Tuesday, Jan. 20 “Marketing: Plain and Simple,” New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, 2 ½ Beacon St. Preregistration required. Free. 271-0791, judy.l.rigmont@dcr.nh.gov. 9:30 a.m. Area Committee on Aging Meeting, Horseshoe Pond Place, 26 Commercial St., Suite 105. All are welcome. 228-6956. 10 a.m. Communal Viewing of the Obama Inauguration, Capitol Center For the Arts, 44 S. Main St. Free 225-1111, ccanh.com. 10 a.m. Toddler Tales, Concord Public Library, 45 Green St. Program is designed for 2- to 3½-year-olds and their caregivers. 225-8670, onconcord.com/library. 10 a.m. “Basic Special…

I am obsessed with lip balm. I keep it in my car, by my bed and in my purse, and if I happen to be caught without it, I run to the nearest drugstore to purchase an emergency replacement. I’m not kidding when I say I experience anxiety if I have to suffer through an extended period of time with dry lips. It turns out that I am not alone in this – when we asked for volunteers to test various lip balm sticks, we…

After a nationwide search, The board of directors of The Concord Family YMCA is pleased to announce they have chosen a local candidate and longtime Y member to fill the position of executive director. Jim Doremus accepted the position and will start to lead the Concord Family YMCA on Feb. 9. Not only does Jim have a strong educational background, a master's degree in organizational development and a bachelor's…

CATCH Neighborhood Housing hosted the hilarious Capitol Steps at the 15th annual CATCH comedy night on Jan. 10, raising more than $30,000 to support hardworking local families with quality, affordable homes. The comic troupe from Washington, D.C., brought its unique brand of political satire to the Capitol Center of the Arts just in time to celebrate the end of the election season! More than 100 CATCH supporters attended a reception before the show, which featured a silent auction. At the reception, CATCH presented Ignatius MacLellan, of the Northern New England Housing Investment Fund and a founding…

The New Hampshire State Forest Nursery is once again accepting orders for bare-root tree and shrub seedlings for delivery in spring 2009. Now in its 99th year, the nursery distributes more than 300,000 seedlings annually, mostly to New Hampshire landowners and residents. Originally established to provide seedlings for reforestation, the program has expanded to include seedling sales for Christmas tree planting stock and conservation uses such as windbreaks, gravel bank reclamation, wetland plantings, native plant species and wildlife and songbird habitat. The State Forest Nursery has a reputation…

The Recyclinator would be proud of whoever concocted this bird feeder. Jim Taber, who snapped the photo of our hungry little friend, wrote, “This engineering marvel is a bird feeder made out of an old pretzel jar, sporting a well-fed Northern Mockingbird.” If anyone is interested in making one of these, we’ll volunteer to eat the pretzels.