April 24th Select Board Newsletter

seal

Dear Stratham Residents,

Please read below for news and notes from the Town of Stratham.  

In this edition:

  • Welcome to our New Town Treasurer
  • Stratham Fair Update
  • Town Clerk News
  • New Online Option for Burn Permits
  • Library Highlights
  • Historical Society Project
  • Parks & Recreation Updates

Please remind your neighbors about this resource for keeping on top of information from the Town.  To sign-up for these updates and other notifications, please visit: https://www.strathamnh.gov/subscribe.

The Select Board
Michael Houghton, Chairman          Joe Lovejoy, Vice Chair                 Allison Knab

WELCOME TO THE NEW TOWN TREASURER
The Town is very pleased to welcome Tracy Abbott as the new Town Treasurer.  Tracy has over 20 years’ experience in business management.  In addition, she has served as Chair on the Recreation Board for more than 10 years.  We are fortunate to have residents like Tracy who are willing to serve the community and are grateful that Tracy has joined our team!

STRATHAM FAIR
The Stratham Fair Committee has decided to cancel the 53rd annual Stratham Fair due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Stay healthy and safe!

FROM THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE
An update from the Town Clerk’s office regarding our services due to the COVID 19 virus.

  • The Secretary of State and Attorney General have written an important memorandum regarding absentee voting during this public health emergency. This memo explains the new process and procedure in Absentee Voting due to the COVID 19 Virus for the September 2020 Primary Election and the November 2020 General Election.  For more details, including highlights from the memo, please read here.
  • The NH DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES 20-day plates as well as NH AUTHORIZED DEALER 20-day plates issued on or after February 26, 2020 have been given an automatic extension through May 31, 2020. Car Inspections have not been given an extension.
  • Notary services are suspended until further notice.  Please check with your bank to see if they still offer this service as they are still open to the Public.
  • In an effort to keep you and our staff safe, Motor Vehicle renewals will be handled by mail or on-line only unless your registration has already expired.
  • There have been no extensions granted by the State to license your dog(s).  They are due April 30th.  However, May is a grace month with no extra fees.   Please license your dog by mail or on-line by April 30th, or by May 31st at the latest.
  • Property tax bills will go out mid-May with a due date of July 1st.
  • Please call us if you have expired plates, purchased a vehicle that does not have temporary plates, or are new to Town.  We will try to accommodate your needs while keeping everyone safe.

FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Stratham Fire Department along with the State of NH Division of Forest and Lands have set up online Burn permits for residents.  An online application and instructions for burn requirements can be found here.  Residents can get an online burn permit for any of the following:

Daily or a Seasonal Category 1 Permit
Daily or a Seasonal Category 2 Permit
Daily Category 3 Permit

HIGHLIGHT: LIBRARY SERVICES ACCESSIBLE AT HOME
The library has free downloading and streaming of books, audiobooks, movies, music, TV, and magazines. Get to these things through the library website ( https://library.strathamnh.gov) and use your library card. Need a card? Send an email  (wigginml@comcast.net) and it will get activated quickly.

Missing story time? Need some activities to do with the kids at home? The library has online options for all of that. Visit our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/WigginMemorialLibrary/) to find updates on story time recordings, Maker Mondays, and bits and pieces (a collection of shorter activities for younger kids). And the website ( https://www.library.strathamnh.gov/kids-room)

Need tech help for all the new digital communication you are doing or online downloading and streaming? The library can help with that! Tech help by phone, Zoom, or email – whatever works for you! Send to wigginml@comcast.net or leave a message at 772-4346.

Would you (or someone you know) appreciate a friendly phone call from the library? Librarians are making lots of “hello, how are you?” calls and we’d love to talk to you! Send an email (wigginml@comcast.net) or leave a message at 772-4346.

STRATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY  -   An Oral History of a Pandemic in Stratham, NH 2020
SHPSIGN

A call to Stratham’s residents to tell us your pandemic stories for our town’s oral history

We’re all living through a new once-in-a-century crisis that will rewrite our economy, society and geopolitics for years to come.  After 9/11, it has become clear there is a big difference between experiencing history and writing history.  The history we teach and tell about traumatic events is much neater and cleaner than the messy reality any of us experienced at the time.  Think of all the terms we rattle off in conversations today (social distancing, N95, PPE, flattening of the curve) that would have been all but meaningless if not unknown just a few months ago.  What don’t we know today that a month from now will be blindingly obvious to our future selves?

Please write in and share your own stories - how your life has been affected, how your work has changed, how people around you are handling this, how your children are coping with social distancing and remote learning, etc…  Email us your stories to us at info@strathamhistsoc.org or mail in your submissions to Stratham Historical Society / COVID Project P.O. Box 39 - Stratham, NH 03885.  

Write as little or as much as you wish.  Send us photos that tell the story of the changes in our lives.  Share your children’s drawings and notes that relate to this unusual event.  Please kindly provide your name and contact information so we can follow up later.

PARKS & RECREATION UPDATES 
food truck rescheduled

The Great Bay Food Truck Festival was recently rescheduled for Saturday, August 29th. 

4/17 Cancellation of Spring Sports - The Stratham Parks and Recreation Department has decided to cancel our recreation baseball and softball programs for the 2020 spring season.  This decision was informed in part by the Governor’s recent decision to extend remote learning through the rest of the school year. Read More 

Stratham Hill Park Trail Race Series - Due to COVID-19 and New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services guidance to stay at home and away from public places we have decided to cancel the Stratham Trail Running Series this May. This decision was not made lightly as we love kicking off the spring season with races at Stratham Hill Park. A public notice was issued on April 7th temporarily closing the parking lots at Stratham Hill Park. Please note the trail system remains open for those who can access the park via foot or bike.

We have extended our FREE and ONLINE classes to the community. Visit RecDesk to learn more about the following classes. 

  • Karate For Everyone Classes (Tuesday & Thursday at 12pm)
  • LEGO® Build Session (Tuesday & Thursday at 11am)
  • Wicked Fun Art (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at 10am)
  • Senior Social (Thursday at 1pm)
  • Introduction to meditation and mindfulness (Friday at 11:30am)