City Newsletter: Winter activities arrive in the capital city
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: Basketball Pre-season basketball with Concord Parks & Recreation is in full swing! Participants and spectators have done a great job following all safety guidelines. Regular season basketball registration is now open. Please visit...
Concord Crush youth travel lacrosse league celebrates 10 years
Sports are a valuable and important resource for kids. Being part of a team teaches cooperation, determination, working for those around you, and how to deal with both victory and defeat. Plus, sports provide a healthy way to release some energy and get some exercise, not to mention make some friends.For Concord Crush, the youth travel lacrosse league, this tradition has been running for 10 years now. “That sort of snuck up on us,”...
Online shows, virtual author talk and more
Curtain closed, but shows go on Though the Capitol Center for the Arts plans to keep its building closed into the new year, they are pleased to announce several upcoming virtual holiday shows to keep you entertained in the next several weeks. The purchase options vary depending on the show and producer of the content. They hope you find something you like or that you purchase to send to a friend or family as a gift. Hip Hop Nutcracker...
New master plan for Terrill Park calls for artificial turf field
Have you ever hung out at Terrill Park? That’s that “park” off Manchester Street, right across from Carlson’s Motor Sales. Yes, that big, unkempt, vacant dirt lot is actually part of a park, though you’d probably never know it from looking at it. If you’ve ever been to this park at all, it’s probably been with your dog – Terrill Park is home to the city’s only official dog park. Apart from that, though, there’s not much in the way of...
Walker Lecture: Visit Antarctica without leaving your couch
Up until the current pandemic, the Walker Lecture Series had been regularly offering programs for free to the public at the Concord City Auditorium. The Audi has been pretty quiet since March, but the lectures are again being offer via ConcordTV and after the fact on YouTube. Next up in the fall 2020 line-up is a virtual travelogue with Ed Webster on Antarctica, which will air on ConcordTV, channel 22, on Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. and be...
Making Good Health Simple: Running – it’s not quite as straightforward as you might think
I remember the feeling of running effortlessly and carefree with my sisters and neighborhood kids – playing tag, relay races and even the dreaded mile test in PE class. Most of us have been running our entire childhood. The bizarre part is no one ever taught us how to run. Learning to run? Seems second nature to most. A random combination of crawling, some stumbling, a little walking, and eventually running. As adults we would never...
This week in Concord history
Dec. 3, 1963: Gov. John King says he favors an appropriate memorial for the slain President John F. Kennedy but will oppose any effort to rename one of New Hampshire’s mountains after Kennedy. Dec. 3, 1847: For $1,000, Edward H. Rollins buys R.C. Osgood’s drugstore on Main Street opposite the State House. Rollins will become a leading Republican, and the back room of the store will be his political headquarters, where policies...
Artists invited to submit entries for outdoor sculpture installation in downtown Concord
The city of Concord and the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce invite professional sculptors to submit entries for Art on Main, a public art exhibit in the city’s historic downtown.Concord’s Second Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition is open to professional sculptors 18 years or older, preferably from New England. Artists may submit up to two works for consideration; each must be the property of the artist. Art on Main is a...
Book: Luck, life through psychology of poker
The Biggest Bluff: How I learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win By Maria Konnikova (354 pages, nonfiction, 2020) Life is like a poker game. No, I’m not bluffing. Written by Maria Konnikova. You may have heard of her. She’s a psychologist who has written for The New Yorker, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, Scientific American, and the Smithsonian. This is the story of how she went deep into the...
All-Beethoven concert coming to Concord City Auditorium on Sunday
A major contributor to the arts and cultural tiara we put on our heads is the performance on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium of the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra – All Beethoven, directed by Filippo Ciabatti, an Italian maestro and the most approachable orchestral conductor you’ll ever meet. The 60-member orchestra includes Dartmouth’s top music students and members of the area’s professional musician community. The...
Audi Cookie Bakers share recipes for intermission treats
Have you ever attended an event at the Concord City Auditorium and enjoyed a quick treat during intermission? And if you have, you might have wondered where the cookies came from and who are the delightful folks serving them. The Friends of the Audi Hospitality Committee is made up of a chairwoman and 50 or so bakers and servers, they are the “Famous Cookie Bakers.” Before each event an email goes out to everyone asking for...
Bulletin Board: ‘Monitor’ to host domestic violence seminar
‘Monitor,’ Woman’s Club to host talk The Concord Monitor and Woman’s Club of Concord will host a community discussion Tuesday (Feb. 19) about domestic violence in New Hampshire, its impact on families, and possible solutions. One aspect of the discussion will examine the newspaper’s role in publishing the stories; another will feature a moderated conversation with a panel of experts. Panelists will include: Scott Hampton, clinical...
Book: Possibility within poetry and painting
Imagine A Night By Sarah L. Thomson, illustrated by Rob Gonsalves (Children’s picture book, 2003) Dream, fantasy, and reality gradually intermix in beautiful perception. The speaker instructs the audience to “imagine” a night of all sorts, from flying over fields of bedspreads and farmers playing lullabies to their swaying crops to plays of words and light opening doorways to the magical. Gonsalves’ paintings stir something...
Hearts for Kindness group honors local Kindness Heroes
Hearts for Kindness was brought to life in 2014 by local Realtor Brenda Perkins. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to promote community and hope through community-driven acts of kindness and financial assistance to local community members in need. For several holiday seasons, Perkins has opened her home to 10-plus volunteers to make scarves and assemble care packages for the homeless. When there is a need in the community for a...
Book: Make a plan for your final days
The Lost Art of Dying: Reviving Forgotten Wisdom By Lydia Dugdale (259 pages, nonfiction, 2020) Death. That dreaded word. It rolls off our tongues in a whisper. We mustn’t let it find us. But in doing so, we are only making death more scary. We’ll do anything to fight it. No matter the cost. Which results in the art of dying well being lost. So how do we make death less scary? How do we properly prepare ourselves for the...
City Manager’s Newsletter: Concord PD taking applications for next Citizen’s Academy
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. Police accepting applications for Citizen’s Academy The Concord Police Department is now accepeting applications for the next Citizen’s Academy, which will begin...
Entertainment: Live shows Nov. 27 to Dec. 3
Nov. 27 Open mic at Penuche’s at 8 p.m. Nov. 28 Raid the Larder at Penuche’s at 8 p.m. Malcolm Salls at Concord Craft Brewing from 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 29 Paul Donahue at 6:30 p.m. at Hermanos Nov. 30 Brian Booth at 6:30 p.m. at Hermanos Dec. 2 Open Mic at Area 23 at 6:20 p.m. Dec. 3 Queen City Improv will perform at the Hatbox Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Send show information to...
Blast From the Past: Recalling the city’s first Arbor Day celebration
As citizens of Concord, we have always loved our serene habitat and the many trees that surround us, especially as they begin to flourish each spring. With the upcoming Arbor Day celebration arriving in this spring, I was inspired to share a little piece of “tree history” with each of you, the true meaning behind the many beautiful trees in Concord. The term “memorial tree” was quite common at the start of the 1900s and gained...
Looking back: Cider topper makes his rounds
There was a time in our little village of Rumford, back when we were a British province and ruled by a Royal governor, that the old-world customs and traditions were quite evident and certainly relevant. The harvest was a grand time when the school houses were closed so that the children could work in the fields and bring in the bounty before the onset of the first killing frost. The children were quite pleased to leave the one-room...
Entertainment: Get ready to laugh all over Concord all week long
It’s a pretty good week ahead on the entertainment front around here, with the strange exception of Friday night, which apparently has just two shows. Something tells me venues and/or performers have slacked off in their postings this past week. At least there’s all kinds of comedy coming to the city, plus jam band superheroes moe. are coming to the Cap Center on Thursday, so who needs Friday anyway? Music Tuesday Kid Pinky at...
Poem: Thanksgiving
As Thanksgiving approaches, our thoughts return to long ago, people did gather, thankfulness they did know. The celebration was had, with people different yet so alike too, they sat together at meal, as friends with enemies few. Thanksgiving is a time, to reflect on memories old, steeped with many old traditions, old stories retold. As each year does pass, new memories again made, sadly, the old memories, sometimes do have to fade....
Tasty Brews: Elysian Space Dust IPA from Area 23
For this installment of Tasty Brews, I took a ride over to the Smokestack Center to check out what was on tap at Area 23. The bar is always changing things up and I hadn’t been there in a while, so I was curious to check out the selection. Most of the options were beers I’d already had, but there was one that caught my eye – Elysian Space Dust IPA. I’d seen this beer in stores many times and always wanted to try it – the label is...
This week in Concord history
Nov. 26, 2000: More than three-fifths of the state’s voting-age population cast ballots in this year’s election, Newsweek reports. Only four states did better: Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin and Vermont. Nov. 26, 1845: Five hundred twenty-five turkeys mysteriously pass through the streets of Concord, one day before Thanksgiving. Nov. 26, 1900: “Uncle Ben” Davis dies. He was one of Concord’s most popular citizens during the...
Food Snob: Ginger chicken with string beans from Chen Yang Li
There was news in the Monitor last week that keno revenue has come in below projections. That got me to thinking about the time I played the game at Chen Yang Li in Bow. Nothing was eaten during that trip, so I figured it was time to go there for the food.I dropped in about 1 p.m. last Tuesday and was in the mood for something spicy, so I ordered Ginger Chicken with String Beans off the lunch specials menu. This came with a bowl of...
Bulletin board: Donation opportunities and things to do
Food fund online In past years, Concord High School has conducted a food drive for the Capital Region Food Program. This year, in place of the traditional Food and Fund Drive, they launched a Go Fund Me page to support the Holiday Food Basket Program. The link is https://gf.me/u/y9a3k5. For nearly 50 years, the CRFP’s Holiday Food Basket Project has provided food to those in need while offering our community many ways to donate. Due...
Gibson’s Bookstore to host trio of events this week
On Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., the Poetry Society of New Hampshire will meet at Gibson’s Bookstore for a poetry performance and an open mic. The headliners this month are the husband and wife team of Maggie Dietz and Todd Hearon, with guitar accompaniment. An open mic follows their performance.The Poetry Society meetings are free and open to the public. All are welcome, and newcomers are encouraged. Come to listen, or come to...
This Week in Concord History
Feb. 19, 2000: Concord wins the Class L wrestling title – but has to share the crown with Timberlane and Salem. A pin in the final match of the day should have given the Crimson Tide the title outright, but the team is penalized one point for premature celebration, and that leaves all three teams with the same score. Feb. 19, 2002: The Diocese of Manchester holds a lunch meeting in Concord for all the Catholic priests in the state....
Concord Handmade returns for 10th season
Open for its 10th holiday season, Concord Handmade has opened a pop-up shop featuring the creations of New England artists. It was going to spend a second holiday season the building next to the Bank of N.H. Stage, the former OutFITters shop, but a heating issue forced it to relocate shortly after it opened. It is operating out of 2 Capital Plaza, Unit 109, Concord, this year, next to Indigo Blues. It will be open until Dec. 29 on...
Book of the week: Haddix has new story
The Strangers By Margaret Peterson Haddix (405 pages, youth sci-fi, 2019) Margaret Peterson Haddix always tells an exciting tale. Her latest series, Greystone Secrets, is no exception. Chess, Emma and Finn Greystone live a happy and ordinary life with their devoted mother. Everything changes when three kids with the Greystone’s exact names, ages and birthdays are kidnapped all the way across the country. Suddenly their mother...
Book of the Week: ‘Dear Committee Members: A Novel’
Dear Committee Members: A NovelJulie Schumacher2014, 180 pagesAdult Fiction (Comedy) Jason R. Fitger, professor of creative writing and English at Payne University, somewhere in the Midwest, claims to have written over 1,300 LORs, or letters of recommendation. He has written them for good students, bad students, teaching assistants, graduates, fellow faculty members, ex-wives, girlfriends and – on one occasion – an extremely...
