Dover Chamber Names 2010 Educator of the Year

DOVER—
Cited as an “an individual that exemplifies every piece of our school’s mission and philosophy” and for her leadership not only within the school, but throughout the community, St. Mary’s Academy Kindergarten Teacher, Mary McKernan is named as the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Educator of the Year. Underwritten by Liberty Mutual and Measured Progress, the program was developed to honor local educators who demonstrate excellence in education. Ms. McKernan will receive a $500 cash award to be used for educational purposes, as well as a special commemorative award designating her as the 2010 Educator of the Year.
Nominations for McKernan were received from parents, colleagues, administrators and students. St. Mary’s principal Bobi White commented in her nomination letter, “Mary is the strongest member of our team who constantly offers support and is a true team-player. Its hard to believe one person can accomplish all that she does.”
The selection of the Chamber’s Teacher of the Year is based on the following criteria. The teacher must: have daily contact with students and instill in them a desire to learn and achieve; understand the individual needs of students, encourage their talents, and build confidence and self-esteem; demonstrate a thorough knowledge of subject matter and the ability to share it effectively with students; be making a positive contribution to the community; and demonstrate participation and leadership in professional development activities and Foster cooperative relationships with his or her colleagues.
The Educator of the Year Award is selected annually by the Education Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The committee’s goal is to work with local educational institutions and businesses to promote an educated workforce. “We were pleased with the amount of nominations we received from both public and private schools in the greater Dover area,” said Executive Director, Kirt Schuman, “The wide array of positions, from teachers, to teams, to librarians, represented by our nominees illustrates the strength of the educational opportunities available in our community and why Dover is rapidly earning the reputation as the Family Capital of the Seacoast.”
McKernan provides the ‘critical step’ in a child’s education and helps a child make the right choices early in their educational path. Beyond being a kindergarten teacher, she organizes ski trips for the students, coordinates staff volunteer opportunities, runs the summer and in home programs and lastly, even works to ensure that school sidewalks are cleared on snowy days.

Farmers’ Markets Open This Week

DOVER—
The outdoor farmers’ market season continues to pick up pace with the opening of the Durham, Hampton and Dover markets on June 7, 8 and 9, respectively. Markets are held rain or shine every week through mid-October. New locations in Durham and Dover, along with several new farms joining the mix, make this a banner year.
“All local, all the time” is how organizers describe these markets. The farmers, fishermen, foodies and artisans there grow, raise, catch and make literally everything you’ll see. And they all come from Rockingham, Strafford or York counties.
The season kicks off with an abundance of bedding plants, veggie transplants, hanging flower baskets, salad greens and herbs. Early birds in June also may catch asparagus, peas, radishes and even strawberries.
More than a dozen farms will bring a wide variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables to market this summer, including berries, sweet corn, tomatoes and melons. Local honey and maple syrup will also be available at some markets, along with eggs, goat’s milk cheese, yogurt and fudge, fresh-pressed and hard cider, and wine.
An impressive range of meats is available at markets this year, including naturally raised pork, chicken, turkey, duck, goat, beef and veal. And if you don’t feel like cooking, take advantage of the homemade soups, wraps, salads, pies, baked goods and meals to go. Pick up a bouquet of flowers at market, and turn your weeknight dinner into an occasion to savor!
Throughout the season, Farmers’ Markets will also feature surprise guest vendors, community groups and special activities.
Keep up with what’s in season—and what’s at market—by subscribing to the market’s weekly e-newsletter. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter, or get directions and access vendor lists online at www.SeacoastGrowers.org. Better yet, visit in person!
The Durham Farmers’ Market moves this year to the parking lot of Durham Marketplace at the Mill Road Plaza, 7 Mill Road. The market will continue its traditional day and time: Mondays from 2:15 to 5:30 p.m. This year, it will be held in conjunction with Durham’s “Main Street Mondays” program.
Hampton’s Farmers’ Market opens Tuesday, June 8. A dozen new and returning vendors will set up every Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. in their traditional spot at the Sacred Heart Church School parking lot, 289 Lafayette Road/Route 1.
Dover’s Farmers’ Market opens Wednesday, June 9, in a new location: 550 Central Ave., in the parking lot of the Dover Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center. The Dover Farmers’ Market will again take place from 2:15 to 6 p.m. every Wednesday.
Photo caption: Farmers’ Markets in Dover, Durham, and Hampton open the week of June 7. (Courtesy photo)

St Thomas Announces Lux in Tenebris Award Recipient

DOVER—
The St. Thomas Aquinas High School Lux in Tenebris (“Light in Darkness”) Award is established to give recognition to a person of the St. Thomas Aquinas High School community who has made significant, enduring contributions to humanity in keeping with the ideals and mission of St. Thomas, specifically with respect to service and sacrifice. These contributions are primarily seen as activities that promote the welfare of humankind, especially through the alleviation or elimination of pain and suffering and toward seeking a just world. Nominees who made significant, enduring contributions to humanity at the cost of personal risk and/or sacrifice are particularly considered for this award. The humanitarian activities may form a lifelong pattern or be expressed in a single, widely noted occurrence.
This year’s recipient is Gregg Hayward, St. Thomas Aquinas graduate from the class of 2000. Following St. Thomas, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he studied business. While at UNH, he became involved with a budding compost program on campus. This pilot project was part of the newly formed Office of Sustainability Programs at UNH. This program aimed to collect food scraps from dining halls on campus, and instead of tossing it in the landfill, have these scraps biodegrade into a rich soil called compost, which could help grow healthy local plants and foods. During Gregg’s two years of involvement with the program, it expanded to all of the dining halls on campus, and has since been adopted and run by UNH’s hospitality service. After graduating from UNH, Gregg worked for a season at a commercial compost operation in Burlington, Vermont called the Intervale. There he learned more about composting on a citywide scale, as the Intervale processed food waste from hundreds of businesses and restaurants in the area.
The following spring, Gregg began his service as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He spent two years serving as a Linking Income Food and Environment volunteer in the Southern African country of Zambia. Gregg’s primary work was in conservation agriculture development, so he taught a lot about composting, agro-forestry and animal husbandry, but also spent a significant portion of time on clean water and sanitation issues, and HIV/AIDS education. He became a part of the community and helped his new neighbors form and train three sustainable development groups. These groups helped start tree nurseries, improved beekeeping, as well as conservation farming practices in the area. He also laid the groundwork and helped secure funding for the digging/implementation of 12 drinking water wells in the area he worked. Gregg and many Peace Corps volunteers will tell you that they feel like they got far more out of the experience than they felt like they could provide to the community. He also fondly remembers many an experience where friends who had very little, would go out of their way to make you feel welcome, cared for and appreciated. What they may have lacked in material possessions, they made up for in community. The whole experience makes one look at our world through a very different perspective. Gregg found Zambia, and much of Africa to be an incredible place with very many fantastic, hard working, loving people.
Upon returning from Zambia, Gregg spent a year and half in the local area, doing marketing for Foster’s Daily Democrat. He then headed West on a road trip with his Dad out to Oregon, where Gregg now lives. Gregg spent a year as an Americorps volunteer working on a school-based recycling and compost program just across the river from Portland in Clark County, Washington.
Recently, Gregg was hired on by the local waste hauler, Waste Connections, to work as a Waste Reduction Specialist, working with the community and schools to help reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill. He continues to educate students about composting, and strives to empower the community to take action to help our environment.
The Lux in Tenebris Award will be presented at the St. Thomas Aquinas High School graduation ceremony on June 6 at noon.
Photo caption: Gregg Hayward is the winner of this year’s Lux in Tenebris award, given by St. Thomas Aquinas High School. (Courtesy photo)

First Parish UCC Sponsors Baccalaureate Service

SOMERSWORTH—
The communities of Somersworth and Rollinsford are invited to attend the Baccalaureate Service honoring the 2010 graduating Senior Class of Somersworth High School. The service will be held on Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. in the Somersworth High School Cafetorium, 9 Memorial Drive. Baccalaureate, traditionally held prior to graduation exercises, is an optional, non-school sponsored gathering offered for graduating Seniors, their family and friends, as a time of reflection and celebration that intentionally includes a religious and spiritual focus. Local religious leaders will facilitate the program, which includes a message, involvement of class officers and class advisors, as well as special music. A new tradition begins as, after the service, Class Officers will plant a shrub on school grounds. An informal reception follows. First Parish United Church of Christ, 176 West High Street, Somersworth (692-2057) is the sponsoring organization of this community event.

Avis Goodwin Community Health Center Breaks Ground for New Somersworth Facility

By Candi Enman
Staff Columnist
SOMERSWORTH –
A cloudless blue sky was the order of the day and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint for the Thursday, May 20th official groundbreaking of the new Avis Goodwin Community Health Center. Donned in bright yellow plastic “hard hats,” with champagne toasts in hand, more than 100 staff, volunteers, patients and community officials gathered to celebrate the event.
“The weather is cooperating,” said Lara Willard, communications manager for AGCHC. “This is a great day for the people who’ve worked for years to see this dream come to reality.”
The new healthcare facility, slated for completion in 2011, will consolidate three existing medical care locations in Rochester and Dover, and Dover administrative offices into one 32,200 square foot facility along the Medical Mile on Route 108 in Somersworth. The new building will ultimately employ 130 medical and support staff. The consolidation will reduce overhead costs for the agency by an estimated $200,000 annually.
Avis Goodwin Community Health Center’s mission is to provide integrated, comprehensive, quality healthcare, serving all in our community, payment for which is based on ability to pay. The center provides care for adults, teens and children; including obstetrical, gynecological and prenatal care, as well as family planning, dental, nutrition and mental health services. Chronic disease management, sexually transmitted disease/HIV screenings, and immunization clinics for children and adults are also offered.
In the current economy demand is growing dramatically, said AGCHC Executive Director Janet Atkins. The expanded facility will enable the center to provide medical, dental and mental health care to an additional 3,500 patients each year, making services accessible to more than 10,000 community members annually.
Atkins thanked the center’s staff for their commitment, the board of directors for their vision and persistence, and the project team.
Prior to picking up a shovel, Somersworth Mayor Lincoln Soldati congratulated Atkins and the AGCHC board. Commenting on the growth of the Route 108 corridor, he said, “I know this will prove to be a great benefit to the agency, as well as the City of Somersworth.”
As chair of the health center’s board of directors, Janice Silver is committed to the agency’s future because, as she stated, “Avis Goodwin Community Health Center saved my life.” Twice as a patient - first as a teen mother in crisis in the 1970’s and later a survivor of Stage II breast cancer - Silver is grateful for the compassionate care she personally received from AGCHC providers.
The $6.4 million project has received local, state and national support and funding. The groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction was a major milestone for the center that had modest beginnings in 1969 as the country’s first prenatal clinic for uninsured and underinsured mothers-to-be. “We wanted healthy babies born,” commented Avis Goodwin, the center’s 91-year old founder. “A dream we didn’t have came true.”
To learn more about Avis Goodwin Community Health Center, its services and providers, visit www.avisgoodwinchc.org.
Photo caption: Mayor Soldati Welcomes Mrs. Avis Goodwin to Somersworth. Also pictured, Valerie Goodwin – Daughter of Avis and Board Member, Janet Atkins – Executive Director, Marc Bollinger – Board Treasurer, Kerri Turgeon Board Vice-Chair, Janice Silver – Board Chair. (Ann Morrisette photo)

Dover Dines Restaurant Week: Take a Bite Out of Dover

DOVER—
Dover has claimed its place on the map as the place to find fine dining at a reasonable price. In an effort to promote the fabulous restaurants Dover has to offer, Dover Main Street and the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with PortsmouthNH.com, Reverie Designs and WXGR, are very excited to announce Dover Dines ’10! June 5-12th will be a week of fine dining at a great fixed price with each participating restaurant offering a 3 course prix fixe dinner for $15.95 or $21.95, many restaurants will also offer a $7.95 two course lunch. “This is a great opportunity for people to get out and rediscover a restaurant they might not have been to in awhile or to support a few of their favorites without breaking the bank.” says Carrie Eisner, program director for Dover Main Street.
With 10 local restaurants participating, from a full range of cuisines and tastes, event organizers and Dover Main Street board members, Mike Cartelli and Martha Mason are looking forward to a successful event. “There really is something for everyone being offered this week. We hope people will take advantage of the event and try a couple of different places throughout the week.”
Restaurants participating are Alexander’s Italian Restaurant, Blue Latitudes, Cartelli’s Bar & Grill, Christopher’s Third Street Grill, Harvey’s Bakery & Coffee Shop, La Festa Brick & Brew Pizzeria, Orchard St. Chop Shop, Smiley’s Pizza & Subs, Three Chimney’s Inn and The Weathervane Seafood Restaurant. With participation from most of Dover’s fine restaurants, you are bound to be treated to a great meal at a great price.
Kirt Schuman, Executive Director of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce notes “It’s the perfect week to come to Dover for dinner with family and friends - or lunch with co-workers. The fixed price menu gives you the opportunity to sample all the unique and interesting restaurants in the city at a very affordable price. Now more than ever, it is important for everyone to be supporting locally owned businesses in our community.”
For more information visit the Dover Dines website dedicated to the event through www.WeShopDover.com or by calling the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce at 603-742-2218 or Dover Main Street at 603-740-6435.
Dover Main Street is a not for profit downtown revitalization organization of volunteers who operate under the auspices of the National Main Street Center, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Dover Main Street Mission is to preserve the past, promote the present, and facilitate the future. Volunteers are always welcome and needed to assist in planning and completing their many projects. To find out more information, to sign up as a volunteer, or to donate to the Dover Main Street Program, please contact the office at 740-6435 or email director@dovermainstreet.org.

Fine Art Auction at UNH on June 19

DURHAM—
Original works of art by many of the region’s top artists are among the more than 100 drawings, paintings, photographs, prints, jewelry, and sculpture that will be up for bid at Raising the Bar: A Fine Arts Auction being held at the Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire on Saturday, June 19 beginning at 7 p.m. in the Paul Creative Arts Center, 30 Academic Way, Durham. Advance reservations are recommended ($35 per person), as space is limited. Reservations may be made by calling (603) 862-3712 or online at www.unh.edu/artauction .
Among the highlights of this special fundraising event are six important works of art by four renowned American artists including: The Writer by Mary Bradish Titcomb (1858-1927); View of Portsmouth by Gertrude Horsford Fiske, (1879-1961); Tiger Lilies in Black Vase, and White Roses, by Hermann Dudley Murphy (1867-1945); and Landscape #35, and Summer Day by William Jurian Kaula (1871-1953).
Additional artists whose works will be available for sale include: Sigmund Abeles, Jayne Adams, Barbara Stevens Adams, James Aponovich, Carol Aronson-Shore, Arthur Balderacchi, Tim Beavis, Amy Brnger, Holly Brooks, Karen Bushold, Sam Cady, Mary B. Call, Diane Jackson Cole, Eve Corey, Theresann D’Angelo, Arthur DiMambro, Grant Drumheller, Anne Dubois, Victoria Elbroch, Linda Wood Feldman, Tom Glover, Adeline Goldminc-Tronzo, Don Gorvett, Beverly Hallam, Dewitt Hardy, Conley Harris, John W. Hatch, Julee Holcombe, Craig Hood, Sean Hurley, Robert Indiana, Marion James, Jane Kaufmann, Dustan Knight, Carol Lummus, Frederick Lynch, Lyn Mayewski, Maryse Searls McConnell, William Mitchell, Jennifer Moses, Frank Moulton, James Mullen, George Nick, Tom Paiement, Caroline Parent, Shawn Pelech, Alan Peters, Jack Pollard, Lauren Pollaro, Douglas Prince, Langdon Quin, Jim Reagan, Monique Sakellarios, Gail Sauter, Patricia Schappler, Scott Schnepf, Matthew Smith, Gary Haven Smith, Anne Smith, Edna Smith, Paul St. Denis, Rose Sielian Theriault, Lucie Therrien, Galeazzo Tonini Von Morl, Molly Doe Wensberg, Don Williams, Sumner Winebaum, Grace Youngren, and Melvin Zabarsky, among others.
The reception for Raising the Bar takes place from 5 - 7 p.m., and the auction will begin at 7 p.m. Free parking is available in Lot B, located off Mill Rd. between Arts Way and McDaniel Drive. Cash, checks, or credit cards (Visa and MasterCard only) will be accepted for successful bids. (No debit cards will be accepted.)
Guest auctioneer for this special event is Devin Moisan of Devin Moisan Auctioneers, Inc., Dover, N.H. (N.H. Lic. # 2922).
Raising the Bar is organized by members of the Museum of Art’s Board of Advisors and volunteers, and is a “No Buyer’s Premium” fundraising event. All funds secured from this special event will be used by the Museum of Art for exhibitions and educational programs, to support the acquisition and conservation of select works of art, and to upgrade Museum infrastructure (storage and lighting capacity).
Raising the Bar: A Fine Art Auction is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Museum of Art, and a grant from the Office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, UNH. The Museum of Art, UNH, would also like to thank the following sponsors for their valuable support of this art auction: Premier Aviation at Portsmouth; Charter Oak Capital Management; Sam and Paula Reid; Debra Holloway and Scott Marion; and Anna Grace and Paul Holloway.
All works to be auctioned may be viewed online at www.unh.edu/artauction. For more information, or to make reservations for Raising the Bar: A Fine Art Auction, visit www.unh.edu/artauction or www.unh.edu/moa or call 603/862-3712.
Photo caption: Mary Bradish Titcomb, The Writer, c. 1912, oil on canvas, 30” x 25”, donated by Thomas Haas. (Courtesy photo)