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July 28th Select Board Newsletter

Posted on: July 28, 2023 - 2:56pm

town seal

Dear Stratham Residents,
Please read below for news and notes from the Town of Stratham.  In this edition:

  • Congratulations to our Stratham Police Department!
  • Congratulations and Thank You to the Summerfest Organizers
  • Parks & Recreation Events
  • Stratham Historical Society Fundraiser
  • Open Space and Connectivity Plan
  • Roadside Mowing 
  • Clerk's Corner
  • Wiggin Memorial Library News

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 this section on our website and check the "Select Board" box under News and Announcements.

The Select Board
Michael Houghton, Chair                   Allison Knab, Vice-Chair                   Joe Anderson
 

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CONGRATULATIONS STRATHAM POLICE DEPARTMENT!
We are proud to announce that the Stratham Police Department is the first-place winner of the New England Association of Chiefs of Police Community Policing Award for the year 2022 among towns with a population under 15,000.  Read more about this impressive achievement here.

summerfest
CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU TO SUMMERFEST ORGANIZERS
It seems like everyone had a great time at Summerfest 2023!  We want to thank and congratulate the Summerfest Committee on a fantastic event celebrating Stratham and 4-H.  Thank you to John Cushing, Dan Crow, Caitlin Wollack, Seth Hickey, Butch Pierce, June Sawyer and Zach Cherry for all of your hard work and focus in making this a tremendous opportunity to meet with neighbors as well as celebrate Stratham youth, our agrarian past and present and many great traditions in the Park.

We thank everyone who showed for the wonderful breakfast and opening ceremony celebrating the legacy and contributions of Jim and Lorraine Stuart and Lynn Garland through the dedication of the Jim and Lorraine Stuart Livestock Barn and the Lynn Garland 4-H Display and Exhibition Building.

We congratulate the Stratham Police Department on their win in the softball game (2 years in a row).  Thank you to them and the Stratham Volunteer Fire Department team for an entertaining game and great end to the day.       

summerfest 6      summerfest 4

parks and rec
PARKS & RECREATION EVENTS

  • Stratham Rec Youth Soccer sign ups start August 1st
  • Food Trucks in the Park continue every Thursday from 4pm-8pm
  • Mt. Washington Fall Foliage Boat Cruise - Tuesday, September 26th 
    • Seniors Trip
    • $35 for residents, $55 for non-residents
    • Transportation provided via Coach Bus
    • More info and registration on Recdesk or feel free to call the Parks and Recreation Department


STRATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY FUNDRAISER
The Fabulous Find in Kittery will be donating a portion of their August proceeds to the Stratham Historical Society.  The Fabulous Find is an upscale resale boutique, not a thrift shop.  We hope that everyone will visit The Fabulous Find and discover some fabulous items to purchase, but if you have some items to donate and cannot make it to Kittery, please email the Historical Society and we'll get your donations to Kittery.  Learn more about this generous organization by clicking on the picture.  
the fabulous find 


DON'T FORGET TO PROVIDE YOUR INPUT TO GUIDE STRATHAM'S OPEN SPACE AND CONNECTIVITY PLAN 
Join the more than 150 Stratham residents who have already added their voices to open space and connectivity planning by completing surveys now open for your input!  Take a brief online survey by clicking here, and provide input through our GIS-based platform by clicking here.  The GIS tool allows users to pinpoint individual areas of the community where they would like to see improvements and to upload their own photos or visualizations.  Prefer to engage in person?  Then visit our tent at Food Trucks in the Park on Thursday from 4 to 6 pm at Stratham Hill Park!  Your input is important to help guide the Town’s Open Space and Connectivity Plan, a planning exercise currently underway and dedicated to providing a long-term blueprint for fostering an open space network that balances the protection of natural resources, opportunities for public access and recreation, and the enhancement of community character and heritage.  You can learn more about the Open Space & Connectivity Plan effort by viewing the project website here.


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ROADSIDE MOWING
During the first week of August, the Stratham Public Works crew will once again be performing roadside mowing.  The crew will be operating the equipment over two shifts in order to maximize the week long rental.  The equipment will be operational from 7:00 am till 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday. 

Attention will be focused on overhead and understory vegetation along main thoroughfares such as Union Road, High Street, Lovell Road, Willowbrook Avenue, Depot Road, River Road, Stratham Heights Road, Guinea Road, etc.  Staff will prune specific ornamental vegetation that is encroaching the right of way by hand method following the rental duration.

Please do not leave any items in the right of way that may be unknowingly struck by the mower, i.e. children’s toys, bicycles, hand tools, etc.  If able to, please place trash and recycling carts on road surface so that crews can work the mower around them.

Be aware that the operator is operating many controls at one time while mowing; operator does not have the ability to quickly maneuver or shut the mower down.  Please do not walk up along the side of the mower as the operator likely will not see you immediately.  If you happen along the operation while walking or cycling, please transition to the other side of the roadway before getting within two hundred feet of the mower.  Please do not allow children or pets to approach the equipment.


clerks
CLERK'S CORNER
Are you a registered Stratham voter and Interested in assisting with the upcoming 2024 elections?  We need your help!  Please email the Town Clerk at dbakie@strathamnh.gov   It’s going to be a busy year!

Did you know that if the laminate on your license plate is damaged or peeling we can replace your plates for free with plates we have available here in the office?  Stop in with your registration and plates and we’ll quickly exchange them for you.

Property Taxes were due on July 3rd.  Not sure if they have been paid?  This link can give you that info.  

library
WIGGIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY NEWS

CAKE PARTY
Friday, August 4, 2-4pm
Celebrate the end of seven wonderful weeks with our Summer Reading Wrap-Up Cake Party!  Join your friends and family at this fun event for the whole family.  We will also introduce our new Head of Youth Services, Rhonda Cunha.  We'll have cake for everyone, so bring your reading logs, get your final prizes, and get "all together now" for one last time.  No registration required.

PLAY WITH A PURPOSE: Preschool OT Playgroup Friday, August 4, 11am Join Stratham resident Jillian Gullotti, Occupational Therapist, as she facilitates this preschool-age playgroup!  Children will have fun playing, and caregivers will enjoy learning the how's and why's of fine-motor and gross-motor activities and skills.  This playgroup is not intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise provide clinical attention to children; rather, it's a way to introduce grown-ups and children to play-based skill-building, under the guidance of a professional OT.  Limited to 8 children per week.  Please register.

MONDAY MOVIE MATINEES
Mondays at 12pm
Beginning on Monday, August 7, we will be screening movies in our meeting room.  Beat the heat with our free air conditioning and enjoy a hand-picked film!  Our first presentation will be Book Club 2 starring Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, and Mary Steenburgen.


Want to provide the Select Board with your feedback?
Please click here to reach out to each Select Board member.