Hometown Heroes
	OUR 2024 COMMUNITY PARTNER While the challenges continue, so do the good works done by our neighbors, our teachers, our health care providers, our volunteers and so many others. This is their story. Ledyard National Bank is proud to support the 2024 Hometown Heroes, who were nominated by members of the community and selected by editors of the Concord Monitor. Nominate your Hometown Hero today.

By ALEXANDER RAPP

Joan Vallieres has dedicated nearly 20 years of her life to Concord Crew. Her role as a coach was never about finding the most powerful rowing techniques or setting the team’s tempo, but more about building strong and kind character in each child who showed up at the boathouse.

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

The first time Doris Cousens met the man who would become her husband, she didn’t like him.

By DAVID BROOKS

It seems pretty clear that Wendy Weisiger the youngster wouldn’t have been too surprised if a time portal had given her a glimpse of Wendy Weisiger the adult at work.

By SRUTHI GOPALAKRISHNAN

At Harold Martin School in Hopkinton, Wednesday mornings don’t usually begin with the morning routines — they start with an impromptu dance party.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

Rob Knight stumbled upon the historic site around Russell Pond entirely by coincidence. He was in the process of helping the Concord Trails committee create a trail connecting Marjorie Swope Park to Carter Hill Orchard. The trail was initially supposed to cut through a different area of the woods but ended up being right by the pond, exactly at the former site of the Concord Ski and Outing Club’s Winter Recreation Area.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

When Andy Lane received the quilt, he felt moved beyond words.

By ALEXANDER RAPP

Winning the NHIAA Division I boys’ hockey championship was a monumental victory for Concord High last month and one that will be talked about for years to come.

JEREMY MARGOLIS

Concord High School is experiencing a duck invasion. The birds line the cafeteria coffee bar, rest on teachers’ and administrators’ desks, and adorn the dashboards of students’ cars. There are soccer ducks, ugly sweater ducks, horse ducks and snowman ducks.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

As customers loaded groceries into cars at the Shaw’s parking lot in Fort Eddy Plaza, Ricky Tewksbury circulated to round up scattered shopping carts. People waved at his approach, greeting him by name and stopped to chat for a few minutes.

By ALEXANDER RAPP

Teaching science in a classroom, knitting wool hats for charity and encouraging runners to step up for an annual 5K race have been part of how Perry and Suzy Seagroves have helped build community in the Concord area.

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Inside a windowless office crammed between two classrooms at the Mill Brook School in Concord, Louise Irafasha had a very special introduction to make.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

Scott Warde does not shy away from a project. The retired Air Force veteran is constantly searching for ways to contribute to the community — be it through organizing town clean-up days, erecting a veterans’ monument, or leading historic preservation efforts.

By SRUTHI GOPAL AKRISHNAN

For parents sending their kids off to school each morning, the worries never really stop. Is their kindergartener doing OK? Did they remember to pack that extra snack for the field trip?

By REBECA PEREIRA

Leon Taylor’s home in Weare has seen decades of family celebrations. On Sunday, Taylor expected to revisit the familiar rituals of those previous occasions — dinner, cake, ice cream and pleasant conversation — when his children brought him into his front yard.

By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI

The giant white birthday cake was hard to miss.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

When Andrea Alexander hit the “post” button in her new Facebook group, Concord Kind, back in September, she had no way of knowing that the virtual space she created would yield widespread impacts for so many in her community.

By DAVID BROOKS

Like all Hometown Heroes, Donna Toomey is always ready to help somebody in need. In her case, however, the need is often very specific.

By RACHEL WACHMAN

Back in September, a team of Habitat for Humanity volunteers began work on Beth Riley’s Loudon home, spending countless hours repairing the floors, plumbing, counters, doorways, stairwells, and exterior.Riley learned about Habitat for Humanity when a...

By RACHEL WACHMAN

Lucienne Boisvert sat by the fireplace with her crochet hook, a skein of purple yarn, and a half-completed scarf. As she wove the hook in and out of holes at the end of the scarf and wrapped the yarn accordingly, the 97-year-old began to explain her...

By CHARLOTTE MATHERLY

It’s not a phase, Concord.At least, that’s what Starsea Deoss hopes for the city’s thriving emo scene. It’s a motto of sorts for a crowd of more than 100 people clad in skinny jeans, tattoos and lots of black clothing who flock to the Feathered Friend...

by RACHEL WACHMAN

Megan Katsirebas joined Girl Scouts in second grade. Growing up in Epsom, it have her space to broaden her outlook and her interests.“I met a whole bunch of friends,” Katsirebas said. “But then once high school hit, everyone kind of left because they...