Granite State treasure trove
The New Hampshire Historical Society, a private nonprofit – not a governmental agency – was founded in 1823. It is home to artifacts such as the first eagle to top the State House, an Abenaki dugout canoe and an early Snowmobile. The society began to collect written materials immediately upon its founding, began to collect artifacts in 1825 and began to exhibit its artifact collections in 1831. It opened in its current location in...
Lithermans did another beer collaboration
It seems like the guys at Lithermans Limited are always coming out with a new beer. Which makes perfect sense considering they’ve got more than 125 on their created list since opening a little more than two years ago. But the next one to hit the draft lines is a little different than most – and we’re not just talking about the fact it’s a cream ale flavored with blood orange and lime. The End of the Blood-Lime (catchy right!) is a...
Step back in time at Shaker Village
Canterbury Shaker Village offers visitors a variety of entertaining, educational and engaging experiences in one of the most picturesque settings in northern New England. Guided and self-guided tours, accessible historic buildings, family activities, exhibits, educational programs, special events, unique shopping, the museum cafe and picturesque grounds offer you more than you can do in a day. Canterbury Shaker Village was established...
We tried stuff for kids, seniors and everyone in between at Concord’s new City Wide Community Center
There’s been a lot of excitement around Concord’s new City Wide Community Center, which just opened a few weeks ago on Canterbury Road at the site of the former Dame School. We went and checked the place out right before they opened to the public to see what everything looked like, but it wasn’t completely finished yet.Now that it is finished – and being used by the community, as it was intended – we decided it was time to go down...
Museums outside of Merrimack County
Culture, of course, is not confined to the capital region. Here are some other museums and history-geared spots that might be worth checking out, though by no means is it an exhaustive list. Currier Museum The Currier Museum of Art features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture, including works by Picasso, Monet, O’Keeffe, Wyeth and LeWitt with exhibitions, tours and programs year-round. The...
Get ready for the World Run-Paddle Biathlon
Runners, paddlers, walkers unite – the World Run-Paddle Biathlon Championship is about to return to the Merrimack River in Concord for a third year next Thursday (July 19). The event combines the disciplines of running and paddling, and is a fun workout for anyone. In total, there’s a 4K run, a 4K paddle and a 40-meter portage (which is you carrying your canoe, kayak or paddleboard) to the finish line. It will all take place at the...
While you’re in Warner
With a population of about 3,000 people, Warner isn’t the first place you might think would have five museums. In addition to the N.H. Telephone Museum, the town also has: Firefighters Museum The museum opened in 2008 in the N.H. Telephone Museum building and features a wide array of antique firefighting equipment, including an 1824 Hunneman Handpumper, a ladder truck of the same vintage, and a 1927 Chevrolet Fire Engine. Open during...
Entertainment: A whole slew of outdoor concerts as summer kicks into high gear in Concord
It’s a busy week, and space is pretty tight, so let’s get right to it! Music Tuesday Mike Walsh at Hermanos Cocina Mexicana at 6:30 p.m. Nevers’ Second Regiment Band at the State House at 7 p.m. Bedford Big Band at Presidential Oaks at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday Paul Donahue at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Thursday Richard Gardzina at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. 3-D at Makris Lobster & Steak House at 6 p.m. The Blue Sky Boys and Cookie at Eagle...
Head to Warner for a cool little museum
Mourning old technology might be a fool’s game, but I defy anybody to try out a dial phone at one of the state’s most delightful museums and not feel at least a slight pang of loss. Go ahead, spin the dial on one of the solid, heavy 1960s AT&T phones on display at the New Hampshire Telephone Museum – the curator doesn’t mind. Enjoy the way you need just the right amount of effort to turn the dial, the way you can tell instantly...
Concord City Memo: Big happenings all over
There sure was a lot going on in this week’s City Memo, so we decided to give you a bird’s-eye view of all the important stuff (at least the things that we found to be of the utmost importance). The Concord Police Department is hosting Coffee With a Cop on Wednesday from 9 to 11 a.m. at McDonald’s, 117 Loudon Road. Join your neighbors and police officers for coffee and a conservation. No agenda or speeches, just an opportunity to ask...
Cap Center hosts Arc Attack show
Arc Attack was staged at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Wednesday as part of the Lincoln Financial Education Series. ArcAttack’s Engineering program covers academic standards for students in fifth through eighth grades relating to engineering and design. Audience members have the opportunity to help Arc Attack solve problems, learn about the scientific method, and apply critical thinking skills. The next Lincoln Financial...
Bulletin Board: Free concert, jazz worship and saving money
Monday Concert at Penacook church On Monday at 7 p.m., the United Church of Penacook is hosting a concert featuring Holly Roadfeldt, pianist, Ann Moss, soprano, and Peter Dutilly, violist. These musicians will be in residence at Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen this July to rehearse music by composer Kirk O’Riorden. The concert is free and open to the public. Directions to United Church and more information about this concert...
Explore history of house with past owner
Kimball Jenkins School of Art is currently offering tours of the 1882 High Victorian Gothic mansion designed by architect Amos Porter Cutting, who also design the state library building. Volunteer Eleanor Poirier, often in costume as Louise Kimball Jenkins, leads the tours. You might also see Clark Todd dressed as Cutting. John Kimball settled the area in the late 1700s. For the next six generations, the Kimballs built a series of...
On Display: Adam Viens is showing in the NHTI library
For the month of July, the NHTI library is home to the mixed-media work of Adam Viens, a Connecticut-based artist.According to Viens, “These works represent a sensibility known as ‘Depressive Realism,’ a term adopted from the 1970s psychological hypotheses that the depressed individual has a more accurate depiction of reality and themselves than the non-depressed individual. This term also carries a satirical reference to the ‘isms’...
Poem: A Simple Letter
The little girl had a letter, her thoughts written most sincere, she paid her postage this late fall day, in search of a mailbox near. Her letter was very special, she spent writing each moment she had, this letter contained so much more than words, for it was written to her Dad. It was late fall nineteen seventeen, her letter was destined for the war overseas, Christmas was coming very soon, she asked him to come home...
Concord has become a hub for public art
You may have noticed a new piece of public art hanging out on the corner of Capitol and North Main streets.It’s the creation of Massachusetts sculptor Rob Lorenson and is known as Taper Deco. The large metal sculpture is pretty cool with both its smooth and tapered surfaces. If you tap on it (shh, you shouldn’t do that) it sounds hollow and you can almost make the case that from one angle it kind of looks like a C for Concord. And is...
This week in Concord history
Feb. 19, 2003: Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina brings a populist, blue-collar message to Page Belting factory in Concord, his first appearance in New Hampshire since joining the 2004 presidential race. Feb. 19, 1965: Television personality Jack Paar films a show in Gilmanton. He tells school board member Mrs. Harold Bryant he wanted to do a show about “a small, friendly New England Town.” Paar and his seven-man crew eat...
The Arts: Women’s Caucus show at Kimball Jenkins
Mill Brook Gallery Spring and Summer Through: Sept. 2 Outdoor Exhibit Through: Oct. 14 Location: 236 Hopkinton Road Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. League of N.H. Craftsmen Celebrating 85 – The Stevens Collection Through: Sept. 21 Location: 49 S. Main St., Suite 100 Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. McGowan Fine Art Streetwise – John Bonner Through: July 27 Location: 2 Phenix Ave. Hours:...
Bulletin Board: Health service offered and fundraiser
CRVNA offers Walk-In Wednesday Concord Regional VNA offers Walk-In Wednesday on Feb. 26, from 10 a.m. to noon at Horseshoe Pond Place Senior Resource Center, 26 Commercial St., in Concord. Walk-In Wednesday is held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at the same time. A Concord Regional VNA team member is available to meet with people individually regarding their specific concerns. Whether it is in-home support, caregiver resources,...
Audubon’s Coffeehouse to host Bill Staines on July 19
Bill Staines is one of the most popular and durable singers on the folk music scene today. He travels throughout the country performing nearly 200 concerts a year and driving more than 65,000 miles annually, so consider yourself lucky that he’s making his way to Concord to play at the N.H. Audubon McLane Center’s Birds and Beans Coffeehouse on July 19 at 7 p.m. Singing mostly his own songs, he weaves a blend of gentle wit and humor...
Entertainment: Massive chorus takes the stage and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ remix
Live music Today Ken Budka at Concord Craft Brewing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Kid Pinky at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Irish Music with David Levine and Roger Duhaime at Area 23 at 5:32 p.m. Thursday Ryan Williamson at Cheers from 5 to 8 p.m. Eugene Durkee at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Leah Cordero at Penuche’s Rescheduled Bach’s Lunch Lecture, “Jazz Lives On and On!” at Concord Community Music School at 12:10 p.m. Friday Stoned Wasp at Area 23 at...
Concord Young Professionals Network: Madeline Champlin dreams of a big road trip
The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s Concord Young Professionals Network (CYPN) introduces you to our “Young Professional of the Month,” Madeline Champlin. Each month the CYPN Steering Committee recommends a young professional in the community it thinks Concord Insider readers would enjoy getting to know better. How old are you? 28. Where do you live? Concord. Where do you currently work? I work for the N.H. Audubon as a...
Yoga, musical theater and… naps
It was a Sunday afternoon in the city of Boston. I was sitting in the Boston Opera House, struggling to stay awake. My wife and I were in the first row of the balcony, with a phenomenal view of the stage. The touring production of “Phantom of the Opera” was churning through act one, and my head was doing a bob and weave act. I tried shifting positions and changing my breathing. I tensed and relaxed my muscles, tried some good old...
This Week in Concord History
July 10, 1879: John B. Buzzell is hanged at the state prison. Buzzell broke off his engagement with a young woman. She sued him for breach of promise, and he hired a young man to kill her. The young man fired a pistol through her window, blowing her head off. Buzzell was acquitted of murder. Later, when the hired gun turned state’s evidence to save his own hide, Buzzell was convicted as an accessory to murder and sentenced to die. As...
Book of the Week: Woman must find own way and kidnapper
The Spies of Shilling Lane By Jennifer Ryan 355 pages/2019/fiction In Ashcombe Village, England, March 1941, housewife Mrs. Braithwaite takes out her notebook and writes up her thoughts. “How do you measure the success of your life?” Mrs. Braithwaite thinks it has to do with how respected you are, your social standing. But when her cheating husband divorces her, she is ousted from the Women’s Voluntary Service group in the...
Homemade ice cream is a labor of love
With the temperatures closing in on unbearable and the official return of that hot New England summer weather now upon us, ice cream season is about to hit its peak time. Can you think of a better way to cool down on a sweltering July day? And as you may know, Concord is home to many places to get a cone or a sundae. At the local level, there’s Arnie’s Place, Ballard’s Ice Cream, Frekey’s Dairy Freeze, Buza Dairy Bar and Granite State...
Fun for your valentines
Sweetheart shuffle GoodLife Programs and Activities will be hosting a dance on Wednesday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. In addition to dancing to music by Bill Parker, there will be goodies and raffles. And if you’re a wallflower, that’s fine too, just come to watch and spend time with friends. Cost $5. For more information, call 228-6630 or email info@goodlightnh.org. Have to say “I love you” in a song Concord Coachmen will again offer singing...
Check out Frekey’s Dairy Freeze, Concord’s newest ice cream shop
Carol Frekey-Harkness has ice cream in her blood – though hopefully not literally, as that’s probably not good for your health. Her mother, Brenda Frekey, opened an ice cream shop, Frekey’s Dairy Freeze, in Chichester in 1983, and Frekey-Harkness was always around the business, eventually purchasing it in 1995. When she turned 50, she wanted to do something exciting and spontaneous. So what does an ice cream lifer do for excitement?...
Entertainment: Take your honey to comedy or concert
Live Music Wednesday Dean Harlem at Concord Craft Brewing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Kid Pinky at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Open Mic Night to fundraise for weather-proof guitar for Kevin Clark at Area 23 at 7:30 p.m. Irish Music with David Levine and Roger Duhaime at Area 23 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday April Cushman at Cheers from 5 to 8 p.m. Mike Morris at Hermanos at 6:30 p.m. Bach’s Lunch Lecture at Concord Community Music School at 12:10 p.m....
Concord has quite the Fourth of July planned
It’s hard to believe that the Fourth of July is nearly here, but that is the case, so it’s time to celebrate America. While we know that a lot of people like to enjoy backyard barbecues with family and friends, maybe light up a couple sparklers (be careful!) or head to the beach for a picnic and day by the water, there are others who prefer to celebrate the holiday by gathering with thousands of others for a host of fun events. And...
