Heidi Blaze was recently named as a “Hero in Our Midst,” in a national program by the Greeting Card Association meant “to reinforce the importance of connecting with others,” for her “lifelong efforts in reaching out to young people and helping them reach their full potential.” For the past eight years, Blais, 58, has been paired with another Heidi, 15, via Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Manchester. Before becoming an analyst with Public Service of New Hampshire, Blais, mother of two grown children, was a high school teacher in Massachusetts. Blais serves on the board of directors for New Hampshire Partners in Education and volunteers with Junior Achievement, an international organization that teaches kids about economics and business. At a Fisher Cats game two weeks ago she was recognized in a ceremony.

Megan Bogonovich of Concord and Alexandra de Steiguer of Farmington are the visual artists who were recently awarded $5,000 fellowship awards from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. There were five 2007 fellows in total, and two finalists who received $2,500.

The Hillsborough County fair in New Boston is a homespun treasure.

Exhibit halls full of homemade goods, fresh from kitchens around the area. People like The Andy Griffith Show’s Aunt Bea, proudly bringing in their homemade pickles to be judged.

The Patriots open the NFL season on Sunday in the Meadowlands against the J-E-T-S, jets, jets, jets amid local euphoria and Super Bowl expectations. The expectations ratcheted up after Bill Belichick opened the purse strings to pay J. D. Drew-like money for free agent linebacker Adalias Thomas and made other big-name moves to fortify Tom Brady’s receiving corps, most notably with the controversial Randy Moss, following an unexpected loss to former binky Indianapolis to end the 2006 season. Those were universally hailed as brilliant and made them the odds-on Super Bowl favorites throughout much of the NFL world.

I saw an interesting ad the other day. At its center was a printer/scanner combo by Kodak, but the ad copy didn’t say much about it. Rather, it focused on the ink — specifically, on how cheap the ink is.

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