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March 11th Select Board Newsletter

See you at the Town Meeting Second Session on Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
Posted on: March 11, 2022 - 3:15pm

town seal
Dear Stratham Residents,

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

  • Town Meeting Reminder - What to Expect
  • Report from the SHP Trail Management Advisory Committee
  • Age Friendly Community Committee Update
  • Historical Society Upcoming Programs

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

WHAT TO EXPECT AT TOWN MEETING FOR SECOND SESSION - Saturday, March 12th at 9:00 a.m.
Masks are recommended to be worn for this session.  In the auditorium at CMS, a cordoned off area will be available for those who wish to be seated only with other masked attendees.  At this second session, there is no opportunity to complete an absentee ballot.  The meeting will be held at the Cooperative Middle School at 100 Academic Way.  At this session, voters will act on the remaining Town Warrant articles (Articles 12-18). 

The auditorium at CMS is very easy to find.  Please park in the main parking lot in front of the school, please enter through the main entrance, which is clearly marked above the entry doors.  

To prepare for the 2022 Town Meeting, information can be found on our Town Meeting page.  Some information that can be found there includes:

We have printed copies of the 2021 Annual Town Report at the Municipal Center.  They will also be available at Town Meeting.  Please remember to pick up your copy!

TRAIL MANAGEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEEE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS COMPLETED
At their regularly scheduled meeting on February 22nd, Select Board received the final report back from the Trail Management Advisory Committee.  This product was over a year in the making, brought together by a group of people who deepened their knowledge of the Park as well as the trail system and its complexities, and offered a roadmap for ongoing stewardship of the trail systems through a variety of recommendations.  Funding for implementing this phased plan is in the Town of Stratham Capital Improvement Plan.  The Select Board expressed their appreciation of the fact that this report threads together a variety of other reports and background information that the trail system has been the focus of in the past (Forestry Management Plan and Snow Hawk Trails Assessment) as well as our existing ordinances and records documenting the successful efforts to bring voices in to inform the process and provide input. The Board will be working with the staff to determine next steps for addressing the report recommendations. 

The Select Board is very appreciative of the Committee members who worked so hard and earnestly on this effort.  Commitee members included: Scott Zeller and Kate Dardinski Co-chairs, Edie Barker, Greg Blood, Patricia Weideman, Kevin O’Brien, and William McCarthy; the Committee was staffed by Parks & Recreation Director Seth Hickey.  Thank you all!

AGE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY SURVEY
What characteristics make Stratham a great place to grow up and grow old?  Do you have thoughts on how Stratham can best engage and support older adults?  If so, we want to hear from you! Stratham is working with the Rockingham Planning Commission (RPC) and Rockingham Nutrition Meals on Wheels Program (RNMOW) on a regional Age-Friendly Communities initiative to understand the needs of older adults now and in the future.

The first step in the assessment is a community survey. Your voice will help us understand what is working now and what is needed.  It will take approximately 10-15 minutes. Paper copies are available at the Town Offices and Library or click here to take the survey now! 

The work in Stratham is being led by a local project steering committee made up of town staff, elected officials and residents. For questions please contact the Rockingham Planning Commission: (603) 778-0885 or visit www.therpc.org.

STRATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY UPCOMING ZOOM PROGRAMS
On Monday, March 14, 2022, the Stratham Historical Society jointly with Wiggin Memorial Library will present a program, “A Walk Back in Time:  The Secrets of Cellar Holes”,  a Zoom program by Adair Mulligan.  Northern New England is full of reminders of past lives: stone walls, old foundations, a century-old lilac struggling to survive as the forest reclaims a once-sunny dooryard.  What forces shaped settlement, and later abandonment, of these places?  In this Zoom presentation, Adair Mulligan explores the rich story to be discovered in what remains behind.  This is a New Hampshire Humanities program.  Join us on Monday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m.   Please register on the Library’s website Event Calendar to receive the Zoom link.   

An additional March Zoom program is scheduled for Wednesday, March 23 at 6:00 p.m.  “Civil War Soldiers’ Quilts – A Presentation by Pamela Weeks”, a New Hampshire Humanities program, discusses quilts made for use by soldiers during the Civil War that are very rare-only twenty are known to exist, and Pam Weeks has studied most of them in person. This illustrated lecture outlines the origins of the U. S. Sanitary Commission at the beginning of the Civil War and examines the roles women played on the home front, and as nurses. The stories of fourteen actual Civil War soldiers' quilts will be highlighted in this program.  This Zoom event, co-sponsored by the Stratham Historical Society and the Wiggin Memorial Library also requires advance registration at the library’s Event Calendar website.

SCHOLARSHIPS AT STRATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
Applications are being accepted for Stratham Historical Society’s Winfield Foote Scholarships and Benefactor Grant award.  Detailed instructions as to eligibility, application forms, deadlines, list of required documents and method of submission may be found on the Stratham Historical Society’s Scholarship page.  Any questions may be left on the voicemail at (937) 478-0125, well in advance of the deadline. Last year the Society recognized nine very deserving students.  To date, the Winfield L. Foote Scholarships for Academic Excellence program has awarded over $110,000.

STRATHAM HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S ANNUAL SPRING ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Please mark your calendars for the Stratham Historical Society’s Annual Spring Antiques Roadshow, (Antique Appraisal Day), Sunday, April 10, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.  As we continue to closely monitor COVID trends, our priority is to reasonably assure the safety of our appraisers, members and our guests before we proceed with an in-person gathering.  Please watch for updates.  Remember to check the Society’s Facebook page, or website.  You may also call:  603-778-0434 to confirm the event.

WML
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