An app a day keeps the doctor away
Wouldn’t it be nice to have your own fitness trainer, dietician, or health coach who could steer you in the right direction for better health and wellness? The good news for 2013 is these wellness services are easily accessible to more and more of us via mobile devices. With the surge in smartphone and tablet use, a burgeoning market of inexpensive mobile applications has emerged, including a growing number that fall within the...
Concord Regional VNA grief support groups
The Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association is offering men’s grief discussion groups on Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Concord Regional VNA Hospice House. The ongoing drop-in grief discussion groups are designed to help men after a significant loss. There is no registration or fee to attend. Continental breakfast is provided. For additional information, please call 224-4093, ext. 2828, or email...
Feb. 2 Benefit concert at Fun Intelligent Training
Fun Intelligent Training will host a benefit concert in support of juvenile diabetes research Feb. 2 beginning at 7 p.m. The evening will include a silent auction with more than 60 items donated from area businesses and contributors and free chair massages from a member of FIT. This will be the second annual concert, following an event last year that came about when musician Matt Poirier, whose son was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile...
Burundian celebration with the UUC of Concord
Come to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Concord at 274 Pleasant St. for an afternoon of Burundian food, drumming, dancing, crafts and community Feb. 3. The church will reverberate with the sounds of drums from Burundi. Along with the Reverend Fulgence Ndagijimana, visiting from Burundi, we will have drummers and dancers from the Concord and Portland, Maine, Burundian refugee communities at our service. Join us after the service...
Join open sing night with the Suncook Valley Chorale
The Suncook Valley Chorale will host an open sing night in the Pleasant View Retirement Center’s theater Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. Anyone wishing to join the chorale, or just considering it, is invited to join us as we explore our next season’s program. Bring a friend! The Suncook Valley Chorale is a non-auditioned community chorus based in Concord, with more than 60 active members of all ages and backgrounds. Our motto is “Sing for Joy,” and...
They brat us along – Tue, 29 Jan 2013
Readers Mark and Debra Naylor took the Insider with them on a tour of eastern Europe. Here they are in Bratislava, Slovakia. If you take the Insider with you on a trip, we want to know all about it! Send us the pictures at news@theconcordinsider.com. Hmmm, now we’re suddenly hungry for bratwurst . . .
Concord YMCA is fully committed to the wellness cause
America’s health and well-being is in jeopardy. According to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine (“A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century”, March 17, 2005), “For the first time ever in American history, children may live sicker lives and die sooner than their parents.” Chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are the core drivers of this health epidemic. The...
Instagram photo of the week – Tue, 29 Jan 2013
This photo was sent to us by @am3lia_yin9_22. Talk about fire and ice! If you want your photo to be the Instagram photo of the week, just tag us in it – @concordinsider.
Move it or lose it – for your health!
It’s no secret that regular physical activity is an integral part of staying healthy. The human body is meant for movement, not sitting for many hours a day. People who lead active lives live longer, feel better and tend to maintain a healthy weight. Regular physical activity can delay or prevent diabetes, some cancers, heart problems and other chronic diseases.According to the Centers for Disease Control, most adults need at least...
‘A Child at Heart’
Check out the playful new exhibit at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen gallery
'A Child at Heart'
Check out the playful new exhibit at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen gallery
Young students sink their teeth into leadership lessons
Northeast Delta Dental hosted its fifth annual Youth Leadership Summit on Friday, with student groups under the guidance of Jay Bonstingl of Bonstingl Leadership Development proposing creative ways to improve their schools. Students learned the values of a good leader, were asked to identify things their schools could do better and had to come up with a plan that could be implemented in six weeks or less.
Young students sink their teeth into leadership lessons
Northeast Delta Dental hosted its fifth annual Youth Leadership Summit on Friday, with student groups under the guidance of Jay Bonstingl of Bonstingl Leadership Development proposing creative ways to improve their schools. Students learned the values of a good leader, were asked to identify things their schools could do better and had to come up with a plan that could be implemented in six weeks or less.
Walk your way to wellness
According to a 2008 study in the journal Preventive Medicine, people who live within walking distance of a city bus stop are less likely to be obese. The National Board of Realtors reports that people are ranking access to neighborhood shops and schools within walking distance as one of their top home-buying priorities. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative underscores the benefits of walking in its guidance for children,...
Seniors are into wellness too!
A year ago, I was asked by an old friend to join the Concord Area Senior Wellness Team. Not sure what I was getting myself into, I decided to try it, and am proud to say I continue to volunteer with this group that is associated with the Concord Hospital. As a retired elementary teacher, I spent many years bringing valuable educational information into my classroom to inform those young minds. Now I am working with a team of 10...
Some delicious recipes for healthy eating
Almond-Crusted Baked Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato FriesI make these often in my cooking classes with children. Kids enjoy them and they are so much better for you than store bought. Serves: 4 Active Time: 20 minutesTotal Time: 40 minutesIngredients:Canola oil cooking spray1/2 cup sliced almonds1/4 cup whole-wheat flour1 1/2 teaspoons paprika1/2 teaspoon garlic powder1/2 teaspoon dry mustard1/4 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon freshly...
City briefly
Each week, City Manager Tom Aspell goes to the farmers’ market, buys a whole bunch of local produce and whips up a delicious, healthy meal for everyone in town. Then he sits back and watches us eat it while he downs an entire hot fudge sundae to the dome! At least he writes out a city memo with the chocolate sauce.Lending a HandOr at least practicing toThe Concord Fire Department Explorer Post teamed up with its counterparts in...
There’s no shame in the dictionary game
This week the Grammarmatrix looks at some juicy words which were used last week to fully express ideas in the Insider: inimitable, cache, titular and of course more awesomer. Did you already know these words? Maybe you were able to glean their meaning from the context of their sentences. Perhaps you had to look them up? There’s no shame in that; the Grammarmatrix looks up words all the time! And that’s what this article is all about –...
Working together for health
People working together from different businesses, schools, neighborhoods, etc., is the key strategy to making the places where we live, learn, work and play healthier. The Capital Area Wellness Coalition is the hub for this effort in Concord, but this community approach is happening throughout New Hampshire. Through the Healthy Eating Active Living NH campaign, New Hampshire communities are becoming more connected for better...
This week in Concord history
Jan. 29, 1896: Concord’s first Walker lecture (on Abraham Lincoln, by former Massachusetts governor John Long) is held at White’s Opera House. Money left to the city by Abigail Walker made the lectures possible. They continue to this day.Jan. 29, 1942: Local stores report an early casualty of war: toilet paper. Most stores have sold out. They attribute the run on toilet paper to hoarding. Many set a limit of two rolls per...
Concordians freeze their butts off for charity
Stop by the True Brew Barista on Feb. 1 for a night of warm hearts and cold butts, as a handful of brave souls take a seat on a chair made of ice and shed their clothes to help raise money for Special Olympians.The third annual Ice Sit will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and will feature an assortment of ice sitters – celebrity and otherwise – who will strip down in the name of charity (not a stripper named Charity) to raise money for...
Eating is a political event
The cows had been on the run for a day. Three of them had escaped while we were loading them in the trailer for a short ride from an off-farm pasture back to home at Miles Smith Farm. The lead cow, a white Scottish Highlander heifer, led the charge through the wire gate, and the other two black and white Angus cows followed her into the woods. The cattle were pastured off the farm as part of the Miles Smith Farm program to help...
Capital Area Wellness Coalition strives for a fit and active Concord
We all make difficult choices on a daily basis: Do I make someone else assemble, cook and drive a pizza to my front door by ordering it from my smartphone or my tablet? Do I get together with my friends in a Google+ hangout or on Skype? Do I walk all the way to the end of the driveway to get the mail or should I just have my iServant do it?Apple admittedly hasn’t developed the latter device yet (as far as you know), but here is a...
Book of the week
The Revised Fundamentals of CaregivingJonathan Evison2012, 278FictionHaving lost his children and his marriage, Ben starts building a new life as caregiver for Trev, a 19-year-old with muscular dystrophy and a twisted sense of humor. As Ben struggles to gain a foothold, barely holding on to the new job and his sanity, the two develop a deep friendship. Somehow, they convince Trev’s mother to let them visit Trev’s estranged father,...
Want to add some punch to your palate? Beet up your dinner plate
Strong vegetables elicit strong opinions. They’re either loved or hated, with very few people taking the middle ground. Beets fall into that love ’em or hate ’em category, with their intense, earthy flavor and outrageous color. It’s only fair to disclose that I’ve been a beet hater for most of my vegetable-eating life. Growing up, my experience with beets was limited to the occasional serving of bland, mushy, canned beets that made a...
