Manchester Mkerspace to offer community classes starting this spring. Courtesy Photo
MANCHESTER, NH – A new classroom space under construction at the Manchester Makerspace should be ready this week, creating a renovated space for a unique series of community classes.
“We saw a need in the community to offer inexpensive classes on topics not found anywhere else,” said John Robert, secretary of the Makerspace board. “With our classroom ready, our members finally have a space where they can share their knowledge and skills with the community.”
Notably, at least two of the classes listed below are available via Zoom so students can take part from anywhere in the world.
From Sheep to Wool
Students will literally make their own yarn, starting with wool from local sheep. They will learn the process, just as it has been done for centuries, from shorn fleece, to washing, to carding/combing and then spinning.
Date/time: May 7, 14, 21 and 28 6-8 p.m. $80
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Sign up via Eventbrite
Intro to Photography
Discover the art of photography in our beginner-friendly class designed for adults of all skill levels! Whether you’re new to photography or looking to refine your skills, this class will guide you through the essentials and help you develop your own unique style.
In this class, you’ll:
Learn the Fundamentals: Get to know your camera and its settings, and learn key concepts like exposure, aperture, and shutter speed.
Master Composition: Explore the rules of composition to create visually striking photos and bring your vision to life.
Practice Hands-On: Participate in fun, interactive exercises and assignments to apply your new knowledge and improve your photography.
Receive Personalized Feedback: Get tailored guidance and critiques from your instructor to help you progress and grow as a photographer.
Join a Supportive Community: Connect with fellow students and share your journey in a welcoming, encouraging environment.
This class is taught by Ellis Boettger, a graduate of Saint Anselm College and a Manchester resident.
Date/Time: May 19, 4:30 p.m. $160
Sign up via Eventbrite
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Social Media for Makers and Creators: Connect, Grow and Thrive
Tired or scared of feeling salesy and inauthentic online? Discover how to use social media to both connect and grow your followers into a loyal audience you enjoy interacting with!
In this workshop, we’ll uncover ways to showcase your work and craft content that fosters genuine connections. Learn strategies for gaining visibility, choosing the right platforms, and expanding your selling potential. Let’s build a sustainable path to turn your passion into a full-time business.
This class is taught by NH-based Cate Bligh, an expert on the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram algorithms whose had photos and AI-generated videos go viral, receiving millions of views. She specializes in promoting NH-based business via her web-design business and also leads Fall foliage photography tours in the White Mountains.
Class available via Zoom.
Date/Time: June 1, 10:30 a.m. -12 p.m. $40
Sign up via Eventbrite.
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This class is taught by NH-based Cate Bligh, an expert on the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram algorithms whose had photos and AI-generated videos go viral, receiving millions of views. She specializes in promoting NH-based business via her web-design business and also leads Fall foliage photography tours in the White Mountains.
Crochet Workshop
In this 3-session class for beginners, students will learn the basics of crochet from a NH Youtuber, whose work is displayed throughout Manchester (most prominently at Woodstacker Brewery). Students will:
Perform 6 fundamental stitches
How to crochet in rows
How to crochet in the round
How to read & follow patterns
How to select best tools & materials for a project
How to crochet using best practices
Date/time: July 11, 18, 25 6-7 p.m.
Sign up via Eventbrite.
This class is taught by Rebekah Cardenas, a Manchester resident who has been crocheting since she was 8 years old. She sells her work through her Etsy store, Create Fearlessly. Her crocheting tutorials can be found at https://www.youtube.com/@create_fearlessly
Bitcoin and Beyond: An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains
You’ve heard so much about the world of cryptocurrencies but you’ve been indecisive about diving in. Take this class at the Manchester Makerspace and you’ll be armed with everything you need to know about taking the plunge into this space as an investor.
We’ll provide a history of the crypto world and take a tour of some of the major coins – and show you how their platforms work. We’ll also talk about future price estimates and introduce you to the experts who have been right over and over again. Little or no experience is required … Just a desire to learn.
A laptop computer is recommended but not required. All registered participants will receive a link to a video to watch before the day of the class. (Link will be sent in the week leading up to the event)
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This is a two-session class. The second session will take place on June 12 (6-8 p.m.)
Class available via Zoom.
Datetime: June 5 and 12 6-8 p.m.
Sign up via Eventbrite
This class is taught by John Robert, who has been teaching about the world of Bitcoin cryptocurrencies and Decentralized Finance at Norwalk (CT) Community College for the last 5 years.
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Disconnect from Big Tech: Switch your phone to Graphene OS
Over 99% of the world is either using an iPhone or a Google phone. The companies that provide these phones – and the most-used apps on them – know where we go, who we are with, what we are buying, when we visit the bathroom and who we’re going to vote for (among other things). Can we really trust that they have our best interests at heart? … Or, are we heading toward a dystopian future where our phones will enable a single totalitarian world government?
I don’t know about you, but I started to get concerned when they started to introduce phone-based vaccination passports and contact-tracing apps. And then the federal government started arresting people, based on location data from Google. And then they started freezing the bank accounts of the Canadian truckers. All of this got real – and quick!
In this class, you’ll kick Big Tech to the curb and create your very own cellphone with the Edward Snowden-endorsed GrapheneOS operating system. And we’ll show you how to load apps that WILL NOT send data back to the Silicon Valley or anywhere else. No experience is necessary for this class but students must bring a phone on this provided list … as well as the charging/data cable it came with … and your favorite laptop (although we do have a computer for you to use, if you need one).
Date/time: June 20, 27 (6-8 p.m.) $100
Sign up via Eventbrite
This class is taught by a Manchester Makerspace member who is keenly aware of his public digital signature and would rather not reveal his identity. But students should know that, unlike over 99% of the rest of the world, he does not use an iPhone or a traditional Android phone.
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RoboTech Teens: Building and Coding Your Own Robot
If you’re worried that your kids will spend most of their summer playing Fortnite, why not send them to a summer camp that will teach them about coding and robotics??!!
In this five-part class for middle school and high school age teens, students will build and program their very own robot – no experience necessary!
The “brain” of this robot is the Arduino microcontroller, the board at the heart of so many cool projects seen on instructables.com, hackaday.com and so many other DIY web sites. Students will learn the Processing programming language and use it to control their robot, using strictly code – or in conjunction with distance sensors.
Datetime: July-22-26 8 a.m. to noon $250
Sign up via Eventbrite:
This class is taught by a Manchester Makerspace member who has taught over 500 people to build and program their own robots. He’s been teaching tech in libraries, makerspaces and colleges across New England for the last 10 years.
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Intro to Sports Journalism – Date/time and details TBD
Taught by longtime journalist Andrew Sylvia, Assistant Editor of Manchester Ink Link.
Two people are facing charges after they allegedly broke into a New Hampshire home on Tuesday wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats, all while a 12-year-old was inside.
Danville police said they received a call around 9 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a home invasion on Beatrice Street. A 12-year-old was home alone on a video chat with his friend when three people wearing black masks and armed with baseball bats broke through his front door. The 12-year-old’s friend quickly called 911.
According to police, the three people were attempting to locate the child’s father and threatened the father with serious bodily injury.
An officer soon arrived at the scene, set a perimeter, and called in two K9 units.
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A search of the area didn’t initially turn up anything, but a K9 track led officers to another nearby home. Police interviewed the resident of the mobile home, identified as Nathan Wilder, who denied any involvement in the home invasion.
As the investigation continued, police learned that the original caller had heard from some other friends that one of the suspects in the home invasion had bragged about being involved. They determined that Nathan Wilder, John Wilder and a juvenile were the three people who had broken into the home.
John Wilder admitted to police that he had broken into the home on Beatrice Street and said that Nathan Wilder and a juvenile had assisted him.
Police were able to locate and seized three baseball bats, two ski masks and a few articles of clothing used in the crime.
John and Nathan Wilder were arrested and the juvenile who was involved was released to a parent.
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John Wilder is charged with burglary with a weapon, criminal threat with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief. Nathan Wilder is charged with with burglary with a weapon and criminal threat with a deadly weapon. Both men are currently being held at the Rockingham County Jail awaiting arraignment.
A former New Hampshire state representative was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison for involvement in a child exploitation case — almost double the mandatory minimum.
Stacie Marie Laughton, 42, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual exploitation of children after soliciting and receiving nude photos of three toddlers from an ex-girlfriend who worked at a daycare.
Lindsay Groves, 41, of Hudson, N.H., was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison earlier this month after pleading guilty to the same charges as well as an additional count of distribution of child pornography.
According to court documents, Groves took the photos of the victims in 2023 at Creative Minds daycare in Tyngsboro, where she was a teacher, during designated bathroom breaks and nap times.
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She then sent the photos to Laughton, who requested the images and asked that Grove touch one of the minor’s genitals. In the conversation included in the records, the pair sexualizes the victims.
“Did the girl give you an issue,” Laughton texted after receiving the photos.
“No… the boy didn’t either,” Groves texted back.
In a sentencing memorandum, Laughton’s counsel had argued that she should receive a shorter sentence than Groves and asked for the minimum mandatory sentence, which would have 15 years for each count to be served concurrently.
“Stacie Laughton is a complex 42-year-old woman,” the memo said, noting that she was the first openly transgender woman to be elected to the New Hampshire legislature.
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The filing described Laughton’s history of mental health, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and trauma as mitigating factors the judge should consider.
“One of the few consistencies in Ms. Laughton’s life is her challenges with mental health illnesses,” the memo said. “She began receiving mental health treatment at the age of four and has been in and out of extensive treatment programs ever since.”
The death of Laughton’s wife in 2020 and a tumultuous relationship with Groves also added to her mental health struggles, the memo said, stating that the defendant drank every day and had tried heroin for the first time leading up to her arrest.
A doctor quoted in the filing said that Laughton likely had a low IQ, tied in part to her premature birth, as well as “normal sexual interests.”
“This finding shows both how caught up Ms. Laughton was in her relationship with Groves that she participated in activity counter to this and is … an important factor in considering whether Ms. Laughton would be a future threat upon release,” the memo said.
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The filing described Laughton’s actions as “horrendous, reprehensible, and shocking,” but said that even though the crimes were “utterly inexcusable,” she should still receive a shorter sentence than her codefendant out of a sense of justice.
However, in their own sentencing memo, federal prosecutors requested Laughton receive 40 years in prison.
“These crimes only came to light when Laughton reported them in an apparent attempt to punish Groves for ending their relationship,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant, of course, did not disclose her own role in the creation of the imagery.”
“She ultimately admitted that she told Groves to touch one child’s penis, and claimed that she was feeding Groves’s attraction to children,” their memo said.
The prosecutors said that Laughton’s voice was the “more prominent one” in the conversation about exploiting children.
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In addition to her prison sentence, Laughton will also serve five years of supervised release.
Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement that she felt the sentence fit the crime.
“The victims in this case were toddlers – children who were not yet old enough to care for themselves and, in some cases, not even fully verbal. Everyone who learns about the conduct in this case should be outraged,” United States Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. “The sentences imposed reflect the depravity of the conduct and the seriousness of the crimes. My office will seek the most serious charges and the stiffest sentences for anyone who preys on children.”
Three people suffered injuries in a two-vehicle collision early Tuesday morning in Hooksett, New Hampshire.Courtesy of New Hampshore State
Three people suffered serious injuries Tuesday in a two-vehicle crash in Hooksett, N.H., police said.
The head-on collision happened around 5:40 a.m. on Interstate 293 northbound, State Police said.
Police said that Timothy Hubbard, 43, of Rome, Maine, was traveling south when he lost control of his car and crossed the median into oncoming traffic, police said.
Hubbard, his passenger, and the other driver were taken to hospitals to be treated for serious injuries, police said. The injures were not believed to be life-threatening.
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Police said speed was believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation.
Hannah Goeke can be reached at hannah.goeke@globe.com.
Students will literally make their own yarn, starting with wool from local sheep. They will learn the process, just as it has been done for centuries, from shorn fleece, to washing, to carding/combing and then spinning. 
Social Media for Makers and Creators: Connect, Grow and Thrive
Crochet Workshop
You’ve heard so much about the world of cryptocurrencies but you’ve been indecisive about diving in. Take this class at the Manchester Makerspace and you’ll be armed with everything you need to know about taking the plunge into this space as an investor. 
Over 99% of the world is either using an iPhone or a Google phone. The companies that provide these phones – and the most-used apps on them – know where we go, who we are with, what we are buying, when we visit the bathroom and who we’re going to vote for (among other things). Can we really trust that they have our best interests at heart? … Or, are we heading toward a dystopian future where our phones will enable a single totalitarian world government?
If you’re worried that your kids will spend most of their summer playing Fortnite, why not send them to a summer camp that will teach them about coding and robotics??!!
Intro to Sports Journalism – Date/time and details TBD
