Bulletin Board

Stamp collectors to meet Feb. 16 in Bow

The Merrimack County Stamp Collectors will hold its monthly meeting at the Bow Mills United Methodist Church, 505 South St., Bow, on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.

All who are interested in stamp collecting are welcome to attend. Meet other collectors and learn more about their hobby and varied interests in Philatelic resources and issues.

For more information, call Dan Day at 228-1154.

Dan Day

Quilters Guild to hold presentation Friday

The Capital Quilters Guild will meet at Havenwood, 33 Christian Ave., on Friday, from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

All quilters and friends are welcome to attend. Capital Quilters Guild member Lorraine Cady will be doing a presentation on English Paper Piecing. This will be a hands on activity and the supply list includes needle, spool of old thread, spool of quilting thread, small scissors, thimble (if you use one), thread conditioner (optional). Cady will provide the hexies and pieces of fabric.

This should be a lot of fun and a great way to try a new skill. We hope everyone will give it a try.

For guild information, call Evelyn at 224-6247.

Jean Donahue

Hospital Trust Scholarship Fund accepting applications

Concord Hospital Trust, the philanthropic arm of Concord Hospital, announces the Concord Hospital Trust Scholarship Fund is accepting scholarship applications for nursing and allied health students.

The fund, part of the trust’s endowments, was made possible by the generosity of Concord Hospital’s many benefactors, both past and present. Their vision was to inspire and enable students to pursue careers in the nursing and allied health care professions to enrich their lives, while ensuring the continued availability of quality health care to the Greater Concord community.

Concord Hospital Trust’s Scholarship Committee, a volunteer sub-committee of the trust’s Stewardship Committee, has developed scholarship eligibility guidelines and will make decisions on fund awards.

Scholarships will be awarded based on financial need, academic merit, personal character and other criteria. Students who have lived within Concord Hospital’s primary service area for more than one year or who graduate from a high school within the service area are eligible to apply.

The application is available on Concord Hospital Trust’s website at ch-trust.org. All applications must be received or postmarked by April 29. Award decisions will be made by mid-June.

For more information about the Scholarship Fund, the eligibility requirements or to apply, visit ch-trust.org or contact the Concord Hospital Trust at 415-6624.

Jennifer Dearborn

Brenda Snow to join storytime at Gibson’s

Storytime special guest reader Brenda Snow joins Gibson’s Bookstore on Saturday at 10 a.m. to present The Silas Series, a charming series of children’s books about Big Ole Silas, a shelter cat who finds his forever home with Grannie Snow.

The first book, Big Ole Striped Silas will take your child through the sadness and loneliness of losing a beloved pet, to the joys and comfort of finding a new housemate.

Silas’s adventures continue with the addition of the little Siamese kitty, Opal, in Silas Gets a Sister, and then in Silas and Opal Meet, and the two kitties learn to share their home.

Gibson’s Bookstore

Registration is now open for the Concord Community Music School’s spring semester. From classical to classic rock, early childhood programs to ensembles, and flutes to fiddles, the music school offers a wide range of opportunities for students of all ages and levels to pursue their musical interests.

Offerings include private lessons and ensembles, as well as early childhood programs, music therapy programs and choruses.

The spring semester starts in February, and registration is ongoing throughout the semester as openings remain available. For more information and to register, visit ccmusicschool.org.

Liz Faiella

Poetry Society of N.H. to meet at Gibson’s Feb. 17

The Poetry Society of New Hampshire, who meet the third Wednesday of every month, will gather at Gibson’s Bookstore on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.

This month’s headliner is Gary Margolis. An open mic follows his reading. All are welcome, newcomers are encouraged!

Margolis is Emeritus Executive Director of College Mental Health Services and Associate Professor of English and American Literatures (part-time) at Middlebury College. He was a Robert Frost and Arthur Vining Davis Fellow and has taught at the University of Tennessee, Vermont and Bread Loaf and Green Mountain Writers’ Conferences.

His poem, “The Interview,” was featured on National Public Radio’s The Story and Boston’s ABC Channel 5 interviewed him on the Middlebury campus reading his poem, “Winning the Lunar Eclipse,” after the 2004 World Series.

Margolis was awarded the first Sam Dietzel Award for Mental Health Practice in Vermont by the Clinical Psychology Department of Saint Michaels’ College and the Covey Community Award of the Counseling Service of Addison County.

His latest book is Raking the Winter Leaves: New and Selected Poems. Runner Without a Number will be published in April.

Gibson’s Bookstore

Discover Downtown this Valentine’s Day season

Downtown Concord merchants have banded together this Valentine’s Day season to host a week-long celebration of Love – complete with special promotional days, week-long sales, extended hours and treats while shopping!

Are you looking for a gift that will be treasured by the one(s) you love – something unique that epitomizes their passion, hobby, beauty, charm or fashion style? Well, it’s time to Discover Downtown Concord and fall in love with shopping again.

Discover Downtown Concord, which runs through Sunday, and find an unmatched retail and dining experience, with treats and in-store specials for you and your Valentine at more than 30 downtown businesses. For those who love to wait until the last minute, many stores will be open Valentine’s Day. For a list of participating businesses and their in-store specials and hours, go to intownconcord.org.

Downtown Concord is also your date night (or day) destination, with dozens of delicious places to eat and enjoy each other’s company, from full-serve or take-out restaurants to a variety of cafes, delis and bakeries – not to mention an array of places to hear music or catch a performance or movie or get a spa treatment.

For details, go to intownconcord.org/events/discover.

Susan Sokul

Community Players to perform ‘Calendar Girls’

The Community Players of Concord will perform Calendar Girls, the rollicking British play about a group of Yorkshire women creating an “alternative” calendar to raise money for a new settee for their local hospital, at the Concord City Auditorium this weekend. There are three performances: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

It’s a true story filled with hope, friendship, drama, humor – and a little skin – and is intended for mature audiences. Tickets are $18.

For more info, visit communityplayersofconcord.org or call 344-4747. The Audi box office opens Feb. 10.

Friends of the Audi

Concord Garden Club to host horticulturist

The Concord Garden Club presents their February program, bringing local horticulturalist Henry Homeyer, author of Organic Gardening Not Just in the Northeast, to Gibson’s Bookstore for a presentation on Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

Homeyer will be presenting a talk and PowerPoint on “Beyond Perennials: Using woody plants, stone, art and whimsy to enhance your garden.”

Homeyer is a lifelong organic gardener who has lived in Cornish Flat since 1970 (except for his time in Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer and country director).

He writes a weekly gardening column that appears in 12 newspapers around New England, and has written for the New York Times, The Boston Globe and other newspapers. He was the Vermont/New Hampshire associate editor for People, Places and Plants magazine for 10 years.

Homeyer teaches organic gardening workshops throughout New England at garden shows, clubs, nurseries, public gardens and other venues.

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Elisabeth Jewell

Valentine’s Bach’s lunch concert Thursday

Peggo Horstmann Hodes and Kent Allyn return for their annual and well-loved Valentine’s Bach’s Lunch on Thursday at the Concord Community Music School at 12:10 p.m.

This year’s lunch-hour concert will feature love songs that take audience members on a voyage to islands far away, with selections like “Somewhere Beyond the Sea,” “White Silver Sands” and the “Blue Bayou,” among others. They will also perform a song written by Horstmann Hodes’s daughter, singer Ariana Hodes, titled “Never Lose Sight.”

Liz Faiella

Free Art Program at Kimball Jenkins Saturday

On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon, the Kimball Jenkins School of Art is hosting a Free Saturday Art Program.

Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, but wonder what it’s like, check out things like watercolor, acrylic paints, drawing, sculpture and ceramics.

The program is free and open to the public with a snow date of Sunday. The Free Saturday Art Program will also be held March 12.

Insider staff

Audubon presenting romantic habits of animals

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, humans aren’t the only ones exhibiting special behavior in February; birds and mammals also spend this time of year searching for mates and soon amphibians will too.

This year, thanks to N.H. Audubon, you won’t have to spend time searching for that unique and fun Valentine’s Day date for your special someone. Join N.H. Audubon for “The Romantic Habits of New Hampshire Animals” at 7 p.m. on Thursday at NH Audubon’s McLane Center, 84 Silk Farm Road in Concord.

“During this time of year, people may hear a variety of interesting calls coming from the woods, or observe wildlife exhibiting seemingly uncharacteristic behavior and habits,” said Naturalist and Educator Kelly Dwyer, who will be leading the event. “It is always interesting to compare courtship rituals across different species to better understand nature – and sometimes even ourselves.”

The educational event will explore a wide variety of species and Dwyer will discuss the reasons behind the romantic habits, which can vary drastically, and in surprising ways.

For example, winter woods can be filled with boisterous hoots and hollers of Barred Owls searching for mates; the wild version of perfume is used by foxes to attract a mate or warn competitive suitors; the male American Woodcock does an amazing aerial dance to attract females to open fields as winter wanes. These, and many other displays of courtship rituals such as tongue flashing, preening and screeching, are up for discussion at N.H. Audubon’s event.

The event is open to all, and a donation of $7 is appreciated ($5 for N.H. Audubon members).

For more information, please visit nhaudubon.org or, contact Ruth Smith at 224-9909 or rsmith@nhaudubon.com.

Dia Kalakonas

Concord Chamber to host a variety of events

The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce is pleased to present a diverse offering of upcoming events for members and the general public.

Business After Hours will be held Tuesday, from 5:30 to 7 p.m, hosted by Bektash Shriners at 189 Pembroke Road, co-hosted by NH Print & Mail Services and Contigiani’s Catering Service. Cost for chamber members is $7 prepaid/$10 at the door (guests and non-members must call in advance). RSVP at concordnhchamber.com.

The State of the State Luncheon with Gov. Maggie Hassan will be held Thursday, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 172 N. Main St. Cost is $25 for members and $35 for non-members, and includes lunch. RSVP at concordnhchamber.com.

The next Legal Breakfast Series: Commercial Real Estate Basics, is Feb. 16 at 8 a.m., at Orr & Reno, PA, 45 S. Main St. RSVP at concordnhchamber.com.

There will be a Rhine River Cruise information session on Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m, in the chamber conference room, 49 S. Main St. It’s a no obligation information session about the October 2016 trip. Special group rates available for all members of the community. RSVP to cobrien@concordnhchamber.com.

Rebecca Kinhan

Bow High School Falcon Fan Mixer Saturday

The Bow High School Hockey Team Booster Club is hosting the Bow High School Falcon Fan Mixer, a fundraiser for the community, at the Bow Community Center on Saturday, from 7 to 11 p.m. The event features a DJ, food, raffles and silent auction items. It is open to the community and is a BYOB event. Cost is $25 per person.

Denise Champagne

‘The Pirates of Penzance’ auditions next week

The Community Players of Concord will hold auditions for their spring musical, The Pirates of Penzance, on Feb. 15 and 16, from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Community Players Studio, 435 Josiah Bartlett Road, with callbacks on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m.

An information night will be held on Wednesday, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Location for all three nights is the Players’ studio. Show dates are May 6, 7 and 8. Rehearsals are Sundays 1 to 4 p.m., and Mondays and Wednesdays 6:30 to 9 p.m., beginning Feb. 28. Audition information is available at communityplayersofconcord.org/auditions/.

For further information, contact Director Karen Braz at k.braz@comcast.net or 496-841.

Ellen Burger

Discovery Center has extended vacation hours

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center will be open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Feb. 12-28 for February vacation. The Discovery Center’s new traveling exhibition, Climate Change Oceans: Acid vs. Life, opens Feb. 12, and will be on view through May 8.

Ocean acidification has significantly increased over recent years, becoming a serious environmental threat, impacting fish, coral reefs and biodiversity in the world’s oceans. How do scientists study ocean acidification, and what are the causes, the impacts and the cures? In this exhibition, visitors can crawl through coral reefs, try on scuba gear, climb aboard a research boat and dive dingy and explore the oceans’ acidification challenges at video stations. Visitors will learn about Earth’s oceans, and also about distant oceans throughout the solar system.

General admission to the Discovery Center is $10 for adults, $9 for students and seniors, $7 for children 3 – 12; members and children under three are free. Planetarium shows are an additional $5.

For more information, visit starhop.com.

Jeanne Gerulskis

‘Gutenberg! The Musical’ at the Cap Center Feb. 19

The Community Players of Concord will present Gutenberg! The Musical!, an award-winning, two-man musical comedy on Feb. 19 at the Capitol Center for the Arts at 8 p.m.

Yes, it really is a show about Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press. But it’s also about Bud and Doug, two wannabe playwrights who’ve written a show about Gutenberg – a show they’re convinced is the best musical ever written, ever!

Now they’re doing a showcase for some really big Broadway producers (and you’re invited too). But can two guys with no set, no costumes and just a few props possibly stage an entire Broadway show? They can sure have fun trying!

The cost is $20 and proceeds benefit the Community Players. For mote info, visit ccanh.com/event/gutenberg-musical

Doug Schwarz

Bring a friend for free to acupuncture appointment

Concord Community Acupuncture, located at 7 Perley St, invites you to bring a friend for free to celebrate Valentine’s Day! Come in on Saturday, from 9 a.m. to noon, with a sliding fee scale of $15 to $35 per visit. Appointments are required for this special. Please call 715-1586 to reserve your spot.

Jennifer Woolf