Where there is natural beauty the people will gather. With the generous gift of 18 acres of premium land in the middle of the city of Concord, the White family forever guaranteed that people would gather. The people would come year after year and they would rejoice surrounded by nature. The young would embrace on the stone bridge near the pond and the young at heart would skate on the frozen pond hand in hand under moonlight. The children would sled down the hill onto the field and the adventurous youngsters would climb the limbs of each tall tree. Yes, our beloved park is a part of all of our stories and will live forever in our hearts.
I was fortunate to spend my entire childhood across the street from White Park. My earliest memories are cherished and the adventures were so age appropriate. From swimming lessons in the swimming pool to watching the Sunset League baseball games with many stories in between.
Each year as summer starts to fade to fall our thoughts return to beautiful foliage seasons from our past. The pool would close and my cousin, Doug Spain, would head back to college after serving as a lifeguard over the summer. The baseball games ended and Dan the Ice Cream man stopped visiting our park where he offered his thirst-quenching snow cones for a dime. School would be opening soon and the Concord Boys Club would soon reopen on Highland Street selling a seasons membership for 50 cents.
When the shadows were long and the cool evenings arrived the Concord Park and Recreation Director would recruit the children of summer to orchestrate one last event to say good bye to summer. Betty Abbot would gather us together and seek commitments from the young children to participation in the annual Peanut Carnival.
The planning was somewhat short lived but so very enjoyable, the memories garnered cherished in our later years. Fond memories such as this become the basis for your nostalgia as you sit in your rocking chair and watch the golden sunsets over Rattlesnake Hill. If you hold these memories as I do, you were a child growing up within the city of Concord when life was pure. We were young and ambitious and isolated from the war in Vietnam. Newspapers were something that we delivered each summer but did not read. Headlines could be devastating during this period, but our childhoods were precious, whether we knew it or not.
After we made our choice to participate in the annual Peanut Carnival and selected a booth that we might be interested in we would quickly set to work. The park employees set about building small wood corals to separate the many booths where the gravel parking lot was located. The same area that would host the ice hockey rink several weeks later. We would visit the IGA or Grand Union Supermarkets to procure the largest pieces of cardboard we could find. With paint brushes and very colorful paint we would build booths to entertain the young and old; ring tosses, darts and balloons, dunking tanks and bean bag tosses. My older brother, Richard, and his friend even built a dock on the pond and offered a boat ride around the fountain in the middle of the pond. At a young age in the 1960s we were not very concerned with liability nor were our young supervisors that would soon depart for college.
As the sun set on the day of the Peanut Carnival there would be hundreds of people attending, certainly children of all ages as well as many adults. The first stop was the booth managed by responsible teenagers where you were required to purchase a small paper sack filled with peanuts in the shell for a nickel. Once you purchased your peanuts the fairground was your domain and the evening were young. Each booth would charge a few peanuts to participate in a game of chance with some events most desirable. Two of the most popular events that were featured year after year would certainly be the Concord Police Department Paddy Wagon ride or the Concord Fire Truck ride. Both vehicles would sound their sirens and the bells were rung as they screeched around the entire park to only return for the next load of eager children. Concord Police Officer Ed Philbrick owned the antique Paddy Wagon that once carried criminals to the Concord Police Department jail cells on Warren Street. The antique firetruck was owned by Clarence Huggins and he generously contributed each year to see the smiles on the faces of Concords young. Sometimes there were unique events and adventurous characters featured but Mr. Philbrook and Mr. Huggins were always there to provide for the children of Concord. As the setting sun welcomed the darkness of night the sounds of gleeful children would continue until the end of the event.
The park employees would make short order of cleaning up the remains of the event the next morning. As I look back over the last five decades, I consider myself to be very fortunate to possess such wonderful memories. Officer Philbrook locking us inside his paddy wagon, Mr. Huggins allowing all of us to be a Concord Fireman on the back of his red firetruck. How I miss the days of my youth as well as the adults that took the time to entertain this young boy over 50 years ago. Peanuts! Peanuts! Get your peanuts… only a nickel a bag.