Thoreauly Antiques Steals a Starring Role in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

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Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, and Thoreauly Antiques are taking over the big screen this holiday season. Have you seen the trailer? Notice the actors on the beach wearing shawls and carrying picnic baskets? All shawls and picnic baskets are from Concord’s own Thoreauly Antiques!

Judi Gray is one of the buyers for Thoreauly Antiques and she said the Little Women crew frequented her store on a very regular basis. Judi buys English and French 19th and 20th century pieces. A lot of these pieces are in the Little Women movie. What should you be looking for while you’re nibbling your popcorn? 

Well, here is a list: jewelry pieces, linens, table cloths, shawls, flat wear, platters, plates, antique books, fountain pens, fireplace items, and cast iron pots. 

Judi said it was very exciting working with the Little Women crew and “they made monthly sales very nice”.

The movie is receiving great reviews. According to Sara Stewart of the New York Post, “The most impressive thing about this “Little Women” is Gerwig’s balancing act: Here is a much more incisive look at the relationship between women and art than previous versions — but also tons of holiday magic. It’s a warm fireplace hearth of a film, albeit one with a tendency to spit out fiery embers.” 

Sounds like a great movie to watch and a great store to visit! Thoreauly Antiques is located at 27 Walden St. in Concord MA and can be found online at www.thoreaulyantiques.com

THE UMBRELLA BRINGS MAGICAL TUCK EVERLASTING TO AREA AUDIENCES

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The Umbrella Stage Company is proud to be the first professional company to bring to local audiences this newest musical, magical adaptation of Natalie Babbitt’s classic children tale, Tuck Everlasting, which also inspired a 2002 Disney film. 

Recently on Broadway, the show tells the story of 11-year-old Winnie Foster (played by Madi Shaer), who yearns for a adventure beyond her wrought iron fence in Tree Gap, New Hampshire in 1893. When she stumbles upon the Tuck family and their secret to everlasting youth, she faces the extraordinary choice of returning to her ordinary life or continue with the Tucks on their infinite journey. 

“For decades American schoolchildren studied the original novel and it is still taught to 4th and 5th graders today,” observes Elliot Norton Award-winning director Nancy Curran Willis. “Tuck Everlasting deals with some very adult concepts of time, loss, growing up, death, love, loyalty, and family. Yet, the musical takes the audience on a magical, mystical, memorable journey suitable for the entire family.” 

Tuck Everlasting was selected for the season, says Brian Boruta, The Umbrella Stage Co. Producing Artistic Director, to provide substantive “family entertainment…that’s not exactly holiday-themed, but a little outside the box.” Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and cosponsor of the production at The Umbrella, calls Babbitt’s story “the equal of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town and E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and perhaps even a couple of Emily Dickinson’s postcards from eternity.”

More About Nancy Curran Willis & The Umbrella Stage Company Willis has directed 7 shows for The Umbrella including the multi-award-winning Angels in America Parts I & II. With 30 years of directing experience, she has earned awards including the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Direction, ArtsImpulse, and many EMACT DASH Awards. The Umbrella Stage Company is part of the expansive Umbrella Arts Center (formerly Emerson Umbrella), a multifunction 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization founded in 1983 in Concord, MA. Its expanded, six-show season will alternate between a 344-seat mainstage and flexible 100-seat blackbox – the first season to be staged in The Umbrella’s brand-new, state-of-the-art, multi-theater performing arts facilities at 40 Stow Street. Season, Flex Pass, Group and Individual tickets are available. Learn more at TheUmbrellaStage.org .

Concord Museum’s Annual Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature

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A love of books and reading is a lifelong treasure passed from adult to child, from generation to generation. Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature at the Concord Museum in historic Concord, Massachusetts gives Concord’s renowned literary tradition a creative twist.  

During the holiday season the Museum decorates dozens of fanciful trees and wreaths creatively decorated by Museum volunteers to illustrate treasured and new favorite children’s books.  The trees and wreaths cme in all shapes and sizes and are adorned with original ornaments inspired by acclaimed children’s storybooks and contemporary picture book favorites.

We are thrilled to welcome Pamela Zagarenski, Illustrator of Zola’s Elephant and two-time Caldecott-honor winning artist, as this year’s Honorary Chair.

2019 marks the 24th year of the Concord Museum’s award-winning Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature, is organized by the Concord Museum’s Guild of Volunteers as a benefit to support the Museum’s education initiatives.  This year’s Guild of Volunteers Co-Chairs are Pam Nelson and Lyn Carroll.Admission:

During this benefit event, Museum admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors, $6 children (4–18); children under 4 Free. Members Free. Events are free with admission except where indicated. Hours: The Museum is open 7 days a week, 10:00am to 4:00pm. (Closed December 24 and December 25) Location: Concord Museum is located at 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA. Parking is Free. For more information www.concordmuseum.org

ATTENTION SHOPPERS, THE WINTER MARKET IS AT THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER RIGHT NOW!

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The Umbrella welcomes public, artists, and artisans to newly completed arts center for annual Winter Market

The Umbrella invites you to kick off the holiday season and support local artisans at its annual Winter Market this weekend, December 6-8, in the recently completed Umbrella Arts Center.

One weekend each year, The Umbrella transforms into a bustling marketplace with work from more than 75 creative vendors displaying everything from handmade ceramics, forged and beaded jewelry and blown glass to unique woven scarves, photography and art prints, ornaments and wood-turned treasures.

A cherished Concord tradition, the Market brings holiday shoppers together with The Umbrella’s skilled studio artists, faculty and students, joined by acclaimed guest artists from throughout Greater Boston. Get all your holiday shopping done in one, fun swoop by buying handmade holiday gifts directly from regional artists. You’ll have a great story to accompany the gift, and you’ll be supporting local artists in creating new work year round!

This year’s Market is the first to be held after completion of a multiyear renovation and construction project that has transformed the former Emerson School in the heart of Concord Center. Works by participating artists will be on display throughout the three-floor renovated space, and the annual “Off the Wall” small-works show in the freshly built new atrium Main Art Gallery will feature purchasable artworks smaller than 14″ x 14″ x 14″ and priced under $300, just the right size to be a gift for yourself or someone special. When you fall in love with one of these pieces you can buy it right off the wall! 

This year’s Market will also include live music, local food vendors, and a wider range of hands-on family friendly activities in The Umbrella’s new arts classrooms and Makerspace labs, as well as opportunities to visit new theater facilities where The Umbrella Stage Company, Greater Boston’s newest professional theater, will be presenting the musical, Tuck Everlasting. 

The Umbrella Winter Market is free, open to the public and full of good cheer – so bring a friend and #DiscoverYourArts! 

The Umbrella is easily accessible by Route 2’s Walden exit, 2 blocks from Fitchburg rail line stop, and offers free parking. 

For more information visit TheUmbrellaArts.org/winter-market

This Weekend is the Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting in Concord Center!

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The Concord Recreation Department has put together an incredible event. 

Concord’s Holiday Tree Lighting and Parade is a tradition that brings our community together in a joyful way, and this year is no exception. The annual event is sure to delight with its festivities, including dozens of roadside attractions and a parade highlighted by Santa leading the tree lighting in Concord Center. 

Bring the whole family for an evening of community fun and make sure to take in all that Concord has to offer during this magical time of year. Shop local to support our community and see what unique things our Town has to offer.

Entertainment will start at 3:00P throughout Concord Center and there will be a lot of it! Here are some highlights that you can put in your calendar:

  • Setting the Barre Dance Performance 3-4
  • Balloon Artist: 3-4
  • CCHS Radio Broadcast and Commentary: 4-5:30
  • CCHS Select Chorus: 5:20-5:30
  • Disney Character Meet and Greet: 3-4:30
  • Redeemer Presbyterian Church: 4-5
  • Holy Family Song and Bell Choir: 4-5:30
  • TriCon Church: 4-4:30

The parade will begin at 4:50 and will walk along Stow, Hubbard, Walden and Main St. The tree lighting is at 5:15 in Monument Square and Santa will be taking photos from 5:30-7.

Our local businesses will be out on full display joining the holiday festivities. Here is a list of snacks, music, and raffles:

  • Middlesex Savings Bank: Cookie Decorating
  • Barrett Sotheby’s: Frosty the Snowman, cookies and cider
  • Community Chest: Hot cider and candy canes
  • Engel & Volkers: German wine, cookies and finger sandwiches
  • Concord Players: A Christmas Carol Reading (4p)
  • 51 Walden: Cocoa
  • Concord Band: Holiday Music
  • Nesting: A Cappella
  • Compass Real Estate: Balloons and raffles
  • Irresistibles: Holiday refreshments and special promotions
  • Concord Rotary: Toppings for hot cocoa
  • Dunkin Donuts: Hot chocolate
  • Concord Lions: Popcorn
  • Fritz & Gigi: Special promotion
  • Comina: Refreshments
  • Artisans Way: Refreshments & Gift with purchase
  • Artinian Jewelers: Refreshments
  • Fiorella Cucina Restaurant: Zepoli and Warm Cider
  • William Raveis Real Estate: Refreshments
  • Barrows Bookstore: Hot chocolate & Raffles
  • Revolutionary Concord
  • J. McLaughlin: Sip, shop, and sweets
  • Holy Family Parish: Hot chocolate
  • Monument Square Vendors: 

               – Umbrella Arts Center

               – The Childrens Meetinghouse

               –  West Concord Businesses

               –  Beede Swim and Fitness Center: Food Bank Donation Table

               –  Temple Karem Shalom

               –  The Robbins House

               – Concord Free Public Library

               –  Concord Carousel Scholarship Committee

Looking forward to a wonderful holiday season. Thank you to the Concord Recreation Department and to all the local businesses for helping to light our local tree.

Looking for a party? It’s The Concord Education Fund’s 25th Anniversary Silver Masquerade

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This year is the 25th anniversary of the Concord Education Fund. The fund was started so that our students’ teachers could provide new or enhanced curriculum to our students. Over the past 25 years, the Ed Fund has played a pivotal role in getting the following programs off the ground.  Many of these programs have now become such an integral and regular part of our student’s curriculum that we are not aware they were initiated by the Ed Fund, with the support of parents and local organizations. The Ed Fund is an all-volunteer board; its administrative overhead is 5% of our budget, so nearly all donations go right back to the students.  Selected grants include:

  • The Engineering Certificate Program for CCHS;
  • Rivers and Revolution at CCHS ( if you ask parents whose children took this course, most will say it was a game-changing academic experience; other high schools now shadow the class to implement one in their high school;
  • Q5 at CCHS;
  • Percussion Instruments at CMS;
  • The STEAM Lab at Ripley School, used by all the schools; 
  • 3d Printers for the Middle School;
  • African-American History and the Story of Concord for all schools; 

The list goes on and on. Go to our website where all our projects are listed, and some are explained in detail here: http://concordedfund.org/grant-highlights-archive/

Thank you for your past and future support. Most of our support comes directly from the parents; your money goes directly back to the students. The 25 year partnership between the Ed Fund and the teachers is a big reason why the Concord-Carlisle public schools are as great as they are. 

Our 25th anniversary gala is Saturday, November 16. Laurie Hunter, the Superintendant will say a few words, and we will briefly update you on recent grants and initiatives.  Then we will celebrate with the 10-person band, Sugah Rush. Please come by purchasing tickets at http://concordedfund.org/25th-silver-anniversary-party/.

If you can’t come, but want to play a role in enhancing our students school experience, please donate. We would greatly appreciate it. 

Spontaneous Jam Session with Country Superstar Lyle Lovett and Rock Icon Steve Miller brings the House Down at The Umbrella Arts Center Season Opening Concert

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CONCORD, MA— The Umbrella Concert Series came full circle last Friday night in a surprise-filled performance by four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett.

It came as no surprise when Lovett’s return to The Umbrella Concert Series was announced that tickets sold out within days.

“When Lyle first came to Concord in the spring of 2015, we told him of our plans for the new Umbrella,” recalled Liz Gross, concert committee chair and board member. “He said if we got it built, he would come back to open it for us.”

Lovett was true to his word. He even rearranged his schedule so that the day after he was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame he could arrive in Concord to mesmerize the audience with soulful ballads and upbeat country hits. When rock legend Steve Miller was discovered in the sold-out crowd and invited to join Lovett on stage for an impromptu two-song jam—the first time the two had ever performed together—the energy in the new state-of-the-art theater was palpable.

Between songs, Lovett showed his appreciation for The Umbrella’s arts mission in the region, emphasizing the importance of accessible art, and recognized the importance of the concert date, Oct. 25, coinciding with the Massachusetts #ArtsMatterDay. He also spoke admiringly about the remarkable transformation of the venue (when he first visited, before significant construction began, the concert had been staged in a former school auditorium with uncomfortable wooden seats, cramped stage, and poor sightlines).

A New Venue for the Region

Excitement buzzed through the sold-out crowd during a pre-show reception in The Umbrella’s newly constructed atrium art gallery and art-filled halls. The mood was raised further still by the foot-stomping bluegrass ensemble The Ruta Beggars who opened for Lovett.

The evening was a joint milestone and fitting celebration for both the region’s arts scene and The Umbrella. The event celebrated the opening of the renovated Umbrella, including the naming of the new main stage theater, Theater144.  Liz Gross, chair of the capital campaign, received a standing ovation in recognition of her leadership.

Our First Living Concord Video!

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Have you checked your email for all the news from your favorite organizations? Have you looked at each of their calendars? There is A Lot happening in our Concord-Carlisle community pretty much all the time.

The CCHS Parents Association is presenting another film that offers skills for stress resilience for kids, 42nd St is performing at The Umbrella, DropOff SwapOff is happening soon, The public library has the most incredible array of programs geared towards all different age groups, The Concord Museum has reopened!, youth basketball is starting up soon and so is wrestling, there’s a murder mystery dinner at Trail’s End this month, authors are visiting both the library and the Concord Bookshop, Discover West Concord Day is coming up, and just about EVERYONE is offering something cool for Halloween.

It’s hard to keep track so we keep track for you. All Concord-Carlisle organizations are welcome to post events here. We’re constantly updating our calendar and posting to our social media accounts. And yes, we also send out a weekly email that highlights all events for the coming week across many organizations. This email will include any event happening at the Cheese Shop, any speaker visiting for an organization, and many other events taking place that week. If you have any questions or suggestions please reach out to us any time! Go CC!

Did you know that Open Table Distributes 7000 lbs of Food each week?

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Living Concord is beginning a series of blog posts that highlights and discusses the wonderful non-profit organizations that contribute to our local community.

If you drive down Everett St. in Concord you might notice a small sign that says Open Table. It is a small sign, but the Open Table organization serves a huge need. 

Open Table’s mission is to address hunger in our local community by providing healthy food in a welcoming environment while respecting the dignity of those served. They achieve their mission by:

  • Serving community meals open to all
  • Offering a wide variety of healthy food choices in our market
  • Engaging a team of committed and passionate staff and volunteers

Currently Open Table distributes approximately 7000 pounds of food each week and serves 250 meals to guests that come from the Metro West Suburbs and beyond. OpenTable has received an amazing amount of support from the communities it serves  through donations of food and funds. This makes it possible to continue to address food insecurity in our region.

Open Table believes people should not be hungry. The organization welcomes neighbors in need by providing healthy food choices with compassion and respect. 

Did you Know?

  • Open Table spends $.89 of every donated dollar on feeding people?
  • Open Table has over 600 volunteers?
  • Local Farms like Gaining Ground, Verrill Farm, Drumlin Farm, Barrett’s Mill Farm, and Stone Root Farm donate fresh produce each week (during the growing season) to Open Table for its dinners and pantry?
  • The Concord Flower Shop donates fresh flowers each week for the tables at the Concord Open Table dinner?
  • Open Table strives to accommodate the following dietary sensitivities and restrictions each week: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Pork Free, Vegan, and Vegetarian

And coming up on November 3rd is Empty Bowls 2019!

Open Table partners up with Newbury Court and The Umbrella Arts for this fundraising event. Ceramic artists from Newbury Court and The Umbrella Arts are making 400 beautiful bowls. Attend the lunch and make a minimum donation of $25. After lunch, you can take home one of the beautiful bowls. 100% of the proceeds will go to Open Table.

For more information please visit https://www.livingconcord.com/event/empty-bowls-art-fundraiser-against-hunger/ 

How Concord’s 4 Legged Friends are Improving Our Health

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They are all over town. On leash, off leash, playing at Emerson Field, running in the woods, waiting for the kids to get off the bus at the end of the day. 

Our dogs.

But do you know that our four legged buddies are improving our health? If you Google “Health Benefits of Owning a Dog” there are a ton of articles that pop up. That’s how we found out! Here are some highlights from articles we found on Google.

According to WebMD:

  1. People with dogs are generally happier and more trusting than people without dogs. Hmmm.

Time Magazine:

  1. A huge scientific study took place in Sweden. One of the findings suggested that growing up with a dog in the house can decrease allergies and asthma in children, and these pets may provide immune- boosting benefits for adults as well.

Huffington Post:

  1. Studies show that having a dog is linked to lower blood pressure, reduced cholesterol, and decreased triglyceride levels, which contribute to better overall cardiovascular health and fewer heart attacks. What’s more, dog owners who do have heart attacks have better survival rates following the events.
  2. Dogs keep you fit and active because they need exercise. Since you’re out walking and running them, you may also be losing some weight.
  3. Dogs improve your social life. Just head over to Emerson Field with your dog and you’ll see what we mean!

Bottom line is a pet brings a lot of joy and companionship to a house. If you have the capacity to take care of one, you might want to consider it. If you have one, pick up a dog treat at Verrill Farm or at Loyal Companion. Your dog will be psyched!