Discover Concord Winter 2022

Celebrate!

TThe holidays kick off this month and Concord is ready to celebrate! Hopefully, you made it to the annual Tree Lighting and Parade earlier this month. The Chanukah celebration is coming up, Barrow Bookstore is going Icelandic this season and celebrating Jolabokaflod, Louisa May Alcott’s house is decorated, the Old Manse has candlelight tours, there are gingerbread houses at Concord Free Public Library, and there’s even a new Historical Holiday walking tour to experience. Find all the details in “Things To See & Do” on p. 10.

While you’re grabbing your scarves and mittens and wondering, once again, just how cold a New England winter can get, take a moment to consider the plight of Concordians in 1816. A major snowstorm hit the northeast in June of that year and temperatures remained unseasonably cold all summer. “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death: The Year Without a Summer” on p. 16 brings that unusual year to life.

Walden Pond was an important source of ice in the 1800s. You might not think that such a simple commodity could be tied to Irish legend, Henry David Thoreau, Martinique, and insanity but “The Old Hag,

The Ice King, and the Artichoke: Concord’s Role in the Insane Ice Trade” on p. 20 will give you a new perspective on those unassuming cubes in your drink.

While Sophia Peabody Hawthorne is well known as the wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne, she was also a writer, painter, illustrator, and sculptor whose work is still admired today. Learn more in “’Intuition is the unerring truth’: Sophia Peabody Hawthorne” on p. 12.

As we all come together to celebrate the holiday season, please remember to shop local. Our list of shops and restaurants on p. 35 (with walking maps) is a great place to start. For the best gifts in Concord, be sure to see our Guide to Holiday Gift Giving online at issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/ giftguide22fullbook

We wish you and your families the happiest of holidays and a new year filled with joy.

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Co-Founder

Jennifer C. Schünemann Co-Founder

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

BY VICTOR CURRAN

BY BARBARA EVANGELISTA

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

BY DAVID ROSENBAUM

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

BY CINDY ATOJI KEENE

BY BARROW BOOKSTORE

CO-FOUNDER

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

CO-FOUNDER

Jennifer C. Schünemann

ART DIRECTOR

Beth Pruett DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR

Wilson S. Schünemann ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

Olga Gersh

BOARD

Bobbi Benson CONCORD ART AND ANTIQUES

Patricia Clarke SARA CAMPBELL

Marie Foley

REVOLUTIONARY CONCORD

Michael Glick CONCORD’S COLONIAL INN

Maria Madison THE ROBBINS HOUSE

Jennifer McGonigle JOY STREET LIFE + HOME

Robert Munro THE ROBBINS HOUSE

Alida Orzechowski MEMBER AT LARGE

Barbara Evangelista CONCORD MUSEUM

Jan Turnquist

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE

Steve Verrill VERRILL FARM

Jerry Wedge THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

ANKE VOSS

CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

WITHERBEE

CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

PHOTO: Snowy Day at the Colonial Inn ©Cassio Bissoli

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

Cassio Bissoli

Victor Curran

Barbara Evangelista

Stewart Ikeda

Jaimee Leigh Joroff

Cindy Atoji Keene

Linda McConchie

David Rosenbaum

Brigette M. T. Sanchez

Jennifer C. Schünemann

Richard Smith

Anke Voss

Dave Witherbee

Winter Happenings

Celebrating the Centennial of the Lincoln Memorial

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 – FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Dedicated in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial represents our nation’s hopes and challenges and serves as an iconic backdrop for civic expression regarding democracy and human rights. Explore the planning and construction of the monument and learn about its role as a symbolic site in popular culture at The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated exhibition.

Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature

NOVEMBER 23, 2022 – JANUARY 2, 2023

Admire 34 fancifully decorated holiday trees and wreaths inspired by acclaimed works of children’s literature at the 27th Annual Family Trees. Brimming with whimsy and charm, this creative twist on Concord’s renowned literary legacy is sure to brighten spirits and warm hearts of all ages. Visit with authors and illustrators on December 4th and enjoy other family programs throughout December.

Visit the Museum’s Newly Redesigned Galleries

Explore 16 galleries focused on Concord’s Native American, literary, abolitionist, cultural and revolutionary history. Gain a new understanding of April 19, 1775 at our new multimedia installation. and more...

See the Museum’s calendar for other programs this winter, including adult forums, February school vacation week activities, and A Visit with President Lincoln

15Things to See & Do in Concord this Winter

1Stop by Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord to see their annual menorah display. Thirty-four years ago, Debra Stark began this beautiful tradition to share the Festival of Lights with the community. A display with more than 40 menorahs from around the world dazzles onlookers each December. See our article on p. 22 for more information. On display now through December 31. debrasnaturalgourmet.com

2Concord’s renowned literary tradition takes a creative twist during the holiday season when the Concord Museum opens the 27th Annual Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature. A benefit exhibition with related programs, Family Trees fills the Museum with trees and wreaths of all shapes and sizes fancifully dressed for the occasion with charming original ornaments inspired by children’s picture books. Open now through January 2. concord museum.org

3

Experience the Old Manse as you’ve never seen it before. “On the Gold Light” Twilight Tours of the Manse allows you to wander the halls and explore the chambers of the Old Manse lit by candles and the setting sun. This is truly a magical experience. Reservations available now through March 11. thetrustees.org

4Enjoy the arts!

Concord is alive with music and art throughout the winter months. Turn to p. 52 for “Arts Around Town” and don’t miss out on all that Concord’s talented artists have to offer.

5

Celebrate Chanukah as the Town of Concord and Temple Kerem Shalom present the Chanukah celebration at Rideout Park. Bring the family as the menorah is blessed and lit. Stay and enjoy music, games, Chanukah stories with the Concord Free Public Library, and latkes from Debra’s Natural Gourmet. December 21. visitconcord.org

6

Embrace the Icelandic tradition known as Jolabokaflod. It’s traditional in Iceland to exchange books on Christmas Eve and spend the night reading. Start your own Jolabokaflod festivity by stopping by Barrow Bookstore to pick up a wrapped book and a packet of hot chocolate. Weather permitting, the books will be outside and on Dec. 24 there will be snacks and recorded music from 1:00 - 3:00 pm. In the case of bad weather, books will be available inside the store. December 23 – 24. barrowbookstore.com

7Shop local this holiday season.

The shopping districts of Concord Center, West Concord, Thoreau Depot, and Nine Acre Corner have everything you need to make the holiday season special. From unique gifts to farm-fresh turkeys, produce, and baked goods, whatever you need you’re sure to find it in Concord.

Extra credit if you plan ahead and buy your Valentine’s Day gifts early! Our complete list of “Where to Shop, Where to Eat” on p. 41 (along with walking maps) will show you where to go. And be sure to see our Guide to Holiday Gift Giving online at issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/ giftguide22fullbook for the best gifts in Concord.

8

Get into the holiday spirit with this 90-minute Historical Holiday walking tour in downtown Concord. The tour will begin outside Barrow Bookstore, where you will learn about the origins of Christmas in Puritan New England. Throughout the tour, you will hear tales of how the authors who called Concord home, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott, celebrated the holidays. Visit concordwalkingtours.com to make a reservation.

9

Visit the Lincoln Memorial Illustrated exhibition at the Concord Museum. The exhibition explores the planning and construction of the Lincoln Memorial through illustrations, sculpture, archival materials, and ephemera, and it traces its role as a symbolic site in illustrations, political cartoons, and popular culture. Turn to “The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated – A Fascinating Exhibition at the Concord Museum” on p. 14 for more information. Now through February 26. concordmuseum.org

©istock.com/CatLane Family Trees logo Courtesy of the Concord Museum

10The Concord Free Public Library will once again host a delightful Gingerbread House Display, perfect for the season and sure to delight children of all ages. Visit their website for dates and times. concordlibrary.org

11

Celebrate the season at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. A perennial favorite holiday destination, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House will celebrate the season with guided tours of the c. 1650 home adorned with tasteful, festive décor. Discover the ways in which the Alcotts and

their fictional counterparts, the Marches, commemorated this special season—from the November 29 joint birthday of Bronson Alcott and daughter Louisa May, to timeless family traditions of Christmas and the New Year. Visitors will receive a commemorative bookmark and take-home craft activity. louisamayalcott.org

12

Join The Walden Woods Project and RESTORE: The North Woods for a conversation with George Wuerthner, respected ecologist and author of 38 books. His presentation, “Fire Suppression &

Climate Change” will provide insights and an overview to the major factors driving large wildfires in the west and will discuss the ecological importance of these blazes as well as policies that could help to protect communities from such events. January 24. walden.org/events

13

Visit with President Lincoln as the Concord Museum once again hosts Steve Wood and his amazing performance as Abraham Lincoln. Wood’s first-person historical interpretation, “A Visit with Abraham Lincoln,” includes stories of Lincoln’s early life, campaign debates, and the Civil War, and concludes with a stirring reading of the Gettysburg Address. February 20. concordmuseum.org

14

Chocolate is always in season, so visit the Concord Museum for Sweet History: Colonial Chocolate and immerse yourself in the colonial home as a living historian grinds cocoa beans, adds spices, and concocts delicious treats by the winter hearth. Read a colonial recipe or “receipt” and decipher the steps to cooking rare delicacies in colonial Concord. February 23. concordmuseum.org

15 Go outside and play this winter. Why not put on your mittens and go hiking, skating, sledding, or even skiing this weekend? Turn to “Outdoor Winter Fun” on p. 32 and enjoy the season!

Courtesy of the Concord Museum

Courtesy of the Concord Museum

©Jennifer C. Schünemann

“Intuition is the unerring truth” Sophia Peabody Hawthorne

BY VICTOR CURRAN

When Sophia Peabody met Nathaniel Hawthorne at her home in Salem, Massachusetts, he had little to offer but his Byronic good looks. He had published two books, but they brought him neither fame nor fortune, and at age 33, he had run out of ideas and motivation.

Unbeknownst to Sophia, her sister Elizabeth let Nathaniel read Sophia’s journal of a year and a half in Cuba. Her vivid, candid account of her experiences electrified him and revived his creative energy. Sophia’s story is often told as a footnote to Nathaniel’s, but her talent and intellect were well matched to his.

Sophia Peabody was born in Salem in 1809 and grew up in the care of a wise and self-reliant mother, Elizabeth Pearse Peabody. Elizabeth believed in the education of women, and in their home she ran a school where girls and boys studied the same curriculum: history, classics, and writing. The reading list included contemporary women writers.

Sophia’s health was never robust—she suffered frequent headaches—but she flourished under her mother’s tutelage. She began taking drawing lessons at age 13, and her teachers were instantly impressed. One remarked that “she never made a false stroke.”1

Sophia studied with some of the leading American painters of her time, including

She wrote, “What an intense feeling of delight it gives me to think that I may ever create too.”2 Allston encouraged her to paint from nature rather than follow the conventional discipline of copying other paintings.

By the 1830s, Sophia was exhibiting her work at the Boston Athenaeum and teaching art students of her own. She began selling landscapes to affluent Salem patrons and drawing portraits of family and friends. In 1833, Samuel Gridley Howe recruited her to donate paintings to a fundraising auction for a school that would become the Perkins School for the Blind. Two of her paintings fetched $60—the highest price in the sale.

In 1833, Sophia’s sister Mary got a job as a governess for the children of a wealthy doctor in Cuba. Sophia accompanied Mary in hope that the climate would improve her health. During the next year and a half, Sophia wrote almost 900 pages of letters to her mother, and

they would become known as her Cuba Journal. Biographer Megan Marshall writes: “Nature was teaching her that ‘intuition is the unerring truth’ . . . Even before there was a name for it, Sophia had become an instinctive Transcendentalist.”3

After she returned to Massachusetts in 1835, the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson attracted Sophia’s attention. Reading Nature and The American Scholar, Sophia recognized someone who shared her conviction that visible beauty points to a deeper reality.

Her sister Elizabeth had written favorable reviews of some stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and in 1837 she invited him to visit her family. Sophia didn’t meet him until his second visit, when “[H]e rose and looked at her intently . . . [with a] piercing, indrawing gaze.”4

It was then that Sophia’s Cuba journal opened new imaginative horizons for Nathaniel.

Night-Blooming Cereus, page from Sophia Peabody’s Cuba Journal, May 27, 1834

Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum

WChester Harding, Thomas Doughty, and Washington Allston.

Portrait of Sophia Peabody, 1830 by Chester Harding (American, 1792–1866)

Courtesy of The New York Public Library

By 1839 Sophia and Nathaniel were romantically involved, and she drew illustrations for his story, The Gentle Boy. She also began to work in three-dimensional media, making a bust of Perkins School student Laura Bridgman.

In July 1842, Sophia and Nathaniel were married in a ceremony in her sister Elizabeth’s book shop in Boston. On their wedding day, they moved into Concord’s Old Manse, and found Concord was “ideologically [Sophia’s] native land . . . the fertile ground to cultivate indigenously American thought and the literature to express it.”5 The sketch of a night-blooming Cereus in Sophia’s Cuba journal inspired the garden in Nathaniel’s story Rappacini’s Daughter. Nathaniel and Sophia kept a shared journal, reflecting on their new home and the natural world around it. Sophia’s entries are especially vivid, using sexual metaphors to describe nature.

In 1844, Sophia gave birth to a girl they named Una. Sophia immortalized her daughter by engraving this message, preserved on a windowpane at the Old Manse:

“Una Hawthorne stood on this window sill January 22, 1845, while the trees were all glass chandeliers, a goodly show which she liked much, tho’ only ten months old.” 6

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

Their son Julian was born in 1846, and another daughter, Rose, in 1851. Sophia took enthusiastically to motherhood, weaving transcendental themes into the lessons she taught her children. But Nathaniel, by his own account, was “merely a witness to, rather than a participant in, this domestic drama.”7 Sophia saw her creative work being eclipsed by her husband’s.

The Hawthornes, who had left Concord in 1845 because they couldn’t afford the rent, returned in 1852 to buy the big house on Lexington Road that they called The Wayside. This upward mobility was made possible by the success of Nathaniel’s books, The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter

They didn’t stay at the Wayside long. Nathaniel’s college friend Franklin Pierce became President of the United States in 1853, and appointed Nathaniel to be U.S. Consul to Liverpool, so they all relocated to England. After Pierce’s presidency ended, the Hawthornes moved to Rome, where Sophia delighted to see magnificent artwork everywhere. She made sketches of the statues and architecture, and was welcomed by a community of single women artists from America who had settled in Rome, including Massachusetts-born sculptors Harriet Hosmer and Louisa Lander.

Returning to Concord on the eve of the Civil War in 1860, Sophia found herself in the uncomfortable role of defending Nathaniel when their antislavery neighbors criticized him for remaining loyal to his old friend Pierce, even as the former President aligned himself with the slaveholding states.

After Nathaniel’s death in 1864, Sophia tried to sort out the train wreck of his finances and edited his half-finished manuscripts for publication. As biographer Patricia Valenti describes it, she was “preserving for posterity her image of the man she had loved.”

She sold the house in Concord, and in 1870 moved with her daughters to England, where she died in 1871. Una, whose health had been precarious since a teenage case of malaria, died six years later. Mother and daughter were buried in London, but both came home to Concord in 2006, when their remains were reinterred alongside Nathaniel at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

Victor Curran writes and leads tours of historic Concord and is an interpreter at the Concord Museum and the Old Manse. He teaches courses and writes articles about the men and women who made Concord the home of American independence and imagination.

Courtesy of Perkins School for the Blind Archives, Watertown, MA Smith

1. Megan Marshall, The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism. Houghton Mifflin, 2005 2. Patricia Dunlavy Valenti, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne: A Life, Vol. 1. University of Missouri Press, 2004 3. Marshall, op. cit. 4. Valenti, op. cit. 5. Ibid. 6. A second windowpane at the Old Manse, etched in 1843, records a dialogue between Sophia and Nathaniel. 7. Patricia Dunlavy Valenti, Sophia Peabody Hawthorne: A Life, Vol. 2. University of Missouri Press, 2015

Isola San Giovanni, 1839-40 by Sophia Amelia Peabody (American, 1809–1871)

Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum

Laura Bridgman Bust, 1841 by Sophia Peabody Hawthorne (1809-1871)

The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated –A Fascinating Exhibition at the Concord Museum

BY BARBARA EVANGELISTA

Dedicated in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial has become a cultural icon and a gathering place for some of the most significant and symbolic events of the past 100 years. It has become an almost sacred space for civic expression focusing on race relations and human rights.

The Concord Museum’s current exhibition, The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated, explores the planning and construction of the Lincoln Memorial through illustrations, sculpture, and archival materials. Designed by architect Henry Bacon, it was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, a resident of Concord.

Starting in 1915, French made at least four models for the Abraham Lincoln memorial. He drew upon Mathew Brady’s photographic portrait and Leonard Volk’s life casts of the president’s face and hands. During the construction of the memorial, French brought photographic enlargements of the model to the site and, along with Bacon, decided upon

Dnineteen feet as the appropriate size for the statue. The resulting carving from 28 blocks of Georgia marble took more than a year to complete, with French himself making the final adjustments.

Originally proposed two years after Lincoln’s death in 1865, the Lincoln Memorial took more than a half-century to realize. Honoring the “Savior of our Union,” the memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922. Today, millions visit the memorial each year – walking up a great flight of stairs to enter an immense temple. French and Bacon’s incredible collaboration greets them there –an enormous, seated marble figure radiating dignity, wisdom, and gravitas.

The Concord Museum’s exhibition focuses on the development of the Lincoln Memorial as a symbolic element in illustrations, political cartoons, and popular culture, including works by noted artists such as Norman Rockwell. A four-minute looping

media installation by Richard Lewis Media Group features sketches, photographs and films of the Memorial’s construction and iconic moments in its history.

Featured moments include contralto Marian Anderson’s iconic 1939 Lincoln Memorial Concert and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 March on Washington.

Visitors have a unique opportunity to browse the many multimedia artworks which portray the Memorial’s cultural significance including original paintings and illustrations, archival photographs, sculpture, artifacts, ephemera, and more.

Created by the Norman Rockwell Museum in collaboration with Chesterwood (the historic summer home and studio of Daniel Chester French), The Lincoln Memorial Illustrated exhibition at the Concord Museum will run through February 26, 2023. Learn more at concordmuseum.org/exhibitions

Courtesy of the Concord Museum, Chesterwood: National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Italian Villa sited on 9.5 acres on one of the most desirable roads in Sudbury. The house and gardens were designed and developed over 40 years from 1901 to 1940 by Joseph Everett Chandler (1863-1945) for his use and appropriately named Manalone. Chandler is credited with being one of the founders of the historic preservation movement in New England. The house is made of stone and concrete, mimicking light pink stucco with a slate roof. It contains 11 rooms, five bedrooms, and two full and two half baths on the first and second floors. At the walkout lower level, there is a bedroom and a full bath, a living room, and several storage and utility rooms. The house needs a significant update, and there is the potential for limited development. This remarkable property abuts conservation land and is near the Sudbury River. Accessory buildings include a detached two-car garage, a wood-frame stable, and a small wood-frame shed.

Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death: The Year Without a Summer

BY RICHARD SMITH

Winters can be long and harsh in New England, but at least we have hope every year that, soon enough, spring and then summer will make their return. But what if warmer weather never returned? That’s exactly what happened in 1816, The Year Without a Summer.

A major snowstorm hit the Northeast on June 6, 1816, following a cold, rainy spring. Modern scientists agree that this weather anomaly was a “volcanic winter event” caused by the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1815. The massive ash cloud spewed into the atmosphere headed west and traversed the earth; it adversely affected the weather, and the summer of 1816 became an agricultural disaster, especially in New England. Temperatures as far south as Connecticut dropped to as low as 40° in July and August.

The snowstorm on June 6 was just one in a winter-like series of events from May to October that year. Some New Englanders called it “The Poverty Year,” while others remembered it as “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death.”

The freakish weather began in the spring and summer of 1816 when a persistent “dry fog” was observed in parts of the eastern United States. The fog reddened and dimmed the sunlight, and neither wind nor rainfall could disperse it. It has since been characterized as a “stratospheric sulfate aerosol veil” caused by the volcanic ash from Mount Tambora.

At the Church Family of Shakers near New Lebanon, New York, Community member Nicholas Bennet wrote in May 1816 that “all was froze” and the hills were “barren like

winter.” Temperatures were below freezing almost every day in May. The ground froze on June 9, and on June 12 the Shakers had to replant the crops destroyed by the cold. On July 7, it was so cold that everything stopped growing. As one historian would later write:

“Severe frosts occurred every month; June 7th and 8th snow fell, and it was so cold that crops were cut down, even freezing the roots .... In the early Autumn when corn was in the milk it was so thoroughly frozen that it never ripened and was scarcely worth harvesting. Breadstuffs were scarce and prices high and the poorer class of people were often in straits for want of food.”

Shocked and surprised New Englanders commented on the phenomenon; Sarah Snell Bryant of Cummington, MA, wrote in her diary, “Weather backward,” while Thomas Robbins of East Windsor, Connecticut noted, “the vegetation does not seem to advance at all.”

The Year Without a Summer had a farreaching economic impact across the eastern states and New England; crop failures led to hoarding and huge price increases for agricultural commodities. To make matters worse, the crop failures were aggravated by an inadequate transportation network. America was still a predominantly rural nation, with an infrastructure still stuck in the eighteenth century; with bad roads and no navigable inland waterways (no canals existed yet and there were, of course, no railroads) it was expensive and laborious to get food to the hard-hit areas.

There were some warm days in the spring of 1816, but they were followed by unexpected and unseasonal cold snaps. In Salem, MA, for example, it was 74 degrees on April 24, but within 30 hours the temperature dropped to 21 degrees! On June 6, 1816, six inches of snow fell on New

WThe crater left behind from the explosion of Mount Tambora

England. Clockmaker Chauncey Jerome wrote in his autobiography that he walked to work that day in Plymouth, Connecticut, wearing heavy woolen clothes, an overcoat, and mittens.

There were snow flurries in Boston on June 8, the latest ever recorded, while the snow was 18 inches deep in Cabot, Vermont. On June 11, a temperature of 30.5 degrees was recorded in Williamstown, MA. Frozen birds dropped dead in the fields, and some Vermont farmers who had already shorn their sheep tried to tie their fleeces back onto the poor animals; many froze to death anyway. Indeed, livestock all across New England died from the cold in their fields.

On June 22, temperatures reached 101 degrees in Salem, MA, but July 4 was extremely cold. Chauncey Jerome wrote that it was hard to feel patriotic while watching men play quoits in their heavy overcoats.

In July and August, lake and river ice was seen as far south as northwestern Pennsylvania. Frost was reported as far south as Virginia on August 20 and 21. Rapid, dramatic temperature swings were common, with temperatures sometimes reverting from normal summer temperatures to near-freezing within hours.

“It is now the middle of July, and we have not yet had what could properly be called summer. Easterly winds have prevailed for nearly three months past ... the sun during that time has generally been obscured and the sky overcast with clouds; the air has been damp and uncomfortable, and frequently so chilling as to render the fireside a desirable retreat.”

a sort of stampede took place from cold, desolate, worn-out New England, to this land of promise.”

First edition of Frankenstein, 1818

Thomas Jefferson, retired from public life and farming at his Monticello estate, sustained major crop failures that sent him into debt. On September 13, a Virginia newspaper reported that corn crops would be one-half to two-thirds short and lamented that “the cold as well as the drought has nipt the buds of hope”. A Norfolk, Virginia newspaper reported:

The Year Without a Summer was especially hard on the poor. The New Hampshire Patriot newspaper reported on October 22, 1816, that “Indian corn, on which a large proportion of the poor depend, is cut off” and Vermont farmers lost much of their livestock; impoverished Vermonters foraged for nettles, wild turnips, and other root vegetables for their food. We will never know the exact number of people who froze or starved to death: the mortality rate could very well have been in the thousands.

The ruined harvest caused an epidemic of “Ohio fever” among the hungry and financially strapped New Englanders. As Connecticut author and publisher Samuel Griswold Goodrich recalled, “Ohio—with its rich soil, its mild climate, its inviting prairies—was opened fully upon the alarmed and anxious vision. As was natural under the circumstances,

Farmers gave up trying to make a living in New England and started heading to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, hoping for a better –and warmer – life. As a result, there was a dramatic population shift in the west, so much so that this influx of people would lead to Indiana becoming a state in 1816, with lllinois gaining statehood two years later.

It would take several years before the New England economy would fully recover from the disastrous summer of 1816. For many people it was a disastrous year and one they would never forget.

The cold, gray summer of 1816 would also affect northern Europe and, in the long run, have a lasting impact on world literature.

Mary Godwin, her fiancé Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John William Polidori were all staying at the Villa Diodati, overlooking Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The weather was bleak and gloomy during that whole summer and the group, stuck indoors and wanting to pass the time, had a competition to see who could write the most frightening horror story. As a result, Mary Godwin created a classic of Gothic literature, a story she called Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

Richard Smith has worked as a public historian in Concord for 21 years, specializing in Henry David Thoreau, the transcendentalists, the anti-slavery movement, and the Civil War. He has written six books for Applewood Books.

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

New Englanders heading west

Image courtesy of the New England Historical Society

Image courtesy of the University of Notre Dame

Specializing in delicious everyday & custom designed cakes & cupcakes for every occasion.

Specializing in delicious everyday & custom designed cakes & cupcakes for every occasion. Fantastic scones, coffee cakes, muffins & a wide variety of wonderful, freshly baked goods, including hand-painted shortbread cookies.

Fantastic scones, coffee cakes, muffins & a wide variety of wonderful, freshly baked goods, including hand-painted shortbread cookies.

Specializing in delicious everyday & custom designed cakes & cupcakes for every occasion.

Remember to order your holiday cakes, cookies, and catering early!

59 Commonwealth Ave. West Concord • 978.369.7644

Fantastic scones, coffee cakes, muffins & a wide variety of wonderful, freshly baked goods, including hand-painted shortbread cookies.

59 Commonwealth Ave. West Concord • 978-369-7644

1 mile from Route 2 and Concord Rotary Mon-Sat 7am to 5pm • Sunday 8am to 2pm

59 Commonwealth Ave. West Concord • 978-369-7644

1 mile from Route 2 and Concord Rotary Mon-Fri 6 am - 5 pm • Sat 7 am - 5 pm • Sun 8 am - 1 pm

www.concordteacakes.com

www.concordteacakes.com

1 mile from Route 2 and Concord Rotary Mon-Fri 6 am - 5 pm • Sat 7 am - 5 pm • Sun 8 am - 1 pm www.concordteacakes.com

29 Walden St. | 978.369.5778 | concordcheese.com

Locals know that the Cheese Shop of Concord is a wonderland of delicious food, with a holiday selection that goes far beyond its namesake cheese counter. Choose from a wall of cookies and crackers, shelf upon shelf of jellies, jams and chutneys, fine chocolates, local honeys, imported pastas, condiments, and more. There’s also a delicatessen counter (think party platters) and an outstanding wine and beer department.

Can’t decide? Gift cards to the shop, or for its monthly cheese and charcuterie clubs, might be the answer. Come on in, or give us a call and talk to one of our talented team members. They are sure to help you find the perfect gift this holiday season!

The Old Hag, The Ice King, and the Artichoke: Concord’s Role in the Insane Ice Trade

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

If one listens to the faintest but constant suggestions of his genius… he sees not to what extremes, or even insanity, it may lead him; and yet that way, as he grows more resolute and faithful, his road lies.

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden

TThis is a story of insanity, and it begins in ancient Ireland, where legend says there once lived the powerful Tuatha de Danann. They were Kings, Queens, Druids, and those possessed with magic arts long since forgotten or explained away by modern science. Among them was Cailleach (translation, “Old Hag”), the Witch Queen of Winter. Twice a year she battled with her sister Áine, the Queen of Summer, locked in an eternal cyclical struggle between cold and warmth. Cailleach was fearsome. She carried a magic staff with which she could direct the weather, and everything near her froze. Once, when confronted by a giant, Callieach struck the earth with her staff, breaking it into rocky pieces. Scooping up the rocks, leaving a crater behind, she hurled them at the giant until she cut him down. The crater filled with water and became a lake, which immediately froze over.

Time passed, and old ways melted into memory. An Irish race of mortals reigned until English powers sought to control them. By the late 1700s, the American Revolutionary War, triggered by the Battles of Lexington and Concord, resulted in England losing possession of America. England was determined to retain its remaining empire, including Ireland, and by the 1840s, Ireland was under heavy-handed English rule. Life was harsh and famine was growing. Thousands of Irish immigrated to American cities like Boston, Massachusetts, where they found work in the surrounding areas.

It was thus that in the winter of 1846/47, an Irishman working as an ice cutter for the Boston-based Frederic Tudor Ice Company, found himself on, and then suddenly below,

Duncan’s “Riders of the Sidhe” (1911)

the frozen surface of Walden Pond in Concord. At the time, Henry David Thoreau was living in his cabin on the shore of this kettle hole that science says was carved by a glacier and is, at its deepest, 108 feet. As described by Thoreau in his journal and book Walden, for sixteen days, “a hundred Irishmen, with Yankee overseers, came from Cambridge every day to get out the ice…unroof[ing]the house of fishes”. Using horse-drawn sharpened sleds, the men scored the pond into squares. Then, placing a horse-drawn ice-cutting plow into the scored grooves, the fourteen- to eighteeninch-deep ice was cut into blocks. Holding long pike poles, the Irishmen then struck the blocks, breaking them free. To condense from Thoreau’s writing, the blocks were next “sledded to the shore… rapidly hauled

off on to an ice platform, and raised by grappling irons and block and tackle, worked by horses, on to a stack thirty-five feet high on one side and six or seven rods square, putting hay between the outside layers to exclude the air. It looked like a vast blue fort or Valhalla.”

On this day, the ice below one of the Irishmen suddenly gave way, plunging him into the freezing water. Cailleach was in a merciful mood, for the man made it back to the shore and stumbled to Thoreau’s cabin for help. Thoreau placed him by the fire and gave him a dry shirt. Here, in this section of Concord woods owned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the simple walls of Thoreau’s cabin were in stark contrast to the Beacon Hill mansion owned by the Irishman’s employer, Frederic Tudor.

John

Born in Boston in 1783, Frederic Tudor was the son of wealthy lawyer William Tudor. Unlike his academically inclined father, who studied law with John Adams and was George Washington’s legal counsel on April 19, 1775, Frederic dropped out of Harvard and eventually plunged into a business venture that involved cutting free ice from New England Ponds and selling it to hotter climates where ice did not exist.

It was a brilliant, yet insane, idea. Everyone knew ice melted, and no mortal could defeat hot weather. In 1806, unable to get any ship carrier to join him in this ludicrous venture, Tudor bought his own ship, The Favorite, loaded it with ice, and sailed it from Charlestown, MA, to Martinique. A headline in the Boston Gazette read: “No joke. A vessel has cleared at the Custom House for Martinique with a cargo of ice. We hope this will not prove a slippery speculation.” A month later, the ship arrived. In his diary, Frederic Tudor copied a passage from the Martinique Gazette: “The Brig Favorite… happily arrived at St. Pierre, on the 5th of March, and is now disposing of her cargo to great advantage. It will be a remarkable epoch in the history of luxury and enterprise that on the 6th of March ice creams have been eaten at Martinique probably for the first time since the settlements of the country and this too in a volcanic land lying fourteen degrees north of the equator.” The success was short-lived as, shortly after arrival, the remaining ice melted in the hot climate. A subsequent ice shipment in 1807 to Havana, Cuba, also ended in evaporative, costly results.

For the next three decades, shipwrecks, swindlers, imprisonments for unpaid debts, and repeated evaporation failures plagued Tudor. Yet he persisted in this eternal battle between cold and warmth, until at last, with the help of business partners, he gained control of the impossible; conquering hot weather with the design of insulated warehouses, railroad cars, and ships. This changed the entire perishable goods industry, well beyond ice.

Tudor’s ice markets expanded, covering the southern United States, the Caribbean, Cuba, Europe, India, and eventually China. He became known as the “Ice King.”

In Massachusetts, the Ice King’s crews spread out across the state, cutting ice from multiple freshwater ponds. In Concord, the ice blocks were loaded onto train cars on the track adjacent to Walden Pond, railroaded to Charlestown, and loaded on ships. Imagining the waters of Walden Pond mingling with drinks prepared in India, Thoreau wrote in Walden, “The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges.”

In British-occupied and controlled India, native and British residents enjoyed Tudor’s ice in cold drinks, chilled foods, and ice cream and incorporated it into medical treatments. Heat emergencies were common for British soldiers in India. Lt. Edward Charles Zouch, an English naval officer, was one such individual with a history of multiple sunstrokes. In the 1840s, he began incessantly to pace the deck of his ship, raving aloud. One morning, Zouch became convinced he would be hanged at 8:00 a.m. He reported promptly for the event and

For a list of sources, email barrowbookstore@gmail.com.

was upset at the lack of discipline when his crew did not hang him. As documented in a medical report, Zouch then “imagined he had been transformed into a vegetable, an artichoke, and was in the habit of taking advantage of every shower that fell in order that he might be properly watered.”

“The Artichoke” (formerly known as Lt. Zouch) was escorted from the ship to an English-run lunatic asylum where patients would be subject to the psychiatric treatments of the time. These included prolonged immersion in icy cold baths or being wrapped like a mummy in blankets that had been soaked in ice (now available in India thanks to the Frederic Tudor Ice Company).

So, in the end, it was Tudor’s ice, and not he, that ended up in an insane asylum. Frederic Tudor won the war between cold and warmth, introduced the world to ice, opened new shipping routes, and changed an entire industry of perishable goods. With time and the invention of refrigerators and home ice makers, the Frederic Tudor Ice Company and Concord’s role in the ice trade melted into a memory.

As Thoreau wrote, “[it was like] a fable of the lark and the reapers… and now they are all gone…. I shall look… on the pure sea-green Walden water… and no traces will appear that a man has ever stood there.”

A Concord native, Jaimee Joroff is manager of the Barrow Bookstore in Concord Center, which specializes in Concord history, cendentalism, and literary figures. She has been an interpreter at most of Concord’s historic sites and is a licensed town guide.

Frederic Tudor (Sept. 4, 1783 - Feb. 6, 1864)

Ice Harvesting, Massachusetts, early 1850s

Lighting a Candle for

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

Chanukah will once again be celebrated by the Town of Concord and Temple Kerem Shalom at Rideout Park on December 21st. Families will enjoy the blessing (and lighting) of the menorah, music, games, stories, and delicious latkes from Debra’s Natural Gourmet. And another beloved tradition will also take place this winter. The stunning display of menorahs in the window of Debra’s Natural Gourmet will be there for people to admire and enjoy all December long.

“34 years ago, when the store first opened, I remember how important it was to my mother, Debra Stark, to share the Festival of Lights with the community. Back

Cand Chief Miscellaneous Officer of Debra’s Natural Gourmet and Debra’s Next Door. “She didn’t want anyone to feel left out during the holiday season, like she did as a little girl. So, she started putting menorahs in the store window. In the beginning, I think she had two, and she bought two more for the display. Eventually, somehow, she got a reputation as the ‘menorah lady’ and family and friends kept on giving her more and more as gifts. Now her collection has

of people ask how much this-or-that one sells for. And we always say ‘they’re not for sale — we’re holding them in trust for the community.’”

All are welcome to enjoy this touching display at Debra’s Natural Gourmet, 98 Commonwealth Ave. in West Concord throughout the month of December.

©Jennifer C. Schünemann

Artist Spotlight

IIn this continuing series, we are delighted to introduce two more of Concord’s gifted artists. Winter is a wonderful time to explore Concord’s many art galleries. Or why not learn to create your own art with classes available around town?

BY STEWART IKEDA

JILL GOLDMAN-CALLAHAN

Jill Goldman-Callahan’s aesthetic aim is not just to depict, but to bestow. She aspires to the voice of an echo, the memory of stone, the secrets of water. Thomas Moore, author of Care of The Soul, describes her work as, “Not a painting of, but a peek into.”

Jill paints in the genre of contemporary lyrical abstraction. Working without preconception, she builds layers of atmospheric surface and alluring color, spontaneously innovating compositions with poetic narrative significance.

For Jill, making art and making meaning with art has been essential since childhood. She earned a BA in Fine Art and Anthropology from Bennington College and a master’s in Art Therapy from Lesley University. Jill’s work has been included in many juried shows. She currently has a solo show at Trinity Church and an upcoming show at Three Stones Gallery in August. Having recently retired as an art educator in the Wellesley Schools, Jill now lives in Concord and works as an artist mentor and Studio Artist at The Umbrella Arts Center. jillgoldman-callahanstudio.com

PONNAPA PRAKKAMAKUL

Ponnapa Prakkamakul, a multidisciplinary artist and landscape architect based in Massachusetts, is the 2022-2023 Artistin-Residence at The Umbrella Arts Center. Her work explores the relationship between humans and their environment, focusing on cultural displacement and sense of belonging. Using found materials foraged from landscapes and stories collected from local communities, Ponnapa aims to create place-specific artwork that truly represents their identity and cultivates a stronger sense of place.

During her year-long residency, she will conduct outreach to a diverse range of residents to seek input on their connections to and experiences in Concord, which will inform a collaborative public art project that will be featured in a culminating exhibition.

Ponnapa currently is a member at Kingston Gallery, a registered landscape architect at Sasaki, and one of the cohorts in Now + There’s Public Art Accelerator Program this year. ponnapa.com

Headshot of Ponnapa Prakkamakul © Matthew Arielly, courtesy of Sasaki. All other photos courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center

Stewart Ikeda heads the Marketing & Strategic Communications team at The Umbrella Arts Center.

Indecent comes to Concord

BY LINDA MCCONCHIE

The first onstage lesbian kiss in the United States took place at the Apollo Theater in 1923 in the play God of Vengeance by Polish-born Jewish playwright Sholem Asch. Obscene, indecent, and immoral were words New York theater-goers used to describe the production. So incensed were the “moral” authorities of the time that the entire cast and the producer were arrested and convicted for indecency. This over a story that the playwright called “a little Jewish play,” one that had been staged in countries throughout Europe for a decade without incident.

Indecent, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive), is a play about that “little Jewish play.” It opened on Broadway to sensational reviews in 2017. It’s complicated. Actors play actors who played characters long ago. It spans several decades and travels to many countries. The script, in Yiddish and English, examines contradictory themes;

Thomophobia, antisemitism, and xenophobia are intermingled with love and compassion, even tolerance. It has klezmer music. Who could direct such a complicated story?

Paula Vogel found exactly the right person in Rebecca Taichman, who won a Tony Award for her work on the show on Broadway. Now, the Concord Players have found precisely the right person for their own upcoming production of Indecent

Shira Helena Gitlin (they, them, theirs) is a director with an accomplished resume. They have worked with the SpeakEasy Stage Company, Moonbox Productions, and Boston Playwrights’ Theater, among others, and felt a profound personal impact after seeing Indecent. “I’d never seen anything like it,” they said. “As a queer, Jewish theater-maker, I saw a part of my own history I’d never heard about before.”

The parallels between the intolerant reception of God of Vengeance in 1923 and

current headlines are impossible to miss. “Banned Book Week was the first week of October,” they said, “and as I read through a list of some of the banned books across the United States, I found they were often stories of love, community, and history. For those who benefit from oppression, it makes sense to ban books, but for others… seeing themselves in stories provides so much power. Indecent touches upon this so perfectly.”

Gitlin manages to find the light in this play, too. Despite the oppressive themes in Indecent, they see “the joy of community,” in the story and “how important it is for people to stick together…support each other.”

Audiences for the Concord Players’ production of Indecent will surely agree that it is “superbly realized and remarkably powerful,” as the New York Times described it. Indeed, the play’s nine Tony Awards for the Broadway production speak to Paula Vogel’s genius and the creative team who brought it to life.

The Concord Players’ production will give local audiences a glimpse of the thousandyear-old Yiddish culture, with its own language and its own complicated history. It will be a chance to be reminded that people aren’t so different from each other today, yesterday, or a hundred years ago. For more information, visit concordplayers.org.

Linda McConchie has been an active member of the Concord Players for over 20 years and has served the Players as a board member, performer, props master and set dresser, among other roles. Her professional background is in politics, cultural tourism, and marketing.

All images courtesy of the Concord Players

Shira Helena Gitlin

Sholem

Headline from the New York Times

Full Circle: Concord and King Charles

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

CConcord transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote about life being full of circles. And this year, with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Concord, Massachusetts, once again finds itself full circle back in a world tied to a King Charles; this time, King Charles III.

Concord’s early history was directly influenced by the first King Charles, the monarch of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the American colonies from 1625-1649. King Charles I’s religious reforms and the enthusiasm of his enforcers, including the infamous and cruel Archbishop Laud, drove Puritan ministers in England from their pulpits. Fearing for their lives, hundreds of Puritan ministers fled for America. Among them were Peter Bulkeley and John Jones, both of whom arrived in Boston in 1635. Here, Rev. Bulkeley and Rev. Jones met explorer Simon Willard and joined him in obtaining a land grant to establish the first inland town in America. They called the town Concord and founded it in 1635.

The next 100 years saw Concord’s growth into a thriving town, with some residents devoutly loyal to the Crown and others longing for independence. Turmoil in the English monarchy led to the head-first removal of King Charles I, the tempestuous succession of his son, King Charles II, and a lengthy struggle for control of the throne.

By 1746, James Francis Edward Stuart (son of displaced King James II/VII of England, Scotland, and Ireland) was attempting to regain the throne of England, then occupied by King George II. Located mainly in Scotland, supporters of James Stuart were called Jacobites and rallied to

Charles I (1600-1649) by Anthony van Dyck

King Charles III (Victoria Jones/AP)

James’ cause, gathering forces with James’ son, Charles Edward Stuart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie). King George II amassed more regiments to deal with the growing rebellion in Scotland. Among King George’s troops gathering to quash the Jacobites was Scottish loyalist John Pitcairn who, in approximately 30 years’ time, would find himself playing a signifiant role in Concord and American history.

On April 16, 1746, King George II’s army faced off with Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobites at the Battle of Culloden on Culloden moor in Scotland. The Jacobite army was obliterated and the attempt to restore the Stuarts to the throne forever ended. Had the Jacobites won the battle,

Bonnie Prince Charlie could have become King Charles III, but it was not to be, and King George II maintained control.

But that control was slipping away, particularly in America where, by the year 1775, colonists—including many Concord residents—were preparing to break from English rule, which was now (somewhat) under the control of King George III.

On April 19, 1775, now at the rank of major, John Pitcairn led a regiment of Marines to Concord on an assignment to find and destroy military supplies the colonists were rumored to be hiding in town to supply a Continental Army. Arriving in Concord, the King’s troops split up to search the town. Remaining in the town center, Pitcairn

and his men discovered a small stash of weapons, including two canons, in Jones’ jail yard. Placing the supplies in a pile, they lit them on fire. Embers from the fire flew and accidentally set the townhouse roof ablaze. The smoke was seen by minutemen and militia who were gathering about a half mile up the road at the North Bridge, leading them to believe the King’s troops were burning down Concord! A cascade of events followed, culminating in the Battle at the North Bridge and Concord militia leader Major John Buttrick’s fateful order to “Fire, fellow soldiers! For God’s sake, fire!” against the King’s troops. This was the first official open act of war against England and a major factor in the start of the American Revolution.

The rest is history, leading us to today where America is an ally and loyal friend of England. For more than a century, American forces have fought and served in wars beside English allies, including in World War II alongside (then) Princess Elizabeth, who was a trained driver and mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II, reigning with dignity for 70 years and 214 days. May she rest in peace.

And now, as Concord circles into a new world where once again there is a King Charles on the throne, we can truly say with good wishes, “Long live the King!”

A Concord native, Jaimee Joroff is manager of the Barrow Bookstore in Concord Center, which specializes in Concord history, Transcendentalism, and literary figures. She has been an interpreter at most of Concord’s historic sites and is a licensed town guide. To

The Loyalist Guides of Lexington and Concord - issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/dc.fall22.fullbook/s/16740649

Major John Pitcairn’s High Road to Concord and Low Road Home - issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/spring20fullbook.low/s/1034401

John Jones: Concord’s First Minister and Witch Hunter - issuu.com/discoverconcordma/docs/dc.fall22.fullbook/s/16741184

Amos Doolittle engraving showing British regulars gathering in front of the Wright Tavern, which still stands at the corner of Main Street and Lexington Road. Further up Main Street, near Keyes Road, once stood Jones’s Tavern. (public domain)

public domain

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Outdoor Winter Fun

BY DAVID ROSENBAUM

IIn the late nineteenth century, Currier and Ives made beautiful and iconic engravings of New England winter scenes. They depicted gleeful children sledding, or skating on frozen ponds, surrounded by a snowy landscape. Fast forward 150 years or so, and you can still do those things, and more, in Concord during the winter. Let’s look at how you can have your own Currier and Ives adventure in Concord, with all the rich winter sports opportunities we have today!

Ice skating is quite popular, and now there are indoor rinks you can enjoy. Local rinks are in Concord (Valley Sports on Main St, West Concord), Boxborough (Olympia), Bedford (The Edge Sports Center), and other local towns. All offer instruction and ice time, but not all have rental skates so check first. When the weather is cold enough, head outdoors with your skates to Macones Pond (Lowell Rd, near Barnes Hill Rd), or Kennedys Pond (more remote, off Old Mill Rd in the Old Rifle Range). If you do skate on a pond, make sure you know the ice is at least 6” thick and go with a buddy. Never skate outdoors alone. Finally, there are a lot of folks who have built their own ice rink in their yard and do-it-yourself kits are readily available on the internet. Have fun!

As soon as it snows, you can see the kids heading outside with their sleds. There are lots of hills in Concord where you can sled, including Nawshawtuc (off Nawshawtuc Rd by Willard Common) or the hill at Concord-Carlisle High School. I have seen kids sledding at other places, like golf courses or backyards as well-anywhere with a slope will do. Be safe, and make sure your path won’t drop you in the street!

Cross country skiing and snowshoeing are also fun family activities when you have a new snowfall, and there are many trails you can

use. If you have your own skis or snowshoes, the Bruce Freeman Rail trail (from Concord Prison to Powder Mill Rd), Walden Pond (Rte 126/Walden St), Reformatory Branch Trail (Lowell St at Keyes Rd to Bedford), and the Battle Road path that parallels Lexington Rd and 2A through Minute Man Historical Park are great! If you are just skiing and need to rent gear, and maybe want some instruction (or if you just like groomed trails), nearby Great Brook Ski Touring Center (greatbrookski.com) on Lowell St, in Carlisle has it all! A quick search on the internet will yield other, similar options in nearby towns.

While you can’t downhill ski in Concord, nearby Nashoba Valley (Westford) has downhill skiing and tubing options for you. A small hill, Nashoba is a great option for an early season tune-up, lessons for the kids (or yourself), or a quick half-day on the slopes. Larger, and about 45 minutes away, Wachusett Mountain (Princeton, MA) is bigger, has more varied terrain, and beautiful scenery—and you can get there by train from Concord or West Concord.

There is so much outside to do in Concord during the winter! If you have your own favorite places to ice skate, sled, ski, or snowshoe, or a favorite winter activity we didn’t mention, post or message us on Facebook @discoverconcordma, tweet @DscvrConcordMag or tag #discoverconcordmagazine and let us know what they are.

We hope you get outside and have fun this winter with some of these activities. But, even if you just sit outside by the fire pit sipping mulled cider or hot chocolate, you may still feel the Currier and Ives echoes from the past. Enjoy our beautiful New England winters!

Rosenbaum is a Concord resident who loves outdoor sports, whatever the season. His day job is Solutions Engineer for Kaltura, Inc.

David

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Concord Center

CONCORD & Surrounding Areas

WHERE TO STAY

Concord’s Colonial Inn 48 Monument Sq North Bridge Inn 21 Monument Sq

Concord Center

Albright Art Supply 32 Main St

Artinian Jewelry 39 Main St

Artisans Way 18 Walden St

Barrow Bookstore 79 Main St

Best of British 29 Main St

Blue Dry Goods 16 Walden St

Brine Sporting Goods 69 Main St

The Cheese Shop 29 Walden St

Comina 9 Walden St

Concord Bookshop 65 Main St

Concord Lamp and Shade 21 Walden St

Concord Market 77 Lowell Rd

The Concord Toy Box 32 Main St

West Concord

Best Western 740 Elm St

Residence Inn by Marriott 320 Baker Ave

WHERE TO SHOP

West Concord

A New Leaf 74 Commonwealth Ave

Barefoot Books 23 Bradford St.

Belle on Heels 23 Commonwealth Ave

NEW! Clay Art + Concept 114 Commonwealth Ave

NEW! Concord Art and Antiques 129 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Firefly 33 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Flower Shop 135 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Outfitters 113 Commonwealth Ave

Debra’s Natural Gourmet 98 Commonwealth Ave

NEW! Doe + Fawn 105 Commonwealth Ave

J’aim 84a Commonwealth Ave

Joy Street Life + Home 49 Commonwealth Ave

NEW! Lawless Upholstery 119 Commonwealth Ave

Copper Penny Flowers 9 Independence Court

The Dotted i 1 Walden St

Fairbank & Perry Goldsmiths 32 Main St

FatFace 4 Walden St

Footstock 46 Main St

Fritz & Gigi 79 Main St

French Lessons 8 Walden St

George Vassel Jewelry 40 Main St

Gräem Nuts and Chocolate 49 Main St

Grasshopper Shop 36 Main St

Irresistibles 16 Walden St

J McLaughlin 14 Walden St

Jack + Toba 10 Walden St

Lucy Lacoste Gallery 25 Main St

Nesting 44 Main St

North Bridge Antiques 28 Walden St

Patina Green 59 Main St

Priscilla Candy Shop 19 Walden St

Revolutionary Concord 32 Main St

Rewind Estate Watches 38 Main St

Sara Campbell Ltd 41 Main St

Tess & Carlos 81 Main St

Thistle Hill 13 Walden St

Thoreauly Antiques 25 Walden St

Three Stones Gallery 32 Main St

Vanderhoof Hardware 28 Main St

Walden Liquors 18 Walden St

Walden Street Antiques 23 Walden St

Nine Acre Corner

Colonial Gardens 442 Fitchburg Tpke

Verrill Farm 11 Wheeler Rd

Thoreau Depot

ATA Cycles 93 Thoreau St

Concord Provisions 75 Thoreau St

Frame-ables 111 Thoreau St

Juju 82 Thoreau St

Period Furniture Hardware 113 Thoreau St

NEW! Loveday 115 Commonwealth Ave

Potager Soap Company 152 Commonwealth Ave

Reflections 101 Commonwealth Ave

Vintages Adventures in Wine 53 Commonwealth Ave

West Concord Wine & Spirits 1215 Main St

WHERE TO EAT

Concord Center

Caffè Nero 55 Main St

Comella’s 33 Main St

Concord’s Colonial Inn 48 Monument Square

Fiorella’s Cucina 24 Walden St

Haute Coffee 12 Walden St

Helen’s Restaurant 17 Main St

Main Streets Market & Café 42 Main St

Sally Ann’s Bakery & Food Shop 73 Main St

Thoreau Depot 80 Thoreau 80 Thoreau St

Bedford Farms Ice Cream 68 Thoreau St

Chang An Restaurant 10 Concord Crossing

Dunkin’ 117 Thoreau St

Farfalle Italian Market Café 26 Concord Crossing

Karma Concord Asian Fusion 105 Thoreau St

New London Style Pizza 71 Thoreau St

Sorrento’s Brick Oven Pizzeria 58 Thoreau St

Starbucks 159 Sudbury Rd

West Concord

Adelita 1200 Main St

Club Car Café 20 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Teacakes 59 Commonwealth Ave

Dino’s Kouzina & Pizzeria 1135 Main St

Dunkin’ 1191 Main St

Nashoba Brook Bakery 152 Commonwealth Ave

Reasons to Be Cheerful 110 Commonwealth Ave

Saltbox Kitchen 84 Commonwealth Ave

Walden Italian Kitchen 92 Commonwealth Ave

NEW! West Village Tavern 13 Commonwealth Ave

Woods Hill Table 24 Commonwealth Ave

THOREAU DEPOT

Points of Interest

Concord Train Station 90 Thoreau St

West Concord Train Station Commonwealth Ave & Main St

Featured Businesses

Adelita

Appleton Design Group

The Attias Group

Barefoot Books

Clay Art + Concept

Concord Art and Antiques

Concord Flower Shop

Concord Teacakes

Debra’s Natural Gourmet

Doe + Fawn

Dunkin’ (two locations)

Frame-ables

Loveday

Potager Soap Company

Reflections

West Concord Wine & Spirits

Woods Hill Table

Farm

WEST CONCORD

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Historic Concord: Plan Your Visit

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

Concord has many historic sites of interest. Below is contact information for each, along with their hours of operation. Please check the website before visiting, as sites may be closed on holidays or for private events.

CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY concordlibrary.org

Main Branch: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3300

Monday: 10am–8pm Tuesday through Thursday: 9am–8pm Friday and Saturday: 9am–5pm Sunday: Check website

Special Collections: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3342

Monday: 10am–6pm Tuesday through Friday: 9am–5pm Saturday and Sunday: Closed

CONCORD MUSEUM concordmuseum.org

53 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-9763

November 23, 2022 - January 2, 2023, open Tuesday-Friday, 10-4; Saturday and Sunday, 10-5 Closed December 24 and 25 January 3 - March 19, open Thursday-Sunday, 10-4 Open all Monday holidays

CONCORD VISITOR CENTER visitconcord.org 58 Main Street (978) 318-3061 Phone for open hours

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE louisamayalcott.org

399 Lexington Road (978) 369-4118

Weekdays: 11am-3:30pm; Saturdays: 10am-5pm; Sundays: 1-5pm

MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/minute-manvisitor-center.htm

250 N. Great Road (Lincoln) (781) 674-1920

Grounds are open year-round from sunrise to sunset The Visitor Center is closed until May 6.

THE NORTH BRIDGE AND VISITOR CENTER nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ north-bridge-visitor-center.htm 174 Liberty Street (978) 369-6993

Grounds are open year-round from sunrise to sunset

The Visitor Center is closed until May 6.

OLD HILL BURYING GROUND visitconcord.org/listings/old-hillburial-ground 2-12 Monument Square Open daily: 7am–5pm

THE OLD MANSE thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse 269 Monument Street (978) 369-3909

Through April 15, 2023: Saturday and Sunday: 11am - 5pm

THE RALPH WALDO EMERSON HOUSE ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org

28 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-2236

Phone for open hours

THE ROBBINS HOUSE robbinshouse.org 320 Monument Street (978) 254-1745

Closed through May 26

SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY, INCLUDING AUTHORS RIDGE concordma.gov/1956/ Sleepy-Hollow-Cemetery 120 Bedford Street (978) 318-3233 Open daily: 7am–7pm

SOUTH BURYING GROUND concordma.gov/1958/SouthBurying-Ground Main Street and Keyes Road

WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION mass.gov/locations/walden-pond-statereservation 915 Walden Street (978) 369-3254

Open daily: 5am–7:30pm

THE WAYSIDE visitconcord.org/listings/the-wayside 455 Lexington Road (978) 318-7863

Closed

© Jennifer C. Schunemann

Concord Museum

Winter Evenings Glow in Concord

BY CINDY ATOJI KEENE

There’s a joke that goes: “What are the four seasons in New England? Winter, still winter, and three months of bad sledding.” Any shrewd Yankee – or wise visitor – chuckles at this saying but knows it just ain’t true. Rather, winter in the northeast is a wonderland of opportunity. As the sage Henry David Thoreau observed, “a healthy man, indeed, is the complement of the seasons, and in winter, summer is in his heart.” And in Concord, where Thoreau tread across snowy dells and meadows blanketed in white, hearts are “warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends.”

Ascend we do upon Concord, when the days shorten and the air is crisp, to explore this town that symbolizes devotion to liberty, intellectual freedom, and the integrity of

Tvillage life. It is at dusk when the magic really begins, when the streetlights glow and on the outskirts, the barred owl swoops over marshland. It is at night, as well, when the spirit of the revolutionary war comes to life in local taverns where the hoisting of ale and boisterous conversation still converge for a meetinghouse of ideas. While some see winter as a time of hibernation, research has shown that those who see the season as full of possibilities – instead of limitations – experience greater well-being. This “Friluftsliv” is a Norwegian word that translates to “free air life,” and explains how to approach winter with a positive mindset: something to be enjoyed, not something to be endured.

Where to begin your own winter adventures in Concord as the sun sets? Why not start outdoors?

The Old Manse was the center of Concord’s political, literary, and social zeitgeist for a century. Special winter programs are planned to re-experience pivotal moments in our nation’s early history in this house, and the Old Manse transforms after dark. Experience a special candle-lit tour at twilight as you explore the chambers of the Old Manse lit by candles and the setting sun. thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse

To walk in the eventide – or anytime – is a time of discovery, as Thoreau said: “We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure.” Indeed, adventure awaits for those curious about the stories and history in our venerable streets and byways, as guided walking tours reveal our town’s treasured past. The Concord Visitor Center is open December weekends plus Dec 26-31, offering private and family

©Jennifer C. Schünemann

tours. Learn more about our cultural heritage, and the role of African Americans or indigenous peoples. Or foster your child’s “sense of place” by visiting local landmarks that enhance an empathetic understanding of locale. visitconcord.org/visit/walking-tours

Twilight is the perfect time to stroll the grounds of Minute Man National Historical Park (nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit), Old Hill Burying Ground (visitconcord.org/listings/ old-hill-burial-ground), Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (concordma.gov/1956/sleepyhollow-cemetery), South Burying Ground (concordma.gov/1958/south-buryingground), and Walden Pond State Reservation (mass.gov/locations/walden-pond-statereservation). All of these historic places are lovely on a winter’s late afternoon and are open until sunset.

There is much to enjoy indoors as well. Be inspired by art exhibitions at The Umbrella Arts Center (umbrellaarts.org) and Three Stones Gallery (threestonesgallery.com).

Experience live theater at 51 Walden (51Walden.org) where Concord Players will present Indecent Feb 10 – 25, and Opera51 will perform Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Dec. 17 – 18.

Brighten the night with music as the Concord Orchestra presents “The Vernacular Express” Jan 28 – 29 (concordorchestra.com) or cozy up with a good book at the Concord Free Public Library. concordlibrary.org

No doubt all this will leave you with an appetite, as did nightfall with the colonists who indulged in meat, porridge, or a fruit tart after the day’s work was done. Indeed, winter in colonial New England was a time of change and transition when many relied on the fruits of summer labor to survive the cold months. In fact, many inhabitants of Concord made the Colonial Inn their winter home in the first half of the twentieth century. That’s why it’s a special place to enjoy classics like chicken pot pie and yankee pot roast in a centuries-old building that has stood witness to history for almost three centuries. And what was once a storeroom

©

for supplies during the Revolutionary War is now a cozy place to gather fireside for drinks and good conversation at the Forge Tavern. concordscolonialinn.com

Or enjoy a quick bite or full meal at any of our town’s restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries. You’ll find a complete list of places to eat on p. 35.

Speaking of dining, here is some food for thought: Thoreau wrote to a friend, “This has indeed been a grand winter for me, and for all of us. I am not considering how much I have

enjoyed it. What matters it how happy or unhappy we have been, if we have minded our business and advanced our affairs?” So winter, to all of us, is just a season and whether it’s three months of bad sledding or a month of happy exploration, we must forge ahead.

Cindy Atoji Keene is a former editor at the Boston Herald. She is also a longtime contributor to the Boston Globe and has acted as creative director at Science and Theology News

Hartwell Tavern at Minute Man National Historical Park

Grave of British soldiers at the North Bridge

CONCORD

Questions 1 – 4: Imagine you live in Victorian era Concord and the holidays are here. It’s time to party like a Victorian, which means you shouldn’t look like you’re having too good of a time because that is considered rude. A moderate level of “good timey-ness” will suffice. Rose Hawthorne Lathrop (the daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne) has invited you to Christmas dinner at The Wayside, the house where she grew up and that she and her husband later purchased in 1879. Use the following questions to judge or brush up on your readiness to attend a Victorian holiday dinner party.

1Rose has invited everyone to sit down at the table for dinner. There is a plethora of silverware neatly arranged around your dinner plates, each with a particular use for a specific food. You suddenly can’t remember what each is for, but as a rule of thumb (or eating), you know you should usually: a) Begin with the outermost silverware and work your way in with each course b) Start with the silverware closest to your plate

c) Use the “universal spoon” for everything d) Forget it! Just use your hands. You’re not

Trivia

Qgreat friends with Rose and her husband George and wouldn’t mind not being invited back.

2

Dinner rolls are being passed around the table. The platter reaches you with only one roll left on it. To be polite, you should: a) Take it b) Leave it for someone else

house as Louisa promotes the crazy idea of women having the right to vote. Luckily, your cook has spent the past week preparing a “neets feet pie.” And who doesn’t love a neets feet pie, the main ingredient of which is: a) Broccoli stems b) Two-foot-long rolled pastry c) Cow or oxen feet d) Frog legs

3

The main course of mallard duck, sweet potato croquettes, and minced cabbage is the most delicious meal you’ve ever eaten, and you’re still hungry. To be polite, you should:

a) Snap your fingers at the servants to indicate you’d like seconds but not interrupt verbal conversations around you b) Don’t finish your meal; leave some on the plate

c) Clean your plate to express appreciation for the delightful meal

d) Ask the person next to you if they are going to finish theirs

4

It’s your turn to host a dinner party. The year is 1879, and your cook has suddenly left to attend a meeting at Louisa May Alcott’s

5

In the winter months of the 1840s, what improbable product was exported from Concord, Massachusetts, around the world?

a) Samuel Adams beer

b) Authentic colonial musket balls uncovered from the Concord fight of April 19, 1775

c) Ice from Walden Pond d) Beans from Henry David Thoreau’s unexpectedly large bean field

6

Born in 1915, beloved and famed children’s illustrator Tasha Tudor lived in Vermont and visited Concord, MA. Which of the below facts about Tasha Tudor is/are true?

a) She was the granddaughter of Massachusetts’ famous “Ice King” Frederic Tudor

Barrow Bookstore Presents:

b) Her real name was Starling Burgess c) She occasionally carried a pet chicken in her skirt d) She illustrated an edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women e) All the above

In the opening line of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Jo grumbles, “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any…” what?

In 1816, Concord and other Massachusetts residents experienced what unusual event?

a) Summer never arrived b) It was hot all year

c) The Regulars came out, again, trying to re-do, and this time win, the Battle of Concord d) A cicada infestation

Where to go? You are visiting Concord in the winter of 1842 and wish to bring a Christmas gift to newlyweds Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne, who are renting a house in Concord. You are unsure of their address, but several locals tell you to “go to the Emersons’ old home.” Do they mean:

a) Ralph Waldo Emerson’s House on Cambridge Turnpike

b) The Wayside on Lexington Road c) The Old Manse on Monument Street d) The Meeting House on the Green that has been converted into posh condos 10

In his essay “Wild Apples,” Henry David Thoreau wrote about an old English custom practiced on New Year’s Eve when groups of boys would gather in apple orchards, encircle the apple trees, and repeat a chant encouraging the trees to grow strong through the winter. What was the name of this custom?

a) Bough-lifting b) Apple-howling

c) Ritual Rootimus Profundus d) Muggle-incanting

1. A. Begin with the outermost silverware and work your way in with each course. Memory tip: When in doubt where to begin, work it out to in. Like an ice cream sundae topped with a cherry, save the silverware above the plate for dessert.

2. A. Take it. As described in the 1847 guidebook, Etiquette for Gentlemen, “Avoid…that most vulgar habit which prevails among half-bred country people, of abstaining from taking the last piece on a dish. It amounts almost to an insult toward your host, to do anything which shows that you fear that the vacancy cannot be supplied and that there is likely to be a scarcity.”

3. B. Don’t finish your meal; leave some on the plate. Clearing your plate would be rude and signal to your host that they had not provided enough to you. And, heaven forbid, don’t ask for seconds, yell, snap at the staff, orgasp- eat off another’s plate! You’re a proper Victorian!

4. C. Cow or oxen feet

5. C. Ice from Walden Pond. The ice trade from Concord was started by Bostonian Frederic Tudor, who was nicknamed “the Ice King.” Read about the Ice King and Concord’s ice trade in “The Old Hag, the Ice King, and the Artichoke” in this issue of Discover Concord.

6. E. All the above! The granddaughter of Massachusetts’ “Ice King” Frederic

ATudor, Tasha Tudor was originally named after her father, Starling Burgess. She changed her name when she became a writer and illustrator. Fond of animals, Tasha rescued a chicken called Chickahominy which she sometimes carried tucked up in her skirt wherever she went. In 1969, she illustrated an edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, published by William Collins.

7. Presents

8. A. Summer never arrived. A dangerous and deadly winter settled on Massachusetts for an entire year. Read about it in Richard Smith’s article, “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death; the Year Without a Summer,” in this issue of Discover Concord.

9. C. The Old Manse on Monument Street. The Old Manse was built in the 1700s for Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather, William Emerson. The Hawthornes rented the home from 1842-1845 before moving to Salem, MA. They returned to Concord and purchased The Wayside in 1852. The Old Manse and The Wayside are now museums full of wonderful history and tour guides. Visit The Old Manse at 269 Monument Street and The Wayside at 455 Lexington Road, Concord, MA.

10. B. Apple-howling. Standing in circles around the apple trees, the boys would chant, “Stand fast, root! Bear well, top! Pray God send us a good howling crop: Every twig, apples big; Every bough, apples now!”

Photo courtesy of Barrow Bookstore

Rose Hawthorne Lathrop

Stories From Special Collections Concordians in Their Own Voices

BY ANKE VOSS

The William Munroe Special Collection’s mission is to understand and appreciate Concord’s history and culture. One unique collection administered by Special Collections is the Renee Garrelick Oral History Program (also known as the Concord Oral History Program). Its recordings and transcripts add a unique voice to Concord’s storied past.

Under the direction of Marjorie Garrard, in 1976, the Town of Concord’s Historical Commission established an oral history sub-committee “to coordinate and carry out a program for the collection of an oral history of the Town. A large number of residents of diverse backgrounds and interests will eventually be contacted and asked to respond to this program by recording their recollections of the Town as it was.” By 1977, local historian Renee Garrelick had already recorded 30 interviews, which the Commission reported, “are highly professional and the beginning of fulfilling a longtime goal of the Commission and other local historians.”

Today, the Concord Oral History Program consists of nearly 500 interviews, including audio recordings and transcripts, with Concord residents sharing their memories of Concord. The oral history interviews feature individuals representing many aspects of Concord’s life, including business, education, the faith community,

Tthe arts, land conservation, historic preservation, and local government.

Among the many rich stories told in these recordings, interviewees include members of the Wheeler, Arena, Verrill, Bemis, Scimone, Palumbo, Kenney, McHugh, and Nowalk families, discussing farming in the twentieth century. Members of the Vanderhoof family take us inside the history of the Vanderhoof Hardware store’s 100 years on the Milldam. In other recordings, residents of the Conantum neighborhood describe life in Concord’s first significant residential development. In her interview, Mary Ogden Abbott explores the history of the Concord Art Association. Jean Bell and Diana “Di”

Clymer discuss the Concord Prison Outreach program’s establishment, and Robert Carter talks about the family furniture business in West Concord. In other recordings, life-long residents reminisce about growing up in Concord, including memories of attending Concord High School, baseball games, sledding on Nashawtuc Hill, and swimming in Walden Pond.

The interviews also document the experience of Concordians who lived and worked in locations worldwide. Several Concordians relate their grave and profound experiences during World War II; Carola Domar, Elizabeth Dopazo, Sonia Weitz, Norman Beecher, and Henry Wilayto among them. Joe Wheeler discusses his life, from farming roots in Concord to international service. Born on Thoreau Farm in 1926, Joe Wheeler spent most of his life abroad assisting farmers and others through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peace Corps, and the United Nations.

In addition to Renee Garrelick’s numerous interviews from the late 1970s through the early 2000s, in the 1980s, Bill Bailey, then chairman of the history program at Concord Academy, discovered an added dimension to Concord’s past by documenting the voices of immigrants in Concord. He set out to conduct nearly seventy interviews with immigrants from Ireland, Canada, Norway, Italy, Russia,

Renee Brosell Garrelick

Alessandro and Maria Macone (center of photo) with their 12 children and grandchildren

Poland, and descendants of Jewish families living in Concord during the first quarter of the twentieth century. Those interviewed included Krist Andersen, members of the Bartolomeo family, John Macone, and Ida Jacobs Israel. Recording the memories of immigrants was an experience Bailey remembered as getting to know “the heart of Concord.” To feel that Concord was home, Bailey discovered, was not limited to a particular ethnic group, class, or those born here.

Renee Garrelick documented the voices of Concord residents for 30 years. Artist and photographer Alice Moulton’s photographic portraits accompany each transcript and form an essential part of the collection through 2006, providing “an enduring part of the public record and a personal connection with the individuals interviewed.”

After Renee Garrelick passed away in 2007, independent contractors recorded additional interviews in the following decade. The late Debra Stark, owner of Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord, was interviewed in 2013 and described her move to Concord, the establishment of her beloved store, and her philosophy of life. Most recently, Concord resident and professor of journalism at Northeastern University Carlene Hempel interviewed staff at all levels of Emerson Hospital about their experiences providing healthcare during the height of the

pandemic. The program is called “Emerson Voices About the Covid Crisis.”

From its inception, the Town of Concord, through the Concord Historical Commission, has funded the oral history program, with additional support provided by the Garrelick family and joint oversight and administration by the Commission and the Concord Free Public Library. The collection, including all recordings, transcriptions, and associated documents, is housed and made accessible in the William Munroe Special Collections of the Concord Free Public Library. A selection of the interviews, including the audio recording and transcript, are currently accessible on the Library’s website at concordlibrary.org/ special-collections/oral-history. Thanks to a

generous grant from the Concord Community Preservation Fund, efforts are underway to digitize the remaining recordings and transcripts and make them available online in the coming year.

Anke

The

Go to concordma.gov/2939/Concord-OralHistory-Program for more information and to download the application.

All photos courtesy of the Concord Free Public Library

ABOVE: Salvador Bartolomeo (left) and unidentified Boston friend (right) BELOW: Krist Andersen working at Macone Bros. Garage, Inc.

Voss is curator of the William Munroe Special Collections at Concord Free Public Library.

Concord Historical Commission welcomes nominations for new oral history projects or individual interviews.

Esther Howe Wheeler Anderson

Arts Around Town

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

MUSIC

CONCORD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC 1317 Main Street | concordconservatory.org MUSIC OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT (LECTURE)

Dive into the history of the Enlightenment and how it influenced the music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, and Ludwig van Beethoven were born in the age of the Enlightenment. It was a time when ideas ranged from the pursuit of happiness to the pursuit of knowledge and reason. January 12.

WHEN ART COLLIDES WITH MUSIC (LECTURE)

Explore how visual art intertwines with music between subjective and abstract ideas.

Composer Arnold Schoenberg and artist Wassily Kandinsky created artistic works by looking inward—their creations represent their spiritual self. They believed that “art must be devoted to its individual element” and both greatly influenced the modern arts movement. February 8.

MUSIC & WATER (CONCERT AND LECTURE)

Concord Conservatory of Music partners with OARS and The River Stewardship Council to present Music & Water, an evening of appreciation for the beauty of our local river sheds. Guest speaker Allison Field-Juma, Executive Director of OARS, will

guide you through topics about our local rivers alongside a chamber music program performed by Concord Conservatory’s faculty artists, featuring works evocative of and inspired by water. A rare opportunity to explore the relationship between nature and music. March 3.

Courtesy of Concord Conservatory of Music

Courtesy of Concord Women’s Chorus

CONCORD WOMEN’S CHORUS 81 Elm Street | concordwomenschorus.org

SONGS OF PEACE AND PROMISE

Celebrate the wintry season of light in song through familiar holiday tunes, poignant Chanukah pieces, and a mash-up of liturgical movements. The program features skillful arrangements of “Coventry Carol,” “I Saw Three Ships,” and other beloved works from composers including Gabriel Fauré, Nicola Porpora, Cecile Chaminade, Z. Randall Stroope, and Bob Chilcott. December 17.

CONCORD ORCHESTRA 51 Walden | concordorchestra.com THE VERNACULAR EXPRESS Join the Concord Orchestra and vocalist

Jeffrey Korn as they perform a medley of Kurt Weill tunes arranged by Bernie Hoffer. From the jazzy works of George Gershwin to familiar American tunes from Charles Ives’ Second Symphony, this will be a night to remember. Arrive early on January 28 for a pre-concert conductor talk. January 28 - 29.

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER 40 Stow Street | theumbrellaarts.org HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT

Add some music to the season with the Holiday Pops Concert presented by Boston’s newest orchestral sensation, Firebird Pops Orchestra, in person at The Umbrella Arts Center. December 16 & 18.

VISUAL ARTS

THREE STONES GALLERY 32 Main Street threestonesgallery.com

FROLIC

The annual holiday show at Three Stones Gallery is a celebration of this special time of year. Featured artist Bill Chisholm brings a contemporary approach and a photographer’s keen eye to his meticulous still-life paintings. Guest artist Rebecca Clark shares her whimsical pastels of landscapes and soft abstract forms. New works by represented artists and a curated collection of handmade objects by local makers set the scene for a beautiful holiday season. November 23 - December 31.

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | theumbrellaarts.org LOST AND FOUND

Explore this fascinating juried group exhibition that examines our relationships with familiar, unfamiliar, and defamiliarized found objects crafted into art. November 17December 30.

EARTH, SEA, SKY

Immerse yourself in this exciting exhibition of works by ceramic artists Suzanne Hill and Liz Newell and fiber artist Barbara Willis that find inspiration in the natural world and creatures that inhabit landscapes, seascapes, and skyscapes. Jan 8 - Feb 12.

THEATRE

CONCORD PLAYERS 51 Walden Street | concordplayers.org

INDECENT

This riveting play is inspired by the true events surrounding the 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch’s God of Vengeance—a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture and by others as an act of traitorous libel. Indecent charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it. Learn more in “Indecent Comes to Concord” on p. 26. February 10 - 25.

Bill Chisholm, Six Glass Vessels

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Firebird Orchestra

Courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center

Welcome Winter with a Spiced Candied Apple Cocktail

BY BRIGETTE M. T. SANCHEZ

FFor me, the change of seasons from fall to winter is about memories of holidays with loved ones and the sweet and savory family favorite recipes that we can’t help but love year after year. The flavors of apple and caramel were a tradition at my grandmother’s home over the holidays. Each year she’d set out traditional southern dishes alongside New England favorites.

This cocktail pairs well with cured meats, cornbread stuffing, rich mac and cheese, roasted veggies, and savory dishes. Or enjoy it for dessert.

Spiced Candied Apple

1/4 oz lemon juice

1 oz brandy

1 oz Bulleit Rye whiskey

1 oz caramel pumpkin spice syrup (recipe below)

2 oz of apple cider

2 oz of dry champagne or soda water

In a shaker filled with ice, combine the lemon juice, brandy, Bulleit Rye, caramel pumpkin spice syrup, and cider. Shake well and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Top with two ounces of dry champagne or soda water. Add a slice of apple to garnish.

If you prefer, substitute vodka or another spirit for the whiskey.

Caramel Pumpkin Syrup

Blend four ounces of any good caramel syrup with two ounces of pumpkin pie syrup (I like Maison Routin brand).

In addition to using the caramel pumpkin syrup in your Spiced Candied Apple cocktail, it’s perfect for your morning cup of joe or to spice up your cider for a delicious winter mocktail.

Cheers to all!

Brigette M. T. Sanchez is the founder of Ideal Mixology and head bartender at Fiorella’s Cucina. She is known for her unique cocktail creations and unrivaled hospitality.

Photo courtesy of the author

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WITHERBEE

Home Here I am at

“I will take another walk to the Cliff, another row on the river, another skate on the meadow, be out in the first snow, and associate with the winter birds. Here I am at home. In the bare and bleached crust of the earth I recognize my friend.”

Henry David Thoreau,

Journal 1 November 1858

Dave Witherbee has been traveling the trails and rivers of Concord for 50 years and has been enchanted with the small and large aspects of its nature. Dave’s love of photography has enhanced the attraction.

to Your Family

A delicious assortment of New England small batch products. It includes products suitable for a cheese party, afternoon tea, or a sip of cocoa with the kids. Jams, cheese, syrup, crackers, chocolates, honey & snacks. Products and basket may change due to availability (pickup at the farmstand only).

Average value $150.00

ANY 8” PIE, 1 PER MONTH, FOR 6 MONTHS. Many varieties available (some are seasonal). Choose from Apple, Pumpkin, Apple-Mixedberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Cherry, Apple-Raspberry, Nectarine-Plum, Pecan, Key Lime, Chocolate Cream. Pies can be ordered ahead or chosen from the Bakery table. Please bring the coupon with you for stamping. $88.00

Giving Back to COMMUNITY

Non-profit groups are at the core of Concord’s beloved cultural and historic heritage. They preserve our history, foster our creativity, educate, inform, and even feed our community. These are the people and volunteers that serve Concord year-round, and our town would be so much less without them. So please remember to include Concord’s non-profit organizations in your year-end giving.

Photo courtesy of the National Park Service and Phil Lupsiewicz

In Walden Woods, the late E.O. Wilson captivates a group of children by showing them the wonders of an insect at the 2019 Great Walden Bioblitz

THE ARTS

51 Walden 51walden.org

Concord Art concordart.org

Concord Band concordband.org

Concord Chorus concordchorus.org

Concord Conservatory of Music concordconservatory.org

Concord Orchestra concordorchestra.com

Concord Players concordplayers.org

Concord Women’s Chorus concordwomenschorus.org

Concord Youth Theatre concordyouththeatre.org

Opera 51 opera51.org

The Thoreau Society thoreausociety.org

The Umbrella Arts Center theumbrellaarts.org

GENERAL PHILANTHROPY

Be Well Be Here bewellbehere.org

Bear Spot Farm bearspotfarm.com

Concord-Carlisle Community Chest cccommunitychest.org

Gaining Ground gainingground.org

Ivy Child International, Inc. ivychild.org

Open Table opentable.org

The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle thescholarshipfundofcc.org

THE ENVIRONMENT

Concord Land Conservation Trust concordland.org

The Walden Woods Project walden.org

MUSEUMS, LIBRARIES, & HISTORIC SITES

Concord Free Public Library concordlibrary.org

Concord Museum concordmuseum.org

Friends of Minute Man National Park friendsofminuteman.org

The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery friendsofsleepyhollow.org

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House louisamayalcott.org

The Trustees of Reservations thetrustees.org

Ralph Waldo Emerson House ralphwaldoemerson house.org

The Robbins House robbinshouse.org

Save Our Heritage saveourheritage.com

© Voyager Publishing

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

Gaining Ground donates fresh food to area meal programs and food pantries.

Photo courtesy of Gaining Ground

Photo courtesy of Opera 51

Opera 51 performs Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette

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