Midnight Merriment to brighten the capital
It’s the most wonderful time of the year in downtown Concord. Not Christmas, but Midnight Merriment, the all-night shopathon which sees downtown retailers stay open until midnight, giving people a chance to do some late-night holiday shopping at local businesses. If Black Friday – or Black Thursday, or Cyber Monday, or any of the other designated “shopping holidays” – aren’t your style, Midnight Merriment, to be held Friday, is the...
Get elevated at Altitude Trampoline Park at Steeplegate Mall
Don’t believe anyone who tells you malls – especially the Steeplegate Mall – are a relic of the past.On the contrary, Concord’s (mostly vacant, to be fair) mall continues to reinvent itself as the retail landscape changes nationwide, shifting the focus away from buying items and onto buying experiences. The latest example of this trend is Altitude Trampoline Park, which opened Nov. 2 at the former Circuit City storefront at the mall....
Entertainment: More holiday stage shows on the docket this week
At the time this piece was assembled, it was the last day of November. If you’ve been following these things for a while now, you’ll know that the end of the month is the worst time for compiling entertainment listings since most venues don’t post their monthly schedules until it’s actually that month. It would be great if more venues could publish their listings sooner, so we can get the word out about their shows, but it is what it...
Tune in to the 45th annual Boys and Girls Club’s TV Auction this Saturday
What better way to spend a Saturday than by sitting in front of the TV for 10 hours straight and calling in to buy things that strike your fancy?We’re not advocating for becoming addicted to the home shopping network, but we are advocating for tuning in to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Concord’s 45th annual TV Auction this Saturday. In what has become a holiday tradition for many families, the auction is an all-day fundraiser...
Help change women’s lives at the Zonta Club of Concord’s 28th annual Holiday Auction
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Concord isn’t the only organization that knows a thing or two about running an auction – the Zonta Club of Concord has also been at it for more than two decades, and their 28th annual Holiday Auction is this Wednesday. The Zonta Club of Concord is part of the larger Zonta International organization. The club’s mission is “empowering women through service and advocacy,” and the Concord chapter has...
City Manager’s Newsletter: Winter reminders, Parks and Rec updates and more
The city of Concord’s public information officer, Stefanie Breton, sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The newsletter contained too much information for us to fit into this spot, so we’re just printing some highlights here. For the full newsletter, go to concordnh.gov and click the “Newsletter” button on the home page.Winter operations, parking remindersThe snow has arrived and the City of Concord has already issued...
Food Snob: The Giant roast beef sandwich from Beefside
Somehow, we hadn’t done a Food Snob since the end of September. This is a tragedy that hopefully never happens again.There’s one place in town that has always been on the Food Snob to-try list, but for one reason or another we had never gotten there – until last week. Beefside, the place on Manchester Street with the big cartoon steer on the sign, is pretty popular with elite athletes. NBA champion Matt Bonner once famously ordered 45...
Tasty Brews: Cherry Bomb from Lithermans Limited
After years of only really liking darker, malty beers, I transitioned to the IPA lifestyle about a year and a half ago and never looked back. Something about the crisp bite of hops just brings me more satisfaction than the mellow smoothness of a porter or a stout.Lately, I’ve been in search of even more of that tart, sharp flavor and texture, which has led me to sours. Not even a year ago I would’ve cringed at even the thought of a...
Authors Stout, Johnson to present ‘The Pats’ at Gibson’s Bookstore
Sports historians Glenn Stout and Richard Johnson will sweep in to the Gibson’s Bookstore end zone on Wednesday to share their collaboration, The Pats: An Illustrated History of the New England Patriots, the definitive, lively and robust history of the New England Patriots, from Billy Sullivan to Bill Belichick and everything in between. (Are you planning ahead for holiday gifts yet? A signed books makes a great gift.)The New England...
Concord’s Rose Baker nominated for honor of ‘America’s Favorite Crossing Guard’
Rose Baker spends her days trying to make people smile. She said there are too many people who go to work or school looking tired, or unhappy. The Concord crossing guard said she sees the two hours she stands outside Concord High and Rundlett Middle School each morning and afternoon as a chance to change the course of someone’s day – to show them they’re cared about. “If I can make someone happy, or turn their day around, then it...
Look beyond Concord’s Christmas tree and think back to 1892
The next time you travel down our Main Street and glance over at the State House Plaza to enjoy the beautiful Concord Christmas tree and manger, I hope you find peace, joy and contentment.Please look beyond the tree and think back to the month of July, 1892. This was the date that our Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch was dedicated on the plaza. This memorial arch was constructed by the city of Concord at a cost of $20,000 126 years...
Emergency Winter Shelter to open soon with 40 beds
Now that the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Concord are assured of having shelter during frigid winter nights, the coalition that built the facility is eager to turn its attention to more-permanent solutions.The Emergency Winter Shelter, built by the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness at 238 N. Main St., will open Dec. 17 with 40 beds. CCEH and Thrive Outdoors will manage the shelter.“The completion of the...
On the Road: Wednesday Wanderers bring the ‘Insider’ to Oak Hill
From mid-January until early November, the Wednesday Wanderers can be found traipsing through the trails in and around Concord. On this particular day in October (yes, it’s a little late now, but there was a serious backlog!) they were headed up Oak Hill from Shaker Road. Thanks for bringing us along, Wanderers. And you chose the perfect issue to bring, too!
Missed Connections: ‘Coffee rebel’ tries to connect with counterpart
It had been a while since we’d last plunged into the bowels of Craigslist to dig up some Missed Connections, but, alas, the time has come. The last time we ran them was in the beginning of October, and as you’ll soon see, there has been many a missed connection in Concord since then – many of them, interestingly enough, at either Walmart or a gas station of some sort. As usual, these listings are printed completely unedited – spelling...
This Week in Concord History
Dec. 4, 1999: A member of the Republican National Committee evaluating the way presidential primaries are scheduled says he supports New Hampshire’s position as first in the nation. “In every conversation I’ve had,” says Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, “the principals agree that New Hampshire’s role should not be touched.” Dec. 5, 1866: The Monitor reports: “A man who had assisted to empty several bottles of wine afterward took a walk....
Book of the Week: ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’
The Thing Around Your NeckChimimanda Ngozi Adichie2009, 300 pagesFiction (short stories) The Thing Around Your Neck is a collection of 12 stories by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, the influential Nigerian author of Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). The trials and tribulations of otherness are continually investigated throughout Adichie’s works, and this collection makes no exception.Set variously in...
