Community Food Pantry serves Growing Numbers

By Larry Favinger
Staff Columnist

SOMERSWORTH—
In the month of October the Community Food Pantry provided about 12,000 meals to families in Somersworth and Rollinsford, N.H., and Berwick, Maine.
What the pantry does for those who qualify is to provide enough food for three meals a day for five days when they visit the distribution center in the basement of First Parish United Church of Christ at 176 West High St.
That’s the norm for the pantry but during this holiday season there’s a little extra work done by a multitude of people with the support of the local community.
Just last Saturday the pantry provided its version of Thanksgiving Baskets, as more than 275 families filed through the line to collect a turkey and all the fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner.
The pantry has no paid staff, according to Tom Brown, who with his wife, Diane, serve as co-directors of the pantry. Over 60 volunteers do the work, he said, and they, along with what he terms tremendous community support, make it all happen.
Although hosted by the First Parish United Church of Christ, the pantry is nondenominational and supported by six area churches. These include the host church, the Berwick United Methodist, Dormition of the Virgin Mary, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and Our Lady of the Angels.
According to the pantry’s history, it was started at the invitation of Rev. Mark Rideout of First Parish to allow the area churches to join in an effort to relieve hunger and to consolidate the services of each of those churches.
This action was started in 1991. Each participating church is represented on the Board of Directors, and each church provides volunteers and food.
Mr. Brown said a pantry was rotating between the churches until The Rev. Mr. Rideout “brought people together and pooled their resources,” forming the current version of the pantry.
Originally “if we got 60 families a month we were doing good,” Mr. Brown said, but there has been a steady increase over the years.
There are 275 regulars now, Brown said, and that includes an increase of 20 percent a year in each of the last two years.
Recently, he said, there has also been a change in the type of people using the service. There are now some self-employed and contractors included. “That was not the norm in the past,” he said.
Due to the growth of the pantry, the space generously allowed by the church is becoming inadequate.
Mr. Brown continually spoke of the community support and how important it was from communities in both Maine and New Hampshire. Due to a lack of storage area at First Parish, the pantry has turned to the housing authority that has allowed space in the Old Queensbury Mill building.
Mr. Brown said the pantry is looking for larger quarters in the near future.
According to its web site the Community Food Pantry serves canned, frozen, dry and ready-to-serve foods for a variety of meals that are planned to provide enough meals for five days.
It also provides extras that help stretch the food supply over the month as those items become available. Most of the food is donated.
The pantry does receive items from USDA foods and also orders from the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn, Maine. The foods from Good Shepherd have a very small maintenance fee of 16 cents a pound. This food must be transported from Alfred, Maine.
In addition, the pantry receives food monthly from the Food Rescue Program in Sanford, Maine. This food is provided at no cost.
The pantry also receives bread and pastries from Shaw's and Hannaford Supermarkets of Dover, and baked beans and other goodies from B & M in Portland, Maine.
The pantry uses USDA guidelines for eligibility to use the pantry. Brown said there is some extra paper work to do because of the operation in two states.
Community groups in all three towns are active in helping the pantry stay stocked with sufficient food to do its job. Students in the Somersworth Youth Connection at Somersworth Middle School provided the equivalent of three Thanksgiving baskets for the pantry and scouts from the communities also collect food.
The pantry is open Monday from 10 a.m. until noon, Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m.
Information is available by calling the pantry at (603) 692-2907 or the church at (603) 692-2057.
Photo caption: Volunteers at the Community Food Pantry filled boxes of food to be distributed for Thanksgiving in the basement of the First Parish Church of Christ in Somersworth. The group included, left to right, Lorraine Couture, Lu Bachelder, Helen Garneau and Carol Cavanaugh. (Larry Favinger photo)

Open Studios Weekend attracts Thousands

By Larry Favinger
Staff Columnist

ROLLINSFORD—
Thousands of art lovers visited Open Studios 2009 at the Salmon Falls Mills over last weekend. The twice a year event drew more than 3,000 people a year ago and it was expected a like number from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and beyond would visit the studios this year.
“It was a nice and busy day,” Sam Goodall, who has a studio in the lower mill, said Sunday afternoon. “It was a nice turnout of people.”
Goodall does custom art tiles for insulation along with mixed media sculpture and “lots of things ceramics related.” Her tiles are used for many things including to surround a fireplace and to decorate kitchens.
She has had a studio in the mill for over two years, moving to Rollinsford from Portsmouth.
Diane Minuti moved to a studio in the upper mill six months ago so was involved in her first open studio activity.
“I love it,” she said. “I’ve met interesting people.”
Ms. Minuti, who lives in Candia and commutes to her studio daily, said it gave her an opportunity to meet other artists as well. “It’s incredible,” she said.
Robert Nichols of Eliot was a guest at the upper mill and was working on caning a chair. He said the concept is great in that it gives people an opportunity to see an artist work, talk to the artist about it and also learn how it is done.
He said many people know what caning is but “it’s nice to see it done” as well.
“We’ve had a very good crowd,” Nancy W. Fulton, who formerly had a studio in the mill and was another artist invited to display their work, said. She and her two partners do work in jewelry and other aspects of art.
The open studio program included woodworking and fine furniture making, photography, pottery making, weaving and much, much more. Over 100 artists displayed their wares during the two-day event.
The Open Studio is organized by the artists themselves and held twice a year, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and Mother’s Day weekend in the spring.
Parking was at a premium both days with on street parking and the mill’s parking lots near capacity.
Activities and entertainment were also part of the celebration. There were magic shows, and kids’ craft projects at the library.
There was live music, performances by an actors’ company, and face-painting performances for children.
There were also live demonstrations by some of the resident artists.
Photo caption: People visiting the lower mill during the Open Studio celebration at the Mills at Salmon Falls had a lot to look at during the two-day festivities. More than 100 artists displayed their art last weekend. (Larry Favinger photo)

Portsmouth Tea Company in Somersworth announces its 1 Year Anniversary

SOMERSWORTH—

Portsmouth Tea Company, a gourmet tea company in Somersworth, began selling teas 5 years ago on the Internet and in specialty shops all over the U.S. It was formally located in the mill building downtown and later migrated north to a more visible location at 475 High St, where it added a café and retail shop. Portsmouth Tea Company was recognized in Real Simple Magazine in 2007.
“We are honored to still be around in this tough economy and grateful to all of our customers, new and old, for being so loyal to our wonderful tea line,” says Marshall Malone, store proprietor. “Our café was an experiment, created to give people a wonderful opportunity to experience good tea done well – then take it home with them.”
Malone says that the mill was a wonderful place to begin his business, but did not provide enough contact with customers who had trouble locating them. “Now I can serve tea all day and watch the smiles. The reactions we see here are remarkable!”
Portsmouth Tea distributes their teas in shops, restaurants and inns all over the U.S. with the heaviest concentration in New England and the South East. They carry over 80 gourmet teas and sell them in 3 sizes (small tin, large tin, pound) at the shop and online at www.portsmouthtea.com. These teas range by category; black tea, green tea, white tea, oolong tea, herbal tea, Rooibos (Red Tea) and fruit tea.
The tea industry was a $1billion business in 1991 and is now approaching $10 billion in 2010, with over 80% being served iced or in bottles. The bottled tea market is growing at 25% per year and the specialty tea market, like Portsmouth Tea, is growing 15% per year. Though the economy has suffered recently, the tea industry has held fast due to the large number of health claims due to tea.
“If coffee is iconic of the fast paced unhealthy lifestyle, tea is the cure,” claims Malone. Our café was designed to provide “comfort, life and beauty,” with no drive-through but comfortable food - rich in discovery.”
Portsmouth Tea begins its Holiday Campaign on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) by modifying its hours for two days on Friday and Saturday to 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. During the remainder of the holiday season they will be open Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. “We are either a great place to shop or a great place to take a break from it,” says Malone.
For more information on Portsmouth Tea Company, call 877-397-9541, follow on Twitter.com/portsmouthtea or become a friend on Facebook.