind the scenes with the innkeepers and chef to find out the story about the restaurant, the food, and the mystique surrounding Exeter's latest spot. 

Join Lara for a look behind the scenes during her pop-up book singing event for Dead on Deadline at Water Street Bookstore on September 17th. Hear from some of the locals who have known her the longest as they share their favorite Lara Bricker stories. For the uncensored version of Lara's Exeter Life, join www.patreon.com/partnersincrimemedia at the Brickter Scale or above. 

In this episode, Lara shares the story of Gina Murphy and Travis Weaver's wedding. The couple live in New Mexico but were able to have Gina's father, Jim White, escort her down the aisle on her wedding day in the local rehabilitation center where he is recovering from a stroke.  Listen in to hear this good news story. 

For more information, visit www.larabricker.com where there is exciting news about Lara's upcoming cozy mystery book, Dead on Deadline.

In this episode of Exeter Life, Lara makes a trip out to the ice on the river to visit with some longtime smelt fishermen (and women) in Exeter. She is joined by Mark and Missy Damsell, Tom Coleman Jr., and Brian Thibeault. This episode also includes an original smelt fishing song by Eric Sinclair, and used with his permission, called "Winter of '92" about smelt fishing with his late father Francis Sinclair. 

In this episode of Exeter Life, Lara visits with Lori Whitney, of the Green Bean, and Molly Zirillo, of St. Vincent de Paul, to learn about their involvement in the new program on the Seacoast called Take Out Hunger. Take Out Hunger pairs nonprofits with restaurants to provide food to those in need. More information can be found at www.takeouthunger.org .

In this Exeter Life column from 2016, Lara tells the story of Frannie Wentworth, known by many as Exeter's real Santa. Frannie's daughter Bette Henneberry recounts his time as Santa. 

In this trip back to a 2015 Exeter Life column, Lara shares the rite of passage of waiting in Exeter's Santa line. 

In this episode of Exeter Life, Lara visits with members of the Festival of Trees Committee as they adapt the annual event to the era of a global pandemic. Two raffle trees were decorated and and are on display at Arjay Ace Hardware and Shooter's Pub. Those who make a donation of $25 or more are entered into the drawing for one of the two trees, which will take place on Thursday, December 3. To enter the raffle, visit www.exeterareacharitablefoundation.org/festivaloftrees

In this episode, Lara visits Lincoln Street School to hear how the third grade tradition of creating Cornfield Characters was made possible during the coronavirus pandemic. The annual event has been a rite of passage for incoming third graders for the past 24 years. The freestanding characters are displayed on the lawn of the school before Halloween.

In this episode, Lara sits down with Exeter author Renay Allen, who writes under RM Allen, to talk about her trilogy of mysteries set in Exeter, and how they shed light on the history of the black community in town. 

Allen has been researching the town's black history for the past three years and compiled a report which can be found on her website https://rm-allen.com. 

Her desire to do more led her to write "The Incident at the Exeter Tavern" and the "Incident at the Ioka." The books feature Jude Hall, a black man who earned his freedom by fighting in the Revolutionary War, and James Monroe Whitfield, a black abolitionist poet. A third book, due in 2021, will be set in the suffragette era and profile a successful black hotelier on Hampton Beach. Proceeds from the book are being used to build a pocket park dedicated to the town's black history. 

In this special bonus voices episode of Exeter Life, Lara meets up with Nicole and Jeremiah Vernon from Vernon Family Farm in Newfields to find out more about Bruce the king of Newfields. Bruce is a guard llama for the farm's chickens and Lara finds out whether he's holding up his end of the bargain or more interested in his budding political career. 

This episode was sponsored by Vernon Family Farm, www.vernonfamilyfarm.com 

Monday, September 7th was World Duchenne Day, which seeks to raise global awareness for all those affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, an estimated 300,000 boys worldwide. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disease that destroys muscles. First, the legs go, then the upper body sags, and eventually the heart and lungs stop working.  There is no cure. In 2016, the first medication to treat DMD was approved and while the medication was is not specific to all of the variations of DMD, families hope additional versions might be on the horizon. In this episode, Lara talks with 18-year-old Lucas Currier, of Exeter, who was diagnosed with DMD when he was 4 years old, and his mother Linda.

Who doesn’t love chocolate? In this episode of the Exeter Life podcast, Lara meets with Exeter bean to bar chocolate maker Enna Grazier who just opened a café and chocolate factory in town. Enna shares her journey from wedding photographer to chocolate maker and her thoughts on opening in Exeter, which has long been her dream.

Remember the early days of pandemic life back in March? Some people cleaned out their attic or garage. Others baked a lot of bread. It seemed like the entire world watched The Tiger King on Netflix. Another group planted gardens, some for the first time, others as a regular summer activity. In this episode, Lara visits with four of these local gardeners, as the fruits of their labor are finally ready to eat. 

While most of her friends are still sleeping during their summer vacation, 15-year-old Ella Byrne is up before the sun. She's spending the summer lobstering with her dad, Ward, on the family's boat, the F/V Sugar Daddy. Listen in as Lara visits with Ella on a recent morning when the boat returned to dock in Portsmouth. 

The Farmer's Market has returned to Swasey Parkway in Exeter on Thursday afternoons. Lara visits with the farmers, customers, musicians, and even visits the infamous fish pick up. 

Leslie Haslam retired in June of 2020 from her position as Director of Exeter Adult Education after a 39 year career in town. Lara sits down with Leslie to hear about the early days of adult ed, changes in the program, students whose stories Leslie can't forget, and what she will miss the most. This episode also includes several guest appearances from educators who worked with Leslie. 

Bonus: Listeners will also learn how Leslie got the nickname "The Angel of Nag."

Exeter resident Harry King is often seen on his daily walks from his home in downtown Exeter to the nursing home where he visits Marilyn, his wife of 68 years. Lara tells his story of walking and love in this 2019 Exeter Life column. This episode includes an update on how Harry and Marilyn have fared during the pandemic. Is he still walking? Have they seen each other? Listen in to find out.

Lara is joined by Barbara Rimkunas, the curator of the Exeter Historical Society, to get to the bottom of the urban legend about a house in town being used in the Addams Family. What's fact? And what's fiction? And what's the story with the Moses Kent House at the corner of Front and Linden streets. Listen in to find out.

Early on in pandemic life, columnist Lara Bricker came to rely even more on her local UPS deliver driver, John Hartz. She soon learned, the rest of the town appreciates him just as much (or more) than she does. 

Columnist Lara Bricker revisits her column from 2018 about surviving the squirrel apocalypse in Exeter. 

People always remember where they were when a big event in history took place. Columnist Lara Bricker recalls being in her fourth grade classroom when the Challenger exploded, and working as a newspaper staff writer on 9/11 when the Twin Towers were hit. In this March 2020 Exeter Life column, she recounts where she was when the coronavirus pandemic reached Exeter, while also checking in with area residents about their experiences. 

Lara Bricker has been writing about life in Exeter, New Hampshire for over two decades, but just how did she first arrive in Exeter? And what made her stay and become a permanent resident of the historic town on the New Hampshire Seacoast? In this episode, she revisits her first Exeter Life column and the stages of her life in town.