Photo of the week
The Concord State Fair was a big celebration at the turn of the 20th century. Even President Theodore Roosevelt made an appearance in 1902. In 1900, several owners of the new-fangled automobile staged an exhibition race at the half-mile oval that previously was used for horse and harness racing. The fair was gone by the second decade of the century, and the authors of “Crosscurrents of Change,” the history of Concord in...
Your letters
Dear Editor, I was disappointed to see no heading for books of poetry in the last issue of the Concord Insider. Yes, there were two mentions of poetry, but they were embedded under the headings of “Nonfiction” and “Local authors.” I missed the first reference to poetry until I went back over all the headings and then spotted it under nonfiction – that catch-all usually reserved for books of historical,...
Bookmark this
The Concord Family YMCA is pleased to announce that it has launched an updated website complete with new design, added functionality and greater ease of use. The new site's homepage gives visitors a quick glimpse of what is happening at the YMCA and provides easy navigation to other areas of the site. A wealth of information is provided about the YMCA and its various programs, many of which have brochures available for easy...
Students launch 'Just One Can'
A group of students at Rundlett Middle School recently launched and completed a successful food drive called “Just One Can.” The idea was to have every student, all 1,100 of them, donate one canned good for the New Horizons soup kitchen in Manchester. The students are part of the 3R program, which guidance counselor Eric Penniman says stands for “Reality, responsibility and re-education.” He adds that the program “was developed to...
Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night . . .
The hardest time of year for dogs has to be winter. It's cold, it's icy, and we humans can't stand the thought of going for a 2-mile walk with our dog when the wind chill is so cold your eyes sting. Dogs end up sitting indoors, desperate for some way to release pent up energy. We usually find that they do it by chewing, barking, running madly throughout the house or generally being pushier for attention than usual....
Ask the Tweens: Reading
How would you prefer to read a book? By itself (pages), online, on tape, or (that new thing) Kindle? Why? Preface from language arts teacher and Tween wrangler Mrs. Betsy Heath: I am always asked how I feel about the fact that kids don’t read any more. That isn’t true! Insider readers would be amazed how many stories and books most middle school students read. However, many students read differently than we did when we were in school....
To the moon you go
Okay, not really, but the The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center wants to send your kid to space camp. Every year, three New Hampshire students are chosen by the discovery center and its philanthropic arm, Touch the Future Inc., as winners of the Alex Higgins Space Camp scholarship. The scholarship covers the cost of tuition for space camp in Huntsville, Ala. Each applicant must be a New Hampshire resident and between the ages of 7...
Me want cookie!
Local Girl Scouts are now taking orders for cookies. All eight varieties are only $3.50 a box, so stock up because all proceeds benefit the Girl Scouts. Don't have any friendly Scouts knocking on your door? Call the cookie hotline at 627-4158, ext. 201, and leave your name, phone number and town and someone will call you back to hook you up. To meet the cookies, visit girlscoutcookies.org.
What if everyone did this?
You go out to dinner and can't quite finish everything on your plate. What do you do? Most likely, you'll ask your server to box up the leftovers for you to take home. Oftentimes the container used is styrofoam, and it will end up in your trash. Even if it's made of something else, there's a good chance it will be tossed, not recycled. But what if you never took the container in the first place? My friend Denise...
Book of the week
Check this book out at the Concord Public Library. Art not your thing? Don’t worry, the library has a plethora of books to suit your interests. For more information about the library, visit concordpubliclibrary.net. When Art Worked: The New Deal, Art and Democracy Roger G. Kennedy 2009, 368 pages Nonfiction This illustrated documentary is more a book to be looked at than read, but the text is a wonderful history of the programs of the...
Hall of Fame
We received this photo of New England Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, past and present, from Concord sports fan Jim Boyle. Jim notes that inductees do a lot for the community and thought they should be recognized for their accomplishments both on and off the court. Front row, left to right: Melvin “Red” Murray (Concord High), Tom Hardiman (St. John), Rose Galigan (Pembroke Academy), Matt Alosa (Pembroke academy). Back...
Where the Insider goes, nobody knows
Martha and Dave Burnham show off The Insider after their Dec. 20 ride on the “Santa Train” up Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, Colo. Show Concord where you've been by sending a photo of you and The Insider to news@theconcordinsider.com. We look forward to your photos!
Pick of the week: Watch 'The Hovel'
Watch “The Hovel” written and directed by Concord filmmaker Travis Laughli. It premieres on Concord TV's Channel 22 on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. About the short film: After losing all of his money, Samuel is forced to steal food from a local marketplace. When he is caught, he flees from a furious vendor and runs into a series of increasingly dangerous obstacles. He passes through a picnic of three seductive women, into the...
City briefly
If you haven’t ever checked out City Manager Tom Aspell’s weekly memo, now is the time! The memo is now posted as a newsletter complete with clip art and photos. What could be better? You can find the newsletter at concordnh.gov. Click “Manager’s Weekly Memo” under “Highlights.” Here are some highlights from this week’s memo: – Like numbers? Then get ready for some excitement because the city’s comprehensive annual financial...
