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.”
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
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