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By Credit search: Monitor columnist

By RAY DUCKLER

Rusty Cofrin never demanded anything from his runners at Concord High School that he wouldn’t demand of himself.For 30 years, he told members of his cross country and track teams to reach within, for an element that Cofrin believed many of them didn’t...

By RAY DUCKLER

The question of whose face and legacy should be attached to a recent local fundraiser had an easy answer.When the event is a road race and the town is Hopkinton, there’s Tom Walton and then there’s, well, Tom Walton.“He was always an instrumental...

By RAY DUCKLER

She sees a narrow area to walk by the side of the road. Too narrow, she believes, and that’s before snowbanks have started to pile up.She sees knee-high grass, adding to the difficulty in maneuvering safely down the street in Epsom. And cars, she...

By RAY DUCKLER

Mark Wunschel was ready to roll.He zipped up his suitcases packed in the back of his hatchback, each storing frozen meals covered with plastic wrap. The trays were sectioned into compartments like a Hungry-Man TV dinner, giving the three food groups...

By RAY DUCKLER

The skills that made Lois Brodsky a great teammate were painful to learn.She turned a lonely, abusive childhood into empathy, learning to care so others would not have to experience what she did during the first eight years of her life. That’s why...

By RAY DUCKLER

Chris Kane treated old trees like they were his grandparents.He respected old trees, protected them, made sure they lived full, rich lives.“He could identify any plant or tree and know if it was rare or endangered,” said Kane’s lone daughter, Hilary...

By RAY DUCKLER

Sometime before Christmas – the brains behind this operation can’t be sure of the exact date – a major milestone will be reached.In what began as a family affair at the Thanksgiving table 20 years ago has grown into an altruistic endeavor, a simple...

By RAY DUCKLER

He believes he has the delicate touch needed to win, created by the experience he’s gained from playing a video game.But digging a hole with an excavator to build a farm, on a video screen with absolutely no pressure, is far easier than working the...

By RAY DUCKLER

Peachy Healy wasn’t sure she got all the words right from Concord High School’s old fight song.But when she raised her right arm to show school spirit, and her eyes, deep blue against her white hair, squinted in delight, you knew she’d give it a try....

By RAY DUCKLER

Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown is a direct descendent of a program born during one of the most important times in U.S. history, and both are celebrating milestone birthdays this year.Bear Brook is 80. The Civilian Conservation Corps...

By RAY DUCKLER

The old trailer with a floor made of wooden planks – packed with state officials troubled that many of the farm’s apples never had a chance this season due to a late frost – rolled up the slight incline on Friday, surrounded by small trees with bright...

By RAY DUCKLER

Sometimes, when your business is booming and the public loves you, changes must still be made.That’s the scenario downtown, as Sunday’s ice cream shop will soon be making things hard for its recently expanding customer base and increased sales.The...

By RAY DUCKLER

His fans are eager to talk about his class off the field, excited to examine his 20-year career on the field and determined to declare that no one – no one –loved Tom Brady more than they did.Actually, we should use the word ‘love,’ because the years...

By RAY DUCKLER

Puns have been ruff to avoid, but, doggone it, Jessica Martin has done her best to paws and maintain control.“There are so many jokes with something like this,” said Martin, the executive director of Intown Concord. “I’ve definitely had to show some...

By RAY DUCKLER

Lianne Keary’s son turns 18 this year, and that tells her a lot.It tells her that the photos she used to publish Pembroke’s version of the popular Acadia Images of America series were used 18 years ago, because she was pregnant when she pieced those...

By RAY DUCKLER

Sometime in the 1980s, Mica Roberts, known as Owen Brody inside a wrestling ring, saw a man named Macho Man Randy Savage perform his signature flying elbow drop on Saturday morning TV.The Macho Man jumped from the top rope and crashed his elbow into...

By RAY DUCKLER

Barnstead Police Chief Paul Poirier says first come, first served.That refers to the children who swarm his ice cream truck each time Poirier drives it around neighborhoods and school parking lots, handing out Nutty Buddies – a big hit with the kids –...

By RAY DUCKLER

They stood in the rain in the parking lot at the Department of Justice, hoping to speak with the attorney general himself.They said that’s all they really wanted.The friends and families of victims of unsolved crimes, huddled under umbrellas and...

By RAY DUCKLER

Stacey Morin’s fingerprints are all over Pittsfield.In her role as a yoga instructor, she is an unexpected force of grace and skill.  Unexpected, that is, to those who know she has experienced her own struggles with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease...

By RAY DUCKLER

They go on the same date each year, strangers lighting candles and saying a silent prayer at 7:30 p.m.They meet at the spot in Haverhill in northwestern New Hampshire near Interstate 91 where Maura Murray was last seen – on Feb. 9, 2004. The spot is...