DOVER, NH – There is a bittersweet feeling from the Dover community that the long-standing Dover Bowl will close its doors for good, as a casino takes over the space.
For as long as anyone can remember, the Dover Bowl has always been there as a community staple that’s more than just a bowling alley.
“I’m not happy because this is like my social outlet and I love it,” said bowling league member Susan Loughlin. “They’re all my friends and I’m going to miss them, I don’t know it’s sad, very sad.”
Owners say Dover Bowl is shutting down to expand the Filotimo Casino and Restaurant, which shares the same building.
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The New Hampshire Group sent WBZ a statement saying:
“Filotimo Dover is expanding its offerings and updating its facility to allow our charitable partners to increase their revenue while additionally providing our guests with a new dining concept, live entertainment space and radio broadcast studio.
The increased interest in our facility has made it challenging, despite best efforts, to keep a clear separation between gaming and non-gaming areas for those 18 and over as mandated by the state.”
Dover Bowl in Dover, New Hampshire
CBS Boston
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On Friday night, the Phillips family came to say goodbye, wondering where the next gathering place will be.
“It is bittersweet because where are families going to go now in this area, where’s the closest place?” said Scott Phillips.
“It’s a big special place, and they don’t have much of that around here, I mean being able to come and bowl with family,” said Crystal Phillips.
The only consolation for Rob Galoant is that New Hampshire law requires all casinos give 35% to charity.
“It’s all about the money, they’re going to make a lot more money gambling, but hey it is what it is,” said Galoant. “It’s kind of sad, it’s really kind of sad because everyone has been doing this a number of years.”
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As the end gets closer, Nancy Davis holds onto the memories she’s made for generations, while remembering that everything indeed has its season.
“I was born in 48 so what does that tell you? I’ve been coming here a long time,” said Davis. “It’s like everything else. A lot of things like family values in places like this are slowly going away.”
A staple of many New Hampshire town fairs, the pig scramble may soon look a little different.
A bill signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte last week requires the commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture to create best practices for any event in which people compete to capture a pig. Those guidelines will be published before the 2027 fair season, so they won’t be in place for any fairs with pig scrambles this year, such as the upcoming Deerfield Fair in the fall.
Generally, a pig scramble involves people of the same age competing to capture pigs that have been let loose in a large pen. Contestants have to catch the pig in a drawstring bag, and the first one to do so can take the pig home.
Rep. Cathryn Harvey, a Democrat from Spofford, is the prime sponsor of the bill. She said each fair has different rules for their pig scrambles, meaning some can be more humane than others. One aspect of the events she hopes will change is the bags pigs are captured in.
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“They’re putting an animal in a plastic bag on a hot summer day,” Harvey said. “It isn’t a great idea.”
Although some fairs already use more breathable bags out of burlap, Joan O’Brien, president of the New Hampshire Animal Rights League, said she’s also seen pigs being kept in plastic bags for long periods of time after the event. Not only would a burlap bag improve the pig’s ability to breathe in the heat, she said, but she also wants fairs to require participants to bring an animal carrier for the trip home. Her organization was ultimately in favor of the legislation.
“If you don’t have a carrier, you should not be allowed to leave your pig lying in a bag,” O’Brien said, adding that some fairs already ask contestants to bring carriers. “You should be taking them right home.”
The Deerfield Fair has implemented another rule that O’Brien and Harvey hope becomes part of statewide best practices — having parents supervise their child in the pen. O’Brien once witnessed a child hang a pig upside down by its legs and then lower it headfirst into the bag.
“In the heat of the moment, the kids get excited and they just do whatever it takes to get the pig in the bag,” O’Brien said. She said parents should work with the event referee to make sure their kid is handling the pig humanely.
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Harvey’s bill originally called for pig scrambles to be banned around the state, but both she and O’Brien feel that universal guidelines for fairs would still make the experience better for the animals. Even seemingly small things, Harvey said, like giving the pigs water after the scramble, would be an improvement to the current situation for them.
“I think that the bill will embolden people to speak up at these events,” O’Brien said. “If they think a pig is being mistreated, they’ll be able to say to themselves, ‘I know that there’s supposed to be a rule, so I’m going to say something.’ So I think that would be a good outcome.”
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services collected samples of the unknown substance found in Sunapee Harbor and will be testing them tomorrow. Authorities say the spill was contained and prevented from spreading further.
HAMPSTEAD, N.H. (WHDH) – Authorities have launched an investigation after responding to a reported untimely death in Hampstead, New Hampshire, officials said.
The Attorney General’s Office is investigating the untimely death of a woman at a home in Hampstead, Attorney General John M. Formella announced.
While the investigation is just beginning, there is no known threat to the general public at this time.
The exact circumstances surrounding this incident remain under active investigation.
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This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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