Concord Christmas Parade in works
The 69th annual Concord Christmas Parade is being organized by Concord Grange 322 and Concord Eagles Club. Brian Blackden will return as chairman for his second year, Dick Patten as advisor and Tom Cusano will be parade formation coordinator. Debbie Patten will continue as treasurer for the parade.
The parade will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 9:30 a.m. on the Concord Heights. The organizers have held many discussions about this annual event. It is stressed that face masks be worn by parade participants and parade viewers. The parade will begin formation at 8 a.m. at the Hazen Drive, Dept.of Transportation parking lot. The parade will consist of decorated vehicles, floats, emergency response vehicles, classic cars, musical units such as radio stations who will be asked to play holiday tunes in the parade. If marching bands will participate in some form, that will be great. Santa Claus will be a special guest and will be the final unit in the parade. No other parade unit is permitted to have a Santa in their unit.
This is a nonprofit event with donations requested to help pay for the police coverage, permits, plaques, and additional costs.
The parade theme has not been set but will be soon. The parade route is slated to go from Hazen Drive to Loudon Road turning east and proceeding east and going to the Steeplegate Mall if police grant the permit. This will allow social distancing among parade viewers. Volunteers will be watching along the route to make sure there is distancing.
Please contact Brian Blackden at 229-4967 for information.
By Dick Patten
Walker Lecture
The Walker Lecture Series invites you to join us on Zoom for “Fascinating Facts about our Presidents” with Richard Lederer on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Lederer is the author of more than 40 books about language, history, and humor, including his “Anguished English” series. Lederer describes himself as a fly-by-the-roof-of-the-mouth, user-friendly English teacher, Wizard of Idiom, Attila the Pun, and Conan the Grammarian. The program is free. For a Zoom invitation, join our mailing list at walkerlecture.org.
By Jon Kelly
Chamber events
As you may have surmised, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the trajectory of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce’s event schedule for 2020. As a result, we’ve made some adjustments and adapted events to fit our member’s needs.
Tri-City Expo will not be held as a face-to-face event this September due to COVID-19. We are looking at transitioning Tri-City to be a more educational and resource-rich virtual program to be held later this year or early next year.
Pinnacle Awards Luncheon will now take place on Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Holiday Inn in downtown Concord. This event will include an in-person component with limited seating, as well as an online option where you can watch a livestream of the celebration.
Annual Meeting and Citizen of the Year Awards, typically scheduled for November, will be moved to the early spring of 2021.
The Chamber will continue to host a series of ongoing educational webinars and virtual networking events to keep you connected and informed. For more information and registration visit concordnh chamber.com/key-events.
Meet Garth Nix
Gibson’s Bookstore is thrilled to welcome Garth Nix for a virtual event on Sept. 26 as he presents his newest novel, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. This event is ticketed, with a cap of 75 attendees, so Garth can focus on in-depth Q&A with his audience. Each screen signing into the event counts as a single attendee, but you can have multiple viewers use a single screen. Tickets will be sold through Eventbrite.
The tickets include one copy of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, shipped to your home (international orders, order the book from our website for an accurate shipping cost, and we will manually add you to the event); one bookplate signed by Garth Nix and one themed pin.
A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world.
Sign up at eventbrite.com/e/garth-nix-the-left-handed-booksellers-of-london-tickets-118546235983.
