by Michael Mortensen from https://www.concordmonitor.com With the cloud of COVID largely lifted, motorcyclists returned in droves over the weekend to mark the start of Laconia Motorcycle Week. Weirs Beach, the traditional epicenter of the event, was bustling by mid-morning Saturday. “I think it’s going to be a banner week,” predicted Mayor Andrew Hosmer, who did walkabouts in The Weirs with City Manager Scott Myers on Saturday and Sunday. Public safety officials reported the kick-off to the event, which wraps up this coming weekend, was largely trouble-free. “There were large crowds, but very few police events,” Police Chief Matt Canfield said during a news conference Monday morning at the Naswa Resort. Hosmer agreed that things have been going smoothly. “It’s a good atmosphere,” he said during a telephone interview Monday. The weather – with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 70s, coupled with low humidity – helped bring out the crowds. Motorcyclists began pouring into the area on Saturday. Parking spaces on Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach, which during the nine-day event are for motorcycles only, were mostly taken by mid-morning Saturday. Bikers strolled up and down the street browsing and buying from vendors who were hawking all sorts of biker paraphernalia, as well as from local nonprofits like the Laconia Kiwanis Club, whose members were selling cold bottled water and soda. Members of the National Guard were stationed at a tent next to Rally Headquarters on the boardwalk offering COVID vaccinations. About three dozen people were vaccinated over the weekend, according to Charlie St. Clair, executive director of the Laconia Motorcycle Week Association. The clinic will continue for the rest of the week. “The state is trying to get out to events like this (to set up vaccination clinics), ” Laconia Fire Chief Kirk Beattie explained. The fire chief told the news
