Yesterday's snowfall was the first real winter weather we've had so far in this unseasonably — but welcomed — clear January. A mixture of sleet made morning commutes slow going, and having turned to rain in the afternoon, the roads and sidewalks were a wet and slushy mess by the time commuters returned home. Early in the morning though, there was almost a pleasantness to the clean coating of snow. Here some images from a walk through Concord center before much of the snow was wiped out by the rain. 

  Last year at this time, folks all over the region were digging themselves out after a major snowstorm buried the East Coast Dec. 26-27, with winds reaching up to 95 mph and snowfall up to 24" in some areas. The blizzard was the first of several major storms to sweep through last winter, and dropped snow from northern Florida to Canada. Do you remember where you were during the blizzard last December? Share your memories of last year's day-after-Christmas storm in the comment section below.Take a look at these photos of the aftermath of last year's storm.

  People often think about community service during the holiday season, more so than other times of the year, but every helping hand counts wherever it is given.Dr. Thomas Bilodeau of Concord, a primary care physician at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, and member of Lahey's Global Outreach Committee, returned from his tenth trip to Kenya, where he and other volunteers spent two and a half weeks administering health care to people in eight different villages.The ongoing volunteer relief effort is organized by the International Medical Alliance of Tennessee, a philanthropic organization through…

The Students of the Earth Care Club may have missed the first bell at Willard Elementary today, but they certainly were not late for school.The fourth and fifth graders of the club arrived extra early today to take part in a demonstration of a clean burning, propane powered school bus hosted by the Concord/Concord Carlisle School District Transportation Department and Blue Bird Corporation, manufacturer of school buses. According to Concord Transportation Manager Wayne Busa, the propane powered bus is one of several environmentally friendly buses the department is looking at. Busa said he is …

Thanksgiving is about family, and that is what we had at Concord-Carlisle High School. Hot dogs and coffee and the family dog were some of the sites on this beautiful day in November. Thousands were in attendance to see the Patriots take control a keep a big lead in the 34-7 victory. Both teams fought hard. Music was provided by a great home team band — they even sang a song or two. The Patriots dominated the game, but Bedford Buccaneers did finally score in the last half of the fourth quarter to put some numbers up on the scoreboard. Proceeds from t-shirt sales went to support the athletic …

As part of this morning's events in recognition of Veterans Day, the Concord Public Ceremonies and Celebrations Committee, with the help of the Concord Fire Department, conducted the town's annual American flag retirement ceremony.  Local veterans along side Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cubs and Brownies, assisted with the ceremony that took place over three ceremonial fires in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Elise Woodward said, "Annually on Veterans Day, the citizens of Concord gather to respectfully retire American flags that are worn and tattered. Theses flags have …

November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and the folks at Concord Park Assisted Living Community were decked out in their finest purple threads yesterday to promote awareness of the disease. "Did you know every 71 seconds someone is the U.S. develops Alzheimer's?" said Meg Gaudet of Concord Park."In the United States an estimated 5.4 million people are living with Alzheimer's," Gaudet said. "By the year 2050 as many as 16 million people will have Alzheimer's"Gaudet shared these photos of the men and women of Concord Park raising awareness.

The folks at Concord Park Assisted Living Community celebrated Halloween yesterday with their annual consume party — this time with the addition of a witch's hat contest.Residents and guests were dressed in wide array of costumes, including a Big Bad Wolf chasing Three Little Pigs, Frankenstein's monster and his bride, a gaggle of witches, and many, many more. In addition to the costumes, all of the submissions to Concord Park's witch's hat decorating contest were on display as well. Prizes for the hat contest in the adult categories included gift certificates to Firefly's Gift shop, Concord …

It was an interesting weekend, with an unseasonably harsh storm bringing tree limbs down all over town causing widespread power outages.Information on just how many homes in Concord lost power, and when — or if — power was restored was not available from Concord Light yesterday, but one thing is for sure: some people were in the dark for a long time. We asked for residents to keep us up to speed on their electricity situations on Facebook. At around 1 p.m. yesterday, Jane Martin said, "Ours was only out for a few hours last night/early morning but was back on within a few hours. Was in West …

Autumn is one of the best times of the year to observe wildlife, as creatures of all shapes and sizes seem to stand out against the backdrop of fall foliage on the thinning trees. Photographer Frank Breen took these magnificent photos of the birds feasting on their very own fall bounty. Here's what Frank had to say about his recent visitors:Behind my home there are 20 acres of Concord conservation land that are leased to a local farmer.This year the farmer planted several acres of hard corn that he never harvested.Lately the red-winged blackbirds have come by the thousands to harvest that …

On Saturday, Oct. 22, the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library presented Pauline Maier, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History at M.I.T. with the 2011 Ruth Ratner Miller Memorial Award for Excellence in American History.Maier is the author of such title as "From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and The Development of American Opposition to Britain, 1765-1776," "The Old Revolutionaries: Political Lives in the Age of Samuel Adams," "American Scripture," and "In Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788."Photographer Frank Breen took these photos …

Masters of different crafts converged on Friday, during another taping of the PBS show This Old House.Master carpenter Norm Abram and crew stopped by Hammersmith Studios on Beharrell Street to film a segment with blacksmith, artist and designer Carl Close Jr.Close crafted a boot scraper and door knocker for the Nathaniel Page House in Bedford, an eighteenth century home that is the focus of the show's new season, which just began Oct. 6. Abram and company were in Concord earlier this summer, filming four segments for the Page House project at Barrett's Farm.Here are some photos from Friday's …

Monday, Oct. 17 through Friday, Oct. 21 is National School Bus Safety Week, so naturally this week was the perfect time to go over school bus safety with Concord students. Yesterday, students at Concord Carlisle High School and Alcott School went through bus evacuation drills with members of the Transportation Department and Police Department.Today, students at Peabody Middle School and Willard Elementary will have bud evacuation drills, and Thoreau Elementary will finish up School Bus Safety Week with evacuation exercises on Friday. Here some pictures from yesterday morning's safety drills …

The town of Concord hosted the annual Drop Off, Swap Off event this weekend, where residents had the opportunity to bring their used, but still functioning housewares to the Public Works Department on Keyes Road to trade with other folks. There were also a number of services on hand allowing people to recycle light bulbs, packing foam, and other items that can't go into regular garbage and end up taking up space in basements and garages. Volunteers helped with everything from traffic and parking, to carrying and sorting items for donation and recycling.Photographer Frank Breen stopped by the …

Who says Halloween is just for kids? Concord Park Assisted Living is hosting a witch's hat decorating contest open to everyone on the community."Anybody can decorate a hat and bring it in," said Meg Gaudet of Concord Park. "There's prizes — we'll have some judges coming in and the winners will get gift certificates."Submissions will be judged at Concord Park's annual Halloween party on Monday, Oct. 31. "We usually have a costume contest every Halloween," Gaudet said. "It's a lot of fun, but this time we added the element of the hat."The Halloween festivities are a big hit at Concord Park, …

This weekend's hoedown at Verrill Farm brought chefs and foodies from all over the area to Concord for a pig roast, food demonstrations, hay rides, live music, and baking and costume contests. Food was provided by Butter Cafe & Bakery, New England Soup Factory, Tex Mex Eats, Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro, Poe's Kitchen at the Rattlesnake, Bergamot, Olé, how2heroes, and Verrill Farm. Jeff Fritts shared these photos from the weekend party.

This weekend, soccer teams from around the region participated in the annual Kicks For Cancer event at Concord Carlisle Regional High School. The one-day competition raises funds for women's cancer research at the Dana Farber Institute. Photographer Frank Breen stopped by Kicks For Cancer and took these pictures. Take a look, maybe you're in there if you were at CCHS for all the soccer action.

Last night, Concordians gathered at the Harvey Wheeler Community Center for the Concord Conservation Fair, featuring earth-friendly businesses and organizations from town and the surrounding area.One of the main features of the event was the Concord Conservation Challenge, in which residents pledge to reduce their carbon footprint as part of a larger effort to 211 tons of carbon emissions from the atmosphere.Co-Chair of the Conservation Fair Morwen Two Feathers said the event was put on, in part, by Sustainable Concord, a network of various sustainability-focused groups.“We were seeking a way…

A group of performers from the Wellesley Players visited the historic Orchard House recently for some scenes from — of course — Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women."The troupe was in town giving a sample of their upcoming production, Little Women, the Musical, which will run from Oct. 7-9 and 14-16 at Arsenal Center for the Arts black box theater in Watertown. The players, featuring Jan Turnquist, entertained a local audience with their intimate performance, and photographer Frank Breen was on hand to capture all the fun.

The 4th Annual Stone Soup Dinner was a big success at Verrill Farm as hundreds of Concord residents pitched in for a $38 dollar plate, and $5 drink tickets, to support local farming. “This benefit is to keep farming in Concord,” explained Chris Saia, who along with Jenn Verrill and Debra Stark, coordinated the event. “All the things on the menu are from local farms that donated vegetables and other foods. We teamed up with eight different local restaurants who cooked for us.” Tents were set up on the expansive lawn beside Verrill Farm — some for cooking and tasting appetizers, with one large …