We went back-to-school shopping last week – and stayed within our pretend budget
Now there’s no way we could put together a back-to-school issue without doing a little fake shopping. That’s when we go out and take pictures of things all over town and don’t actually buy anything. It’s better that way. We like to keep our budget for food, beer and nights on the town. But instead of just randomly searching for stuff that reminded us of school (been there done that), we came up with a list of things needed to start...
Girls Inc. offers after-kindergarten program
It’s an exciting time once your child gets to kindergarten.But it can also be a bit of a hassle, too. Since the Concord School District is on a half-day kindergarten plan, the youngest learners in the district get out for the day at 10:30 a.m. And for parents or caregivers with full-time jobs, it’s not ideal – or even possible – to pick up your child and bring them to a childcare provider.So what do you do?Well, Girls Inc. is offering...
Teacher Brittany Galvin is ready for the school year
With it being the back-to-school issue and all, we figured why not pick the brain of a local educator to find out what goes into a new school year? So we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Galvin, a first-grade teacher at Bow Elementary. This is her third year as a teacher, and she’s ready for the student takeover.So tell us, how hard is it to come back from having the summer off? In my experience, it depends on the kind of summer a...
Ready to Learn Fair returns to Rundlett Middle School
It’ hard – and sad – to believe, but it’s already time to get ready to go back to school. Even when you’ve been out of school for years, this time of year is always hard to deal with – shorter days, cooler temperatures, the general bummer of summer ending.But for those actually going back to school, this is an important time. The new school year often demands new supplies, and for a lot of families that can be a hardship – especially...
Important school dates
If you’re still in school, you know the start of another year is around the corner. No matter how hard you try to convince yourself that there’s plenty of time left in the summer, the days are dwindling – and fast. And not to be the bearer of bad news, but we figured since this is the Back to School issue, we might as well breakdown some of the important dates you’re going to want to know about once school is in full swing. Don’t...
Go Try It: How hard is Beaver Meadow’s hardest hole?
Now I’ll have to admit, I don’t golf much. I enjoy getting out there and playing a round, but there’s just not enough time in the day or moola in the ol’ wallet to hit the links all that often.I’m usually a couple times a summer kind of player and my hopes of ever being on a professional tour were extinguished long ago. But that doesn’t mean I can’t grab my clubs (which are hand-me-downs from a college roommate) and play. And what...
Listen to free music in Bicentennial Square every Friday night
If you’re a fan of live music and fresh air, you absolutely have to check out Bicentennial Square on Friday nights.Not because it’s the Pokémon Go hot spot of the Northeast (although that’s a fine reason), but because there’s free music there every Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. And yes, that did say free.You can thank True Brew Barista for that, as the coffee shop puts on the concert series. After all, Bicentennial Square is kind of its...
Rundlett, YMCA team up for free before-school program
You have to be at work by 8 a.m., but your work is 45 minutes away. Little Johnny has to be at school in Concord at 8:10. What do you do? Well, if your child goes to Rundlett Middle School, you can now drop them off right there, starting at 7:15. The Concord Family YMCA and Rundlett have teamed up to provide a new and totally free before-school program for middle school students. The Rundlett school day doesn’t officially begin until...
Concord High’s Andrew Leonard just spent 7 weeks in China
Where have you gone on vacation this summer? Maine? Boston? Florida? That’s cool, but Concord High sophomore Andrew Leonard probably logged more miles than you – he just got back from spending seven weeks in Xi’an, China. This wasn’t just a regular vacation for Leonard. He went thanks to a National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. You could technically say this trip was a matter of...
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The butterfly release party!
If you read this paper with any regularity – and we know all of you do – you’ve probably been following the journey from butterfly to egg to caterpillar back to butterfly going on at Cole Gardens. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, that’s unfortunate, but we’ll fill you in anyway: The garden center brought in a dozen monarch butterflies at the beginning of the summer with hopes that they’d reproduce and create tons of...
Concord Public Library has branched out
You’re about to hit the road for a weeklong beach vacation, but you forgot to get a book. It’s only 6 a.m. and the library doesn’t open for a few more hours. And you don’t want to pay hundreds for a single book or magazine at the airport, so what are you supposed to do? Why not just go to White or Rollins parks, or hit up the Marjory Swope Trail? While this may sound useless if not straight up counterproductive, it’s actually a work...
On a whim, we wandered over to Whims
From paintings made in the 1800s to bracelets made in New Hampshire a few weeks ago, you’ll find it all at Whims, a new shop downtown at the corner of North State and Warren streets. Open since July 20, this shop sells new, used and antique furniture, works of art, housewares and other interesting things you didn’t know you needed until now (like a cow-themed tea set). The idea is to have all one-of-a-kind pieces, things you can’t...
Could you walk a mile in heels?
There’s an old saying: “You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” Walk a Mile in Her Shoes asks men to literally walk 1 mile in women’s high-heeled shoes.You don’t have to wear high-heels, but it’s part of the fun, and it gets the community to talk about something that’s really difficult to talk about: domestic and sexual violence.W.A.M. 2016 is not just for men and boys....
ConcordTV is looking for Fascinating Individuals
Do you know someone who is fascinating? Because ConcordTV is looking for six of Concord’s Most Fascinating Individuals to feature during its 12-hour live telecast of Concord On Air that will be broadcast on Concord’s three local cable channels (Public Access channel 22, Government channel 17 and Education channel 6) on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and streamed online at yourconcordtv.org. Who can be considered fascinating...
Players holding auditions
If you were just born to sing and dance on stage, then the next Community Players of Concord production is for you. It’s called Once On This Island. It’s considered “an ensemble show of storytellers,” which means that while there are eight to 10 featured parts, the entire cast is on stage most of the time – singing and dancing. “Everything is done through singing, music and movement,” said director Bryan Halperin. And if that’s...
Manse lecture series continues
If you missed the first few installments of the Pierce Brigade Lecture Series, it’s okay. There’s still more to come over the next few months. And it all starts Thursday with a talk by Kevin Gardner, an author, stone wall builder, teacher and professional actor, entitled “Discovering New England Stone Walls.” Why are we so fascinated with stone walls? Gardner, author of The Granite Kiss, explains how and why New England came to...
Book of the Week: ‘Orphan Train’
Orphan Train Christina Baker Kline 2013, 273 pages Fiction Molly Ayer, a Penobscot Indian, is 17 and is very glad to almost be done with the foster care system, being bounced from home to home. She steals a book and has to do community service to stay out of juvenile hall; 50 hours of helping an elderly woman named Vivian clean out her attic.In 1929, when she is 9 years old, Vivian comes to New York City from Ireland, and soon finds...
This Week in Concord History
Aug. 23, 2002: With the new school year only one week away, six Barnstead upperclassmen do not have high school assignments, the Monitor reports. School officials at Kingswood, Merrimack Valley and Pittsfield, which together took more than 50 of the almost 70 Barnstead eighth-graders placed by June, said they are still struggling to register late-comers in their own districts. Aug. 24, 2002: A dog that roamed Tilton for two...
Bulletin Board
Tickets are on sale for 2016 Fur Ball Join the Pope Memorial SPCA under the harvest moon for the 2016 Fur Ball on Oct. 15, from 5:30 to 10 p.m., at the Capitol Center for the Arts. Enjoy live music provided by the Windham 16 Piece Swing Band, plus dinner, a live auction and dancing. Try your luck in the Top Dog Raffle – just 100 tickets will be sold for $100 each. The winner will receive their choice of one live auction item. Purchase...