CONNECTIONS
JAN 2025 VOL. 13 NO. 1
STORIES THAT BRING US TOGETHER Author Rebecca Rule is a dyedin-the-wool Granite Stater. She grew up in Boscawen, is descended from a long line of New Hampshire residents Rebecca Rule – “New Hampshire all the Host of OUR HOMETOWN way back,” as she describes it – and she travels the state leading storytelling workshops. Yet, in her work as the host of the New Hampshire PBS series OUR HOMETOWN, she says she gets to know New Hampshire communities in new and unexpected ways. “It’s continually surprising,” shared Rule during a recent conversation about the next installment of the series, OUR HOMETOWN: PLYMOUTH. “We think we know these towns. I’ve been to Plymouth many times. I know people who live in Plymouth. I know where it is. But you don’t know the town until you get there.” Rule credits these new insights to the hands-on process of making the show. “You show an interest, and people respond so generously. They want to share the town with the rest of the world.” Like the storytellers in the previous eleven installments of OUR HOMETOWN, the residents of Plymouth were filled with enthusiasm for their community. In fact, Rule was impressed by just how close-knit the residents of Plymouth seemed to be. “It’s a college town, so when the kids are there, its population doubles, but at its heart, its a very small town.” “We were filming, and I remember one of the people we were speaking to went into the street and recruited someone to share a story with us on the spot,” Rule recalled with a laugh. “It speaks to the closeness of this community – people know each other.”
Among the stories featured in OUR HOMETOWN: PLYMOUTH are a behind-the-scenes look at a popular local thrift store, a comeback story about the city’s elm trees, a look at the fellowship that volunteers and visitors, and sometimes even their grandchildren, find at the Plymouth Regional Senior Center, and a coming-of-age story set during a covert visit to The Hoochie Coochie Show at the Plymouth State Fair. “Never did know the origin of the name,” said storyteller Dick Flanders of The Hoochie Coochie Show. “Basically, it’s a girly show.” Flanders’ memories of the Plymouth State Fair capture the town’s rich history with a wry Yankee understatement. Plymouth isn’t a town whose heyday is in the past, however. Trombonist Maureen Horgan shared how she came to be a part of the New Hampshire Music Festival, which brings world-class musicians to the town every summer. “I had low expecations,” recalled Horgan when discussing her first summer at the Festival. “It was just not what I expected at all. It became one of the best orchestras in New England.” For Horgan, the magic of the Festival goes beyond skill. “There was this connection to the community here that was also highly unusual. We came to love our audience, and our audience came to love us.” Rule believes that desire for connection is at the heart of all stories. “I really believe that stories connect us,” she said. “When you have the town as the impetus for the story, that makes it even richer.” OUR HOMETOWN: PLYMOUTH will premiere on NHPBS on Thursday, January 23rd at 8:30 PM. You can watch additional stories from Plymouth and other towns at nhpbs.org/hometown.
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