From the Crowd: ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ a fun, silly time
I’m not a huge comic book/superhero movie kind of guy. I enjoyed the first three X-Men movies, the first Iron Man and the first Spider-Man with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, but other than that I’m not very well-versed in this world. But after seeing about 50 trailers for the latest Spidey installment – Spider-Man: Homecoming – and seeing its great reviews online (8.1 out of 10 on IMDB, 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), I decided I...
On Display: NHTI is home to the artwork of Judy Palfrey
The folks at the NHTI Library are always bringing in new artwork for any and all to enjoy. For the month of July, Judy Palfrey is covering the walls with her watercolor pieces, as well as some prints of her original creations. Palfrey’s work at NHTI consists of flower paintings that make you feel like summer followed you inside and scenic old barns that just scream New England-created art. The work will be on display through the end...
Check out this cool long-exposure shot we found on Instagram
We see a lot of nice landscape shots on Instagram, but sometimes one catches our eye more than the rest. This here is exactly one of those shots. User @tluziphoto – whose IG page is a goldmine of landscape and architectual photography – captured this long-exposure shot of the Merrimack River from the Interstate 93 bridge near NHTI. He was even nice enough to list all the settings he used on his camera (for instance, he used a shutter...
Author Pamela Sakamoto to visit Gibson’s Bookstore
Author Pamela Sakamoto to speak at Gibson’s History buffs, listen up.On Tuesday, July 25, author Pamela Sakamoto will visit Gibson’s Bookstore all the way from Honolulu to present Midnight in Broad Daylight. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, this is the true story of a Japanese-American family that found itself on opposite sides during World War II. An epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love,...
Try out Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
Thirty-eight years ago the development of a program called MBSR, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, arrived on the medical scene primarily created to help folks facing stress, pain and chronic illness. Since that time, mindfulness has been researched and analyzed for its many gifts to our modern society including depression, addiction, weight loss and smoking cessation.Mindfulness has always been rooted in the ethical scaffolding...
Bulletin Board
Penacook church to host concert United Church of Penacook is hosting a concert “Songs for Living” featuring piano, guitar, saxophone and vocalist, on Thursday at 7 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. The musicians are in residence at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen this summer. Avaloch provides a unique opportunity for chamber music and jazz ensembles to have the time and space to work intensively on repertoire,...
Book of the Week: ‘Maxed Out’
Maxed OutKatrina Alcorn2013, 379 pages Nonfiction This is a book for every mom out there striving for perfection at work and at home. It is a book for all of us who have stayed up all night breastfeeding infants, because that’s just what “good moms” do; then worked all day after too-short maternity leaves, because that’s just what “real women” do; and managed the household finances, cooking, laundry, caring for the children, etc. in...
This Week in Concord History
July 18, 1817: To a group of leading citizens on the Concord-Chichester line, a cloud of dust announces the approach of President James Monroe. A cheering crowd on Main Street greets Monroe, a lanky 59-year-old man in a formal long dark coat. He will spend three days in the capital, attending dinners, a concert and Sunday services, taking a ride on a new 75-foot boat on the Merrimack and visiting the State House construction site....
World Run-Paddle Biathlon Championship to be held at NHTI boat ramp
Not many small towns (or cities) can boast about staging a world championship athletic event, but Concord is not one of those small communities. On Sunday, July 23 at 10 a.m., the World Run-Paddle Biathlon Championship will return to the NHTI boat ramp for its second year.Race organizer Tom Walton has been offering Run-Paddle Biathlon Championship events all around the U.S. through the United States Canoe Association for several...
Food Snob: Sampling the hot bar at Co-op Cafe
We don’t always go to the Concord Food Co-op, but when we do, we try to get as much hot food as we can stuff into a tray. That’s exactly what we did for this assignment. Truth be told, the vast majority of the Food Snobs we’ve done have been at restaurants, so we decided it was time to check out the Co-op Café – the hot food bar inside the Concord Food Co-op.The Co-op Café, unlike a lot of grocery store hot food stations, has a...
Report: Concord’s nonprofit arts organizations generate $31.2 million annually in economic activity
The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates $31.2 million in annual economic activity in the Greater Concord area — supporting more than 960 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $2.8 million in local and state government revenues, according to the Arts & Economic Prosperity 5 national economic impact study. The most comprehensive economic impact study of the nonprofit arts and culture industry ever conducted in the...
Historical Society to host story time for the kiddos
You have to admit that sometimes we kinda take living in this beautiful state for granted. Sure, we all love the picturesque landscape that surrounds us, our rich history and the tremendous number of cultural resources at our fingertips, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use a little reminder once in a while. And that’s where the New Hampshire Historical Society comes in. Not only does it supply a link to the Granite State of yesteryear,...
Concord won six big-time awards for the Main Street redesign project
Pretty much everyone from around here who’s been downtown in the past couple years agrees that the new-look Main Street is pretty awesome. But, as locals, of course we’re all pretty biased.That’s why it’s a big deal that the entire project has gotten some recognition on both the local and national levels, in the form of a whopping six awards. Awards were given to the city itself, the engineering consulting firm McFarland Johnson and...
Tasty Brews: Newburyport Brewing Co. Plum Island Belgian White from the Red Blazer
When we got to the Red Blazer last week to try something for this installment of Tasty Brews, we realized that we’re kind of starting to run out of brews we haven’t tried before – even at the establishment that boasts 35 taps. After a minute of gazing at the tap handles, we found one that was new to us: Newburyport Brewing Co.’s Plum Island Belgian White. We ordered a pint and got to work.The beer was very light and crisp, and the...
CYPN: Meet the Starkey Realty team
The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s Concord Young Professionals Network (CYPN) introduces you to our “Young Professionals of the Month,” Melissa and Patrick Starkey. Melissa Starkey How old are you? 35. Where do you live? Loudon. Where do you currently work? I own Starkey Realty LLC. How did you find out about CYPN and how has it benefited your business or you personally? When I became a real estate agent, I...
Sulloway & Hollis is home to one great gallery
You might not know this, but the Sulloway & Hollis law offices on School Street is also home to the Robert M. Larsen Gallery and currently “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” art show. The exhibit, named after the Carson McCuller novel, includes paintings, drawings, prints and photographs by recent alumni of the New Hampshire Institute of Art. The show will be on display through Aug. 22, and there’s lots to see. But the gallery also...
On the Road: We took a trip to Wales this spring
Marci Richardson, Amy Goldstein and Patricia Edwards, a doctor at Concord Pediatrics, took us with them on a trip to Wales this spring, where we got to see all the sights, including a number of cool and really old castles. If you’re planning a trip, bring a copy of the Insider with you, snap a picture and send it to news@theconcordinsider.com.
Wayne Wilson’s Adopt-a-Spot is looking good
After reading a story in the Insider last year about how the city was looking for people to take part in the Adopt-a-Spot program, Wayne Wilson answered the call. He took over two spots on North Main Street next to Kimball Jenkins and the other small area near the Pierce Manse, as well as the Ward House grounds on West Street. We wrote about Wilson’s endeavor last year, and last week he sent us an update with a few photos. This year...
Bulletin Board
‘Lion King, Jr.’ at Capitol Center RB Productions will perform The Lion King, Jr. at the Capitol Center for the Arts this weekend. Shows will be held Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and available at the Capitol Center box office or at ccanh.com. For more info, visit rb-productions.com/index. php/summer-theatre/ 2017-productions. Clint Klose Concert at Audubon July 20 N.H. Audubon’s Birds and Beans...
Book of the Week: ‘Extreme Makeover’
Extreme MakeoverDan Wells2016, 416 pagesFiction Lyle Fontanelle is under a lot of pressure. As the chief scientist for NewYew, he’s responsible for developing a new anti-aging hand lotion. Bored with his job and disgusted by health and beauty corporate culture, he’s just going through the motions until the day he realizes that his new hand lotion is changing people. It’s not just stopping aging; it’s actually rewriting their DNA,...
This Week in Concord History
July 11, 1824: Dr. Asa McFarland, Concord’s Congregationalist minister, writes to the town requesting that the contract obliging the town to pay him as a town officer be terminated. At their 1825 town meeting, Concord voters will honor this request. From this time forward, according to an 1850 town report, “no money has ever been raised by the town, in the capacity of a parish, or for the support of preaching.” July 11, 1973:...
Musicians of Concord: Matt Poirier, juggler extraordinaire
Playing live music in front of a crowd is hard enough, but when you have to squeeze that in between work, spending time with the wife and helping with the kids’ homework, it’s a wonder anyone can ever pull it off.But Matt Poirier has figured it out, somehow.The singer-songwriter from Hopkinton has been playing in and around Concord (and well beyond) for years, but he’s not a professional, meaning he still has to go to work in the...
Musicians of Concord: Kevin Clark provides the sounds of the streets
If you’ve ever walked around downtown anytime other than the dead of winter, you’ve most likely heard Kevin Clark playing guitar and singing somewhere close by.Clark is Concord’s resident busker (one of them, anyway). Most of the time he can be found near the clock tower at the entrance to Eagle Square, but plays all over the Main Street sidewalk, and he’s out there just about every day. He’s been playing guitar for 50 years, and he’s...
Musicians of Concord: Piano instructor Kathy Southworth has the keys
She played guitar, recorder, trumpet and French horn when she was a kid, but the ivory and ebony keys are what most resonated with Kathy Southworth.Southworth, piano instructor and dean of students and faculty at Concord Community Music School, started playing in first grade, and her journey with the instrument has been never-ending. “It kind of goes on forever, the studying,” she said of her life in music.When she was in grade...
Musicians of Concord: Mike Gallant, aka Mikey G, rocks the open mic
Mike Gallant – affectionately known as Mikey G – is a blue-collar music man.By day, he sells guitars and equipment and teaches guitar at Strings & Things Music. By night, he dominates the open mic and live music scene all over the Live Free or Die state.“I do about 20 gigs a month,” Gallant said from the downtown music shop last week. “Tons of open mics.”Gallant racks up quite a few miles in his work as a gigging musician. He...
Musicians of Concord: Guitarist Brad Myrick is internationally known
When he’s not jet-setting around the world to play shows or teach classes in Italy, you can find Brad Myrick playing on the patio at Cheers or giving lessons at Strings & Things Music. It’s all part of the life of being a professional musician.Myrick is one of the lucky few who gets to call music his life’s work – he doesn’t have to flip burgers or stock shelves to make ends meet (not that there’s anything wrong with those...
Your capital area summer concert guide
Summer is the perfect time to lounge outside, go for a swim, watch a sunset, take a hike, or just hang out with family and friends. Not much can beat ending a long and busy New Hampshire summer day with a barbeque or fireworks. Except, maybe, adding a concert to that mix. The capital area has a packed and talented lineup of musical performances to check out throughout the next couple of months that you won’t want to miss. Luckily, the...
Check out the great many music venues in Concord
If there’s one thing Concord is not short on, it’s places to hear live music – especially during the summer. In case you don’t know of anywhere to catch a show, we’ve compiled a nice list of some of the places we know of. As usual, there’s only a limited amount of space and we’re likely to leave some places out, but it isn’t intentional. This list should give you a pretty good backbone of venues to check out, and when you’ve hit all...
Jazz Sanctuary livens up the service at First Church
For many in so-called evangelical churches, scripture is seen as instructive in inerrant and clear-cut ways – every word literally “true.” On the other side are an increasing number of secular folks who feel that scripture is arcane, irrelevant and, frankly, dangerous when used to judge, shame, or “convince” others of what is right and wrong. On the ever-decreasing middle ground are members of mainline churches who, through the weekly...
Construction work on Heights community center has begun
As you may know, the city plans to develop a new city-wide community center at the site of the former Dame School located at 14 Canterbury Road. This $7.5 million facility will replace the interim community center which the city has operated at the property for the past few years. The new facility will be 31,000 square feet and will feature the following amenities: a high school-size gymnasium, a large multipurpose room with stage,...
