City news: Author tells stories of Black soldiers in WWII
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: Concord Library The Forgotten African Americans of WWII: Journalist and author Lind Hervieux will discuss the unsung role African American soldiers played in World War II on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. on Zoom. It is not a new story....
Spring line-up of Walker speakers, performers
Since 1896, the Walker Lecture Series has brought stimulating speakers and performers to Concord. The tradition continues. This spring’s offerings range far and wide with topics as exotic as the islands of South America and as local as the sidewalks of New Hampshire. Musical performers include two a cappella groups, a string quartet, a Johnny Cash tribute band, and more. In the Walker tradition, all performances are free with no...
Andrew North, Rangers celebrate album
New Hampshire jammers Andrew North and the Rangers just released their debut full-length LP, Phosphorescent Snack. The 12 song release showcases the band’s genre-bending style and whimsical sense of humor. They will headline a concert on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. at the Bank of N.H. Stage. (Doors open at 7 p.m.) “This album has been a long time coming,” says North. “I’m so excited about the music that we’ve been making together and I think...
Entertainment from Feb. 3 to 12
Live music Feb. 3 Enter the Haggis will perform at the Bank of N.H. Stage at 8 p.m. Joey Placenti at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 4 Kimayo at Pats Peak from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 5 Cash Unchained: The Ultimate Johnny Cash Experience will perform at the Capitol Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. Mike Dawes and Yasmin Williams will perform at the Bank of N.H. Stage at 8 p.m. Paul Driscoll at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to...
Book: The Every
The Every By Dave Eggers (577 pages, dystopian/satire, 2021) The Every is the companion book/sequel to Eggers’ The Circle, which showed us a mega-corporation bent on being the sole provider of new technology and its cultish work campus. In The Every, the Circle has rebranded and become the Every after acquiring “a corporation named after a South American jungle” and a myriad of other apps and developers. The campus has grown...
This week in Concord history
Feb. 3, 1968: In Concord, Richard Nixon opens his presidential campaign with a speech in which he says America is a country with a torn soul, a country that needs a new leader who recognizes its “crisis of the spirit” and can restore “the lift of a driving dream.” He then hosts the press for a party at the Highway Hotel. Special guests: Nixon’s 19-year-old daughter Julie and her fiancee, David Eisenhower. Feb. 3, 1944: On the...
1904: A different kind of business
In 1904, the Boston & Maine Railroad found themselves in the Electric Trolley business here in Concord. Around the year 1902 the Concord & Montreal Railroad, a leased line of the Boston & Maine Railroad, obtained a charter to build a new line to Manchester, New Hampshire. During the same period, the Boston & Maine Railroad found themselves in control of the Concord City Street Railway, in prior years known as the...
City news: Airport feedback, library improvements
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: Upcoming Meetings City meetings are held in person in Council Chambers at 37 Green Street (unless otherwise specified on the City’s calendar). Upcoming meetings include: City Council Priority Setting Session: February 7, 6 p.m....
Bulletin board: Author talk
Author John Nichols visits Gibson’s Bookstore virtually on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. to present a furious denunciation of America’s coronavirus criminals in Coronavirus Criminals and Pandemic Profiteers: Accountability for Those Who Caused the Crisis. Hundreds of thousands of deaths were caused not by the vicissitudes of nature but by the callous and opportunistic decisions of powerful people. On March 10, 2020, president Donald Trump told a...
Book: An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good
An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good By Helene Tursten (171 pages, fiction, 2018) Much like this pocket-size collection of stories, 88-year-old Maud is a teensy Swedish lady with a sardonic wit and a deadly streak a mile wide. She uses her outward appearance of sweetness and light, helplessness and innocence, to plot against her enemies and preserve her lifestyle; due to a clause in her late father’s will, Maud is able to live rent-free...
This week in Concord history
Jan. 27, 1942: Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony for Concord Mayor John Storrs and the city’s aldermen, Gov. Robert O. Blood has this to say about the world war: “We will put an end to this conflict in two years.” Jan. 27, 1943: An anonymous Webster man applies to the Concord War and Price Rationing Board for 600 pounds of sugar. “I make alky mash and need sugar to make it ferment and taste right,” he writes. The board...
Winter Festival returns for icy celebration
Layer up Concord because the 4th Annual Concord NH Winter Festival presented by Breezeline is returning. Intown Concord and The Hotel Concord are excited to announce downtown Concord’s favorite icy celebration is scheduled to coincide with the Black Ice Pond Hockey Tournament once again. Spectators will enjoy live ice-carving demonstrations and meet some of New England’s most talented carvers on Jan. 28, from 3 to 9 p.m., followed by...
Black Ice Pond Hockey to return after COVID hiatus
The Black Ice Pond Hockey Championships will return this year with some changes to mitigate the frustrating rescheduling that often comes with unpredictable January weather. The 2021 hockey tournament was canceled because of COVID-19, and in 2020 warm temperatures followed by a snowstorm shortened the tournament by two days. This year, if organizers determine the weather – or COVID – prove too big a challenge, the games set for Jan....
Entertainment for Jan. 27 to Feb. 6
Live music Jan. 27 Brian Booth at Hermanos from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Jan. 28 Masceo Williams and the Special Guests at Area 23 at 8 p.m. Trunk O Funk at Penuche’s Ale House at 8 p.m. Jan. 29 Tim Hazelton at Hermanos from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Alan Roux at Makris Lobster House from 6 to 9 p.m. Mike Gallant Jam at Area 23 at 2 p.m. Crooked Cash and Friends at Area 23 at 8 p.m. Queen City Soul at Penuche’s Ale House at 8 p.m. Mikey G. at the...
City news: Winter fun at Beaver Meadow, Everett Arena
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: City meetings City meetings are held in person in Council Chambers at 37 Green Street (unless otherwise specified on the City’s calendar). Upcoming meetings include: Zoning Board of Adjustment: Feb. 2, 7 p.m. City Council Monthly...
This week in Concord history
Jan. 20, 1968: New Hampshire loses its 100th military man in the Vietnam War. He is Eliot Guild of Keene, a 21-year-old Marine medical corpsman. Jan 20, 1926: Nathaniel Lovell, a champion golfer at the Manchester Country Club, dies at the age of 25. The Granite Monthly magazine reports that the cause of death is “blood poisoning, which set in after the opening of a pimple on the golfer’s face.” Jan. 20, 1973: The Monitor...
Book: Off the Wild Coast of Brittany
Off the Wild Coast of Brittany By Juliet Blackwell (452 pages, fiction, 2021) Natalie Morgen had a survivalist childhood. She and her sisters grew up in a family that believed that the end was near. They called their father the Commander and lived underground in a bunker, stockpiling food and learning to hunt and fish, to survive off the land. Natalie finally fled this life, and reinvented herself. She taught herself French cooking,...
Entertainment from Jan. 20 to 30
Live music Jan. 20 Craig Fahey at Hermanos from 6:30 to 9 p.m. New Hampshire Music Collective Showcase at Area 23 at 7 to 10 p.m. Jan. 21 Hip Hop Night at Penuche’s Ale House at 9 p.m. Frankie Boy and the Blues Express at Area 23 at 8 p.m. Jan. 22 Eugene Durkee at the Downtown Concord Winter Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to noon. Paul Driscoll at Concord Craft Brewing from 3 to 6 p.m. Chris Lester at Chen Yang Li from 7 to 10 p.m....
Bulletin board
Ticketed author event Gibson’s Bookstore is pleased to join Books & Books and indie bookstore partners across America to present on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. Isabel Allende in a virtual event celebrating her new novel, Violeta. This is a ticketed event, with a book purchase required for entry to the virtual event. Preorder Violeta directly from Gibson’s Bookstore, or purchase a bundled ticket. Born in Peru and raised in Chile, Isabel...
Floral art exhibit to return
After a year’s hiatus, the Concord Garden Club is pleased to return with the 19th annual Art & Bloom exhibit. Art & Bloom is a Concord mid-winter tradition attracting art and flower lovers to enjoy beautiful floral arrangements paired with works of art. This year, the club is once again partnering with the League of NH Craftsmen. Club members and local floral professionals will create floral arrangements inspired by works of...
XC ski trails open at Beaver Meadow
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights:XC ski trailsThe cross-country skiing trails at Beaver Meadow Golf Course are open and are groomed daily as snow conditions allow.For more information on the outdoor skating areas and XC Ski Trail map please visit...
Book: Clean: The New Science of Skin
Clean: The New Science of Skin By James Hamblin (280 pages, nonfiction, 2020) I often enjoy nonfiction titles that promise to share “the new science” behind a quotidian topic —and in that vein, Clean: The New Science of Skin does not disappoint! In this work, Dr. James Hamblin — a physician specializing in preventive medicine and public health, staff writer for The Atlantic, and lecturer in health policy at Yale University —...
Book: Intimacies
Intimacies By Katie Kitamura (225 pages, literary fiction, 2021) Intimacies is a novel that explores the nuances of relationships, both personal and professional. Our unnamed narrator finds herself rootless as she leaves New York and relocates to The Hague; her father is deceased, and her mother moved to Singapore, a place our narrator holds no personal connection with. Her first assignment in her new job as an interpreter for the...
Live entertainment from Jan. 13 to 22
Live music Jan. 13 Chris Peters at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 14 Eric Lindberg and Friends at Area 23 at 8 p.m. Iron and Wine at the Bank of N.H. Stage at 8 p.m. Tyler Allgood at Penuche’s Ale House at 9 p.m. Jan. 15 Bluegrass Jam at Area 23 at 2 p.m. Stoned Wasp at Area 23 at 8 p.m. John Franzosa at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Chris Peters at the Downtown Concord Farmers Market from 9 a.m. to noon. Mikey G. at Concord Craft Brewing from 3...
Looking back to 1861: Busy at the J. C. Norris Bakery
As the early citizens walked the cobbled Concord Main Street late into the evening, well after the lone gas lighter had extinguished his lanterns after midnight, there was still activity in our little town. We had a war to fight and the troops needed to be fed, and that was just what the J.C. Norris & Company (Concord Theatre Building) at 18 South Main Street did all throughout the night. The ovens were blazing back during the...
CYPN: Forming connections in Concord
Concord Young Professionals Network (CYPN) introduces you to the “Young Professional of the Month,” Cory James Schofield. Each month, the CYPN Steering Committee recommends a young professional in the community it thinks readers would enjoy getting to know better. Cory James Schofield Where do you live? Right here in Concord, NH! Where do you work? NHTI – Concord’s Community College What’s your favorite part of the work day? Due to...
Bulletin board
Poetry discussion Carol Westberg and Sue Burton join Gibson’s Bookstore virtually for a poetry reading on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The lyric poems in Ice Lands journey through regions of knowing and not knowing, alive to our mortal connections in this precarious world. According to poet Mark Cox, these poems navigate “the liminal intersections of the natural and human worlds,” and Betsy Sholl describes Ice Lands as “a luminous and...
This week in Concord history
Jan. 13, 1968: Marine Lt. Alfred Russ, 24, of Hancock dies of wounds in Quang Tri Province. He is the 99th serviceman from New Hampshire to die during the Vietnam War. Jan. 14, 2003: Two students from Holderness School are killed in a hit-and-run accident while walking along Route 175A in Plymouth. Jan. 14, 2001: Concord’s Adam Young enjoys his view of the New York Giants’ 41-0 thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings in the...
City news: Councilors inaugurated at ceremony
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: City meetings City meetings are held in person in Council Chambers at 37 Green St. (unless otherwise specified on the city’s calendar). Upcoming meetings include: City Council Priority Setting Session: Jan. 18, TBD Planning Board:...
Bulletin board: Author talks
‘Starless Crown’ discussion Copper Dog Books, Gibson’s Bookstore, and Tubby & Coos Mid-City Bookshop are pleased to present James Rollins, in conversation with Terry Brooks, as they discuss Rollins’s new novel, The Starless Crown. The virtual event will be held Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. via Crowdcast. Copies of The Starless Crown purchased from these bookstores will come signed and with a Fight the Moon pin. An alliance embarks on a...
