A ridearound

Around Town with Dick Patten
I am back from a brief journey to Massachsuetts to visit with a friend who was attending a medical conference in Natick. He traveled from Lake Stevens, Wash., which is about an hour north of Seattle. Chuck Broadbent was a Mormon missionary in Concord in 1999 when we met and became friends ever since. He is raising his children to call me grandpops and he, himself calls me Pops. We usually meet once a year in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to watch the Wolverines play. We are playing to go this year on opening day when they play the University of Connecticut.

So back to news: Pineconia Grange # 322 will meet Monday, March 29 at 7 p.m.at Havenwood Retirement Center, 33 Christian AVenue. This meeting was postponed from last Monday. The annual Community Awards Night will be held Monday, April 19 at 7 p.m. at Dame School. There will be many awards presented that evening. The public is welcome and see who will be honored that evening. There will be refreshments to enjoy throughout the evening.

The Kiwanis club will meet Monday, March 29 at 12 noon at the Red Blazer Restaurant, Manchester Street, Concord. Chris Pappas announced the annual Spring Fair and Carnival will be held Thursday, May 13 to Sunday, May 17 at the Everett Arena.

Speaking of the fair and Everett Arena, I went to the Home Show held inside the Arena today. It is too bad that these vendors wouldn't come back and make their inside fair a success. I can remember how the Kiwanis would have the inside of the Arena filled with booths representing local businesses such as Merrimack County Future Farmers, Concord Lumber, Fern Oil, Sprague Electric, Northeast Electronics, Grappone, and Tri State Rescue to name a few. I am told that due to the timing of this event, the vendors won't come back 4 weeks later. It is sad because the Kiwanis do so many good things for charity in the greater Concord area.

The Bektash Temple Shriners will be having their annual Spring Ceremonial in Concord on April 3rd. No parade this year which is sad but to the cost of having a parade, it was decided to forego this event.

I am hearing a lot of concerns about the increase in parking in downtown Concord. There will be a public hearing in May at city council chambers for the public to come out and voice their opinions. I still think it would be a good idea for valet service in the downtown area. Concord Hospital has one and it seems to be working.

I would like to thank Concord Police Officer Craig Levesque for the informative and interesting Ride-A-Long I did recently. Officer Levesque took me on a tour of his sector which is central Concord Heights. There are two other officers who cover the north and eastern sections of the Heights and East Concord, and a third patrol that covers the southern section of the Heights which covers Manchester Street. I rode for 4 hours and it was very interesting. It brought back many memories for me from my years working with Merrimack County Sheriff, Pittsfield and Bow Police. Although I was a dispatcher, It is still a very challenging position. You are the lifeline for the police officers. I urge more to take advantage of this. We have a very capable police force and very lucky to have such dedicated police officers.