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March 4th Select Board Newsletter - Special Edition

Posted on: March 4, 2022 - 2:40pm

town seal
Dear Stratham Residents,

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

  • Town Election & Town Meeting Information
  • Voter Information Night Video Now Available
  • Planning Board Openings
  • Age Friendly Community Survey
  • Reminder - Political Sign Policy
  • Stratham 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

TOWN MEETING INFORMATION
Last week's Special Newsletter highlighted Town Meeting information. Please see that newsletter for important information about Town Meeting.  What to expect for COVID precautions, NEW location for the Town Election on March 8th (Stratham Memorial School) and information about proposed appropriations and zoning articles (including our Voter Information Guide and other information to be found at our Town Meeting 2022 webpage).

PLEASE NOTE:  The Town Clerk’s Office will be open until 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March the 7th for regular transactions but will remain open until 5:00 p.m. in order to accept absentee ballots.

VOTER INFORMATION NIGHT VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE
Thank you to all who attended, all of the candidates, and the Wiggin Memorial Library team who contributed to a very successful Voter Information Night.  There was a great turnout in person and online (well over 100 attendees) and we really got to know the people and topics that will be on the ballot and at Town Meeting.  The videorecording of the event is now available - please pass along to friends and neighbors!

BOARDS & COMMITTEES:  OPEN POSITIONS - HIGHLIGHT - PLANNING BOARD
Boards and Commission terms expire with each Town Meeting, we have several regular and alternate seats on many Boards and Commissions that are up for reappointment.  Please take a look at the list and consider lending your time and talent to the Town in these ways.  Please also read through the Select Board Policy on Boards and Commissions Appointments at the landing page above, which also includes a link to our application.

VOLUNTEER BOARD AND COMMISSIONS HIGHLIGHT:  PLANNING BOARD
There are upcoming vacancies on the Stratham Planning Board. The Planning Board reviews current development applications, leads many long-term planning efforts – including the development and adoption of the Town’s Master Plan, and oversees land use regulations and proposed zoning amendments.  If you would like to help plan for Stratham’s future, including planning related to housing supply and affordability, transportation, environmental sustainability, the balance of preservation and development pressures, and promoting community vitality, consider submitting an application to serve on the Planning Board. Interested residents are encouraged to contact the Planning Department to learn more about the Board’s current initiatives at planning@strathamnh.gov or to complete an application, available here.  Candidates with a background in civil engineering or previous experience on land use boards are especially encouraged to apply

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.

POLITICAL SIGN POLICY
As a reminder to all political candidates and their supporters, the Town's policy on signage can be found here.

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 to very deserving students.

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.

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