While Independence Day is a time to celebrate our freedom, Independents Month is a time to reflect on our interdependence: how locally owned businesses contribute to a healthy community and local economy, and how each of us contributes to the success of these businesses.
Where you spend your dollars matters; your choices create a ripple effect that starts with you and extends to our entire community and local economy. Choose an Indie Local (independent and locally owned business), and the positive ripple effect reaches new heights!
When you spend your dollars at a locally owned and independent business (instead of a chain store or online giant), your dollars recirculate through our local economy two to four times more. As your dollars ripple through our community, your bills generate more local health and wealth.
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Independents Month reminds us to recognize our locally owned and independent businesses for the community values they embody and their spirit of entrepreneurship. Also, we acknowledge all the ways they give back to our community with their time, talents, goods, and services, making us healthier and wealthier. Thank an independent business owner and their staff today!
“I have seen the value and care that locally owned businesses bring to their communities,” shared Nathan B. from Harrisville. “Our local businesses support important work that needs doing and help to provide valuable services and opportunities for our young people!”
No need to travel far to take a break! Enjoy a staycation this July and travel to special events and destinations close to home. Here are just a few of the myriad events offered by locally owned businesses throughout the Monadnock Region.
Get ready! Waldo begins hiding in Downtown Keene from July 1 to July 31. Pick up a passport at Toadstool Bookshop in Keene and start your search at twenty-four participating stores. Find Waldo (a six-inch version of him, that is!) at ten stores and get a coupon and a sticker.
Discover him at twenty stores and enter a raffle for awesome prizes and other goodies supplied by participating local stores. Save the date for a party at Toadstool Bookshop in Keene on Sunday, August 2 at 3 pm. There will be something for everyone at the party: cake, fun, and more!
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“It is probably my favorite event of the whole year for the store,” shared Toadstool Event Coordinator Elise St. Onge. The Find Waldo event holds, “a strong bit of nostalgia for me from when I was a kiddo, and we get to see a whole new generation get to enjoy the books and be excited.”
Each Tuesday in July, head up to Alstead for Orchard Hill Breadworks’ Pizza Night, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Bring your own pizza toppings, drinks, picnic blanket, dinnerware, and $12 per crust. Orchard Hill Breadworks provides the pizza crusts (a gluten-free option is available for $14), cheese, and sauce, and will cook your pizza in their impressive outdoor oven. House-made salads, made with local farm ingredients, and freshly baked desserts are also available for purchase, along with a variety of drinks. Reservations are strongly recommended and can be made in advance, with openings every Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
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“Pizza night is a weekly celebration of food and friendship on our beautiful hilltop farm in Alstead,” shared Noah Elbers of Orchard Hill Breadworks. “Join us for an evening of live music, wood-fired pizza, and socializing, all while supporting worthy local causes.”
Enjoy some hometown fun with the Keene Swamp Bats. Their Thursday, July 3 game against the Sanford Mainers includes a fireworks spectacular. The game starts at 6:35 pm with a fireworks show to follow around 9:30 pm.
Race to the finish line on Friday, July 4, at the 4 on the 4th Road Race in Keene while supporting a great non-profit, Pathways for Keene -- promoting the development, maintenance, and use of bicycling and walking trails in our city.
Peterborough will host First Friday on July 4 and Art Walk in the Park on July 5. Stay tuned for details.
On Sundays from 6:30 – 8 pm, enjoy music at the Town Green Gazebo in Walpole, sponsored by the Savings Bank of Walpole. Bring a blanket or lawn chair. For the full schedule, click here.
Mondays mean contra dancing! Join the Monadnock Folklore Society for their Monday Night Contra Dance, starting at 7:30 pm at the Nelson Town Hall. New to contra dancing? That’s okay! Just let the caller know. Cost: $5.
Starting July 11, Music in Depot Park returns in Peterborough from 6 to 7:30 pm with Five O’Clock Shadow. Hailing from the Boston area, this dynamic a cappella group of six voices produces a full band sound that brings audiences to their feet! Think The Doobie Brothers meets Foo Fighters meets Paramore. Discover each Friday’s line-up.
Stroll around downtown Keene’s public art murals painted in 2019 by The Walldogs, a group of over 200 sign and mural artists from around the world. If you prefer a guided tour, register for the July 5 event at 10 am with the Historical Society of Cheshire County (tickets are $12.51 per person).
Paddle or meander with the Harris Center. Check out their events list and sign up for one (or more!) excursions this month: harriscenter.org/events.
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Traveling during Independents Month? Enjoy what locally owned businesses have to offer wherever you are. Ask locals where their favorite independents are and look for local economy networks at amiba.net/our-network. Think independently and act locally this Independents Month and beyond. Together, we’ll boost the positive ripple effects our community receives when we spend more of our dollars at locally owned, independent businesses.
The Local Crowd Monadnock - Keene, NH
