‘Is not all the summer akin to a paradise?’
Henry David Thoreau
Time to celebrate
Ephraim Wales Bull, who may not be a household name though his invention is a lunchbox staple. Ephraim, who lived on Lexington Road, developed the now famous Concord Grape. Ephraim cross pollinated more than 22,000 seedlings in search of a juicy table grape that could tolerate New England Winters. He hit it right in 1849.
Four years later, he entered his grape in the Boston Horticultural Society Exhibition, where he took home a blue ribbon. Bursting with pride, Ephraim rushed his grape on the open market, paying no attention to the 19th Century’s renewed interest in patents and intellectual property. Another guy came along, patented the Concord grape, and became very wealthy from Ephraim’s labors.
Concordians proudly remain connected to the Concord grape which is used for sweet wines and juices. It is the number one ingredient in the jelly used in the all-American peanut butter and jelly sandwich - which is about all Ephraim could afford to eat after being scooped.
Further along in this newsletter, we have a recipe for Concord Grape Granita, which is guaranteed to reduce the heat on the hottest of July days.
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DATES TO REMEMBER
- July 12- Henry David Thoreau's born in 1817. See below about booking your party @ Beede.
- July 17 - Wednesday - 1:30 pm - Fit to Travel
- July 19 - Kids Night Out
- August 12 - Monday - Beede & Books
- August 14 - Fall/Winter Program Registration Begins
- August 18 - Make Your Own Sundae at White Pond 4:00pm-6:00pm
- August 19-25 - Annual Beede Shutdown (general maintenance and repairs)
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
BIRTHDAY PARTIES AT BEEDE
Young members who are turning a year older...celebrate in style with a party here at the Beede Center.
We host birthday parties on Saturdays from 1 pm to 3 pm. What fun you will have treating friends of your children to our Children's Play Pool, the Shallow End of the lap pool and even the Dive Well!
Greet your guests in our lobby and escort them to our Fitness Studio near the pool deck, for your private soiree. Everyone swims for an hour or so and then it’s back to party central for cake and birthday wishes. What an exciting way to start a new year!
Every child will be swim tested by our top-notch Red Cross certified Lifeguards.
The cost for 10 guest children and unlimited adults is $200 (members) and $290 (non-members).
Amanda Smith has all the fiesta details. Please email her at
asmith@concordma.gov
.
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FIT TO TRAVEL
Personal Trainer Bill Lehmann is offering a small-group Personal Training session designed to teach you resistance techniques for balance, strength and endurance while you stroll along sandy beaches, climb high mountains and deftly hoist your carry-on into the overhead without injuring the people in the seats below.
This program meets in the Fitness Studio at 1:30 pm, on Wednesday, July 17. There is no charge for this free, albeit invaluable, fitness advice. Space is limited, so sign up in advance at the Front Desk. And here’s a fun fact: July is the most popular month for family vacations.
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AND THE WINNER IS …
Charter Member Cameron Scott entered and won our raffle for five free personal training hours. That is a $275 value for members. The raffle was held at the Beede Open House June 8. Cameron said she is psyched to be receiving one-on-one advice for developing her mobility and core strength. Now if you really want to see some results, Cameron, throw some weight on that bar! Congratulations from all your friends here at Beede.
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‘Ask me for a certain number of dollars if you will, but do not ask me for my afternoons.’
Henry David Thoreau
BIDDING FAREWELL TO ANNE
Adored Personal Trainer Anne Windhol gets a hug from long-time client Judy Nielson, above and another from Sarah Lazarus, below.
It was all smiles and fancy cake at the send off for Personal Trainer Anne Windhol last month, but inwardly, everyone was mourning the loss of a revered fitness professional and colleague.
Anne, who has been with the Beede Center since Opening Day in April 2016, celebrated her last day in June. She is retiring from a lifetime of working in the world of health and fitness to spend more time with family and on the links.
Over the past five years, Anne’s family has grown to include two wonderful daughters-in-law and four absolutely adorable grandchildren. (We’ve seen pictures, so we can verify their cuteness.) Anne is also looking forward to spending time with her Al, her CCHS sweetheart/husband, and her mother, who lives in Carlisle.
We wish her the best as well as an endless string of perfect golf weather. Thank you, Anne, for your knowledge, good humor and professionalism. It’s always a pleasure to be in your company.
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CONCORD CONNECTION
Welcome to a new segment in our monthly newsletter. In Concord Connection, we seek your input on something around town that’s not necessarily immediately connected to the Recreation Department.
We’re launching with a request for information on the bench pictured below. It is situated overlooking a small pond along the trails of Walden Pond. We’re hopeful one of our readers will know who Jerry is and the story about his bench. Just hit reply to this email if you’re the one.
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A LOCAL FROZEN TREAT
Thank you to Leslie Wilson of the Concord Free Public Library for sending us this recipe for Concord Grape Granita. (for the low-brow among us ‘granita’ is the high-brow word for
Italian ice
) .
The following recipe is from ‘Revolutionary Recipes Concord a la Carte,’ a 2002 publication of The Emerson Hospital Auxiliary. Get out your food processors!
¾ cup water
½ cup sugar
2 whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
½ vanilla bean split lengthwise
4 cups Concord grapes, stems removed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Fruit and maybe mint leaves for garnish
Combine water, sugar, allspice and cinnamon in a small heavy saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add seeds and pod to saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 4 to 5 minutes, until the syrup has reduced to ½ cup. Strain and chill the syrup thoroughly.
Puree the grapes in 2 batches in a food processor, including jackets and seeds.
Press enough puree from grape mixture through a food mill into a bowl to measure 1 ½ cups. Blend well with chilled syrup.
Transfer mixture to 9x5-inch glass loaf dish and place in freezer. Freeze grape mixture until flaky crystals form, about 4 hours. Rake with a fork every 30 minutes.
Scoop into glass goblets. Serve with fruit garnish and mint sprigs. Snap a photo and send to us. Enjoy!
Serves 4.
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YOU LIKE US, YOU REALLY LIKE US
Be one of the first 10 people to write a review of the Beede Center on YELP this Summer and receive a Concord Recreation/Beede Center Center sports chair as our way of saying thank you.
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TAKE YOUR BEEDE FITNESS ON THE ROAD
Sunday, July 14 Cycling and running events to raise awareness of domestic violence. Offering cycling routes of 50 miles, 23 miles and 6 and a 5K run along the Bruce Freeman Trail. Named in memory of Olivia Marchand.
Saturday, September 14 - 5K run in Concord to benefit STEM education.
Sunday, September 22, Alcott School, Concord. USATF-Certified races to support education, preservation and healthy living at the Orchard House, the home of ‘Little Women.’ Walkers welcome. Hosted by Winner of Boston Marathon and Olympian Uta Pippig.
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