About Town: A Walk in the Woods, Music Al Fresco, and Some Natural Fun

Welcome to Thursday – how was your Fourth of July?? Did you get over to Picnic in the Park, the quintessential small-town celebration? One of my all-time favorite town events, I have to say.

Last week I mentioned the walk up in Walden Woods, the one that has all the great quotes on granite. This week, I took a walk on the other side of Fairyland – the name the Alcott sisters gave to the Town Forest – and followed the Emerson-Thoreau Amble all the way to the end. And what I found was that the bridge that had been has now been replaced, with a beautiful new and very functional bridge. You can follow the path from the – there’s a sign that says “Amble” – all the way to the bridge, then follow the small white signs with arrows, and you’ll come out next to the Concord Ice Company. It’s a really nice walk, and you can even bike it pretty easily, which I also did. Kudos to the NRC for getting this fabulous bridge done -- just nice to have another path to check out in the woods.

Music al fresco

Warm summer evenings make me want to eat outdoors; even better is listening to live music at the same time. Our own Concord Band takes up residence over at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, on Thursday nights through the end of July. The gates open at 5:30 for picnics, and the concert begins at 7:15. It’s $15 a carload for non-members, $10 for members. Appropriately enough, tonight’s theme is Americana; the rest of the schedule is Around the World in Sixty Minutes on July 12, BrassWind featuring Brass and Woodwind on July 19, and Summer Retrospective on July 26. The Concord Band is made up of many talented musicians, some of whom might even be your neighbors – one of them, in fact, is mine. They are totally worth the drive to Harvard.

The Natural World

Over at in West Concord, they don’t take the summer off. No indeed, they keep the good stuff coming all month, starting with A Poetry Lovers’ Reading with Jim Leahy next Wednesday, July 11 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. You can bring a poem to share, or just come and listen. Then on Thursday, July 26, they’re hosting a free Ice Cream Social from 6 to 8:30 – who doesn’t want to try new ice cream?? They’ll be sampling Maple’s ice cream – made in Maine – and they’ll have a non-dairy ice cream for those who need it. Finally, on Saturday, July 28, Debra’s will be part of the West Concord Sizzling Summer Sidewalk Sale, happening from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Should be a rockin’ good time!

Do you have something you would like to share? Contact me at stefanieac@comcast.net or Maureen at mcb23@comcast.net, and we will be happy to help you spread the good news. And follow us on Twitter: Maureen is @cosmo1162, I’m @stefanie3131.