Poem: January
The fire crackles in the old brick hearth, a warm friend on this cold day, thinking of summer past, thoughts wander to days of May. The wind howls from the north, as temperatures hover very low, January in New England, sunsets across the fresh snow. The festive days have now ended, cloudy days and dark nights arrive, a good book read by candlelight, until spring I will survive. Winter indulged with warm treats,...
City Manager’s Newsletter: World Water Day, wastewater treatment facility open house and more
Last Friday, the city’s public information officer, Stefanie Breton, sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter. The letter was too long to print in its entirety here, but you can access the full version at concordnh.gov by clicking the “Newsletter” button on the homepage. Fix a Leak Week and contest Join Concord General Services in celebrating EPA WaterSense’s “Fix a Leak Week,” March 18 to 24! Leaks can waste a lot of water and can lead...
Book: Ragtag crew works together to save the day
Six of Crows By Leigh Bardugo (465 pages, young adult fantasy, 2015) Unlikely heroes. The impossible keeps happening, and rumor of a synthetic drug making super soldiers circulates the city. Criminal prodigy Kaz accepts a job to rescue the scientist responsible, held in a fairway fortress as world powers attempt to steal and weaponize the formula. Kaz selects a ragtag crew from the underbelly of society: an impossible group for...
Fill your bellies while helping the homeless at the 10th annual SouperFest
The 10th Annual SouperFest, a benefit for the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness, will be held Saturday, March 30, at Rundlett Middle School in Concord. This anniversary event will be the first with an international flavor, celebrating the diversity that makes Concord such a wonderful, welcoming community.The event begins at 2 p.m. with FunFest, sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Concord. The gymnasium will be...
This week in Concord history
January 14, 1858: The Coos County Republicans hold a convention and pass a resolution stating: “As the advocates of freedom and equal rights, we deplore the existence of slavery … and ardently hope for its speedy abolition when it can be constitutionally effected.” Jan. 14, 1824: The “other Concord” – in the North Country – officially changes its name to Lisbon, ending confusion with New Hampshire’s capital city. ...
Delusive Relics address gender equality in their home country with latest project at Hatbox Theatre
Delusive Relics, a new electronic music project in the style of Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, will perform music from its debut album at Hatbox Theatre on Friday. Delusive Relics is the side project of Farhood Ghadiri, member of the Iranian progressive rock band Mavara, and his wife, Anis Oveisi. Ghadiri, who performs under the pseudonym Frank Nik and grew up with music from Depeche Mode, Gary Newman and other ’80s and early ’90s...
Book: A novel for these times
Survivor Song By Paul Tremblay (320 pages, horror, 2020) Massachusetts has been overrun by a mutated rabies pandemic. The disease is spreading rapidly, and the infected are driven to bite other people. The word zombie is being whispered online. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. Dr. Ramola Sherman receives a frantic phone call from her best friend Natalie, eight months pregnant....
Book of the Week: ‘The Ravenmaster’
The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London Christopher Skaife 2018, 241 pages Nonfiction Legend has it that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London then the tower “will crumble into dust and great harm will befall the kingdom.” But Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife is there to make sure that this doesn’t happen. Skaife has been the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London since 2011. He tells us about his daily life...
Book: A guide to know yourself better
The Body: A Guide for Occupants By Bill Bryson (450 pages, nonfiction, 2019) In his latest book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Bill Bryson once again earns his reputation as one of the 21st century’s best popular science authors. As in his immensely popular A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), Bryson displays an uncanny ability to distill complex subject matter into not just informative, but also incredibly fun,...
This Week in Concord History
March 19, 1967: The calendar says spring is about to start, but few believe it. The low temperature in Concord falls to 16 below zero, tying the record for the coldest March day in the 20th century. This follows a reading of 13 below the day before and 10 below the day before that. March 19, 2000: On its way to the NCAA championship game, fifth-seeded Florida cruises past fourth-seeded Illinois in the second round of the men’s...
Hit the snowy trail
For those looking to get outside this winter while staying close to home, cross-country skiing checks off those boxes. The wallop of snow from the Dec. 17 made trail conditions glorious before a warm and wet Christmas rinsed it away. Snow is returning to the trails as winter goes on and its worth a visit. Some ski areas have groomed trail systems open to the public. There are more than six miles of cross-country skiing trails at...
Check out some fine student artwork at Steeplegate Mall during Youth Art Month
It’s finally March, the month many New Englanders look forward to all winter long. It’s a month often associated with new beginnings – we turn the clocks ahead, days start to get a little warmer and signs of spring start popping up all over the place. Another big part of March is the abundance of student art that starts popping up, too, particularly at Steeplegate Mall. March is Youth Art Month, and every year around this time a big...
Bulletin board: Scholarships available, online events offered
Scholarships available The Zonta Club of Concord is offering three scholarships/awards to local women: New American Merit Award given to a local new American high school senior who is recognized for her scholastic excellence and leadership qualities; Young Women in Public Affairs award recognizes young women, ages 16-19, for their demonstration of leadership skills and commitment to public service and civic causes and encourages them...
Concertmaster String Quarter to present ‘An Invitation to Dance’ at Concord City Auditorium
Fans of music, dancing and all-purpose partying won’t want to miss the next big to-do at the Concord City Auditorium, because it’s a show that combines all of the above.The fourth concert of the Concord Community Concert Association’s 88th season brings the Concertmaster String Quartet to the Audi stage on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.It’s a concert and a party – festivities begin at 7 p.m. in the lobby with a dessert reception and a special...
Don’t miss your chance to cast
Saturday, Jan. 16, is the winter Free Fishing Day in New Hampshire. State residents and non-residents alike can fish any inland water – or saltwater – in New Hampshire that day without a fishing license. However, people participating in a fishing tournament must still hold a license, even on Free Fishing Day. Also, season dates, bag limits and all other fishing regulations must be followed on Free Fishing Day. Free fishing days are...
Making Good Health Simple: Don’t let clutter compromise your home
Knickknacks. Tchotchkes. Stuff. Junk. Gear – you name it, and I am sure I own it. My entire life I have been accumulating things. Some of them necessary to live, like a bed, furniture, automobile, clothing. And a ridiculous amount of completely unnecessary items I convinced myself I needed. The brain has the capacity to rationalize just about anything, including pointless purchases and keeping items you don’t need. During my years of...
City news: Capital city in full winter mode
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Wednesday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights: Tree collection Christmas tree collection starts on Monday, January 4 and will continue for two weeks in coordination with residential curbside trash and recycling collection. Residents can place Christmas trees curbside for disposal...
CYPN: Melina Murray 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,” Melina Murray. Each month the CYPN Steering Committee recommends a young professional in the community it thinks readers would enjoy getting to know better.Where do you live? Concord.Where do you currently work? I’m a real estate agent at EXIT Realty Great Beginnings with offices in both Concord and...
On the calendar with Gibson’s Bookstore
Gibson’s Bookstore is jumping right into the new year with several virtual author events. On Jan. 7, at 7 p.m., former Concord resident K. Woodman-Maynard visits Gibson’s Bookstore virtually to discuss her graphic novelization of The Great Gatsby. This sumptuously illustrated adaptation casts the powerful imagery of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s great American novel in a vivid new format. Concord novelist Virginia Macgregor joins her in...
Entertainment: So much live music to be heard in Concord this week
We have a very busy week on the entertainment front around here, with an absolutely full slate of music to go along with a number of stage shows and two comedy shows, including the second installment of the new comedy club at Tandy’s. Get out there and take it all in this week. Music Tuesday Dan Weiner at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Dan Walker at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Open mic at Area 23 at 6 p.m. Thursday Mike...
This week in Concord history
Jan. 7, 1942: Concord starts a three-day spell of bitterly cold weather with a low temperature of 15 below zero. The next day it’ll be 25 below, and the day after that, the temperature will fall to 22 below. Jan. 7, 1904: At its annual meeting, the First Church of Christ Science thanks Mary Baker Eddy of Concord for her gift of $120,000 toward the Concord church, now under construction. Jan. 7, 1942: A tannery is...
Bulletin Board: Poetry Out Loud championship, meetings and more
First DAR meeting of 2019 Buntin-Rumford-Webster, Concord Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, will have its first meeting of the year Tuesday, March 12 at 2 p.m. at the Pierce Manse (14 Horseshoe Pond Lane). The program will be a welcome to new members and an orientation about the chapter, DAR and what to expect! March is literacy month and we ask that each person planning to attend pick a children’s book (new or used in...
Book: A static life upended
The House in the Cerulean Sea By TJ Klune (400, fiction, 2020) Linus Baker is a by-the-book caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. As cog in a very large machine, his days are gray and unchanging. His only pleasures are his cat, the patch of sunflowers his neighbor is trying to kill, and a vacation picture of the sea (he’s never been to the sea). His newest assignment is determining the fate of an orphanage...
Blast From the Past: The old courthouse and the Era of Good Feelings
During the early 1800s there was renewed turmoil and frustration with England resulting in the War of 1812. The good citizens of Concord rejoiced at the victorious conclusion of this war and entered into a period commonly referred to in American history as the “Era of Good Feelings.” This era started with the election of President James Monroe in 1816 and concluded with President John Quincy Adams in 1824. The world was once again at...
Book: Tantalizing tale by Nix
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London By Garth Nix (393 pages, young adult fantasy, 2020) Darkness, meet Whimsy About to start art school in London, Susan leaves her childhood home to move to the big city. As she looks for jobs there she also searches for her father, 18 years absent. Her few clues to track him down are an old reading room ticket as well as a silver engraved cigarette case. Her adventure begins in earnest when she...
Tasty Brews: Lawson’s Finest Liquids Sip of Sunshine from Dos Amigos
We’re pretty late to the party here, but when it comes to good beer, better late than never is the motto. Sip of Sunshine, the mythical IPA from Vermont brewery Lawson’s Finest Liquids, has long been one of those beers aficionados have traveled to other states for – it was made in Connecticut and driven right through our state on its way to Vermont without ever stopping here. That all changed some time this past summer, when select...
Book: Creative guide
How to Be An Artist By Jerry Saltz (129 pages, nonfiction, 2020) What does it take to be an artist? This is a list of what goes into the life of an artist. Whether you already are an artist or it’s still just a dream, this book has golden nuggets of inspiration and information. As No. 2 on this list says, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Step one. You are a total amateur. That’s okay. Everyone has to start...
City Manager’s Newsletter: Fix a Leak Week, Royal Leak Detection Contest and more
Last Friday, the city’s public information officer, Stefanie Breton, sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter. The letter was too long to print in its entirety here, but you can access the full version at concordnh.gov by clicking the “Newsletter” button on the homepage. Fix a Leak Week Join Concord General Services in celebrating EPA WaterSense’s “Fix a Leak Week,” March 18-24! Leaks can waste a lot of water and can lead to outrageous...
Book: Painting the Light
Painting the Light By Sally Cabot Gunning (351 pages, fiction, 2021) In 1893 Ida Russell is a young woman living in Boston, finding her way as an artist. She is enrolled in Boston’s Museum School and has a comfortable life living with her family. She’s looking forward to becoming a known artist in watercolors. But tragedy strikes her family and Ida is left alone in the world. She is grief-stricken and can barely get through the day. A...
Lithermans Limited to bring back Pink Boots Made for Walking IPA on March 21
We’re big supporters of beer and the brewing industry. We’re also big supporters of diversity in the workplace and equal opportunity for all. But most of all, we’re big supporters of anything that combines all of the above.It should then be no surprise that we’re all fired up about the pending release of Lithermans Limited’s Made For Walking IPA, a beer project in collaboration with the Pink Boots Society.Our most astute readers will...
