NH offers unique entertainment locations

N

ot certain why I started thinking about bears. Perhaps because I’m reading Faulkner and “The Bear” is a powerful story in “Go Down Moses” about hunting a legendary bear. Or reading a gardening article I was reminded of the havoc bears can raise in gardens, on porches and certainly to birdhouses.

Whatever it was, it triggered an image in my mind of being a small child and visiting Clark’s Trained Bears in Lincoln, New Hampshire. Then it was just a log structure that sold old-fashioned gifts, small pine boxes and leather things with gold italic writing naming the place. A wire fence enclosure with a few small black bears was just next to the building. 

The bears, large and small, would parade out, circle around the perimeter of the enclosure and then climb up a pole and, if I am remembering correctly, pull up a rope with a silver dish, rattling as they pulled, that would be filled with treats. 

We loved going to see the bears.

Florence and Ed Clark who opened Clark’s in 1928 as a roadside attraction and originally featured Eskimo sled dogs, before purchasing their first black bear in 1931. Their sons, Edward and Murray, began training the bears in 1949.

Today Clark’s is a major amusement park that is open in mid-May through mid-October with a train, museums, gift shops and yes, bears. I encourage you to visit.  

After listening to the sound of the bears shaking the tin cup in my archival memory bank, I struggled to think of the name of Storyland. 

We visited Storyland in Jefferson, New Hampshire at least once a summer. Dressed in our most elegant summer shorts and blouses, after all you don’t meet Cinderella and ride in her precious carriage if you don’t feel elegant in one way or another. Somewhere I have a photograph sitting arm in arm with my best friend, Janey, on Little Miss Muffet’s tuffet.

“Little miss Muffet, she sat on her tuffet

Eating her curds and whey

Along came a spider, who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away.”

Did you know tuffet is a real word and means a low seat or footstool or ottoman or a clump of grass or similar vegetation.

In addition to Cinderella, there was Little Red Riding Hood and I’m certain Goldilocks must have been there. The history of Storyland is a “Once upon a time” story too. 

Bob Morrell, a veteran of the 10th Mountain Division of skiing soldiers in World War II who was summoned back to serve during the Korean Conflict, and his wife Ruth were living in Germany. An old woman knocked on their door selling dolls she had made based on classic children’s fairy tales. They learned her name Frau Edith Von Arps.

Bob and Ruth loved the dolls and bought 25 of them before moving back to New Hampshire. Frau Von Arps suggested they build a small village where the dolls could come to life. Out of her vision grew Storyland. Now Storyland is another amusement park where one can spend a day

Finally, there is Santa’s Village. Usually in August, when the temperature was in the 80’s we would drive to Jefferson, New Hampshire for an outing at Santa’s Village. There were reindeer and other reminders of the Christmas season, of course. I mostly remember the houses made to look like igloos and individuals dressed to look like elves and Mrs. Claus.

Santaland was the vision of Normand and Cecile Dubois who, in the early 1950s, wanted to create something enchanting in northern New Hampshire. The deer they noticed crossing the road gave them the idea for creating a home for Santa. Santaland opened on Father’s Day in 1953 and today is a grand amusement park with a roller coaster, Elf University, Reindeer Rendezvous, Santa’s home and a Blacksmith shop, just to name a few of the attractions. It is open in mid-May and has limited attractions through Christmas. 

I often stop at Clark’s Bears when I’m driving to Franconia through the Notch, but it’s been decades since I’ve been to Storyland or Santa’s Village. I think I will add them to my list of places to visit again soon.

•••

Elizabeth Howard is the host of the Short Fuse Podcast, found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or through the Arts Fuse. Her career intersects journalism, marketing, and communications. “Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back,” a book she edited, was published in May 2016. She is the author of “A Day with Bonefish Joe,” a children’s book, published by David R. Godine. You can send her a note at: eh@elizabethhoward.com.