Main Street, USA and Candy Apples

Main Street, Concord, NH

Capital Plaza, Main Street, Concord, NH

State House, Main Street, Concord, NH

The three photos are pictures of my home town - Concord, NH.  Like many "Main Streets" across America, shops are now vacant, as businesses have moved away from Main Street and relocated in nearby shopping malls (if they haven't simply gone "out of business").  Main Street, Concord has a few restaurants, law offices in the Capital Plaza building, a corner furniture shop, a CVS used mostly for prescriptions, a Radio Shack, shoe store, and a few specialty shops selling beads, jewelry and watches, and of course, the State House which is the loveliest part of downtown, situated at one end of Main Street.

During the day, the employees and government workers keep the sidewalks busy, but for the most part, after business hours, it appears to be a "Ghost Town", with the sidewalks pulled up after 5 PM and all the workers go back to their homes.  

My 18 year old granddaughter loves to bike ride and yesterday, she decided to ride downtown and take a look at the shops.  She came back excited to tell me the latest news - a new ice cream shop had opened for business and she saw through the window a tray of candy apples!  She said, "Oh Grammy, I only had a dollar and did not know how much the candy apples were, so I did not go inside."  

Well, I have never outgrown my love for candy apples!  Forget the ice cream, I wanted a candy apple too!

So, today I told my granddaughter that when she takes her bike ride, I would be happy to give her money for two candy apples and without a second to spare, she was peddling her bike downtown.  Fifteen minutes later, she called me on her cell phone to inform me that the price of ONE candy apple was $11.50.  Whoa!  Wow!  Needless to say, my granddaughter came home without candy apples!

New Hampshire is known as the "apple" (and pumpkin) state - with apple orchards sprinkled throughout the towns and countryside.  Of course, this is not the season for apples, but the average price for candy apples in the local markets is $1.99 and during the fall "Fairs", candy apples are sold at Fairs/Festivals for $5.00.  FIVE DOLLARS is expensive for candy apples, but when you are attending a New England Fall Fair, that's the going price and you expect to pay it as part of the day's outing - no problem.  However, for anyone to expect folks to purchase candy apples at $11.50 in today's economy is outrageous.

CANDY APPLES

Unemployment rate is high, parents out of work, teenagers can't find work, homes foreclosures throughout the town, folks worried about feeding their families and giving up their pets because they can't afford the expense of caring for them, and for the most part, if you aren't a government employee, or working in the local stores downtown or in the malls, you are one of MILLIONS counting pennies for a gallon of milk and loaf of bread.

I have no idea how long the "new" ice cream/candy apple shop will remain open on Main Street.  I'll keep you posted, but it doesn't look like we'll be one of its customers. But, "things are always great" downtown!

Petula Clark - Downtown