It was 4th of July weekend 14 years back and the sun was throwing a tantrum. Temperatures were soaring, but nothing stopped the flow of Mainers and out-of-towners pouring into the Oxford Fairgrounds in Oxford, Maine. They were armed with tents, sunscreen, and a thirst for some serious live music. 

The Oxford Fairgrounds transformed into a bustling campground for the first and only Nateva Festival. Looking like Woodstock’s smaller but more organized cousin, tents were popping up and campers had everything from plush air mattresses to the good ol’ sleeping bags that are only slightly better than sleeping on a rock.

The Nateva Festival boasted a killer lineup with a wide variety of performers. Headliners included my favorite performance of the weekend, The Flaming Lips. The air had slightly cooled and a sea of people were gathered around with their glow sticks, necklaces and any other bright neon object that you could think of. If you’ve ever seen Flaming Lips live, you know that it’s like a trippy circus with confetti cannons, giant hamster balls, and enough weirdness to make you question your reality. If you have not seen them, they will be at Thompson’s Point this summer on Thursday, July 25th. 

They were joined by Furthur, featuring former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. If you didn’t know, Furthur’s jam sessions are so long and winding, you could probably leave to grab a snack, take a bathroom break and come back to catch the same song. Then there was moe. with their jam band vibes and electrifying solos.

Although leaning towards jam bands, there was something for everyone at Nateva. Whether you were vibing to the reggae beats of George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic or losing yourself in the psychedelic sounds of Lotus, there was never a dull moment.

Other performers included Passion Pit, Umphrey’s McGee, Sound Tribe Sector 9 and local favorites Rustic Overtones and the Mallet Brothers. The weekend also featured local food vendors serving up everything from lobster rolls (because Maine) to vegan dishes and even a ferris wheel. 

The scorching sun had everyone seeking shade, chugging water and sunburns were the unofficial festival accessory, with many learning the hard way that a little SPF would have been a great thing to use. 

As the weekend wound down, exhausted yet exhilarated campers packed up, leaving the fairgrounds covered in dirt with broken or lost flip flops. The Nateva Festival 2010 was one for the books—a perfect blend of music, good vibes and memories under the blazing Maine sun.

Despite its high attendance, the festival faced significant challenges that prevented it from becoming an annual event. Financial difficulties, logistical challenges, local regulatory issues, were just a few challenges that contributed to the Nateva Festival being a one time deal.

It took 45 minutes for firefighters to get a 35-year-old man out of a “heavily damaged” car following a car crash on Saturday, officials said. The man’s injuries were extensive, with low blood pressure, shock and internal bleeding.

Quickly, firefighters and paramedics decided to try a new lifesaving method starting at the crash site: whole blood transfusion.

The method had never been done in Massachusetts before, according to the Canton Fire Department. However, in March, the Canton Fire Department and 25 other cities and towns in Massachusetts worked with Boston Medical Center to launch the first pilot program in Massachusetts history for administering whole blood before a patient reaches the hospital, the press release stated.

On Saturday, the fire department put it into action.

The crash happened in Braintree during the early morning hours, officials said. The Braintree Fire Department and Brewster Ambulance paramedics “swiftly” put in a request to the Canton Fire Department for the whole blood transfusion.

Paramedics put the 35-year-old in the ambulance where Canton Fire Field Transfusion Paramedic Michael White and EMT Jonathan Buckley started the transfusion. On his way to Boston Medical Center, the man’s vital signs improved, according to officials. Once at the hospital, he was taken to surgery.

“This groundbreaking program represents a significant advancement in prehospital care and has already proven its worth in it first use,” said Fire Chief Wendell Robery. “The successful administration of whole blood in the field is a testament to our paramedics’ and EMTs’ training, preparedness and dedication. We are grateful for the collaboration with Boston Medical Center and the support of our neighboring communities.”

Transfusions with specific blood components are common in hospital settings and are often used for trauma but whole blood might be becoming more common.

The leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S. is massive bleeding caused by a traumatic injury, U.S. News and World Report wrote. Most of the deaths occur within six hours.

In an article by the Boston University School of Medicine, it pointed to a new study that suggested a person who receives whole blood transfusion for severe traumatic bleeding earlier has a greater chance of survival.

“However, if this transfusion is delayed by as little as 14 minutes after arriving at the hospital, the survival benefit is significantly reduced,” the university wrote.

Crisanto Torres, assistant professor of surgery at the school, said in the article that there was a “decrease in survival probability for each minute delay in whole blood transfusion.”

She said she hopes this encourages more hospitals to use whole blood as a standard emergency transfusion product and more consideration for it to be used at the scene of an injury or during transport to the hospital.

It was the dashboard dolls that did it.

A circa-1964 set depicting candidates President Lyndon B. Johnson and Sen. Barry Goldwater put Durham attorney Susan Roman on the path of collecting political memorabilia at a young age.

The dashboard dolls were a gift from her uncle, and are on display at the Portsmouth Athenaeum’s Randall Gallery — right beneath a pair of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ famed mittens. Roman was Sanders’ New Hampshire operations director during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.

Her massive collection of posters, signs, buttons, toys, jewelry − and just about anything else you can think of − is a bipartisan delight.

“My collecting runs the gamut,” she said. “I am not partisan in my collecting.”

This is good news for those who visit the Portsmouth Athenaeum exhibit, “First in the Nation: New Hampshire Presidential Primaries, 1920-2020,” which runs through November.

“I’m a huge supporter of the New Hampshire primary and retaining its first-in-the-nation status,” Roman said. “We are small enough that it’s possible to meet all or almost all the candidates in person and hear their ideas directly without the filter of mass media.

“You can stand in living rooms sharing coffee or at neighborhood barbecues with someone who will become president.”

Athenaeum members Mary Jo Monusky, Ceal Anderson and Mara Witzling co-curated the exhibit.

Roman, a member of the University of New Hampshire Class of 1974, campaigned for Democrat George McGovern starting in the summer of 1971. McGovern lost in 1972 to President Richard Nixon.

That year Roman helped organize the first mass voter registration event on the University of New Hampshire campus. The 26th Amendment, which lowered the eligible voting age from 21 to 18, had been ratified in 1971.

“It was an amazing day,” Roman said of the turnout at the UNH field house.

The exhibit also features images of candidates campaigning in New Hampshire by photographers Jim Cole, Renee Giffroy, Roger Goun, Meryl Levin, and Michael Sterling. A video montage by Dennis Kleinman compiles presidential campaign slogans and songs from 1920 to 2020.

The exhibit is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum, 9 Market Square, is a nonprofit membership library and museum founded in 1817. The research library and Randall Gallery are open Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information, call 603-431-2538 or visit portsmouthathenaeum.org.