CONCORD, NH — Just about every time I hear the word "eleven," I think of "This is Spinal Tap," the hilarious 1984 Rob Reiner comedy-mockumentary about an aging British glam metal band and its disastrous American tour following the release of a new album no one cares about.

Reiner plays a documentarian covering "the sights, sounds, and smells" of a rock band on the road.

During one interview, Nigel Tufnel, the band's guitarist, played by Christopher Guest, shows off his Marshal amps with volume and treble knobs that go to 11. He says the amps are special and give him an extra boost of effect and loudness. Reiner asks why the amps don't just stop at 10 and have 10 be the maximum volume.

Guest seems bewildered and says, while chomping gum, "These go to 11."

Many people cannot relate to "This Is Spinal Tap."

But if you have ever been in a band and had gigs go wrong, it is like reliving your life. And it is downright hilarious. And so is that scene.

Today, June 17, 2022, around 3 p.m., marks New Hampshire Patch's 11th birthday, the day and time the Concord site went live.

A few days ago, we celebrated with a quick bite of cake, as we have in the past, to celebrate the birthday.

The birthday cake kinda came together as a lark.

Before Patch's first birthday, I was asked how I would celebrate. I had not really thought about it. So, I bought a cupcake, lit a candle, and sang, "Happy Birthday."

And so started a tradition, of sorts, which featured cupcakes and cakes (queue "Cups And Cakes" by Spinal Tap here), including singalongs, like this one, at The Draft in 2014, and ice cream cake (and a third-place Journalist of the Year nod) in 2021.

Read the 8th and 9th b-day posts for more profound overviews of the history of Patch in New Hampshire.

In 2022, Patch in New Hampshire also celebrated with some presents, too: nine Distinguished Journalism Contest awards, including three first-place wins on June 9.

When the awards were announced earlier this year, I was stunned to see eight listed. I have won awards in print, online, and radio news in two states. At this point, it's more than three dozen awards. The most in one year had been five. That year, I was only expected to win four. And then, poof, a fifth one popped up. At the time, it had been the most awards in the unit's history.

So, I was pretty thrilled to get eight.

At the awards night last week, a ninth award popped up — a first-place win for the one-year anniversary of the first confirmed coronavirus infection in New Hampshire and an interview with Gov. Chris Sununu.

"Where did that come from?," I thought. "It wasn't on the list."

But hey, a win is a win.

During the past three years, that is 19 awards, with Patch in New Hampshire winning around two dozen awards during the last 11 years. Not too bad.

Here is a list of the 2021 winners (Patch is listed in the Small Daily Division, since there is only one employee) and links in case you missed them:

It is going to be hard to top 2021 for news and awards. But we will give it a try.

Picking up three of Patch's nine awards on June 9. Credit: Nancy West

By The Numbers: Between September 2014 and June 16, 2022, the 14 Patch sites in New Hampshire derived more than 108.5 million page views.

I want to close by saying "thank you" to all of you for your support and readership, and a thank you to our advertisers and fab news partners, who help us bring as much news as possible to you.

If you are not subscribed to the Concord NH Patch newsletter, please do so now. Click here and enter in Concord, NH, or 03301.

Facebook algorithms often keep readers from seeing Patch posts which is why this is so important. I know you are missing a lot of what we do.

Here are the most-read posts on Patch during the past 11 years:

Each morning, when you get the newsletter, please click on and read everything we send you.

Let us help you, too: Post things for sale in our Classifieds; promote your events in our Calendar section; jump into conversations on Neighbor Posts; etc. When you visit the site, nose around a bit (there are all kinds of things going on) with the newsletter providing the best way of accessing them.

If you run a business and have marketing money, reach out to our Advertising team. We offer a big bang for the buck (and you already know that since tens of thousands of readers are on the Concord site daily).

And, yes, keep the news tips coming. I cannot get to all of them but I will try.

Again, thank you all so very much for making the last year a successful one.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.