Daniel Sarch

El Jimador restaurant in Belmont hosted a Day of the Dead celebration and dance party Friday night. Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is a Mexican holiday celebrated on Nov. 1-2 which welcomes back the souls of those who died, to reunite with food, drink and celebration, and honoring their lives. This recognition often comes in the form of an altar, where photos of friends and loved ones are placed with items that represent them or they enjoyed in life. The celebration also uses skeletons as symbolism for death. El Jimador owner Yesenia Fonseca displayed skeleton facepaint with a traditional Mexican dress, and other employees also donned skeleton paint and attire. A DJ from M&D Entertainment played music for the event. Day of the Dead and Halloween are not the same holiday, despite some shared characteristics like skeleton symbolism and proximity to one another on the calendar. Halloween is a commercialized activity for kids, while Day of the Dead maintains traditional and cultural importance in Mexico.

Laconia High School seniors applied to colleges and universities in New Hampshire at no cost with assistance from school and admissions counselors at ApplyNH Day Thursday morning. College applications can cost $50 to $60, but students can submit during the event for free.

Students from social studies teacher Maggie Roberts’ Women in U.S. History class placed 120 American flags in front of Laconia High School Thursday morning. Students raised $1,380 for the Disabled American Veterans charity through the month of October, and received 24 flags for every $250 raised. The class also created and signed banners for Belknap County Nursing Home, Taylor Community, and St. Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, honoring the many veteran residents of these homes.

Marines Pete Romano, front left, Bob Patenaude, front right, David French, back left, and Bob Pelland, back right, laugh during Guest Speaker Master Gunnery Sergeant Constance Heinz’s speech during the

The sun sets under rain clouds during a storm in Lakeport Square on Friday evening. A rainbow formed as the sunlight reflected off the rain.

Over 50 people attended a ceremony for Veterans Day at Veterans Square in Laconia Monday morning. Remarks started with a benediction from American Legion Post 1 Chaplain Frank Mellow, then

FRANKLIN — After three months without a planning and zoning director, David Chunn stepped into the role for the Granite State’s smallest city on Oct. 31. In just a few

LACONIA — The public library is hosting teen author Sophia Collie, 18, to promote her first published book "Billows of Wrath and Betrayal" with a signing at 3 p.m. on

FRANKLIN — The city council voted unanimously to pass a conceptional design for renovations to Soldiers Memorial Hall, which houses the Franklin Opera House and city offices, after over an

Buy Now Volunteers Ernie Gault, left, and Denise Houle look at frozen turkeys donated by Happy Cow Ice Cream Shop to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Laconia on Thursday morning. Happy Cow has been collecting turkeys for 11 years through social media posts and word-of-mouth. They estimate they will donate over 500 frozen turkeys this year, the most of any year so far. (Daniel Sarch/The Laconia Daily Sun photo)