Dec. 18, 1995: Concord’s Bob Tewksbury signs a one-year contract with the San Diego Padres for $1.5 million.
Dec. 18, 2000: For the first time in anyone’s memory, a crowd gathers at the State House to watch the casting of votes for president by New Hampshire’s four members of the Electoral College. The electors all choose George W. Bush, doing their part to ensure his narrow victory over Al Gore.
Dec. 18, 2001: David Rayment, a lawyer representing the Richmond Co., the Massachusetts company that wants to build a supermarket and shopping center adjacent to the South End Marsh in Concord, argues in a hearing at Merrimack County Superior Court that the Concord Planning Board unfairly rejected the project. Superior Court Judge John Arnold will later rule that the board did not provide the developers with enough evidence to support its decision to reject the proposal.
Dec. 19, 1979: At a campaign stop in Concord, Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker says a get-tough policy is needed to protect American embassies and suggests the creation of a special 50,000-member military unit to accomplish that. “As dangerous as the situation is in Iran, the real danger to this country is the growing impression throughout the world that you can push on Uncle Sam and nothing ever happens in return,” he says.
Dec. 20, 1979: U.S. Rep. John Anderson, a Republican from Illinois, comes to Concord to officially register for the GOP presidential primary. Ronald Reagan, he tells the Associated Press, “is a long way from being home free in this race.”
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. 21, 2002: Concord boys’ basketball opens their season with a 49-47 win over Pinkerton.
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 people out here since the fight. . . . They had better come before a fight and bring a musket. They would do more good.”
Dec. 23, 1865: Home at last eight months after the last shots of the Civil War were fired, the Second New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment parades through the streets of Concord. Gov. Frederick Smyth and other dignitaries toast the regiment. Three days later, the Second will be paid off and discharged, having served longer than any other New Hampshire regiment.
Dec. 23, 2000:Bradlees department store on Fort Eddy Road is about to go out of business, the Monitor reports. The 105-store chain, which struggled through the 1990s, will close all of its locations.
Dec. 23, 2001: Bud Luckern, head hockey coach at Bishop Brady High School from 1974 to 1981 and 1985 to 1991, dies at the age of 66.
Dec. 24, 1900: The Monitor reports on this year’s building boom. The new structures include the Optima Building and two other business blocks on Main Street, a new library and Dewey School.
Dec. 24, 1975: Gov. Meldrim Thomson Jr. nominates David Souter, a seven-year veteran of the attorney general’s office, to be attorney general of New Hampshire. He will replace Warren Rudman. Tom Rath of Concord is nominated as Souter’s deputy.
Dec. 24, 1979: Mississippi Gov. Cliff Finch arrives in Concord and declares, “I will be the next president of the United States.” If he can’t get enough signatures to get his name on the ballot, he says, he’ll run as a write-in.
Dec. 24, 1989: Don’t tell Concord folks winter has just begun: Only a month after the coldest November day of the century, the city faces another deep freeze. The day’s low temperature is 20 below zero.
Dec. 24, 1998: A 26-year-old snowmobiler crashes through the ice of Turkey Pond in Concord and is stuck in the frigid water for an hour – staying afloat by purposely freezing his forearms and hands on top of the ice. Concord’s fire battalion chief calls it the most dangerous ice rescue in memory. “There was such shallow ice around him,” he says.
