In 2013, a group of former Dame School classmates from 1960-1968 decided it was long overdue to host a reunion of sorts for neighbors and friends that grew up on the Concord Heights.
A decade when on any given day there would be a neighborhood pick-up basketball or baseball game, the pool was filled to its limits, the park was filled with families and the sound of laughter; where the community held Fourth of July and Christmas parades (Christmas parade still actively held thanks to Dick Patten and his Christmas Parade committee); where children didn’t come in until dark; a time when children would ride their bikes for hours, the outdoors was in itself an adventure, when sometimes 10-plus minutes would go by before another car passed by your house and a time when someone could still safely cross Loudon Road to head to or from one school, the park, or to take their allowance money and go to one of their favorite penny candy corner stores.
In less than nine weeks, this same group of Dame School classmates unofficially established the Heights Community/Dame School reunion. That first year brought many visitors as far away as Florida, sparked up an exchange of old photos and long forgotten memories and conversations with neighbors now residing in California, Texas, Colorado, Vermont, etc., together to reminisce. More than 600 people attended. Many of the families from the 50s and 60s still had some family members residing on the Heights. It was a fun-filled day trying to remember faces with streets they lived on and faces that used to be only a stone’s throw away. Nostalgia from the olden days of the sixties was highlighted.
In 2014, hoping to make it a more permanent yearly event, this same group of Dame School classmates officially became a 501 C-3 nonprofit and were officially named the Heights Community Old Home Day. The second year’s event brought a split crowd but had more entertainment and activities. The lower turnout was possibly a factor because of the long, cold winter and holding the event the week before July 4. We hope to keep growing each year and become an event people will mark on their yearly calendars as a must-attend.
However, we can only continue to offer this free community event by the cash donations we receive within the business community. Let’s face it, the Heights from yesteryear has become a true melting pot – a combination of the old and new. We hope by holding an annual Old Home Day to make that merging (old to now) effortless and more welcoming. The Heights of the 1950-1960’s is long gone, and somehow we need to do a better job connecting the links to the Heights we’ve become. What our initial event had was history and nostalgia, but they hold our future.
This year’s Heights Community Old Home Day will be held at Keach Park on Sunday, Sept. 13, from noon until 6 p.m. This year we will have several local bands/entertainers/special guests, as well as the Junior Miss Heights contest (open to girls 7 to 11 years old); Heights You’ve Got Talent show (all ages, three categories – song, dance and other); chili/crock pot cook-off, best in pie contest; a childrens’ pumpkin/scarecrow patch activities; an online HCOHD t-shirt contest (customink.com-link HCOHD design) and the crowning of our third cane recipient to the eldest Heights only attendee. All other contests/ activities are open to anyone who attends. There is no charge to attend and spend a lovely day in a great city park. All eligibility and contests rules will be posted and available by contacting me below.
For any inpidual or business who would like to sponsor a specific activity or make a general donation, please email: donnarobie@comcast.net for specific details. Checks can be made payable to Heights Community Old Home Day – c/o Donna (Noonan) Robie-(CFO)- 3 Branch Turnpike, Concord, NH 03301. Your donation is tax deductible. This year we still need to raise $3,600.
Also this year, a Heights montage of then and now photos is being put together. We’re looking for Heights community old and new family or business photos for montage display. If you have some, contact Donna Robie at donnarobie@comcast.net or 856-7949.
Thank you and we hope to see many of you at this year’s event.
