Tonight on New Hampshire, Crossroads, we’ll visit a small North Country town with a big reputation.

Wonalancet was the dog sled racing capital of the world.

Remember, this is the cradle of the bloodlines of the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Huskies.

Some of the most important bloodlines of these championship dogs around the world come right back to this tiny town.

Then a Portsmouth woman visits home as a touring actor with the National Theatre of the Deaf.

And winter got you climbing the walls?

Well, you're not alone.

But up in North Conway, there's a bunch of people doing just that and feeling good about it.

Hi, I'm Fritz Wetherbee, and this is New Hampshire Crossroads.

Theme Music New Hampshire Crossroads is underwritten in part by First NH Bank, serving the financial needs of individuals, corporations, and local governments throughout New Hampshire.

Clarion Somerset Hotel and Apartments of Nashua, New Hampshire, where we make living fun.

And Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire.

For over 50 years, dedicated to providing quality health benefit protection programs for employers, employees and individuals.

Theme Music Today, we're in Lee, New Hampshire, in front of the Lee Historical Society.

This building that you see behind me was at one time a railroad depot for the Boston and Maine Railroad.

At that time, it sat out on Route 125, the corner of Route 152, and Route 125 at that time was the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks.

So the next time you're over Route 125, make note of how straight it is.

And the reason it is so straight is that at one time it was a railroad bed.

And our first story on Crossroads tonight, producer Chip Neal takes us to a tiny town up in the North Country, a small town but a town with a huge reputation.

The town is Wonalancet, and at one time, for the first half of the 20th century, Wonalancet was the sled dog racing capital of the world.

Music There is a story here in this small North Country town, but you won't find it by just driving through.

It’s here.

But you find it in small clues as you drive along Route 113A.

Like the Chinook Trail.

And these monuments a little further up the road.

This farm, the Wonalancet Farm.

And this church here in Wonalancet.

And this grave alongside the church.

This is where the story begins.

For buried here is one Arthur Walden.

If you had to come right down to it, Wonalancet is, is probably the or stood as the capital of sled dog racing for years and years and years.

Nancy Cowan is a New Hampshire writer and sled dog racing historian who writes for Team and Trail magazine, commonly called The Mushers’ Monthly.

Sled dog driving began in Wonalancet at about 1910.

Arthur Walden, whose wife owned Wonalancet Farm and ran it as a resort, he came back after two trips to the Yukon, and had served as a mail team driver and gotten introduced to, to driving dog sleds.

He was a crackerjack animal trainer, and it’s said of him that he never walked if he could drive.

And what he liked to drive best was dogs.

So when Arthur came back from the Yukon and of course, he had beautiful countryside, gorgeous snow, guests that wanted a wintertime diversion.

It was a natural.

And he was going to start dog sledding.

And he did.

He got four huge half Saint Bernard mongrels that really technically the first dog team in, in the continental United States, I suppose, it was recognized as such.

Arthur Walden continued to promote sled dog teams as entertainment, and became quite a hit at the many winter carnivals around New Hampshire in those days.

But after a while, he also began to breed dogs, and it was Arthur Walden who first bred the dogs which became known as the Chinook Dogs.

Now, even though Arthur Walden and his Chinook dogs became quite famous, it wasn't long before he wanted to add some excitement to his newfound sport.

He began to emulate the sled dog racing that he had seen or heard about taking place in Alaska, and actually started sled dog racing in New England.

In 1922, he convinced W.R.

Brown of the Brown Paper Company to fund and sponsor the first international dog sled race, and that had two Canadians and two Americans, one of which was Walden, and they were going point to point from town to town, I think through Lancaster and Berlin.

Of course, Arthur won the race.

And, you know, it was big, big, hullabaloo in town.

Because of that, there was an enormous amount of area pride.

1924, it was obvious that there were many more people interested in sled dog racing, it was just gathering steam.

Arthur founded the New England Sled Dog Club right in in one of the front rooms of the farm.

The year after he founded the New England Sled Dog Club, still, by the way, the largest and oldest continuous club in existence, the country went sled dog crazy, listening on their radios to a real life drama going on in Alaska.

The citizens of Nome, Alaska were in desperate need of diphtheria serum and as it turned out, the only way to get the serum to Nome during the winter was by dog sled.

So teams of dog sled drivers relayed the serum over the Iditarod Trail and saved the lives of the people of Nome.

The country was enthralled, and of course, the Iditarod race is now one of the most famous dog sled races in the world, and this inspired Walden to invite one of the Iditarod drivers to Wonalancet for a race.

His name was Leonard Seppala.

Seppala’s Siberians were exceedingly fast, but nobody knew that, they were used to the big Chinook dogs that they had seen.

And they called these dogs Siberian rats.

Well, they took off in the race and and Arthur and Leonard were running along.

And pretty soon Leonard's dogs balk off the path and go straight in the front door of a house where somebody is frying pork chops.

He retrieves them from the kitchen, gets them back on the road, and starts off again.

And and further down the road, he finds someone who has a lady in the race who has a team of Chinook dogs that have gotten away from her.

He stops and he gallantly helps a lady, puts her back on her sled, catches her team, puts her back on her sled, and he gets on with his Siberian rats and he takes off and he passes Arthur Walden and he wins the race.

Well, that did it, that kind of ended the domination of Chinook dogs, but it did expose people to a beautiful new breed of dogs.

And suddenly everybody was into the dog breeding business.

Although his pride was hurt, Walden continued to make dog sled history in Wonalancet.

In 1928, he went to Boston and talked then-Commander Byrd into letting him train the dogs and drivers for his first Antarctic expedition.

Walden went on that expedition in 1928, and thereafter, Wonalancet became the dog sled training center for three more U.S.- Antarctic expeditions.

It was during Walden's welcome home ceremony in 1931 that the highway through the town was named the Chinook Trail.

And of course, we can't forget that Walden had inspired a whole bunch of enthusiastic dog sled drivers around Wonalancet, many of whom became major figures in the sport.

Two of them were Ed Moody and Dick Moulton, shown here at the old Chinook Kennels, where they both spent a good deal of time.

That was back in the early 30s, when a woman named Short Seeley and her husband, Milton, owned these kennels.

They bought out Arthur Walden's Chinook Kennels and moved them up the road.

When Walden left for the first Antarctic expedition, these Chinook Kennels then became the training center for the rest of the US Antarctic expeditions, as well as World War Two Army sled dog training.

We had a tent, big tent set up right out here beyond this dog pen, and that's where we did our cooking and took care of the dogs, feed and water and clean and and I taught the boys how to splice rope, make up the lines, which was taught to me, by Arthur Walden.

Ed Moody, who enjoys a worldwide reputation for his dog sleds and went on the second Antarctic expedition with Admiral Byrd, grew up in Wonalancet and remembers Arthur Walden fondly.

And I can remember his first team, I was just, I could look out the window and see him go by, the dog team right there, and I wanted a dog team.

Like Walden, the Seeleys were also a big part of the sled dog racing and breeding history in Wonalancet as well as the rest of the country.

Their kennels are responsible for some of the best sled dog racing lines in the world.

And, Short Seeley has the distinction of being the only woman to run in the 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympic sled dog race.

She lost, but it was a great accomplishment nonetheless.

I used to see the Seeleys periodically going along, and they'd always stop when, you know, when they'd see me.

And, finally, Mr.

Seeley went to my parents and and said, we'd like to have Dick come over and work for us this summer if it's all right with you.

And, that would have been in 1934.

And through the Seeleys’ influence, Dick Moulton ended up going on the Third Admiral Byrd Expedition in 1939.

And then, before he went on to become a champion sled dog racer for a number of years, he became involved in some of the Army training at the Chinook Kennels in the early 40s.

This was an Army program originally designed to train dog sled attack teams, but after they realized the dogs were too noisy for that, they switched to a search and rescue operation.

You see, when Dawn and Millie were born - Remember, this is the cradle of the bloodlines of the Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Huskies.

Some of the most important bloodlines of these championship dogs around the world come right back to this tiny town.

Music (wheel squeaking) You know what this is?

It's a washing machine.

Washing machine your great grandmother probably used.

Isn’t it wonderful?

The old Seeley Kennels, by the way, have been carefully restored by their new owner, Jim Wall, who is not a musher, by the way.

He's just a nice guy who appreciates the importance of history.

And if you would like to attend some sled dog races, this coming month is the month to do that in.

We have three wonderful races coming up here in New Hampshire.

The first one is the Laconia World Championship Distance Race, which takes place the 12th through the 14th up in Laconia, and then on the 20th to the 21st, the Tamworth, New England Sled Dog Club Race, which is a sprint race that takes place on Lake Chocorua.

Talk about a photo opportunity that's about as beautiful as any place in America.

And finally, on the 27th, they have the Sandwich Notch 60, which is a 60-mile race which begins and ends at the Sandwich Fairgrounds.

Our next story is a fairy tale of sorts.

It's a tale of dreams come true.

It's about a young woman who wanted something so badly that nothing could stop her from attaining it, not even her own deafness.

Sabrina Louise Dennison is our heroine and last week, Sabrina returned in triumph to her hometown of Portsmouth as a featured actor with the acclaimed National Theatre of the Deaf in their touring production of Ophelia, and Crossroads producer Maryann Mroczka was there.

Ethereal Music A story told many times changes in the telling.

We vagabond players have told this story four hundred years.

If you say I've heard this one before, we say, perhaps some other version.

Ours is called Ophelia.

According to the National Theatre of the Deaf, which you will find at one of its performances, may surprise you as much as what you will not find.

What you will not find is a silent stage, silent actors, and a silent audience.

Nor will you find a play simply translated into sign language, with interpreters planted off to the side of the stage.

What you will find is a vibrant theater company which is opening new doors in language and imagination.

Founded 26 years ago, the National Theatre of the Deaf takes sign language out of the shadows and places it in the spotlight.

Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted color off and let thine eye look like a friend upon your uncle.

And this season you will also find Portsmouth's own Sabrina Louise Dennison.

Sabrina's acting career began with her award winning portrayal of Helen Keller in the 1984 Portsmouth High production of The Miracle Worker, but her love for acting developed earlier out of her need to communicate.

And since I was born and being with my family, couldn't sign, but we used other ways to communicate through body language and things like that, and I felt like I had skill with my body and to express myself that way.

And and acting is what I love to do and, you know, and became involved with it.

And I have been ever since.

I like changing the different characters and get rid of Sabrina and that's what I liked the most about performing.

Sabrina is never happier than when she has an audience.

And, I guess she just kind of decided that the family wasn't big enough.

So she needed a bigger one.

I, I don't know.

Sabrina's mom, Bunny Dennison, credits her daughter's tenacity for her success.

She's never, she never let anybody ever say to her, no way.

You can't do that.

You can't do that because you can't or because you're deaf.

That's not anything that Sabrina wants to hear.

And it's not anything she'll listen to.

Sabrina is unique.

I'm her mom, and I love her to pieces.

And we all have a tendency to think that our children are special, but I think she really is.

And she's a very determined, very strong young lady.

And she's., we did not live in a house treating her as a deaf person.

It was part of Sabrina.

There's no ignoring that.

You can't just say, oh, it doesn't matter.

It does matter.

But she wasn't treated in any special way.

In preparing for a role, Sabrina says she must go through a different process than a hearing actor might.

First of all, read through the whole story and have to know all the lines and try to figure out how to connect with who it is I'm speaking to, what the situation is.

Read and look at the English, and then we translate it into American Sign Language.

So there are a lot of, the translation process is quite intense.

And then we finally get on our feet and we start signing it and, you know, try sometimes I'll just stand and look at the wall and sign and try to figure out where it is I am.

And for me, now I'm the Queen and I have to get her essence in me.

And what am I doing this for?

And is it day or is night?

And then once we get on stage and there are other actors around and we're speaking to each other, I have to develop those relationships.

And it takes quite a long time, that process, and I'm still growing in it.

We all are still growing in it, and we're learning new things every day.

And her favorite part of that process?

People that I work with, the company, I get a lot of support, a lot of feedback.

It's not just acting, it's, we're together, you know, for months at a time.

And, you know, I don't think that acting is all of it, but, you know, we're together 24 hours a day.

We eat together and work together.

It's like a family.

And, you know, most families fight and you know the same, this family.

But we are together and we support each other.

And that's the best thing about performing with NTD Company.

Ophelia, if your good beauties be the happy cause of Hamlet's wildness, I do hope your virtues will bring him to his way again.

Madam, I wish so, too.

Both Sabrina and her family found a special joy in the company's recent performance at the Portsmouth Music Hall.

Well, many, many feelings all in one.

When I first got the schedule and I looked and it said Sports, Portsmouth, it was very hard to believe at first and I knew that NTD has come here before and that was nice.

But this year, my first year with the company and wow, you know, I was very thrilled.

And when we got here last night, I looked around and thought, well, we're really here.

And it hadn’t really hit me yet and it was quite overwhelming.

Everything’s very overwhelming and very exciting, very nice to be here, show my friends, my family, my work and the audience.

And that's you know, what I have been doing.

So it's very nice.

I usually cry, even today, little theater, which is so much fun and light and everything.

I usually catch myself tearing up and thinking how just beautiful she is and not, I mean, she is beautiful.

She's beautiful to look at, but she's a beautiful kid, and it's, and all that is in here, and it comes out.

And when, when everybody else has a chance to see it, too, I'm just proud.

And that's, and then the tears start.

She makes me very proud.

(audience applause) The National Theatre of the Deaf Production of Ophelia will be touring all across the United States this winter and spring, and Sabrina hopes to be with the company for a few more seasons.

After that, she'll go to college, she hopes, and get her degree.

And by the way, we'd like to thank Susan Currier and all the people there at the Portsmouth Music Hall for the help they gave us in producing that piece.

Well, winter time may be for some people, skaters and skiers and the like, but it has other people climbing the walls, as you'll see in this next piece.

Today we're in North Conway, New Hampshire.

And what you see behind me is Whitehorse Ledge, which, along with its sister Cathedral Ledge, is one of the great rock faces in New England.

People come from all over the world to climb these cliffs in the summertime, but in the wintertime they also come to North Conway to climb are you ready for this?

An artificial rock face.

Music During the winter, the place gets a lot of youth because you can't rock climb outside.

The place is totally heated.

It's a nice atmosphere.

All your friends are in here.

You have a really nice time.

The panels are made of a plastic fiberglass that's impregnated with sand.

If you feel it, it has a gritty texture, much like the texture that you would find on a cliff.

Mike Harter manages the wall and also teaches climbing lessons there.

And the good thing about this system here, these holes really represent different configurations that your hands will work into when you're on a cliff.

So yeah, we just move the holes all around the wall, but you just don't move them randomly.

You try to figure out a sequence that is for the grade, whatever grade you're setting up, that is difficult, challenging, interesting.

And you also try to make it so that the climber really has to think of what they're doing.

Climbing is very sequential, like, I think it's like a chess game.

A chess game!

That sounds too easy.

Well, they said even someone like I could do it.

So I found myself getting ready for one of Mike's beginners lessons.

Technically, I totally understand it.

You're going to see me with my bottom stuck out and hanging on for dear life with my hand so you can feel it.

No.

Fritz?

You're on belay.

Okay, okay to do it then.

Don't forget the big foothold on your right.

Just by your right foot.

Yes, sir.

Good, good.

Music Good, Fritz.

Good, good.

Keep your hips in as best you can.

Your next big hole will be up on your upper right.

Good, good, good job, Fritz!

Now, Fritz.

Maybe put your left.

Yes.

That's it.

Good, I am pooped.

That's all right.

We can do whatever you want, Fritz.

I'd like come down.

All right, Fritz, if you can just lean back on the rope, please.

Oh, you're going to lower me with the rope?

Yes, sir.

Oh, I like that.

Okay.

And if you can bring your feet up the wall a little, like you're going to walk down the wall backwards?

Oh, I see what you're saying.

Sure.

Oh, yeah.

That's.

Yes, sir.

And put your feet just a little wider apart.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Good job.

You must have climbed before.

It's not the, it really was the physicalness, not the.

Music Once a month, the local climbers here in the North Conway area show up at the Mount Cranmore Racket Club for what they call a Climbing Meister competition.

The rules of the competition are quite simple.

Climbers have five minutes to get as high on the wall as possible.

And if more than one climber reaches the same high point, the winner is the one with the fastest time.

There is a men's recreational division, a men's elite division, a junior’s division, and a women's division.

Music I’ve been on tenterhooks, ending in dirty looks Listening to the music, thinking bout this and that She said that’s that, I don’t wanna chitter-chat Turn it down a little bit, or turn it down flat.

Pump it up When you don’t really need it.

Pump it up Until you can feel it This is actually a bit easier than it looked.

It's, there’s one really hard move underneath the roof, and from there to the top it's pretty much a big holds and endurance climbing from there.

You're competing with yourself, trying to keep yourself relaxed, trying to conserve energy throughout the route to make sure you have enough energy for the very last move.

(deep breaths) (applause) If you would like to try wall climbing, just get in touch with the Mount Cranmore Racket Club and make an appointment.

I can't guarantee you will be able to do it, but I will guarantee that you will be welcome there.

Well, thank you for joining us.

Next week we're going to travel up to Lincoln, New Hampshire and attend the Loon Mountain Disabled Ski School, where they teach disabled people how to ski.

And when I say ski, I don't mean just little timid runs.

I mean real skiing.

It proves once and for all that anyone can learn how to ski.

Until then, for New Hampshire Crossroads, I'm Fritz Wetherbee.

Theme Music New Hampshire Crossroads is underwritten in part by First NH Bank, serving the financial needs of individuals, corporations, and local governments throughout New Hampshire.

Clarion Somerset Hotel and Apartments of Nashua, New Hampshire, where we make living fun.

And Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire.

For over 50 years, dedicated to providing quality health benefit protection programs for employers, employees and individuals.

Theme Music