Concord Public Library Book of the Week
For more information about the Concord Public Library, visit concordpubliclibrary.net. We’re also on Tumblr (reading-rumblr.tumblr.com and concordteens.tumblr.com), Facebook (facebook.com/ConcordPublicLibrary), and Instagram.A Touch of StardustKate Alcott2015, 296 pagesFictionIt’s 1938, and college-graduate Julie has just landed her first important job in Hollywood – not as a screenwriter, but as an assistant to Carole Lombard, who...
10th annual multicultural festival returns Sept. 26
Ten years ago the Concord Area Task Force Against Racism and Intolerance held the first Concord Multicultural Festival on the State House Plaza. It was the fruition of years of discussion that finally came together thanks to a group of volunteers to create an opportunity for Concord residents to welcome their newest neighbors – the refugees and immigrants who were making Concord their new home. Each year, the festival grew in numbers...
It was man vs. bacon at Area 23, all in the name of ‘Insider’ science
I pulled up to Concord’s new nanobrewery, Area 23, not knowing what to expect. All I had heard was that I could get half a pound of bacon for five bucks and that they had a good selection of local craft beer on tap. They had me at the bacon.Now I’m not one of those bacon junkies who would die without bacon. I appreciate it, I occasionally like it on a burger or I’ll have a couple of pieces if it looks decent in the dining hall at my...
This week in Concord history
Aug. 11, 2003: The Concord City Council strikes a deal with Portsmouth developer Michael Simchik to give both the Sears block and the Penacook tannery some much-needed TLC. Simchik will spend about $10 million to design and build a six-story building full of offices, stores and apartments on the site of the former Sears block downtown.Aug. 11, 2001: The Monitor reports: While speculation about who will run for mayor this fall has been...
Check out this funky stuff over at Mill Brook
Here’s a gander at some of the funky stuff on display at the Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit at Mill Brook Gallery. The pieces will be on display until Oct. 18.
Pam Tarbell has carved out a nice sculpture niche at Mill Brook Gallery
Most people don’t want strangers showing up unannounced and walking around their property. But not Pam Tarbell. She welcomes visitors to her 236 Hopkinton Road home between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. That’s because Tarbell’s home doubles as Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden, which is closing in on two decades of sharing art with the Concord community. The gallery opened 19 years ago and the following year,...
International bird feeder powerhouse Duncraft stays true to local roots
“Look at this list,” Mike Dunn tells us as he opens to a page in Stores Magazine, a publication of the National Retail Federation. The top of the page reads “2015 Top 100 Retailers.” The page he flips to lists the top 25, with the other 75 on the following page. “The highlighted ones sell bird feeders,” Dunn says. We count the companies he’s highlighted. Fifteen of the top 25, and every single one of the top 10. While the companies...
They wouldn’t let us in the dome, so what’s Brian Pfitzer’s secret?
The headline for these photos might be a little misleading, because we actually know the answer: the 80s. That’s when Pfitzer finagled his way into the very top portion of the dome, because the 80s was a time when you could ask someone to do something and it wouldn’t spark a national investigation. So Pfitzer, now of the Monitor circulation department, asked someone he knew who worked in or around the State House if he could peek...
City briefly
Each week, City Manager Tom Aspell does a million bicep curls to sculpt himself up. That’s a lot of work, though, so he just paper maches himself instead to become a city memo sculpture. Here it is, in two-dimensional format!Is Indiana Jones coming?Archaeologists dig the cityMuch of this week’s work on the Main Street construction project will be happening around the State House Plaza, Aspell writes. Yesterday, a team of...
Got a couple bucks? You could help bring some Concord history home
Truth: Concord’s history ran off while we slept. Now folks growl when they speak of the railroad station. What’s left of the Dew Drop Inn? A wooden peg and a brick. How about the Tenney Chimes? Silence. The Italian garden on North Main? A gas station. Rumford Coffee House? A union hall. Gone. You have one to add? Tell me. And I’ll tell you another, one that’s six weeks shy of departure. Concord’s historic claim to fame was a factory...
Kids are doing fun kid things at Camp Spaulding again this summer
After a brief hiatus, Camp Spaulding in Concord is back, and it’s sort of brand new this year thanks to a creative partnership between Child and Family Services of N.H., the Concord Family YMCA and the YMCA of Greater Nashua (the only such collaboration of its kind in the country, according to Kat Strange of Child and Family Services). The new setup features a day camp as well as the traditional residential camp, and if our visit is...
N.H. State Council on the Arts offering workshops
The N.H. State Council on the Arts is offering two Creative Aging Workshops for teaching artists and arts educators interested in working with adults 55 and older. The workshops will provide research on arts and aging, explore what is different about adult learning, analyze best practices and help participants combine their arts and education skills to form a strong basis for working with older adults. Research has shown that seniors...
Capital Area Memory Cafe coming up Aug. 19
The Capital Area Memory Cafe for memory-impaired inpiduals and their family members is Wednesday, Aug. 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Granite Ledges of Concord, 151 Langley Parkway. The Memory Cafe is held on the third Wednesday of every month at the same time. The Capital Area Memory Cafe is a collaboration of Concord Hospital, Concord Regional VNA, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Concord and Granite Ledges of Concord. Enjoy an opportunity to socialize...
Stamp Collectors meeting in Bow on Aug. 18
The Merrimack County Stamp Collectors will hold its monthly meeting at the Bow Mills United Methodist Church, 505 South St., Bow, on Aug. 18 beginning at 1 p.m. All who are interested in stamp collecting are welcome to attend. Meet other collectors and learn more about their hobby and varied interests in philatelic resources and issues. For more information, call Dan Day at 228-1154.
Piccolo Opera hosts opera competition Oct. 3
Piccola Opera is holding its Second Annual Opera Competition Oct. 3 at the Concord City Auditorium. This competition is open to all opera performers over the age of 18. There will be two rounds to the competition, with the preliminary round held during the day on Oct 3. The evening event will feature emerging singers in the live final round, which is open to the public. Forty singers will participate in the competition. Of the 40...
N.H. Association for the Blind offers low vision evals
The New Hampshire Association for the Blind, in partnership with Dr. Kristen Bryant from Concord Eye Center, will begin holding monthly low vision evaluations. This functional eye exam focuses directly on how a particular person’s vision impairment affects day-to-day living. Ultimately, the evaluation serves to assist people who are partially sighted to use their remaining vision more effectively through the prescribing and training...
Stop by Grace Episcopal Church for Game Day
PEO Chapter B will host an afternoon of card playing and board games during a Game Day, Aug. 13 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church at 30 Eastman St. Bring a deck of cards and friends for a card game foursome or meet new people interested in playing a variety of games. There will be refreshments provided. Advance tickets are $4, or $5 at the door. Call Gert at 724-6304 or Marion at 428-7108 for tickets and information. Proceeds...
Sign up to help with the annual Audi ‘Pitch In’
“We Do Windows,” say The Friends of the Concord City Auditorium. “Windows and orchestra seats and dressing rooms and stage floors. We sew curtains, polish chandeliers and send event calendars to thousands of area households. And all in three days!” The 25th annual “Pitch In” on Aug. 24-26, will get the historic municipal theatre ready for its 111th year as the home of Concord’s community-based arts and entertainment. The new season...
Concord Regional VNA to host book discussion
Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association is offering “Beyond the Book: A Series on Age Related Topics,” on Thursday, Aug. 20 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Pembroke Town Library at 313 Pembroke Street in Pembroke. This program will be based on the book, Second Wind by Dr. Bill Thomas and the facilitator is Sherri Harden, Champion for Aging Well. The first 25 registered participants will receive a complimentary copy of the book, Second Wind....
Concord Public Library book of the week
For more information about the Concord Public Library, visit concordpubliclibrary.net. We’re also on Tumblr (reading-rumblr.tumblr.com and concordteens.tumblr.com), Facebook (facebook.com/ConcordPublicLibrary), and Instagram.Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, Vol. 1Araki Hirohiko2015, 245 pagesFictionRunning since the late 80s, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has given its readers martial arts, inexplicable rivalries, vampires,...
Sculptor Andy Moerlein embraces the daredevil spirit in his pieces
If you’ve driven along Hopkinton Road, heading away from Concord, you may have caught a glimpse of Andy Moerlein’s work. You’d have to be paying close attention – though hopefully not when you’re behind the wheel – but trust us, it’s there. It’s tucked on the left side just as you start to head down the driveway for Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden, and it seems to defy logic. It looks like a bunch of really heavy boulders...
These SPS Cyclists rode 3,835 miles in 47 days for Ride 2 Recovery
It’s probably safe to say we’ve all ridden a bike. Whether it be as a kid to the local park, in college to get around campus or merely as a form of exercise. Although most of us probably can’t and never will be able to raise our hands when the question of ‘have you ever ridden your bike across the United States?’ comes up. We find it hard to believe that group is very large. But after last Tuesday, you can add seven students from St....
Rock On Fest is coming to White Park
White Park is a great place to hang out. With a basketball court, athletic fields and a pool, it’s been a popular summer destination for years. And you can’t forget about the skating pond and sledding hill in the winter. But this is about the warm months, and if you add in music, food and a high school basketball tournament, there won’t be a better place in the city to bring yourself on Aug. 15. Did we also mention there will be...
The Concord 250 party doesn’t end with next week’s celebration
As you will soon see, assuming that you keep reading this edition of the Insider (which we highly recommend), Concord 250 is stepping up it’s game starting Monday with a week-long celebration. While the group dedicated to keeping the birthday party going for New Hampshire’s state capital has been doing quite a job so far, this is by far the most work that will be put in. When you hit 250, it’s really got to be “go big or go home.” It...
Rosemary Conroy sure does have a way of painting animals
The Jill C. Wilson Gallery at Kimball-Jenkins is home to an acrylic exhibit by Rosemary Conroy. You’ll find various species of wildlife captured by Conroy’s brush strokes that will surely appeal to the animal lover in you. The exhibit will run through Aug. 28, with gallery hours taking place Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
These pictures from the St. Paul’s bikers are worth a thousand pedals
The St. Paul’s students who biked across the country to raise money for Ride 2 Recovery clearly didn’t enjoy themselves at all (**sarcasm**). Thankfully they blogged about the whole trip. Here are some photo highlights.
You might notice some familiar places in Peter Coe’s work
If you walk around the Carolyn Jenkins Gallery (also known as the Carriage House) at Kimball-Jenkins you’ll see that Peter Coe likes to paint things that you’ll see just about any day you take a drive around Concord. The exhibit is on display through Aug. 28.
This Week In Concord History
Aug. 4, 2002: In their first-ever playoff appearance, the Concord Quarry Dogs’ eke out s 2-1 win in the bottom of the ninth over Mill City, the Monitor reports.Aug. 4, 1862: Gen. Oliver O. Howard of Maine and Col. Edward E. Cross of Lancaster, both wounded at the recent Battle of Fair Oaks, are among the speakers at a war recruiting meeting in Concord. The Patriot will report that the speeches were “able and eloquent” with the...
City Briefly
Each week, City Manager Tom Aspell celebrates the birthday of the city memo by jamming 250 candles into it and lighting them all. He’s so winded from blowing them out that he passes out, but thankfully he mumbles the new memo in his stupor. Here it is!Are you ready for some . . . Bleachers? We hope soThe Doane Diamond press box at Memorial Field was completely renovated last spring, and now Concord General Services’ Public Properties...
You’re invited to Concord’s 250th birthday party
In case you missed the memo, along with all the cool events happening since the start of 2015, we’re here to let you in on a little secret.Concord is in the midst of celebrating its 250th year, and while that may be pretty old in human years, it’s just what happens to a city. The people come and go, but the buildings, roads and history just keep plugging along.And even though it’s customary to give gifts when celebrating a birthday,...
