Keeping your snowy sidewalks safe at 1 mph
Name: Scott RaymondGeneral Services DepartmentHow long have you been driving the sidewalk plow?About 10 years.Is there a name for the device?There are three different kinds we use: a Holder, a Trackless and a Bobcat. The Holder and Trackless are larger, and the Bobcat is the smallest one we use.What exactly are your duties when you drive the plow?It depends on which plow I'm in. The bigger ones have sanders on them, but the...
Concord rocks
The Granite State Music Festival takes New Hampshire's capital city by storm June 23 -24 This first year of the festival promises the state's best bands, with a national headliner. The festival's epicenter: the waterfront at Concord's Kiwanis Park, a riverfront venue with overhanging shade trees, plenty of grass, and parking. By day, the festival features a family-friendly rotation of music by New Hampshire's best...
Microscopic topic
On Feb. 10 at 7 p.m., the Capital Chapter of New Hampshire Audubon will present a program titled “Observing Microscopic Ocean Life from Space.” Alison Chase, a research associate at Atmospheric & Environmental Research Inc., explains the ways we can study changing global phytoplankton populations using satellite ocean color. This program is free and open to the public.Phytoplankton are microscopic algae that not only...
New media classes
The following media classes will be held in February at ConcordTV, located in Concord High School.ConcordTV will be holding its monthly orientation on Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. The orientation includes a tour of the TV studio, information on classes and workshops, and how you can create your own TV show for Concord's local cable channel.Call Doris at 226-8872 to reserve your space. Orientation is free!Intro to Camera: learn composition,...
Call for artwork
Merrimack County Conservation District is asking all high school students in the county to participate in an art contest. The district produces a local food guide every year to give citizens information about local farms and the types of food they produce. The winning piece of artwork from this contest will be next year's guide cover. This guide is distributed to 33,000 people annually and will provide an excellent place for the...
20 things to do for $20 (or less!)
1) Take a trip to spaceNewt Gingrich promises that Americans will be living on the moon by 2020. Something tells us that's going to cost a little more than $20. Fortunately, there are more wallet-friendly options for space exploration right here in Concord at the McAuliffe-Shephard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive). Admission is $9 for adults, $6 for kids, and $8 for students and seniors. That means you can check out a...
City briefly
Each week, City Manager Tom Aspell raids his piggy bank, counts up his hard-earned pennies and determines that he has just enough scratch to take the Insider staff out on the town. We're a cheap date; just see our center spread this week!As always, once we're done painting the town red, we hand the brush over to Tom, who uses it to paint a crimson city memo – right on Main Street!Rehab reportCulvert work ongoingWork...
Meet Kara Laramee, the Girls Inc. 'Girl of the Month'
Avid Insider readers will remember our recent article about Girls Inc., a fun afterschool group for local girls (“Girls Inc. brings out the smart, strong and bold in local little ladies,” Nov. 11). Well, each month, the girls and staff choose a “Girl of the Month” who exemplifies their motto: “Strong. Smart. Bold.” This month, that girl is Kara Laramee. We caught up with her and asked her some...
This Week in Concord History
Jan. 31, 1892: Rev. John E. Barry, pastor of Concord's St. John's Church, announces that his French parishioners may form their own church.The next day, Rev. Joseph-Noel Plante arrives from the North Country to celebrate Mass at Phenix Hall. He announces that the new church will be called Sacred Heart. A brick chapel will open on Pleasant Street two years later, and the Gothic structure will be built in 1934.Jan. 31, 1952: The...
For Saad Hindal, a brick wall is a doorway to his homeland
Saad Hindal has officially closed the door on a life without freedom in a war-torn homeland.And he painted a lock to ensure it.Hindal spent the better part of two months painting a mural that spans the entire front of the Concord Farm convenience store and gas station, an image that represents his emotional journey from the Middle East to Concord, complete with personal elements that include a replica of the actual door from his home...
Remember when you found your first white hare?
Each winter, the snowshoe hare's coat turns white – even when no snow is on the ground. One day while I was hiking through the woods during a snowless period in December, I came within a few feet of a white snowshoe hare that was snugly hunkered down in the underbrush. Amid the drabness of bare earth and dead leaves, his whiteness almost sparkled. Instinct was telling him to remain motionless, as he had done countless times...
