This Week in Concord History
June 7, 1765: The provincial government grants Concord a royal charter. Since 1733, the town had been called Rumford, and before that, under a 1725 Massachusetts charter, Penny-Cook. June 7, 1965: To celebrate the city’s bicentennial, Concord leaders bury a time capsule in the State House plaza, to be reopened on June 7, 2015. Among the items inside: marble from the giant railroad station demolished in 1961 and wood from the...
Bulletin Board
Poetry Society at Gibson’s on June 15 The Poetry Society of New Hampshire will meet at Gibson’s Bookstore on June 15 at 7 p.m. June’s headliners are Mark Palos, and Slam Free Or Die – back by popular demand. An open mic follows their readings. All are welcome, newcomers are encouraged. The Poetry Society meets at Gibson’s on the third Wednesday of every month. Gibson’s Bookstore Friday Family Fun at music school Please join New...
Look who’s trying to find love on craigslist
We took to craigslist last week to see who had been posting on the missed connections pages in our neck of the woods. And lo and behold, we found all these great entries. So here’s a sampling of what we found and could print, unedited, of course. Redhead from Lifeline Ambulance – m4w (Concord)–May 29 You are a hot, curvy redhead EMT from Lifeline. I’ve seen you in the ambulance bay at Concord Hospital a few times. You...
We sure take fun vacations
Linda Baines not only got to ride a camel while in the desert at Wadi Rum in Jordan, but she did so while reading the Insider. Some people have all the fun. If you go somewhere fun, take a copy of the Insider along with you and send us a pic from your trip. We pretty much run everything we get!
Live music rundown for this weekend
If you can’t wait a whole week to check out that Martin Experience, you can still get your music fix in the meantime. If you go to True Brew Barista, you can catch Zooo Crew and The Snaz on Friday and Whiskey Kill & Dressed for the Occasion on Saturday. If you’re more into listening to music while sipping brews next to a psychadelic wall mural, you might want to check out Area 23 on Saturday. Trade will be playing their second...
Tasty Brews: Founders Sumatra at Barley House
For this week’s Tasty Brew, we ventured back to the first place we went to start this delicious endeavor: The Barley House. That’s because they had just recently had a kick-the-keg event featuring some rare, specialty beers from Founders, and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We tried the Sumatra Mountain Brown, an imperial brown ale brewed with Sumatra coffee. This is a dark, rich, smooth, strong, flavorful beer that’s...
Destination Imagination went to the Global Finals
A few weeks ago, we told you about three local Destination Imagination teams who were getting ready to go to the Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn. These kids had been working all school year to perfect their skits to compete against thousands of other students from the world over on a big stage. Well, since our boss wouldn’t sign off an an Insider trip to Tennessee so we could watch in person, we had to utilize our greatest asset to...
Bow Garden Club celebrates spring
The Bow Garden Club held its annual spring plant sale recently and they sure did sell a lot of plants. It’s safe to say that all of these ladies were quite busy and dirty by the end of it.
We took a look at Concord’s ice cream shops
We always get really tough assignments over here at the Insider, whether it’s riding electric animals inside the mall or playing wheelchair basketball. That’s why it was no sweat when we decided to take on the task of hitting up a sampling of Concord’s ice cream joints to find out what makes each one unique. Plus, we know you probably don’t have time to go around to every ice creamery in town, and we’re just here to help. So here’s a...
Beyond the Cubicle: Scooping and twisting ice cream at Ballard’s
There’s no way we could dedicate an entire issue to ice cream and not feature some kind of ice cream-related job. We did a feature on making ice cream at Arnie’s last year, so we wanted to try something different this time around. “Why not jump in with some ice cream scoopers?” we said to ourselves. Next thing you know, I’m putting on a T-shirt and hat at Ballard’s Ice Cream. The very first thing I learned about working at Ballard’s...
Don’t have a yard? Join a community garden
There’s nothing quite like feeling the dirt between your fingers as you plant a seed. That seed will hopefully sprout and grow into a beautiful flower, hearty vegetable or tasty fruit at the end of the summer for you to enjoy. There’s something to be said about growing your own food. But if you live in downtown Concord, you might not have the kind of space required for a garden. It might be too shady or no yard at all. And if you grew...
Tasty Brews: We stopped by an Oddball tasting at Barb’s
Trying a new beer can be a tricky situation. If you buy a six pack and don’t like it, then it sits in your fridge until you can pawn it off to an unsuspecting guest. And if you order it at a restaurant, there’s almost an expectation that if you get a beer with dinner that you finish it – no matter how much you would rather pour it down the drain. But you don’t want to be stuck drinking the same beer over and over again. Everyone needs...
Tackling the T-shirt Sundae at Arnie’s Place
For the Ice Cream Issue, it didn’t seem right not to do a feature that involved us eating ice cream. We felt we’d be doing all of you a disservice if we didn’t go out and try something the city had to offer. Since we kind of like to go big or go home over here, we decided to head over to Arnie’s Place to tackle the T-shirt Sundae, the legendary eight-scoop behemoth that gets you a free T-shirt if you finish it all. For me, I took this...
Don’t forget about fro-yo, too
So we’ve already told you pretty much all there is to know about ice cream in Concord, but some of you might be sitting there thinking, “Well what about frozen yogurt fans? Any love for us?” Of course there is. We know full well that fro-yo is all the rage these days, and Concord has two shops specializing in the treat. Therefore, we checked out what each had to offer so we could pass the tasty finds on to you. Orange Leaf When it’s...
Try It: We made our own ice cream, and it was tasty
Since this is the Ice Cream Issue, it’s only right that one of us try to make our own. And I was the lucky one who just happened to own an ice cream maker. I’ve eaten enough of it to know what its supposed to taste like, so at least I had that going for me. But I had never used my ice cream maker, which is surprising considering how much I enjoy ice cream. I had no idea what to put in it or how much, but luckily I had the manual....
Penacook Farmers Market opens Monday
The Penacook Village Farmers Market, put on by the Penacook Village Association, will open for its seventh year on Monday at the 1834 Rolfe House on 11 Penacook St. in Penacook. The market, which is opening a little earlier this year, will run each Monday, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., through Aug. 29. With the short winter and people wanting more markets opening earlier made the most sense. And we’re all about making sense. Last year, the...
The Concord Arts Market returns Saturday
Since it’s been so nice out lately, you’ve probably done some strolling around downtown. If you’ve gone out on a weekend morning, you may have even noticed or stopped by the Concord Farmers Market – which opened a few weeks early this year – and asked yourself, “Where’s the arts market?” Don’t worry, it’s right around the corner.Market season starts this Saturday, with the Concord Arts Market running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in...
Charlie Stella to present ‘Tommy Red’ at Gibson’s Bookstore
If you love books, authors and reading in general, you should head over to Gibson’s Bookstore on Thursday to meet an award-winning author. Prolific crime writer Charlie Stella will talk about his newest work, Tommy Red, which focuses on a hit crime that takes place on Star Island. The event is Thursday at 5:30 p.m., and it’s free.
These painters sure like the Merrimack River
The N.H. Audubon is all about the protection of birds – and just nature in general. So it’s no surprise that a group called the Merrimack River Painters, who produce all kinds of great works including birds and nature, is currently exhibiting at the Audubon’s McLane Center. The group of 12 artists from New Hampshire and Maine will have their work on display through June, so you’ve got plenty of time to check it out.
N.H. Association for the Blind Walk for Sight is Saturday
Chances are, you know how to walk. Whether you like to do it outside of what’s required to live your daily life is another story. But we must let you know that it is a good source of exercise, and this Saturday, it also happens to be a great way to raise money for the New Hampshire Association for the Blind. So if you feel like using those legs for more than making your way to the refrigerator for another bowl of ice cream, sign up to...
Grammarnator: It’s lesson time
What can we say about appositives? Let’s start with a definition – a noun or a pronoun, often with modifiers, that follows another noun to describe or explain it. If other words are associated with it, an appositive phrase is created. Consider this sentence about a famous regional sports figure: Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, has lost the appeal of his four-game suspension by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Ah,...
Adventure Shopping
We took an Adventure Shopping trip to Ocean State Job Lot last week, and here’s what we found. As usual, there was plenty of bizarre stuff to check out.
Around Town: Here’s a new way to watch traffic
We see all kinds of things in our travels around Concord, but this was the first time we found an office chair on the side of the road that we can only assume was used to count the cars driving by Sewalls Falls Road. Although it was a short-lived feature on Mountain Road, as it was gone less than 24 hours after we came across it. We didn’t see a “free” sign, but we can see why someone would grab it.
Book of the Week: Killing Trail
Killing Trail Margaret Mizushima 2015, 314 pages Fiction Mattie Cobb really likes her new partner. He’s good-looking, has thick dark hair, brown eyes, a killer smile, and he listens to what she says. He’s also eager to please! He’s their first K-9 police dog, Robo. Mattie won the chance to be his trainer, and she is excited about working with him. Mattie and Robo find the body of a teenage girl in the woods, and Mattie suspects...
Bulletin Board
McGowan to open Bob Larsen exhibit McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “Inspirations, New Watercolors” featuring the paintings of Bob Larsen. The show will run through June 30, with an artist’s reception on Friday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. This show is free and open to the public. This show offers a chance to take in the sights of New Hampshire as seen through the eyes of a noted artist. Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to...
This Week in Concord History
May 31, 1856: Edward H. Rollins, Concord politico, leads a mass meeting at Phenix Hall to condemn terrorism in Kansas and the caning of Sen. Charles Sumner on the floor of the U.S. Senate. It is among the first gatherings in the city of a new party, the Republicans. May 31, 1873: The city council appropriates $12,000 to build a new bridge over the Contoocook River in Penacook. May 31, 1932: The Schoonmaker Chair Co. goes...
We went to all the yard sales we could find
Now that it’s finally (probably) safe to put away the winter gear, it’s time for everybody’s favorite time of year: yard sale season. Who doesn’t love getting up at the crack of dawn every weekend, loading up with cash and heading out to see what can be bought off lawns? We sure as heck live for that stuff, so we went out this past weekend to see what we could find. We were not disappointed.
If you like yard sales, check out this place
It’s just a bit after 3 on a Monday afternoon and the Concord Auction Center is starting to get busy. There’s an auction in a few hours and people want to see what kind of stuff they can take home with them. If they have the winning bid that is. When we took a stroll around the 126 Hall St. warehouse, the volume of stuff for the weekly Monday auction was a little overwhelming. At the Concord Auction Center, Mondays are for household...
Food Snob: Smokeshow Barbeque
If there’s one food group that we just can’t get enough of, it’s barbeque. So when we heard there was a new place over on Fort Eddy Road serving up smoked BBQ meats, we had to give it a taste. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t. Let us introduce you to Smokeshow Barbeque. It’s located in the Merrimack Center (the same one that houses Planet Fitness and Cobblestone Design) and since they got top billing on the sign out front,...
Go Try It: Open jam session at NEC
Every once in a while, you just need to rock out. It’s a cathartic experience that experts say adds decades to your life, and there’s somewhere right downtown where you can do exactly that: NEC Concord. The little college campus on North Main Street hosts live music once a week as part of the Listening Room Series. This past Thursday, we hit up the ProJam Open Jam Session, which is basically exactly what it sounds like: an open jam...
