Keene, NH offers home cooking, public art and live entertainment

AT A DINER WITH THE PAST. >> 8 AM ON THE STREET, DINER TIME. IN KEENE NEW HAMPSHIRE THAT MEANS ONE THING AND ONE THING – AND ONE PLACE. >> IT’S HERE SINCE 1961 AND WE ARE THE FOURTH OWNER. >> LINDY’S DINER IS MY FAVORITE ALSO, ONE THAT HAS CLOSED, SAVED AND REOPENED. >> THE NEW OWNERS TOOK OVER IN 2019, JUST BEFORE COVID HIT. >> WE ASKED OURSELVES WHAT WE THINK. THE FIRST TIME THEY SHUT US DOWN WE LOOKED AT EACH OTHER AND SAID OH MY BUT WE HAVE AN AMAZING AMAZING STAFF AND COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT THEM. >> IT ALSO HELPS YOU HAVE A LOYAL LOCAL FOLLOWING THAT HAS BUILT OVER 60 YEARS. >> LINDY HAS EVERYTHING. >> THE BREAKFAST, JUST AS BIG AND DELICIOUS AS ON MY LAST VISIT. >> HOMEMADE HASH, MY HAPPY PLACE. AND HOW’S THAT FOR A HAPPY ENDING ACT CO-OWNER CAROL STUBBS, A NATIVE, WAS COME HERE AS A CHILD. >> ON OUR BIKES WE WOULD COME DOWN THAT MILK AND HANG AND DO YOUR THING. >> THE TRUTH IS, CHESTER COUNTY’S ONLY CITY OF 23,000, KEENE IS A VIBRANT PLACE OF CULTURE AND COMMUNITY, ITS PROFILE TODAY AND YOUR TASTE IS CHANGING. >> THERE IS A LARGE POPULATION OF PILIPINOANS, SOUTH AMERICANS AND LOTS OF JAMAICAN PEOPLE. >> THIS MAN GROWING UP IN INDIA NOW RAISES HIS FAMILY IN THE KEENE REGION. IN 2021 HE AND HIS WIFE LAUNCH THE KEENE INTERNATIONAL MARKET TO HELP THE LOCAL IMMIGRANT POPULATION FILL THE GAP WHICH THEY FIND LARGER SUPERMARKETS. >> HAVE YOU TRIED THIS BEFORE? I WANT THIS PLACE TO BE A COMMUNITY PLACE WHERE PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE TO COME AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THINGS THEY WANT TO TRY OR THINGS THEY HAVE SEEN SOMEWHERE. >> THERE ARE CURRENTLY PRODUCTS FROM MORE THAN 30 COUNTRIES ON THE SHELVES, PRODUCE PINS AND FEEZERS HERE. AND HE IS ENCOURAGED TO MEET A LOCAL NEED. >> I WILL BE HERE AND I CAN SEE PEOPLE IN THE BACK LIKE OH MY GOD YOU HAVE THIS, YOU HAVE THAT. >> HE IS USED TO ASK OTHER VISITORS, WHAT IS THAT? >> THIS IS A FRUIT CALLED RON PATHAN. >> IT’S A KIND OF A CROSS BETWEEN A GRAPE AND A PAIR. LITTLE BIT? >> YES. >> WHILE THE KEENE INTERNATIONAL MARKET REQUIRES SOMETHING TO FIND, VISITORS CAN’T MISS THE HUGE MURAL ARTWORK ON THE SIDES OF MANY BUILDINGS HERE. DESIGNED AND PAINTED IN 2019 BY RENOWNED WILD DOGS WALL ARTISTS, EACH UNIQUE AND MAJOR ELEMENT IN KEENE’S HISTORY DISTINCTIONS. ONE SPECIALLY CATCHED US. >> JENNY POWERS, A HUMAN SOCIETY AGENT WORKING IN THIS COMMUNITY. SHE IS A WOMAN WITHOUT FEAR AND SHE BECOMES NATIONALLY KNOWN AS THE WOMAN WHO DARES AND REALIZES THAT SHE HAS ARRESTED MORE MEN THAN ANY OTHER WOMAN IN THE COUNTRY. >> YOU THINK YOU’RE THE DEPUTY SHERIFF’S FIRST WIFE? THE BADGE IS A HUGE PART OF THE HISTORY. >> IT IS. >> HER OWN LIFE TOUCHED BY TRAGEDY, JENNY POWERS BECAME A MASTER OF THE VULNERABLE AND DEFENSE WEATHER PROTECTING ABUSED ANIMALS OR CHILDREN. >> HERE’S A WOMAN GOING BEYOND HER COMFORT ZONE TO MAKE HER COMMUNITY A BETTER PLACE. >> JUST AROUND THE CORNER FROM THE MURAL IS SOMETHING THAT MAKES KEENE A BETTER PLACE FOR THE LAST 100 YEARS: THE HISTORICAL COLONIAL THEATER, OPENED IN 1924 AS A MOVIE HOUSE, HAD A DIFFICULT TIME IN THE 70’S AND 80’S. BUT IT WAS SAVED IN THE LATE 90’S BY RE-CREATING IT AS A NONPROFIT. AND OF A CITY DETERMINED NOT TO LOSE IT. >> EVERY CITY THAT HAS A SURVIVING THEATER AND I SAY HOW THAT HAS COLONIAL THEATER IN IT IS BECAUSE OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT. 100% >> IN 2020 THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DEPENDED ON THIS SUPPORT TO OVERVIEW A MAJOR RENOVATION OF THE COLONIAL THEATER. FROM HIS HOUSE AND ORIGINAL ARTWORKS TO HIS ENTRANCE AND LOBBY. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IT IS BACKSTAGE AND FLIGHT SPACE THAT ALLOWS THE THEATER TO MAKE BIG TOURING PRODUCTIONS LIKE STOMP. >> WE HAVE EXPANDED THE STAGE HOUSE. >> BEHIND THE HISTORICAL THEATER ITSELF, THEY HAVE ALSO OPENED A SHOW ROOM, A SMALLER PERFORMANCE ROOM APPROPRIATELY NAMED AFTER THE LONG-GONE CAR DEALERSHIP WHICH ONCE WAS THERE. WHAT STILL IS THERE AND ALL KEEPS BURNING IS STRONG COMMUNITY SUPPORT FROM A SMALL TOWN THAT HAS HOLDED TOGETHER FOR A LONG TIME. >> I THINK KEENE IS A UNIQUE PLACE IN THE COLONIAL ERA IN SEVERAL WAYS AND IS LUCKY TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. >> AND MOVING RESIDENTS HAVE PLAYED A HUGE ROLE IN THE THEATER’S REVITALIZATION, SO HAVE MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS. KEENE IS JUST A SHORT DRIVE ACROSS THE BORDER FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. >> IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JENNY POWERS, THE WOMAN WHO DARES, I AM CER

Keene, NH offers home cooking, public art and live entertainment

Keene may be known as a university town, but there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye

Updated November 21, 2022 8:10 PM EST

Lindy’s Diner in downtown Keene, NH has been a town staple for more than 60 years. Keene International Market is a grocery store that sells hard-to-find items from more than 30 countries around the world. https://keeneinternationalmarket . com/The Keene Mural Project includes more than half a dozen large murals on buildings across the city. Each mural depicts a significant person or moment in Keene’s history, such as the fearless Jennie B. Powers, one of New Hampshire’s first deputy sheriffs. A short film about Powers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceNHoCezcUColonial Theatre: The 100 year old renovated theater is a National Historic Landmark and a local gem that still functions well. https://thecolonial.org/

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Lindy’s Diner in downtown Keene, NH has been a town staple for more than 60 years.

Keene International Market is a grocery store that sells hard-to-find products from more than 30 countries around the world.

https://keeneinternationalmarket.com/

The Keene Mural Project includes more than half a dozen large murals on buildings across the city. Each mural depicts a significant person or moment in Keene’s history, such as the fearless Jennie B. Powers, one of New Hampshire’s first deputy sheriffs.

A short film about Powers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ceNHoCezcU

Colonial Theater: The 100-year-old, renovated theater is a National Historic Landmark and a local gem that still functions well. https://thecolonial.org/