A ‘normal’ ceremony honors three deserving and influential Granite Staters

As life returns to the way it used to be in New Hampshire, people have experienced maskless grocery shopping, walks down Main Street, hugs, board meetings in person for the first time, and other things we would never have questioned as normal two years ago. What a difference a pandemic can make.

In the spirit of this awakening, this writer and a host of others had the chance to attend an in-person awards ceremony on June 3 in Plymouth, at the Barn on the Pemi facility owned by The Common Man. The event was the annual Robert Frost/Raymond Burton Award ceremony, sponsored by Plymouth State University. Common Man owner Alex Ray, a true New Hampshire hero, was on hand to be sure the return went off without a hitch — and succeeded.

There are a lot of New Hampshire matters running around in the title of that ceremony. First, combining the names of one of the country’s most famous 20 th century poets with an iconic New Hampshire stateman who worked on the local level, is at least ironic. Robert Frost taught at the higher education institution in Plymouth for one year, which is enough to claim him as its own. Ray Burton, the longtime executive councilor and Grafton County commissioner, was one of the legendary local officials who understood constituent service.

His famous statement, “Governors come, governors go, We councilors keep going on and on,” sums up a reality of New Hampshire government.

Speakers, including Ray, recalled Burton’s dedication to campaigning — participating in four or more 4th of July parades in a day, for instance. More important, they recalled his scores of interns, dedicated to helping the people of the North Country.

Most important were the honorees.

The honorees and their guests were enthusiastic at the chance to be recognized.

First honored was Sen. Lou D’Alessandro, Democratic state senator from Manchester. Introduced and honored by former Gov. John Lynch, D’Alessandro was recognized for his generations of service to the state, as state representative and executive councilor, candidate for governor in 1982 (as a Republican), college president and, for the last many years, Democratic state senator from Manchester. Lynch recognized the essential decency of D’Alessandro, and the fact that he had been joined by Burton on the Council in the age of Meldrim Thomson, another Republican with whom they did not agree.

Bill Zeliff, Jackson innkeeper, GOP congressman, businessman, statesman and, later, lobbyist, was honored next. Ill, he was unable to attend, but Commissioner Taylor Caswell, a former Zeliff staff member, did a fine job honoring the former congressman’s service to his adopted state. Equally important was Zeliff’s work in running the Christmas Farm Inn in Jackson and promoting business in New Hampshire.

Finally, Concord businesswoman

Amanda Grappone Osmer, principal in the Grappone Companies in Bow, was recognized — at least one generation younger than the other honorees.

Arriving in a Mustang Mach E electric vehicle, which generated a great deal of interest, Osmer was joined by her father and family as well as colleagues from her company.

Honored not just for her business acumen, which is significant, Osmer’s contributions to charitable and civic activities such as The Dewey School, Canterbury Shaker Village, and many others, were the primary reason for honoring her.

In his welcoming remarks Lynch, a dealership customer, cited the value and respect employees of the business expressed about Osmer.

An event such as that at Plymouth was important for its substance, but also symbolic as the first return to normalcy for those in attendance.

The state of New Hampshire, as all this was going on, loosened or eliminated restrictions for those vaccinated, so life on the street opened up for many. A sign of the pent-up demand was the inability to get reservations at restaurants, the inability to get rental cars and the sudden increase in air travel.

Finally, on June 8-9, the New Hampshire Gives event, sponsored by the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits again succeeded in demonstrating the generosity of Granite Staters, raising significant amounts of money for scores of nonprofit organizations that provide so many social service, cultural and educational resources for our state.

All in all, not a bad season for the Granite State!

Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bradfordcook01@gmail.com.