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By RAY DUCKLER

They’d seen each other a few times before, a pair of dog lovers walking the trails under the Sewalls Falls Bridge in Concord.They’d smile, nod, say hi – common behavior among dog lovers, who often know a dog’s name before they know the owner’s name....

By DAVID BROOKS

As you prepare to vote Tuesday, here is some advice:I forgot where and when to vote.Polling places and times in the Greater Concord area are in the Monitor and on the Monitor website. For everybody else, there’s an online form from the Secretary of...

By PAUL STEINHAUSER

Steve Shurtleff said he forgives President Joe Biden, but he won’t forget.“I forgive, but I haven’t forgotten how New Hampshire was treated,” the longtime Democratic state representative from Concord and former state House speaker told the Monitor...

By RAY DUCKLER

Back in the 1970s, Peter Spaulding and other like-minded Republicans met at the old Brick Tower bar in Concord regularly to consider the direction of their party.There, Spaulding, Steve Duprey, Jim Cleveland and a small group of young GOP members,...

By RAY DUCKLER

Jerry Lavigne bowed slightly to receive his medal, draped around his neck like an official presenting gold at the Olympics, leading to a handshake and a two-minute speech that seamlessly mixed laughter with tears.Lavigne smiled when he spoke at the...

By RAY DUCKLER

She sat in a room below a shrine of flags, medals and framed photos in honor of her son, next to the young daughter of her late sister.The conversation shifted, moving from the death of Heather Demello’s son, Dustin Hall, a 21-year-old member of the...

By RAY DUCKLER

Initially, while visiting the local Aubuchon Hardware store this week to say goodbye, Jeff Ginn declined an opportunity to address his emotions concerning the franchise that he dedicated 50 years to.A day later, though, Ginn, who grew up in Pembroke...

By RAY DUCKLER

Randy Pierce has been rooting for the New England Patriots for nearly 50 years.He watched them when they were awful, at Schaefer, Sullivan and Foxboro Stadiums in the 1970s and ‘80s. About a dozen years after his first live game, he began to listen to...

By DAVID BROOKS

When you talk to old-time New Hampshire folks about “that funny guy who used to do the weather on TV,” there’s a split. In the southern part of the state, they’ll probably think of Al Kaprielian from WNDS but in the northern part, it’s “Marty On The...

By RAY DUCKLER

Mentioning Stella made Lou Sillari’s tired eyes open just a tad wider.His memories were sharp, considering. But some of his recollections of events 80, 90, even 100 years ago challenged him, causing him to pause, eventually needing his son, Peter...

By RAY DUCKLER

Chris Kane treated old trees like they were his grandparents.He respected old trees, protected them, made sure they lived full, rich lives.“He could identify any plant or tree and know if it was rare or endangered,” said Kane’s lone daughter, Hilary...

By RAY DUCKLER

She marked the day each year by baking a cake and softly humming “Happy birthday” to herself, so her sons never heard.Meanwhile, the cake had frosting on it but nothing else. No swirls or stripes or flowers or candles, and certainly nothing about a...

By RAY DUCKLER

Mark Patterson of Weare had it all figured out.Fresh off six-years of service in the Navy, he’d then finish his business degree at what was then called New Hampshire College. He’d be a college graduate, the first member of his family to do so.He’d...

By RAY DUCKLER

Dean Wilber ignored the writing on the wall that he was too old to continue owning and operating Mapletree Farm in Concord.He did, however, notice the writing on a piece of paper, handed to him by his youngest son last December, and admits he wasn’t...

By RAY DUCKLER

Pat Bonenfant enjoys a challenge.She enrolled in college at age 47, three decades after graduating from Pembroke Academy. She was elected to the Pembroke Select Board in 1981, becoming the first woman in town history to hold that office.And now, after...

By RAY DUCKLER

Cassie Carey, a nationally rising star in hairstyling and design, wanted to blend in, be the commuter in New York City moving through the subways and Grand Central Station with GPS-like efficiency.“It was confusing when I first got there,” said Carey...

By DAVID BROOKS

For most of January, New England has been reliving a piece of our past. Unfortunately, it’s a smoggy, polluting piece.During the recent cold snap, more than a tenth of the electricity generated in New England has been produced by power plants that are...

By RAY DUCKLER

Before they arrived at his parents’ house in Deering, Jim Cowan warned his future wife that his mother and father were unique.Elizabeth waved it off as something unspectacular, a quirky trait that Cowan saw as embarrassing. Sure enough, though, the...

By RAY DUCKLER

She sat in the grass and moved two fingers down the side of the granite marker, as though comforting her son with a gentle touch to his arm.She used the same care as she moved across the top of the gravestone, perhaps feeling his dark hair. Patricia...

By DAVID BROOKS

If your vehicle bears a “This Car Climbed Mount Washington” sticker, there’s a 60% chance that you were a little disappointed in the trip. That’s how often the summit is covered by clouds.But if you were there during the other 40% of the time, you...

By RAY DUCKLER

The Suncook Valley has no choice. The people there must play by Don Chase’s rules.Those are his chat rooms on Facebook, focusing on Suncook and the rest of the towns in that area. You’re invited to discuss all things Valley, but keep it nice, keep it...