Concord High Class of 1998 will be holding their 25 year reunion on Sept. 30. For more information, please visit myevent.com/chsnh1998.
The 2023 Brigade Lecture Series continues with “Wit and Wisdom — The Forgotten Literary Life of New England Villages”by author Jo Radner on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. The lecture will be held at the Pierce Manse, at 14 Horseshoe Pond Lane in Concord — the historic home of President Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States. Brigade Lecture Series programs are free and open to the public.
In the decades before and after the Civil War, our rural ancestors used to create neighborhood events to improve their minds. Community members male and female would compose and read aloud homegrown, handwritten literary “newspapers” full of keen verbal wit. Sometimes serious, sometimes sentimental but mostly very funny, these “newspapers” were common in villages across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and revealed the hopes, fears, humor and surprisingly daring behavior of our forebears.
Radner shares excerpts from her newly published book of the same name about hundreds of these “newspapers” and provides examples from villages in our region.
An audience favorite is returning to Franklin in September. Two funny and talented performers combine humor and their passion for music in a challenge to play songs requested by the live audience. Songs could be from any genre, including rock, pop, show tunes, country… you name it. All tips for the performers will benefit the Franklin Opera House’s renovation. The pianos will duel it out this year on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Franklin Elks Lodge located at 125 S. Main St. Franklin. The Elks Lodge will also have a cash bar available. This popular event will be general admission; there will not be assigned seating. Tickets are $18-$20 and can be purchased in advance at FOHNH.org, or by calling (603) 934-1901.
The Pembroke Historical Society in conjunction with the Pembroke Town Library will sponsor a presentation by Alan R. Hoffman on “Lafayette’s Final Tour” on Thursday Sept. 28. The event will take place in the library at 313 Pembroke St. at 7 p.m.
In 1824-1825, the Marquis de Lafayette visited all 24 states as the last surviving major general of the Continental Army. In this program, Alan Hoffman, translator of Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825, a first-hand account of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, will highlight Lafayette’s visits to cities and towns in New Hampshire to illustrate how the American people celebrated Lafayette and America during the Tour. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 603-566-1031.