These flowers will brighten up your winter
Art & Bloom, an annual art show featuring flower arrangements created by Concord Garden Club members and local floral designers, was held last week at McGowan Fine Art. And in case you didn’t make it to the three-day-only exhibit, here is some of what you missed.
It’s not easy interpreting art with flowers
For us, it’s hard enough to interpret what an artist is trying to say with their work, let alone trying to represent it – through flowers nonetheless. We’ll be the first to admit that’s a little out of our league.So it’s a good thing that the Concord Garden Club and some local floral designers took care of the arrangements for last week’s Art & Bloom at McGowan Fine Art. Nobody would want to see what we came up with, unless they...
This here is some impressive craftsmanship
The League of N.H. Craftsmen is currently showing its first exhibit of the year, Setting the Standard. But this one is a little different from most because instead of work created by its craftsmen, this show features the work of the master craftsmen who just so happen to be jurors for the league. The exhibit is on display through March 24 at the Craft Center, 49 S. Main St. And if you like what you see here, there’s lots more to check...
News flash: Black Ice has been postponed
This week was supposed to be the Black Ice Pond Hockey issue. And the key phrase there is supposed to.Every year in the week leading up to the tournament, we have a section that’s chock-full of all the information you need to enjoy a weekend of great hockey at White Park.And with the tournament slated for next weekend, right about now you should be laughing at the funny team names, mapping out what days you want to go and getting...
Get closer to the earth with Mother Green’s Boutique
The next time you have dry skin, acne, a rash or a bad hair day, don’t go to some chain pharmacy and pay top dollar for bottles of unpronounceable chemicals. Instead, check out Mother Green’s Boutique, a new natural-products storefront in the Concord Community Arts Center on Thorndike Street. If you’re Instagram savvy, you may recognize the Mother Green’s Boutique name. The business existed online only (mostly through Instagram) for...
Concord’s Dos Amigos Burritos closing for renovations to add draft beers, double seating
Monitor staff Like an overstuffed burrito, downtown Concord Mexican restaurant Dos Amigos has been bursting at the seams.But it’s planning to double its capacity next month by expanding into the former antique store next door. It’ll add 50 seats, process orders more efficiently and offer draft beer for the first time, its manager said.“It’s going to be huge,” Dos Amigos Burritos Manager Kina Gilson said. “We’ve been having issues...
Go Try It: Sing with the Concord Chorale
Usually in this space, we tell you all about something that we’ve gone out and tried – and that you should do the same. But occasionally, we want you to go try something that we just frankly can’t do. And that’s the case when it comes to singing. Sure, in the shower and belting out Disney tunes with our daughters is one thing, but in front of a room full of talented singers is just not something we’re prepared to jump into. A few...
Celebrate Mozart’s b-day at the Audi this weekend
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born Jan. 27, 1756.That means this Friday, the famous composer who is one of those people who is recognizable by just a single name, would have been 261 years old.And while Mozart wasn’t born in Concord, never lived in Concord and we have no inside information that tells us that he ever visited Concord (which is actually nine years younger), he’s one of those people who’s celebrated all over the world.So in...
Granite United Way offering its free tax program
It is more important than ever to prepare accurate income tax returns during the 2017 tax season. A new law requires the IRS to delay issuing refunds for certain taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. 15. The law has no exceptions and is designed to make it easier for the IRS to find and stop fraud. Granite United Way operates a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site in Concord, one...
Don’t miss prog-rockers Mavara at Hatbox
If you’re a big prog-rock fan but never seem to be able to find a show, Hatbox Theatre has a cure for your ills this Saturday.The progressive rock band Mavara has played venues around the globe, and now they’re ready to bring their unique style of music to the Hatbox Theatre in Concord.The show will highlight songs from their newest album, Consciousness, a concept album that touches on subjects like war, love, politics and life. The...
Author event at Gibson’s Bookstore this weekend
Author James Rollins will present The Seventh Plague at Gibson’s Bookstore on Thursday at 7 p.m. In this new thriller, he poses a solution for global warming but asks, “At what cost?” Featuring an Elon Musk-like character and a unique perspective on the friendship between Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla, there is a lot of meat on the bone in this thriller.Rollins’s creativity and succinct stylish writing have the New York Times Book...
Learn to be real funny in Laughta in New Hampsha
Have you, or someone you know, ever wanted to try stand-up comedy? If the answer is yes, then sign up for Laughta in New Hampsha’s second series of comedy workshops. The six-class workshop will give you all the ammo you need to learn the ins and outs of stand-up comedy writing and performing. So here are all the details: The workshops begin Feb. 22 and will be held each of the next five Wednesdays at the ConcordTV studio at Concord...
N.H. is home to some pretty great theater
Actors, actresses, directors and all the other important roles in theater productions across New Hampshire came together at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Saturday for the 15th annual N.H. Theatre Awards. The best and brightest on stage performers, performances and behind–the– scenes folks were honored in a night that featured short recreations from production companies around the state, special awards and from what we heard, one...
Get outside and enjoy some Concord trails
For the InsiderAs cabin fever starts to set in by mid-January and you’re looking for a fun, free adventure – don’t forget that the Concord trail system does not close down for the winter.Spending time outdoors is one of the best ways to banish those winter blues. The winter season is also a great time to see the natural open spaces of Concord, and perhaps catch views that are hidden by leaves and underbrush during the rest of the...
Tasty Brews: Shipyard Chocolate Milk Stout from the Red Blazer
It’s been several weeks since our last installment of Tasty Brews, and because of that delay, we went to the Red Blazer last week, where there are 35 beers on tap. Whenever we feel like we’re having Tasty Brews withdrawals, the vast selection at the Red Blazer is just what the doctor ordered.Upon taking a seat at the bar, one tap handle among the dozens was pretty attention-grabbing: the cowish Shipyard one labeled Chocolate Milk...
Chandler’s Cake & Candy Supplies is closing its doors
Not long after moving to New Hampshire a decade ago, Jen Evans started going to Chandler’s Cake & Candy Supplies.At first she took classes, and then two years later, with a wedding on the horizon, she asked Chandler’s owner Sue Chandler to make her wedding cake – because she’s pretty good at baking cakes.Chandler has since made Christening cakes for both of Evans’s children, as well as offered countless tips for other baking...
Food Snob: A slice from Basil Pizza & More at Steeplegate Mall
Breaking news: There’s now actually a place to buy food at the Steeplegate Mall food court (other than Dunkin’ Donuts, which may not even be considered in the food court, depending on who you ask). That’s right, Basil Pizza & More now represents the one and only true food joint at the long-vacant food court, so we stopped by last week to see what we could find.Open for about two months, Basil serves – as you might expect – pizza....
Bulletin Board
Shakespeare reading continues Want to brush up on your Shakespeare? Please join The Stratford Club members as they continue reading Coriolanus on Monday, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Shakespeare Room, located on second floor of Concord Public Library. Reading of this play will continue Feb. 13 and 27 and March 13. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will then be read at biweekly meetings beginning March 22 through May 8. For more information,...
Book of the Week: ‘The Secret of High Eldersham’
The Secret of High EldershamMiles Burton2016 (originally published in 1930)256 pagesMysteryThis book is one of the British Library Crime Classics and was originally published in 1930. It takes the reader to the years between the wars, a time when there were no cell phones or email and one had to write letters or telegrams, or go and find someone to ask them a question.Horrible things seem to happen to strangers in the East Anglian...
This Week in Concord History
Jan. 24, 1901: Wilbur Sweatt, 22, of Penacook, is accidentally stabbed in the chest by his friend, Fred Carr, while playing with a knife. Sweatt dies Feb. 6, and an autopsy will show that the knife pierced the lung and cut a half inch into his heart. It was considered a wonderful case that he could have lived so long with such a wound, a local history reports. Jan. 24, 2002: The Concord Police Department announces that George...
