1. On Aug. 20 at the Jones Homestead in Milton, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the New Hampshire Farm Museum held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the move of the historic 1801 Plummer Ridge School House to the museum. The move came with the full support of the Milton Board of Selectmen. The Plummer Ridge School House will undergo repairs and renovations to ultimately serve as an interpretation of the evolution in education in rural New England.
2. The New England Rural Health Association held its annual Rural Health Student Summit on Saturday, Sept. 6, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. About 125 students representing every New England state attended. The program featured keynote remarks from rural health experts and policymakers and interactive breakout sessions designed to prepare students for future service in rural healthcare.
3. The YMCA of Greater Nashua has received a $10,000 Sports Matter grant from the DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation. The funds will be used to help send more than 100 children from Greater Nashua to attend YMCA Summer Camps through the Y Cares Financial Assistance Program. Staff members from DICK’s Sporting Goods store in Nashua met with YMCA leadership members at Camp Sargent in Merrimack to see how the funds will help children who might not have the opportunity to take part in structured activities and outdoor play.
4. The nonprofit Gather’s Seacoast Waste Not program has produced more than 129,000 meals in its inaugural year. This is a pilot program that aims to repurpose quality food from more than 50 regional hospitality and food-service businesses, including restaurants, caterers, agricultural groups and more. Gather provides food directly to New Hampshire residents experiencing food insecurity. Gather Culinary Director Tania Marino says, during this first year, they saved about 140,000 pounds of food from landfills, cutting down on greenhouse gases.
5. On Aug. 28, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce and the Rochester School Department held a ribbon-cutting to commemorate the opening of the new Salmon Falls School. The school, on Salmon Falls Road, was scheduled to open Sept. 2 and is expected to accommodate more than 400 K-5 students. The $33.6 million project was funded through state and local contributions, with Rochester City Council approving $15.5 million and $15.77 million from the NH Department of Education. An open house is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
6. The NH Bankers Association announces the completion of its Inaugural Leadership Foundations Program, which launched in January. The initiative is aimed at shaping the next group of NH banking industry leaders. Thirteen future leaders from NH-based member banks participated in the program, which offered a mix of leadership skills, industry know-how and experiential learning. The program is co-sponsored by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) and the Community Bankers Association of New Hampshire.
7. Benchmark at Rye has opened a Welcome Center on 295 Lafayette Road and announces new assisted living offerings that will be available in the spring. The new 60,000-square-foot addition includes 70 studio, and one- and two-bedroom assisted living apartments in varying sizes and floor plans. At the center, prospective residents, their family members and professionals will be able to get an introduction to Benchmark at Rye and its offerings around the Northeast and in New Hampshire. Other Benchmark locations in New Hampshire include Bedford, Concord, Nashua and Salem.
