“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.” Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams, 1989.

The boys of summer are coming. Soon after Mud Season, the days will get longer, the golf courses will open, winter attire will be packed away, and America’s pastime, baseball, will return to the Upper Valley..

The Upper Valley Nighthawks, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), make their home at the Maxfield Sports Complex on Route 5 in White River Junction. The team is made up of college baseball players from all over the country, who call the Upper Valley home for the months of June and July. The Nighthawks’ games are free for spectators, family-friendly, and just plain fun.

Rhys Anderson (Wabash College) wears the Nighthawks mascot and leads a between-inning footrace.

Founded in 1993 by a group of baseball-loving sports enthusiasts, The NECBL’s goal was to expose New England student athletes to Major League Baseball (MLB) scouts. What started with a handful of teams is now a popular league of thirteen teams divided into two divisions, who travel between team locations from Martha’s Vineyard in the south to Montpelier in the north for games. The league boasts nearly 150 former players as MLB draftees and stars. Player recruitment is ongoing, with college coaches and team management collaborating year-round. While most players in the NECBL come from schools on the East Coast, occasionally, an outlier from California may appear on the roster. They all show up enthusiastic to spend the season in New England and to fine tune their baseball skills. The NECBL exposes them not only to on-field skills, but the “back-side” side of baseball, such as marketing, management, and business operations.

Noah Crane, an area native and President of the Upper Valley Nighthawks, is a lifelong lover of baseball, and shenanigans. He attends each game attired in a zebra stripe blazer, and acts as Master of Ceremonies for between-inning games, offering a variety of hilarity, from “finish the lyrics” of a popular song to three-legged foot races. Crane describes the atmosphere as “part baseball, part carnival, and part farmer’s market.” From the thunder of small feet chasing a foul ball (a herd of children instantly appear in hot pursuit when the crack of the bat signals an opportunity to snag a coveted game ball), to the cheers of the spectators when the Nighthawks score a home run, to the inevitable laughter during between-inning entertainment, an evening with the Nighthawks has something for everyone.

Crane has a long history with baseball, having played, coached, and spent a time with a Red Sox minor league team learning the business side of the game. He once owned an NECBL team with his father, in Laconia, many years ago. After returning to the Upper Valley to work at Dartmouth College, Crane was delighted when The Maxfield Sports Complex was built. It would make a perfect home for an additional NECBL team. In 2016, the 13th franchise was awarded, and the Upper Valley Nighthawks made their home at “The Max,” truly a real-life “Field of Dreams.”

Brandon Adams (U North Florida) delivers a strike (hopefully!).

The team was welcomed by the community, and many volunteers and merchants stepped up to participate. The outfield is lined with banners of advertisers from throughout the area. In-game announcements remind participants to support the vendors who support the team. The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation paired with Mascoma Bank to make admission to the games free (although a head count is taken as spectators arrive). The nearby Upper Valley Aquatic Center works with the team to provide essential facilities for the players to work out and train. The Montague Golf Course in Randolph offers reduced greens fees for players. Multiple area restaurants provide food service at the game, with adult beverages for purchase. Of course, no baseball game would be complete without hot dogs and, an area summer staple, Maple Creamees!

In addition to the games, the Nighthawks give back to the community in the form of summer camp for local children. Players and staff share their expertise and love of baseball, and provide instruction and encouragement to the young aspiring athletes. Because many alumnae of the NECBL have gone on to “The Bigs” (MLB) and had brilliant careers, it is possible that a child might exclaim, “He was my coach one summer!” Introducing children to this level of talent could help them learn new skills, develop a lifelong love of baseball, and inspire them to think, “Maybe I can do that!”

The challenge each summer for Crane and his staff is finding housing for the players. It is a league rule that players must be placed with Host Families in the community. Hotels and dormitory situations are not acceptable. Host Families provide the players with a sense of grounding, a home away from home. In these days of short-term rentals, and the popularity of the Upper Valley in summer, people with extra space may choose to rent instead of hosting. This is an economic reality that challenges each team, and for one team was its demise.

Marie McCormick and family with Nighthawks player Will Carnley (Troy).

The team asks community members with extra room in their homes to welcome one or two players for the months of June and July. They require a place to sleep, access to laundry, and occasional meals. In addition, Host Families enjoy discounts on team merchandise and concessions at The Max. Children are particularly excited to have “an older brother” for two months, and the players frequently become “members of the family.”

Host Families report thoroughly enjoying the experience. “The decision was simple,” says one Host Mom. “My husband is a huge baseball fan, so it was a done deal.”

Another shared, “In the summer of 2024, we hosted a second baseman and a left fielder, who particularly enjoyed breakfast before heading off to coach summer camp, or to work out before team meetings and practice. They would wake to the smell of bacon, which became ‘the bacon alarm clock.’ The summer of 2025, we hosted two pitchers, The Twin Towers (6’4” and 6’6”), who were not breakfast eaters, so no ‘bacon alarm clock’ for them! We’d advise them what would be planned for dinner, and suggest they let us know if they wanted to be included. They were a joy to host, and we look forward to meeting our next ‘boys of summer’ in June!”

Marie McCormick, of Lebanon, has hosted since the beginning, 2016, when her son was four years old. He is now 13, and a player himself. He loves having an athlete “big brother” each summer, and the family enjoys ongoing relationships with “their players,” some who are now in the minor leagues. ■

If you would be interested in hosting one or two players this summer, contact Noah Crane, noah@uppervalleynighthawks.com. Your generosity will be rewarded with great fun and memories of contributing to helping develop a future MLB star.

Kindergarteners in Donna Soucy’s class at Mount Lebanon Elementary School gathered in a semi-circle on the blue polka-dot rug at the front of the room, ready to read.

The topic on that midwinter Monday morning: the letter Q.

They started by thinking of some common words that contain Q, like quick and quit. Quest is another Q word, but one unfamiliar to some of the kindergarteners. So, Soucy asked them questions, and provided an example, to help them understand.

“Mrs. Soucy is on a quest to find the best bagels in the Upper Valley,” she said. Her students agreed that bagels are quite tasty.

Over the course of the 40-minute lesson, students practice everything from how to shape their mouth to make the Q sound (kw) to how to write it in both uppercase and lowercase — including where to start on the page, which way to push with their pencil, and which shapes the letter contains. They also learned a helpful way to remember the letter that always accompanies it: “Q and U, they stick like glue!”

Mount Lebanon Elementary School 1st grade Teacher Mary Skiffington, right, works with a group of students during small group literacy time.

A Transformative Approach To Reading

This is just a small glimpse into how the Lebanon School District has transformed its approach to literacy education over the past four years, leading to impressive results and strong, enthusiastic readers.

In the 2024-25 school year, the percentage of kindergarteners meeting literacy benchmarks soared from 44% to 89% over the course of the year. In the latest standardized test results from the winter NWEA assessments, all grades 1-4 are well above the 60th percentile for both growth and achievement in reading. That means Lebanon students are not only achieving above the national average for this time of year, but also beating the average growth percentile from fall to winter.

These strong results come as Lebanon’s public schools have adopted a Structured Literacy approach rooted in the “Science of Reading” — that is, research that shows the cognitive science behind literacy.

The lesson Soucy was teaching on the letter Q came from the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) Foundations program, a gold-standard, evidence-based program of explicit and systematic phonics instruction. In the early grades, students learn letter sounds and how to blend them into words using the UFLI (“you-fly”) program.

Students also read “decodable” books that match the phonics skills they are learning, so they can practice successfully and build confidence and fluency. Teachers have participated in ongoing training so they understand how children learn to read and how to teach those skills effectively.

“I was an early supporter of the UFLI program and really enjoy teaching reading with it,” Soucy said. “I noticed growth in my students’ reading and writing almost immediately. I appreciate how structured the program is because the kids understand the routine and know what to expect. At the same time, it’s flexible, allowing me to add my own touches and differentiate lessons so I can meet the needs of all my learners and keep them excited and engaged.”

Donna Soucy, center, helps two of her kindergarteners at Mount Lebanon Elementary School with a writing exercise.

A Student-Centered Approach

The team of four reading specialists at Hanover Street School, the district’s other elementary school, said the district-wide literacy curriculum provides a common language for all educators to work together to meet student needs.

“Whether you’re a classroom teacher or reading specialist, it’s all based on the Science of Reading, and it’s all working toward helping students learn more and provide them with more,” said Jeanne Akpan, a reading specialist at Hanover Street School. “And the students are always the focus. No matter where they’re at with reading, we will meet them there and we’re working to move them forward.”

This year, the Lebanon School District also introduced an additional reading program called Arts and Letters that helps students build background knowledge and expand their vocabulary through rich content and discussion.

In classrooms like Mary Skiffington’s 1st grade class at Mount Lebanon, students get an hour of Arts and Letters writing and comprehension lessons every day, along with small group literacy time when Skiffington can work with cohorts of students based on their specific needs.

Some 1st graders are still working on the fundamentals of reading, Skiffington said, while others are deepening their comprehension skills and having discussions about what’s happening in the books.

Classroom and school-wide libraries at Mount Lebanon and Hanover Street schools have a range of books for readers of all levels, and teachers constantly encourage students to take books home and read with their parents/guardians every night.

“Make sure you have new books for tonight!” Skiffington told her class as they wrapped up small group literacy time on a recent morning.

Together with families, teachers, reading specialists, and administrators, Lebanon’s district-wide effort is creating a community of confident, lifelong readers.

“Literacy expert Louisa Moats says that teaching a child to read is ‘rocket science,’ because it requires intentional, well-designed instruction grounded in a deep knowledge of how the brain learns to read,” said Karen DuBois, the district’s director of academics, engagement, and opportunity. “That understanding has shaped our approach. We’ve invested in teacher professional learning and high-quality instructional materials to ensure that every child has the best foundation for becoming a confident reader.”

On May 30, 1886, the cornerstone of the Soldiers Memorial Building on North Park Street was laid, initiating construction of the remarkable building designed by Lebanon architect Ferdinand Davis. It was an important milestone for the architect; it had taken five years to raise enough money to start construction. More importantly, however, the architect was a veteran of the Civil War, and the Soldiers Memorial — believed to be the first such building in New Hampshire — was built to honor him and his fellow veterans.

Ferdinand Davis, 1880 (Lebanon Historical Society)

Ferdinand Davis was born in Maine in 1840 and as a young man trained as a carpenter. He first came to Lebanon at the age of 18 in 1858; two years later, he enlisted in the Union Army and fought in the 7th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment. After the war’s conclusion Davis returned to Lebanon and married Eliza Thompson. Though carpentry work must have been plentiful in Lebanon’s post-war industrial boom, Davis wasn’t content with his line of work, and he eventually spent a year in New York City studying architecture.

The Soldiers Memorial may have been Ferdinand Davis’s highest profile work in Lebanon, but it wasn’t his first or only design in town. In 1881, he drew up plans for the Whipple Block at the corner of West Park Street and Hanover Street (today the pedestrian mall). That same year he designed a state-of-the-art mill for Frank Kendrick and the Mascoma Flannel Company — Lebanon’s first woolen mill, and the only one to survive the 1887 fire that destroyed most of the central village. Davis’s mill has been substantially enlarged over the years, but it still stands as part of the Rivermill Complex on Mechanic Street.

By 1884 Davis was designing buildings outside of Lebanon’s borders, including the Union Block in Bradford, Vermont, and an elaborate Queen Anne house for Horace Pease in Hartford, Vermont. Union Block, Bradford’s The United Opinion extolled, was “one of the handsomest and most commodious buildings to be found in this section of the state.”

Ferdinand Davis’s growing architectural success in the Upper Valley abruptly ended in 1887, however, when Ferdinand and Eliza moved to Pomona, California. At the time, Pomona was home to fewer than 4,000 residents (roughly equivalent to Lebanon’s population), and the town wouldn’t be incorporated until the following year. The rapid growth of southern California at the beginning of the 20th century quickly made Pomona an attractive place to be, however, and Davis’s architectural career soared in his new community.

Lebanon Soldiers Memorial, 1911 (Lebanon Historical Society)

Only two years after settling Pomona, Davis designed the city’s First National Bank. His architectural style and talent must have suited the region, and Davis produced a bevy of buildings throughout southern California over the next three decades. Among his many designs were the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (1895), Currier House (1907), Barbara Greenwood Kindergarten (1907), Orange Grove Meeting House (1908), Pomona Masonic Lodge (1909), Pomona City Stables (1909), Pilgrim Congregational Church (1910), Pomona Ebell Clubhouse (1910), and several residences in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Many of these structures remain striking and historically significant buildings, and several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ferdinand Davis passed away in Pomona at the age of 81. Upon his death, The Pomona Progress claimed that Davis “drew plans for every business block on the north side of Second Street from Garey Avenue to Main Street.” Nearly two decades later, the paper further observed that “more of the public buildings, office structures, and residences of the valley were designed by him than by any other man.” While the same cannot be said of Davis’s work in Lebanon, it’s hard to imagine three more significant structures to carry on his legacy in Lebanon than the Whipple Block, the Mascoma Flannel Mill, and the Soldiers Memorial.