City news: Football clinic with the Patriots
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 Finance Committee: May 20, 5:30 p.m., city manager’s fiscal year 2022 budget presentation; May 24, 5:30 p.m., fiscal year 2022 budget review: General Government (Administration), Public Safety, General Services; May 27,...
Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis
By Elin Kelsey (229 pages, nonfiction, 2020) This is an interesting book, with a bit of a different take on environmentalism. Elin Kelsey’s purpose is not to make the case that the natural world is in a state of crisis; she takes this as a given, citing evidence from scientists, governments, and NGOs relating to issues such as climate change, mass extinction, and air and water pollution. Instead, the aim of this book is to...
This week in Concord history
May 20, 1775: Meeting in Exeter a month and a day after the battle of Lexington, New Hampshire’s Provincial Congress resolves to raise 2,000 men in three regiments. It also passes a tax of 3,000 pounds to pay the soldiers. May 20, 1727: A charter is granted to the town of Chichester. May 21, 2001: Senior Jake Zielinski pitches a six-inning perfect game as Pembroke defeats Coe-Brown, 10-0. May 21, 1913: The...
Author events
Rom com rompIt’s a rom-com party event! Meredith Tate and Cameron Lund visit Gibson’s Bookstore virtually on May 20 at 7 p.m. to present their new young adult novels, Shipped, and Heartbreakers and Faker. It’s enemies to lovers and faking dating tropes all the way through tonight. Tate grew up in Concord, where she fell in love with her two passions: writing and traveling. She earned her master’s degree in social work from the...
City newsletter: Be cautious with water usage
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:Drought conditionsAs of May 6, recent rain made minor drought improvements to southern areas of the state. All of New Hampshire continues to experience drought conditions, with 67.12% being abnormally dry and 32.88% being in a moderate...
Pierce Manse opens for summer season
The Pierce Manse, the historic Concord home of New Hampshire’s only U.S. President, Franklin Pierce, will re-open for guided tours on May 27. The Manse will be open Thursday through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through October. Visitors and tour guides alike are required to wear a face covering and to follow social distancing guidelines during the tour.Franklin Pierce was President of the United States from 1853 to 1857 and is the only...
Entertainment: A double dose of John Franzosa at Hermanos, plus lots of other fun stuff this week
Music Tuesday Craig Fahey at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Kid Pinky at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Thursday Andrew Merzi at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Mike Morris at Cheers at 5 p.m. Friday Shameless at Makris Lobster & Steak House at 8 p.m. Nuff Said at Pit Road Lounge at 8 p.m. Rhythm Upstairs at True Brew Barista at 8 p.m. Fugue Mill at Hatbox Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 to $17 at hatboxnh.com. Saturday John...
This week in Concord history
May 13, 1726: A group of Massachusetts colonists with a royal land grant arrive to settle Penny Cook. They find Judge Sewall, the first white settler, living on his 500-acre tract on the east side of the Merrimack. May 13, 1774: The New Hampshire Gazette of Portsmouth reports that the king has closed the port of Boston. May 13, 1974: Gov. Mel Thomson advises all secretaries in his office to cease use of the title “Ms.” in official...
Book of the Week: ‘Finding Dorothy’
Finding DorothyElizabeth Letts2019, 351 pagesFiction This creative novel is centered on the fascinating character of Maud Baum. Maud was the wife of L. Frank Baum, the man who wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This famous book was made into the beloved film, The Wizard of Oz. It starts in Hollywood in 1938 when 77-year-old Maud, now a widow, visits the MGM set. She wants to see how they are turning her husband’s book into a film. She...
A WWII cooking contest
The Kitchen FrontBy Jennifer Ryan(416 pages, fiction, 2021)The year is 1942 in England and the country is reeling from Germany’s attacks. The Blitz is going on in London, and people there and in the countryside are constantly on the lookout for enemy bombers. Losses of men – husbands, fathers, brothers and sons – are terrible, and hardships mount. Many foods are rationed. Some examples: each person is limited to four ounces of bacon,...
Lace ‘em up for a good cause and hit up the 2019 Rock ‘N Race
It’s that time of year again. Birds are chirping, days are getting longer, the air is (very) slowly but surely getting warmer, outdoor patio sets are occupying sidewalk space – it can only mean one thing. Yes, it’s time for the 2019 Rock ‘N Race. The road race is one of the biggest community events in Concord, and for good reason – Rock ‘N Race is a big fundraiser for the Payson Center for Cancer Care at Concord Hospital. In the 16...
Braiding Sweetgrass
Braiding Sweetgrass Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants By Robin Wall Kimmerer (390 pages, nonfiction, 2013) Braiding Sweetgrass is beautiful, urgent, and brimming with wisdom. In this book, Robin Wall Kimmerer examines humans’ relationship to the natural world, as informed by her experiences as an indigenous woman (she is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation) and a botanist and professor of...
HOPE Resource Center at Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care is there to lend a hand
The Payson Center for Cancer Care provides traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation; however, in tandem with the HOPE Resource Center, they truly offer so much more. The HOPE Resource Center at Concord Hospital Payson Center for Cancer Care is there to lend a hand while treating cancer and providing complementary services for the patient, family members and loved ones. These services were important to cancer...
Poem: Behold
She told me she was afraid, afraid of growing old, her words had little meaning, these old words now retold. Spoken to me in a time, when years to come had not, those innocent words, only now thought. I wonder how she has aged, what kind of woman is she, is she still afraid of each year past, or does she cherish old memories like me. I hope the years were kind to her, that life did behold, she told me she was afraid, afraid of growing...
The Yogi: Let yoga save you from your technology addiction
A couple of years ago, I was watching the TV show Family Feud with a group of friends and family. I had grown up watching Richard Dawson on the original show, and our group was having a good old time yelling out answers to the survey questions. Then came this one: “Things you do first thing in the morning.” The No. 1 response was “check phone.” We had a good laugh at that one. “No way,” I remember saying. “That can’t be right.” I...
Rec summer camps accepting sign-ups
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 Council: May 10, 7 p.m.Planning Board: May 19, 7 p.m.These meetings are being held virtually via Zoom and are also live streamed via the City of Concord’s YouTube channel. Agendas and access information are...
Have you seen this protected spotted turtle that was stolen from Audubon McLane Center?
As a general rule, the Insider stays away from crime stories. However, after receiving an email last week from Stephanie Parkinson, a volunteer at the Audubon’s McLane Center in Concord, about a missing spotted turtle, we couldn’t sit back and do nothing. Apparently, the spotted turtle is a threatened species in New Hampshire, and one was removed from the Audubon’s reptile room, where it has lived for several years. The story has been...
This week in Concord history
May 6, 1967: Speaking in Manchester, Gen. Wallace Greene Jr., the top U.S. Marine, says America is winning the Vietnam War, “and I say that without any doubt whatsoever.” May 6, 1848: Colonel Dudley “Dud” Palmer, a leader of Concord’s temperance movement, puts forth a resolution requiring the town’s selectmen to enforce the laws against the sale of intoxicating drinks. It passes unanimously. May 6, 1799: Blazing Star...
Food Snob: Pulled Pork Sliders from Federal’s Cafe
We got a tip that a new café across from the federal courthouse downtown was open, so we did some investigating and discovered the rumor to be true. The new place is called Federal’s Café (62 Pleasant St.), and the little eatery does breakfast and lunch and serves gourmet Italian coffee. We stopped in on a sunny day last week to check out the lunch options.Before even entering the café, a sign out front listing specials caught our...
This week in Concord history
April 29, 1948: The New Hampshire Christian Civic League, formerly known as the New Hampshire Anti-Saloon League, faces the prospect of disbanding after 50 years of fighting for prohibition. Donations have fallen off, and the organization cannot pay its bills. Nowadays, on the issue of reducing the number of people who drink alcoholic beverages, “even some of the church groups are easy-going,” laments league official...
Bulletin Board: Big trees, yoga and wine, meetings and more
Music school to host seminars During May, Mental Health Awareness Month, Concord Community Music School is partnering with Riverbend Community Mental Health with a choral concert, panel discussion and weekly presentations that highlight the use of music in mental and behavioral health treatment. The music school will host free weekly “Good Vibes: Music & Mental Health” presentations by licensed expressive arts therapists and...
Bulletin board
Poetry night Poet Jennifer Militello will visit Gibson’s Bookstore virtually on April 29 at 7 p.m. to share her newest volume of verse, The Pact. In this, her newest collection, award-winning poet and memoirist Militello confronts obsession, intimacy, and abuse. Through love poems inspired by such disparate spaces as a British art museum and the reptile house of a local zoo, poems comparing a romantic affair to the religious cult at...
City Manager’s Newsletter: Beaver Meadow in full swing, public works celebration and more
On Friday, Stefanie Breton, the city’s public information officer, sent out the weekly City Manager’s Newsletter. Here are some of the highlights: Beaver Meadow in full swing The driving range and the course at Beaver Meadow Golf Course are open, as well as the patio. Get out and enjoy some golf! A reminder that our 2019 Chet Wheeler Red, White & Blue Golf Tournament is coming up May 25 to 27. A unique tradition with this event is...
Book: Darkness creeping
Darkness Creeping By Neal Shusterman (291, youth fiction, 2007) Love a good scare, but tired of the same old stories? Appropriately named, Darkness Creeping will keep you up at night. The best part is it’s a collection of short stories, so you can read it in between the dullness of your life and choose how much thrill you want. It will make you say, “Glad I’m not them,” as their stories eat at your mind. There’s something unsettling...
Entertainment: John Cusack comes to the Cap Center for ‘Say Anything’ screening
Music Tuesday Michael Loughlin at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Dave Gerard at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Open mic at Area 23 at 7 p.m. Sign-ups start at 6 p.m. Thursday Paul Hubert at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Klose Shave at Penuche’s at 9 p.m. Walker Smith at Cheers at 5 p.m. Friday Audio Jam at Pit Road Lounge at 8 p.m. Change 5 at Makris Lobster & Steak House at 8 p.m. These Trees at True Brew Barista at 8 p.m....
Book: Beginner’s Icelandic
Beginner’s Icelandic By Helga Hilmisdóttir & Jacek Kozlowski (221 pages, nonfiction, 2009) The possibility of seeing the northern lights this December — followed by subsequent disappointment — made travel restriction realities hit differently. Remember when Icelandic airline companies plastered images of the aurora borealis and crystal blue hot springs on seemingly every vertical surface in Boston? Since the dud light display in...
Making Good Health Simple: Have trouble getting yourself to the gym? Get a workout buddy
Exercise: “Yeah!” for some, and “Ugh” for others. The dichotomy among people’s attitudes toward exercise is clear. From the obsessive, early-morning rooster crowd (that arrive to the gym several minutes before the doors are open), to the people whose friends have to lure them to the gym with promises of post-workout nachos and margaritas, motivation seems to be the issue. To help us answer this age-old question of “How do I get myself...
City newsletter: Washington St. bridge work begins Monday
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 Zoning Board of Adjustment: May 5, 7 p.m. City Council: May 10, 7 p.m. These meetings are being held virtually via Zoom and are also live streamed via the City of Concord’s YouTube channel. Agendas and access...
CYPN: State employee Noah Hodgetts is the Young Professional of the Month
The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s Concord Young Professionals Network introduces you to our Young Professional of the Month, Noah Hodgetts. Each month the CYPN Steering Committee recommends a young professional in the community it thinks readers would enjoy getting to know better.How old are you? 31.Where do you live? Concord.Where do you currently work? I am an Assistant Planner in the Planning Division at the New Hampshire...
Entertainment April 29-May 5
April 29 Brian Booth at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Caamp 5 Year Anniversary (online live) via the Capitol Center for the Arts at 9 p.m. April 30 OBB at Penuche’s Ale House at 8 p.m. Mr. Aaron at Kimball Jenkins Estate at 10 a.m. May 1 Talent Show to benefit the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness at the Bank of N.H. Stage at 7 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.) Andrew North and the Rangers at Area 23 at 7:30 p.m. Mr....
