Mandolin Festival to be held virtually
The 19th Annual March Mandolin Festival will be held March 27 and 28, via Zoom, and hosted by the Concord Community Music School in Concord. This year, the festival features Marla Fibish, Baron Collins-Hill, and David Surette, with special guest vocalist Susie Burke. This two-day event offers group workshops on a variety of topics, jam sessions, and a Saturday evening concert. Last March, the festival was the last live musical event...
Tougias to present on memoir
Monitor staff Michael Tougias spent his childhood getting into scraps along the Connecticut River in his hometown of Longmeadow, Mass., and farther north at a vacation spot on Lake Morey in Fairlee, Vt., on the border with Orford, N.H.He shares some of those stories in his memoir, his 30th book, The Waters Between Us. He will discuss his book, those stories and growing up in the 1960s during a Walker Lecture Series event on April 7 at...
Bulletin Board: Virtual gatherings
Support for those impacted by drinkingAl-Anon is a mutual support program for people whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking. By sharing common experiences and applying the Al-Anon principles, families and friends of alcoholics can bring positive changes to their individual situations, whether or not the alcoholic admits the existence of a drinking problem or seeks help. While social distancing remains in place, New...
City newsletter: Be on look out for these things
The city manager’s office sent out the City Manager’s Newsletter last Friday. The full newsletter can be found by going to concordnh.gov and clicking the “Newsletter” button. Here are some highlights:Fraud alertThe Concord Police would like to make the community aware of a scam that is currently taking place. Some Concord residents have been receiving phone calls from what appears to be from the Concord Police Department (225-8600)....
Book: Finding community through cooking
Angelina’s Bachelors: A Novel, with FoodBy Brian O’Reilly(359 pages, fiction, 2011)Angelina and Frank are a young couple living in Philadelphia, surrounded by a caring Italian family, and a large network of friends. They have a terrific life together, and a loving relationship. The only thing missing is a child. Angelina has a passion for cooking, and is always happy in the kitchen. Then Frank, still a young man, dies suddenly of a...
Book: A French journey
My 25 Years in Provence By Peter Mayle (208 pages, travel biography, 2018) I’m doing a little armchair traveling these days. Peter Mayle is the author of the books A Year in Provence, Toujours Provence, Encore Provence and more. Twenty-five years ago Peter and his wife Jennie decided to move from England to a small village in Provence. Peter writes about all manner of things Provence: the beauty of the landscape with its...
This week in Concord history
March 26, 2003: Roland Allen of Penacook dies at the age of 82. For more than 60 years, Allen involved himself in nearly every aspect of Penacook life. From running the Penacook Fibre Co. to founding the village community center to serving on the local school board, he seemed to have been everywhere in town at once. In his spare time, he was a prolific songwriter, an amateur inventor and (gasp!) a devoted Yankees fan. March 26,...
Book: Friendship brightens life
The Brilliant Life of Eudora HoneysettBy Annie Lyons(372 pages, fiction, 2020)Eudora Honeysett is an elderly woman who lives in London. She doesn’t have anything to live for. She has no friends or family, and a cat who bites her. She doesn’t want to have her last moments be in an ambulance, racing to a hospital. She wants to die on her own terms, and so she contacts a clinic in Switzerland. She wants to go there to die. The people at...
