Portsmouth is a beautiful little town! I had never been there before although my wife, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law make annual pilgrimages to do much of their Christmas shopping there—the SUV was packed to the gills this year!
I got there a little early so I had the chance to walk around. It reminded me of Northampton, but with the ocean nearby. We had a nice gathering at The Banks Gallery, owned by Jamie LaFleur ’94. 
Jamie was one of my first advisees here at Williston. He came to Williston as a sophomore from the Keene, NH area. He was a swimmer who was also looking for a strong arts program. After going to art school, Jamie opened his own gallery. I asked him where Banks came from and he said he sort of just plucked it out of the air. Business did well and about a year ago they moved into a new gallery located steps from the heart of downtown Portsmouth. Unfortunately, just after they moved in there was a fire in an adjacent building which did heavy smoke and water damage to the gallery. They had to shut down and get the pieces and gallery restored. He just reopened about four months ago.
Jamie deals with a lot of high-end painting. Jamie’s parents (Martha and Allan LaFleur) moved to the Portsmouth area back in May so they could be closer to their grandchildren. It was good to see them and they seem to be doing well.