Call for art in New Hampshire’s Capital City
The City of Concord, NH and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce invite sculptors to submit entries for Art on Main, a public art exhibit in the city’s historic downtown and beyond. Accepted entries will be on display from June 2024 through May 2025, and enhance the capital city’s award-winning Main Street. Concord’s seventh annual outdoor sculpture exhibition is open to sculptors 18 years or older, preferably from New England....
Granite VNA marks 125th anniversary in 2024
In 1899, Concord District Nursing Association was formed to serve the health needs of underserved residents of Concord, New Hampshire. Now known as Granite VNA, the agency has grown to become New Hampshire’s largest not-for-profit home health and hospice provider, and 2024 marks its 125th anniversary. From its humble beginnings with a single nurse, Katherine Hill, and a handful of volunteers who traversed Concord by foot, bicycle and...
Schoolhouse at Shaker Village undergoes restoration
By spring, staff at Canterbury Shaker Village expect to complete restoration of the Schoolhouse (c. 1823/63), a project made possible through key financial contributions, including a $10,000 grant from Daughters of the American Revolution. Begun in 2021, the multi-year project has included a new roof, repair and partial replacement of deteriorated clapboards, gutters, rainwater leaders, and other exterior features, along with...
Bulletin board for the week of Feb. 15, 2024
Auditions for ‘Pride and Prejudice’ The outspoken Lizzy Bennet is determined to never marry, despite mounting pressure from society. But can she resist love, especially when that vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aggravating Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?! Literature’s greatest tale of latent love has never felt so theatrical than it does in this effervescent new adaptation. Playwright Kate Hamill injects...
History for week of Feb. 15, 2024
Feb. 15, 2002: The Diocese of Manchester releases the names of 14 priests who have been accused of sexual misconduct with children between 1963 and 1987. Feb. 15, 1911: A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Weeks of Massachusetts, a New Hampshire native, calls for federal purchase of forest lands. The Weeks Act will lead to the designation of the White Mountain National Forest. Feb. 15, 1943: As a war...
Book: ‘Kerry and the Knight of the Forest’
‘Kerry and the Knight of the Forest’ By Andi Watson (2020, 268 pages, Genre: Graphic Novel, Fairytales) Kerry and the Knight of the Forest, by Andi Watson, is an adventure with roots in familiar fairytales of yore. It’s an age-old story from the get-go: a young man, while obtaining medicine for his sick parents, becomes lost in an old, creepy forest. Thematically speaking, there’s nothing really new happening here. Watson’s story,...
Young professional of the month: Erin Doonan gives hospitality a new spin
Concord Young Professionals Network (CYPN) introduces you to the “Young Professional of the Month,” Erin Doonan. Each month, the CYPN Steering Committee recommends individual in the community it thinks readers would enjoy getting to know better. Erin Doonan How old are you? 25. Where do you live? Concord, NH. Where do you currently work? I own Pours & Petals, a local boutique catering company and mobile bar service. You might see...
Commmunity Players to present ‘Witness for the Prosecution’
From Feb. 16 to 18, the Community Players of Concord NH will present Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution at Concord City Auditorium. Part of the Community Players’ 96th Season, the famous Christie thriller is the most-performed courtroom drama and recognized as one of her greatest plays. Based on a short story the famous “Queen of Crime” wrote in 1925, the 1953 play covers a sensational murder trial both in the courtroom of...
Myrtle provides a calm audience for readers
With her sweet disposition, non-judgmental nature, and calming influence, Myrtle has quickly become the most popular girl at the Kearsarge Regional Elementary School. When she struts through the front door, students run over just to say hi. And those lucky enough to spend some one-on-one time with her are ecstatic. “She’s become a celebrity,’ said School Counselor Taylor Fluery. Myrtle is not your average student, and not...
Bulletin board
Congress’s Power of the Purse Why does the federal government “shut down” when members of Congress fail to agree on new spending? Why is it becoming harder for Congress to pass routine spending bills? Why does Congress, rather than the President, hold authority over spending, and why does it matter? Professor Zachary Price will discuss Congress’s “power of the purse,” meaning its authority to control government spending, and provide...
Catholic Charities NH Mardi Gras set for Feb. 10
The 18th Annual Mardi Gras will be making its return to Concord on Feb. 10 at the Grappone Conference Center, bringing together the community to support NH neighbors facing poverty, homelessness, mental health challenges, and other timely issues impacting communities statewide. The evening will include a variety of authentic Cajun cuisine, games, live and silent auction items, dancing and more. The live auction will feature vacations...
This week in Concord history
Feb. 8, 2002: Lindsay and Allyson Lemire, 21-year-old Bow natives, appear on Sally Jessy Raphael’s talk show. The show is a dating game-like episode titled “Love Search. . . For Someone Like Me,” and pairs the women with aspiring actors and Doublemint twins Jermyn and Joseph Daube. Feb. 8, 2001: More than 30 Concord police and state Drug Task Force officers raid an apartment complex in Concord to arrest three men and a woman who the...
Book review of ‘Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman’
‘Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman’ by Lucy Worsley (2022, 415 pages, Genre: Biography) “Once I’ve been dead ten years, I’m sure no one will ever have heard of me.” This statement wouldn’t be nearly so ironic, had it not been uttered by one of the 20th century’s best-known authors: Agatha Christie. Even today, nearly half a century after her death, Christie is a household name. She has been identified by UNESCO as the world’s...
Bulletin board for the week of Feb. 1, 2024
Civics lecture Join New Hampshire Civics on Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. for a virtual William W. Treat Lecture with Dr. Richard Haass. Dr. Haass and a panel of New Hampshire high schoolers will have a virtual discussion about what the American people can do – both individually and collectively – to ensure that American democracy not only survives, but thrives. NH Civics would like to thank New Hampshire Humanities and...
Super Stellar Friday at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center looks forward to welcoming Jacob Garside as our February 2024 Super Stellar Friday speaker. Jacob is currently a second-year student at Plymouth State University here in New Hampshire, pursuing a B.S. in Meteorology. He has been a part of the Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project since 2022. He was also a NASA Space Grant intern at the Discovery Center during the summer of 2023, and his campers...
History for the week of Feb. 1, 2024
Feb. 1, 2003: News spreads through Concord that the space shuttle Columbia has exploded, reminding many of the space shuttle Challenger. “It’s amazing how it brings those feelings right back,” says state Rep. Jim MacKay, who was the city’s mayor when the Challenger exploded 17 years ago with Concord teacher Christa McAuliffe on board. Feb. 1, 1971: The New York Times reports rising concern among some New Hampshire officials that...
Gibson’s photographer, author Margo Cooper
Margo Cooper visits Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 S. Main St., on Feb. 20 to share her stunning new book of photographs and interviews, Deep Inside the Blues. Cooper will be joined in conversation by Holly Harris, host and producer of Spinning the Blues, a radio show airing Saturday nights on WUMB. Margo and Holly’s conversation will cover the musicians in the book, the music they made, the clubs in the Boston area, (including Harper’s...
‘A great neighborhood activity’: Outdoor hockey and nearly two decades of memories
Tom Philbrick’s basement has become something of a hockey sporting goods warehouse. Goalie equipment, sticks, skates, pucks – you name it, it’s probably down there. Oh, and don’t forget about all the hockey pucks not in the basement. “Hundreds of pucks around the neighborhood,” Philbrick said. “You find pucks from 10, 15 years ago stuck. I found them on my roof, found them on my neighbor’s roof. It’s unbelievable.” It’s a little more...
Book review: ‘Annihilation’ by Jeff VanderMeer
‘Annihilation,’ by Jeff VanderMeer (2014, 195 pages, Genre: Science Fiction / Horror) “’The map had been the first form of misdirection, for what is a map but a way of emphasizing some things and making other things invisible?’” This is an excerpt from the journal of the biologist, the otherwise unnamed main character in Jeff VanderMeer’s first installment of his Southern Reach trilogy. For over thirty years, a government agency...
This week in Concord history
Dec. 28, 1863: Henry Plummer Brooks, a Pittsfield boy of 14 years 10 months, enlists in the Third Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. After fighting in two battles, he will die of illness in North Carolina. A history of the town’s Civil War soldiers will assert that although there were younger drummer boys during the war, Plummer was the youngest by 10 months of any soldier who carried a rifle. Thus the town will claim both...
Book review: ‘The Last Tale of the Flower Bride’
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride By Roshani Chokshi (292 pages, fantasy, 2023) Rooted in fairy tales and folklore, “The Last Tale of the Flower Bride” can leave the reader wondering what really happened. Is there magic? Did it touch the two narrators? I’m still thinking about the events in the story. The first narrator we meet is The Bridegroom. We never learn his name. He’s a scholar of folklore and fairy tales who has traced...
Concord Crew, Red River co-host evening showing of ‘Boys in the Boat’
Concord Crew and Red River Theatre are co-hosting the movie “Boys in the Boat” for the evening showing on Tuesday, Dec. 26. During Depression-era America, an underdog rowing team at the University of Washington amazingly defies all odds and achieves the ability to represent the USA at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Director George Clooney deftly delivers a heartwarming and bold depiction of perseverance and unity in “Boys in the Boat” –...
This week in history for Dec. 21, 2023
Dec. 21, 1833: Benjamin Brown French of Chester, who will serve for many years in Washington, D.C., arrives there for his first job as a clerk in the U.S. House. He writes: “I entered the Capitol today, for the first time, and I viewed it with thoughts and emotions which I cannot express – will it always be the capitol of my happy country?” Dec. 22, 1840: Belknap County is established. Dec. 23, 1999:The Monitor reports that Gov....
Bulletin board for the week of Dec. 21, 2023
Holiday conversations and oral history The Pembroke Historical Society is offering some suggestions for families to address their oral histories at upcoming holiday gatherings. “The Basics of Video Interviews” and lists of potential questions are now available on the PHS website to help facilitate discussions with family members, neighbors and friends. “The holidays are a perfect time to ask about family stories and histories,” says...
Book review: ‘Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman’
‘Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman’ by Lucy Worsley (2022, 415 pages, biography) “Once I’ve been dead ten years, I’m sure no one will ever have heard of me.” This statement wouldn’t be nearly so ironic, had it not been uttered by one of the 20th century’s best-known authors: Agatha Christie. Even today, nearly half a century after her death, Christie is a household name. She has been identified by UNESCO as the world’s best-selling...
Bulletin board for the week of Dec. 7, 2023
Veterans to be honored The Pierce Brigade, the membership organization dedicated to preserving the home and legacy of President Franklin Pierce, has adopted Old North Cemetery on North State Street as part of Wreaths Across America. Wreaths will be laid on the graves of 200 veterans located in the historic cemetery. On Saturday, Dec. 16, at 10 a.m., the public is invited to join representatives from each of the eight military service...
Embracing the darkness in winter
PILLAR Gallery + Projects is a new exhibition space in Concord. Its second exhibition, “As the Light Wanes,” opens Dec. 9, from 5 to 8 p.m.The group exhibition explores nocturnes, quieter reflections, personal narrative and yearning as the days get shorter.Artists include Mia Bergeron, Rachel Burgess, Doug Breault, Erica Walker, Ellina Chetverikova, Boyan Moskov and Melody S. Boone. Media includes monotype, paintings, experimental...
Shop for books by Granite State writers
Know a book worm who’s looking for some more pages to flip? Check out these novels written by members of the New Hampshire Writers’ Project. Non-Fiction Covered Bridges of NH By Kim Varney Chandler Covered Bridges of New Hampshire is a must have book for covered bridge enthusiasts and historians. The book is an engaging and well-illustrated history of the remaining covered bridges in the Granite State. It is the most...
Book review: ‘The Secret Bridesmaid’
‘The Secret Bridesmaid’ By: Katy Birchall (2021, 400 pages, romance) Sophie Breeze is a bridesmaid who lives in London. She is not your average bridesmaid, though, she is a professional. That’s right – not a wedding planner but a professional bridesmaid. Her job is to let brides and their families make the plans they want while she unobtrusively works out all of the details so that the wedding goes off without a hitch. She is so good...
Winterfox Market is a collaboration of artists
Joining DIY Craft and Thrift in the former CVS on Main Street is an artistic pop-up shop, which will be open through the end of December. Winterfox Market is a community of artists working together including illustrator and graphic designer Ty Meier of Hopkinton, wood-burning expert Jo Grubman of Hopkinton, furniture-maker Eli Sproles, sheep-shearing wool-spinner and knitter Kris McCosh of Raymond, painter Charlotte Thibault of...