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
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...
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...
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...
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 than anything.
The Playground Re-Opening event we partnered on at the Rec Center, held on the evening of July 3rd in Colebrook, was a hit! About 100 people turned out to enjoy the outdoor grounds and celebrate the return of this beloved community asset. Kids played on the playground, started up games of pickleball, volleyball and kickball, and brought picnics to have with their families. Free freeze pops, snacks, cotton candy and live music added to the fun. A few announcements were made, and a ribbon cutting was performed with the Rec Center’s new board of directors and the North Country Chamber of Commerce. We used the opportunity to gather more input from stakeholders to continue to bring a shared community vision forward to revitalize this property. It is gaining real momentum.
Pickleball has taken off at the Rec Center’s ice rink, with free lessons and games on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. and Thursday evenings at 6 p.m. drawing lots of participation. People are using the playground regularly and having gatherings at the pavilion there, and more progress is being made on development of the property. This place provides a positive gathering space, youth opportunities and wellness support to the community, aligning a few of the key interests that the public identified at the Connecting the North Country events the Hub hosted this past year. We are so glad to see this forward motion on community goals, and the shared passion our community members are showing to contribute towards them! The people that are getting involved and giving of their time and services is incredible!
Another big effort we were heavily involved in was the Firefighter Appreciation Day, held on July 19th at the Canaan, VT Rec Park. Nearly 500 people came to enjoy the festivities of this first time event. Five local fire departments (Colebrook, Beecher Falls, Errol, Pittsburg and Stratford) and two local emergency medical service departments (45th Parallel EMS & Errol Rescue Squad) were honored and recognized at the event. Two dignitaries (NH Executive Councilor from District 1- Joe Kenney, and VT State Senator- Russ Ingalls) attended the event to share remarks and Councilor Kenney gave each department a Citation letter to honor them. Several letters of support were sent in from other elected officials including a formal Commendation from NH Governor Kelly Ayotte. This showed gratitude from both New Hampshire and Vermont for these crews that work across state borders, and even into Canada. Many recognized the teamwork from the departments in battling a recent major fire at the Ethan Allen Factory in Beecher Falls, VT. It was a great day to recognize the bravery and selflessness of these crews, who work hard to keep our communities safe. The camaraderie and support for what they do is strong.
The celebration included live music by local band, Hidden Agenda Reprise, on the Catamount Arts Stage (a first for the Rec Park), food vendors, community resource vendors, firetrucks, cornhole and kids recreation games. Fundraisers for the departments took place and each group was gathered for professional photos, as well. Volunteer power, sponsors and grants made this event possible. The Canaan Rec Park Committee took the lead in organizing this event with the Community Builders Hub, working on tasks for several months leading up to the event. Canaan Naturally Connected, the Tillotson North Country Foundation, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, the Colebrook Kiwanis Club, the town of Canaan and many in-kind contributors led to the overall success of the event.
In the Hub’s community building work, we have several practices that guide us. One at top of mind lately is to “Recognize the assets of others, and within communities. Notice what people love and what gives them energy. Seek out opportunities to unleash people’s potential and help open different ways to contribute.” If we all do this, a little more each day, the positive impact will be widespread. Give someone a chance, recognize their strengths, match them up with a role they can excel at and watch the results. Team up with another group to meet a common goal. Think outside of the box. When we connect and work creatively towards what we want for our communities, we reap the rewards. I’m glad to do this work alongside you all. Let’s keep it going!