NORTH HAMPTON — Throwback Brewery and the town are taking blowback over Wednesday’s Kamala Harris campaign event, with complaints ranging from partisanship to traffic congestion.
Hobbs Road and Elm Road were closed from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day of the rally at Throwback Brewery’s farm , which hosted the Democratic vice president and presidential nominee. What followed, according to Throwback co-owner Nicole Carrier, was a litany of negative social media posts against their business.
Some called the brewery owners “commies” and included the remark “Go woke, go broke,” according to Carrier. That was something she said she and co-owner Annette Lee had expected.
“We knew hosting the VP would be a risk given the sad state of divisiveness in our country,” Carrier said, “but we couldn’t and can’t afford to be afraid.”
Many of the complaints, however, were unrelated to partisanship and focused on what residents said was a lack of advance notice about the major event. Some in town were critical of the fact the farm did not receive a permit for the event, according to Carrier.
Wally Kilgore, who helps run the North Hampton Bandstand’s Wednesday concert series, said that day’s show was canceled due to what he described as insufficient notice. He mentioned he had just purchased all the food needed for the event and would have appreciated an earlier heads-up.
“It wasn’t the event. I think it’s cool. I’m not necessarily a Kamala guy, but it’s cool that she was there,” Kilgore said. “My biggest beef is the communication of the town.”
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Throwback, town officials were bound to keep Harris visit 'confidential'
Throwback Brewery has made craft beer since 2011 and opened their farm-to-table restaurant at the Hobbs Farm in 2015 at the corner of Hobbs Road and Route 1. Since then, the farm has hosted multiple visits from politicians and candidates over the years, including Democratic New Hampshire U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan.
Saturday, Carrier said Throwback was contacted by the Harris campaign about a potential visit by the candidate to the farm. She said they were told they were one of a few options being considered. By Sunday, she said, they learned that they were selected.
She said they decided to go forward with the event despite not having acquired permits for the event. They were told it was confidential information, and the only post they made about it was to say they would be closed on Wednesday for a private event.
“From there, it was kind of like a runaway train,” Carrier said. “We just had to hold on tight.”
Town Manager Mike Tully said he was also informed Saturday by the Secret Service about the potential event in North Hampton. At the time, he was also told to keep the information confidential for security reasons.
Tully explained the town found itself “stuck in the middle” when it came to notifying residents about the event.
“On the other side of the street, we know that residents are going to be impacted,” Tully said. “We did the best we could following the guidelines of the Secret Service. We had limited amount of time to plan this.”
The campaign on Monday announced there would be a Harris event in the "greater Portsmouth area." The exact location wasn't made public widely until Tuesday evening.
The North Hampton Police Department posted the times of the road closures Wednesday morning, though the post did not indicate what event would take place that day. Residents and buses were still able to enter the closed streets, according to the police post.
Carrier said word of the rally spread through town anyway. The Harris campaign announced the event on Wednesday but did not immediately disclose the time it would occur.
North Hampton Select Board member Jim Maggiore, whose property abuts the brewery's farm, said he had a lot of neighbors asking him about what was going on at the farm where tractor-trailers were rolling in with portable toilets and grandstands. Like Tully, he said the information the town had was confidential.
On social media, residents aired concerns about traffic. One top contributor on the Facebook page "North Hampton Talks" wrote that "residents should have been given a heads up," calling it a "complete nightmare for traffic."
Another person criticized the lack of permits for the event, stating, "To disrespect town ordinances is to disrespect the community you live in."
Tully also said there is a permit process in place for events to get approval through the town.
“The Secret Service certainly supersede that process,” Tully said.
Town officials were sympathetic to people who were caught in the day’s traffic jam, Tully describing it as a “slight inconvenience.”
Maggiore acknowledged residents’ concerns about the timing of the notification, given the magnitude of the event.
“I’m not critical of their criticism,” Maggiore said. “I think it’s fair people would ask that question.”
Residents also posted concerns about the costs incurred by taxpayers. Tully said the event cost the town tens of thousands of dollars for police and fire coverage. He said the town was still tallying the official number. He and Maggiore both said the town intends to bill the Harris campaign with the total.
“If you read the paper, the campaign has $400 million,” Maggiore said. “I’m not asking for all of it, the $400 million, but it would be nice if we were compensated for what we put out.”
A Harris campaign official could not be immediately reached for comment.
Throwback disappointed by 'messages of hate'
Carrier said Throwback Brewery has also been fielding comments on their social media criticizing them for hosting the Democratic nominee because of her party affiliation.
Carrier said she has been deleting negative posts.
In her blog post on Friday, she also addressed the excitement of hosting the vice president.
“Given our values of being open and inclusive to all, we were absolutely delighted to have been chosen to host the Vice President of the United States,” the post read. “As Americans that have great respect for the office, we could not have been more honored.”
Carrier also expressed disappointment Throwback Brewery could not give more notice to residents.
"We wish we could have given our neighbors more of a ‘heads up’, but our hands were tied," Carrier said. "We feel quite badly about that, but believe us, it was completely out of our control."
The post continued to address “those of you giving us one-star reviews and sending messages of hate.”
“If you could be open-minded and actively listen to other people’s views and opinions… best case you learn something and see a new perspective,” Carrier said. “Worst case, you agree to disagree, but that doesn’t need to create hate.”
Carrier said breweries have long been a place for people to come together and share their ideas without fear of retaliation.
“Maybe if people could just talk to each other over a pint, maybe they could find we don’t have that many differences after all,” Carrier said.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Throwback Brewery gets blowback, 'hateful messages' over Kamala Harris event
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