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Out on the cheap
How to hit the town without putting a dent in your wallet
By Dana Unger and Christina Nyquist letters@hippopress.com

Feeling the urge to cut back but not the urge to stay in?

You don’t have to blow a lot of money to have a good time out on the scene. With a little planning and creativity, you can still paint the town red without spending a lot of green. Reporters Dana Unger and Christina Nyquist went searching for an evening of fun no matter how little change you have in your pocket — from a deluxe $25 evening to a night of fun had mostly for free. Do you have a favorite way to spend an evening without spending a bundle? Let us know at letters@hippopress.com

PEOPLE: Biked Alaska
100-mile race cut short for Bow man

David Hill, 48, of Bow traveled to Alaska in February to compete in the Susitna 100, a 48-hour, 100-mile mountain bike race (www.susitna100.com). After going from 9 a.m. one morning to 12:30 a.m. the next, persistent snowfall and painful chafing caused Hill to scratch the race. Hill, director of marketing at Healthworks Chiropractic and Fitness in Concord, has used the event to raise money for children and young adults from abusive households. Healthworks, at 1 Pillsbury St., will host a fundraising event to support the Rape and Domestic Violence Crisis Center in Concord on Thursday, April 16, at 5:30 p.m. Call 225-0025 or visit www.healthworksnh.com for a donation form.

THEATER: The original sitcom
UNH Durham brings commedia dell’arte to UNH Manchester
By Heidi Masek hmasek@hippopress.com

Productions from the University of New Hampshire’s Department of Theatre and Dance in Durham don’t normally make it west to UNH Manchester. In fact, I C No Arrlechino might be the first to travel between the two.

LONGSHOTS: Mount Rushmore offerings and other spring thoughts
by Dave Long

I’ll admit I’ve been kind of grumpy in this space for a while. And with columns about Bud Selig trying to lay the steroids blame on just the players, my crankiness at the Pats just getting a number for Matt Cassell and a recent offering about Rush Limbaugh being the Terrell Owens of conservative talk radio, I have been willing to fire away.

FOOD: A sappy story
Maple Weekend offers a chance to taste the sweet stuff
By Linda A. Thompson-Odum food@hippopress.com

Maple sugaring season has arrived once again in New Hampshire. And the state’s maple producers have their trees tapped and their evaporators fired up, ready to welcome visitors for this year’s Maple Weekend, Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29.