Nearly three years into this community building work, positive momentum is building in our communities, and it’s all from working together. It starts with being observant, knowing the landscape, meeting people where they are at and identifying the gaps. It grows...
Hub Happenings in the Canaan / Colebrook / Stratford Region
Previous Events
Summer 2025, July-August: Big things are happening!
Some big things happened for community building this summer in the North Country, with the progress at the North Country Community Recreation Center and the success of the Firefighter Appreciation Day we helped to plan. But the small things matter too, sometimes more...
Spring 2025- Unleashing Community Power!
Looking back at what took place from late March to the end of June in the Stratford/Colebrook/Canaan area, here are some highlights in community building work that come to mind: The 2nd Ann. Coffee & Muffins before Stratford’s Annual Town Meeting was a positive...
Community Building Recap – Building Relationships & Aligning Goals
Community building activities and events from this past fall and winter in northern Coos and northeastern Essex County have truly served to strengthen community ties and align goals. Energy is building around common issues of importance, and community members are...
Summer Event Highlights up North
This summer was very busy, but a couple of events I was heavily involved in stood out as truly embodying the work we are doing in community building. After several months of planning with local partners, we pulled together a very successful Splash Pad Social at the...
Summer Picnic & Play Series!
We are teaming up with the Family Resource Center to host a series of three “Picnic & Play” meet-ups on Fridays at parks in the North Country this summer. After listening to what families we were looking for, we came up with fun offerings at three different...
Stewartstown Student Showcase
The classroom showcase will be from 5:00 to 5:30 pm. Pizza will be available from 5 to 5:45 pm The concert will begin at 6:00 pm We are excited to be partnering with the Stewartstown Community School on an event on May 30th, starting at 5 p.m. at the school. As a way...
Stratford Community Pre-Town Meeting Social
On the morning of March 16th, residents of the Stratford area are invited to the Fuller Town Hall, located at 1956 US Route 3 to visit prior to the town meeting. The Community Builders Hub is providing free coffee, and the Stratford Grange 238 will be offering...
Sunday Funday at “The Tilly”
Families are invited to come play board games at the Tillotson Center for the Arts in Colebrook, from 3-5 p.m. on January 21 and 28. We will have tables set up for families to sit down and choose a board game to play together for the afternoon, as well as...
CBH December Happenings – up North!
In Canaan, VT we have been working closely with the organization, Canaan Naturally Connected, as their activities align well with our community building efforts. We were glad to help empower and connect a new member of the group to lead the planning of a new series...
Strengthening Our Communities – Stratford Rising
Stratford is definitely on a positive up-swing, and the community is making that happen together.
As a Community Steward I meet a lot of people and hear about a wide range of needs and goals in the area I serve. The challenge is to find and prioritize common threads that impact many, and increase connections for progress. I’m really excited about the energy that is rising with collaborative efforts across the region. I’ve created a regional CBH Facebook group for community members to share information on events, resources and happenings, and it is proving to help people to learn about and participate in things they may not have otherwise known about. Effective communication is powerful.
Our stories help folks to understand our work. Today I’ll share a bit about the work being done in one town. In the Stratford community over the past year, through deep listening, showing up and taking action to connect the dots, I’ve helped to better connect the school (including students!), library, town, organizations, businesses and residents to work together on projects and issues of importance.
In this time we’ve joined forces to launch a children’s playgroup at the library that has built relationships for families and better utilized a renovated public space; brought community into a visioning process and involvement in improving a recreation park in the north of town; provided resources to address challenges in the school community and brought folks together for fun, social time.
The weekly playgroup originated from talks with parents, the town and the library. It has been beneficial in providing a positive place for social interactions and connections for new families in the area, stay-at-home moms, a senior train enthusiast who has created a model train display for the kids to enjoy, a childcare provider looking for ways to engage her kids, and often grandparents have come to play with their grandchildren, as well. The conversations and camaraderie that have developed there is so promising, and participants are carrying it forward.
We are super-connectors, working alongside neighbors to build up our communities and forge positive collaborations. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this small town which I call home, as well. Stratford is definitely on a positive up-swing, and the community is making that happen together.