What do you hate about Christmas?
Okay, so we know Christmas is supposed to be about love and warmth and happiness, but there are some things about it we downright don’t like. Long lines, cranky salespeople, traffic and hypercommercialization of the holiday season are a few of our least favorite things this time of year. Suspecting we weren’t alone in our discontent, we took to the mean streets to ask people what they hate most about Christmas. Santa I love every...
This week in Concord history
Dec. 21, 1998: The Concord City Council orders City Manager Duncan Ballantyne to review the process used to rename 31 city streets after a prolonged furor over the issue. Ultimately, they say, some streets may revert to their old names. Dec 22, 1862: Nine days after the 5th New Hampshire Infantry was cut to pieces at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Captain James Larkin of Concord writes his wife back home that “there are several Concord...
Missed Connections
That’s right – we’re bringing your favorite unedited, anonymous pick-up lines from Craiglist’s Missed Connections. Merry Christmas. Mcdonald’s Drive-thru Window – m4w – 34 (Concord Heights) I went through the drive thru last night and you were running the register at the first window. You had an issue with your drawer not working correctly when I came to the window. You are very sexy, with dark hair and a beautiful smile....
A different kind of festivity
I’m sitting in the airplane on my way to North Carolina. It’s great – not just the plane, but this whole journey. The U.S. is so big and I’m just very happy to say that I have already visited five states. It may sound very fancy when people from Europe talk about all the countries they have visited, but it’s not! I just need one hour to the Netherlands and two hours to Paris with the car. London is just 45 minutes away with the...
All I want for Christmas is Casper & Bill
Dear Casper and Bill, I need to get my boyfriend’s parents a snazzy Christmas present but I’m stumped. They’re pretty wealthy and seem to have everything they need. Any ideas of something small and sweet to get for them this holiday season? Dear stumped-no-more: We have the perfect solution to relieve you of deciding on something useless think about this. I’m only 5’ 6” ..considered snazzy and small and Casper is very sweet so why not...
Why must I separate?
A while back, reader Jim Place from Penacook e-mailed us the following: “I have a question about the trucks picking up our recycling. In Concord we’re supposed to separate paper and cardboard from cans and bottles, but I noticed that they are all dumped into one bin on the truck and mixed together in the truck. Why separate?” Well, Jim Place from Penacook, we would have gotten back to you sooner but we were busy piding up our empty...
Police Log
Stealing from the Salvation Army kettle On Dec. 14, about 1 p.m, Officer Matthew Nelson was dispatched to Market Basket on Ft. Eddy Road to assist the Concord Fire Department with a Salvation Army bell ringer who appeared intoxicated and was acting strangely. When Nelson arrived, he saw a man, later identified as John Fitzpatrick, 46, of Concord walking away from the firefighters and heard him say, “Leave me alone.” Nelson followed...
OMG! It's pet night with Santa!
Last week at the Steeplegate Mall, Santa spent some quality time with his furry friends during animal night. These photos, sent to us from reader Jane Toumpas show Santa with Tony Soprano Pony and Sullivan O'Toumpas, the black Lab. Santa got hungry, so Sullivan shared his rubber chicken.
The Grammarnator: Back with a vengeance
This week the Grammarnator takes a moment to mourn the passing of two handy words: “there are.” They seem to have been replaced everywhere by “there’s.” Had I been keeping a list during the last year of all the times I’ve read and heard “there’s” when it should have been “there are,” the number might be in triple digits. The example in the Insider last week popped up in the first paragraph of the informative article about downtown...
Remembering Newberry’s
“This building is now the Burlington Coat Factory. It started as Newberry’s, then became Britts, then Ames, then Zayres. Many people remember it as Britts when it had the Polly Susan Bakery inside, but very few remember that it was first a Newberry’s store,” writes reader Alfred Perron, who sent us this photo. What do you remember about Newberry’s, or the Polly Susan Bakery, for that matter? Let us know. E-mail...
City Briefly
You know Dasher and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen – but do you recall, the most famous city manager of all? Since you’ve been such good little girls and boys this year, we bring you the highlights of City Manager Tom Aspell’s weekly memo. Merry memo-ing! New police officers On Dec. 10, two brand spankin’ new police officers were sworn in as members of the Concord Police Department. Here’s the...
Book of the week
Solomon’s Oak Jo-Ann Mapson 2010, 371 pages Setting: Present-day California Glory never dreamed that she’d be hosting a pirate wedding at her farm. But she has bills to pay. After the unexpected death of her husband Dan, Glory starts scheduling weddings in the stone chapel he built. To complicate things, a friend convinces Glory to take on Juniper, a surly 14-year-old girl, as a foster child. Glory thinks that this is a huge mistake,...
Charity by the truckload
This year, New Hampshire state agencies worked together to collect food for the New Hampshire Food Bank. The agencies involved included administrative services, agriculture, banking, cultural resources, DES, DOT, DRED, employment security, education, fish and game, HHS and insurance. According to James Martin, public information officer for New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the group collected $15,000 in food items,...
Where the Insider goes, nobody knows!
Martin Murray recently visited Nashville, Tenn. and he brought a copy of the Insider for the King. We’d love you tender if you submitted your travel photos with the Insider! Send them to news@theconcordinsider.com. Otherwise, we’ll be so lonesome we could cry.
Pals Luka and Lily
As you now know, Christmas makes us cranky (see “What do you hate about Christmas”). We took a look at this picture, though, and were a tad less cantankerous. “Our 2-year-old German Shepherd, Lily, greets her new 11-week old sister, Luka, with a kiss and a hug,” proud mama Nancy Berliner wrote. Are your pets best buds, too? We won’t believe it until we see it. Send your pictures to...
The Bulletin Board
A gift for book worms Are you looking for a gift idea for the holidays? Why not donate a book to the Concord Public Library or the Penacook branch in honor of someone special! Gift cards are available at the library for a $20 minimum donation per card. You’ll receive a card and envelope so you can announce your gift to the recipient. A book plate, chosen and inscribed by you, will be placed in a brand new book. For more information,...
