Spring may be on the horizon, but it’s been an awfully cold winter – and for neighbors in need in Lebanon and beyond, it’s a good thing our community is home to an office of Tri-County CAP.

Tri-County Community Action Programs, by its long name, serves residents of Grafton, Carroll, and Coös counties with resources that can help them with home energy costs and conservation, housing, transportation, and more. And if Tri-County CAP doesn’t have a program to help a person in need, they know who does.

“We offer a huge referral system for people in our New Hampshire Upper Valley,” said Upper Valley Community Contact Office Manager Angel Hudson. “We never turn somebody away without some sort of resource. We never leave somebody with an ‘I don’t know.’”

Hudson focuses on the offices fuel and electric assistance programs, which have been “crazy” this year as electric rates have climbed. The programs help low-income, “vulnerable households” pay for heating fuel or electric bills when they can’t do it on their own.

As of late January, Hudson had processed more than 500 fuel assistance applications, had about 50 more to work through, and was expecting to top last year’s 644 applications before the season ends in April. She had also received 430 applications for electric assistance.

In addition, she had handled 37 emergency contacts – cases where the fuel supply is dangerously low (or electric heat is about to be disconnected) and the resident can’t afford more.

Most of the funding for these programs comes from the Federal government, through the state’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Hudson also raises private funds to cover when government funding falls short. Her “FAP Gap” (Fuel-Assistance Program Gap) fund helps qualified clients if available fuel assistance alone can’t cover the minimum fuel delivery cost, an overdue bill prevents them from getting a fuel delivery, or they run out of fuel assistance funding.

“I’m not going to let somebody go cold if I can help in some way,” Hudson said.

Hudson is one of just two full-time employees in the Lebanon office. Her colleague, Dianne Munson, manages the office’s homeless outreach programs.

The primary goal, Hudson said, is to find shelter beds in New Hampshire for local people who need a place to go. With no shelter in the Lebanon area, clients are most often sent to Claremont, Concord, or Manchester, and sometimes north to Tri-County’s Tyler Blain House in Lancaster.

(Some readers may remember Tyler Blain, a 1996 Lebanon High School graduate who died tragically in 2006. Toward the end of his life he worked tirelessly for Tri-County CAP’s homeless outreach programs and helped launch an effort called 10 Bricks to provide emergency shelter for adults without children – which at the time was entirely lacking in the Upper Valley – in Lebanon.)

But the number of shelter beds in the state is limited, and “on any cold day, it is very difficult to find a shelter bed – they are packed,” Hudson said. When traditional shelter beds can’t be found during the cold winter months, privately raised money from the 10 Bricks fund pays for hotel stays, or the cost of transportation to shelter elsewhere.

The organization’s homeless programs also offer income-based funding in the form of no-interest loans to help people experiencing homelessness pay security deposits and rent requirements to get into apartments of their own.

Hudson shared one story of why she has dedicated more than six years to her work at Tri-County CAP. Last year, she worked with a single mother with three children who was having a hard time getting on her feet financially and had been “couch surfing” to keep a roof over their heads. Through Tri-County’s programs and in collaboration with other local agencies, Hudson was able to help the family secure housing in a matter of days of applying for assistance.

“She and her children gave me a homemade gift, and she said, ‘You have no idea how much this means to us. We have a home now, and it’s been a while since we’ve had our own beds,’” Hudson said. “That’s why I do this work. It’s the mental money. This is a great community, and I want to help as much as I can and do good deeds to make it a better place.”

For more information on programs offered through Tri-County CAP’s Lebanon office or to make a donation to the FAP Gap or 10 Bricks funds, call (603) 443-6100 or email TCCAPAngel@Gmail.com.

She didn’t marry to make this so, but Adele Patch has the perfect name. Over the years she’s earned fame locally, nationally, and even internationally for her quilts, her patchwork quilts. But she married for love, in storybook style.

The story started, classically, with a tough childhood in northern New Hampshire, where Adele was born in 1931, in the depth of the Depression.

“I was a skinny kid,” she says, one of 13 in an often tense blended family. Enough food was hard to come by, never mind extra for piling on the pounds. When she had just turned seven, the 1938 hurricane flattened the family’s house and blew out all the windows in the barn. Since the house was no longer habitable, the family moved to the Monroe Road in West Bath, where they acquired three adjacent farms for taxes.

“The muscular strength that it gave…”

For much of the year, the house had no running water. There was a spring piped in, but it would dry up in the summer and freeze up in the winter. Adele carried water from the brook.

The family had a grade herd of about 25 cows. From a young age, Adele hand-milked 10 of them, developing a grip she still demonstrates with delight.

“I got this strong by pulling teats,” she exclaims, teasing her visitor with another risqué expression.

She left school after eighth grade and worked at her family’s farm. She preferred outdoor work. In 1950 she used a horse to pull a power line a mile through the woods to reach the farm. Her stepfather then bought milking machines—but her hand-milking talent was about to change her life.

In August 1952, Adele, not quite 21 years old, went to the Grafton County Field Day at the county farm in North Haverhill, where she won the milking contest. The prize was a complete set of fancy dinnerware, but, says Adele, “I didn’t want dishes, I needed shelves for my five guns!” It wasn’t long, though, before household furnishings came in handy.

Don Patch, a young farmer from Lebanon, was watching the contest. Don was impressed, and not just by Adele’s prowess with the cow. As he eventually told her, “When you smiled, your eyes danced.” The couple was married three months later, the beginning of a happy marriage of 51 years until Don’s death in 2003.

And sew…

But what about that quilting? Adele needed maternity clothes when she was carrying the first of her three children. With characteristic boldness, she bought a cheap sewing machine and taught herself how to make custom-fitted clothes.

“I didn’t have five cents,” she recalls. “I learned on my own. I figure, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning!” She adds, “I started taking in sewing. I didn’t like alterations, but I did it because I needed the money.”

She must have made a lot of mistakes, because her sewing is now extremely polished!

In 1980, Adele took a quilting class at Lebanon College. After the class, students from the group began meeting in each other’s homes and eventually formed the Northern Lights quilting guild, which now boasts more than 100 members.

Adele is constantly busy with quilts in different stages of completion. Close examination of each quilt reveals not just stunning workmanship but also intricacies of design that only unveil themselves to study.

“I’ve donated quilts for many causes,” says Adele. A few of the beneficiaries of these gifts are the City Hall Ballet, Habitat for Humanity, and the Lebanon Methodist Church, which she joined when she married.

The bell outside the church, on School Street, is also her gift, a memorial to her husband. Her eyes twinkle as she says, “Yes, the four F-words are important to me—faith, family, friends, and fabric!”
Quilts are not the only things Adele gives away. Her freezer is stocked with loaves of homemade bread, and her cupboard with rows of neatly labeled jars of jam. Departing visitors have these goodies pressed into their hands. “I’m a giving person,” admits Adele, with major understatement.

If you’ve ever been to downtown Lebanon, you can hardly have missed AVA Gallery and Arts Center, a centerpiece of the community’s creative economy for decades. Located just off Colburn Park on Bank Street, the center offers artist studios, galleries, and numerous events and programs for youth and adults interested in a wide variety of visual arts.

There’s always something interesting happening at AVA. Here’s a selection of some of the latest news from the center. To learn more about upcoming classes and events, visit avagallery.org – or better yet, drop in and see what’s going on for yourself!

7th Annual Best of the Upper Valley High School Exhibition

An exhibition at AVA Gallery this month features works by Upper Valley high school students who have been nominated for participation by their art teachers. The exhibition includes works from 18 participating high schools, including Lebanon High School and Ledyard Charter School.

The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, will be on display from February 13 to March 6, with an award ceremony taking place during the opening reception on Friday, February 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. This year’s awards will be chosen by Trevor Fairbrother, an independent writer and curator from Hanover, N.H.

The Best of the Upper Valley High School Exhibition is one of many art programs AVA offers for the benefit of youth in our region. AVA’s commitment to providing youth with meaningful engagement in the arts also includes internship opportunities that promote professional development; scholarships towards classes and workshops; access to AVA’s Digital Arts Media Lab; and afterschool and summer camp programs.

Call for Storytellers:

The Mudroom –
“Paws and Claws”
The Mudroom, modeled after NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour, continues to draw large crowds to AVA for lively evenings with talented storytellers and mesmerized audiences.

AVA is currently looking for storytellers on the theme “Paws and Claws” for the next Mudroom, scheduled for March 26. Email mudroom@avagallery.org to submit a story idea or learn more.

Annual Silent Auction

AVA’s annual silent auction fundraiser is an event not to be missed, if the streets lined with cars on final bidding night are any indication.

This year’s silent auction, featuring works donated by more than 100 artists and craftspeople along with framed vintage posters, opens at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 21. Preview and early-bird bidding are free and open to the public. The Silent Auction Party and final bids event takes place on Saturday, March 28, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Proceeds support every aspect of AVA’s art programming and mission.

AVA Gallery Named Business of the Year

AVA Gallery was named 2014 Business of the Year by the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce at their annual holiday special event held on December 10. The following biography was shared at the event and is adapted here with permission.

About AVA:

In 1973, a handful of artists from the Upper Valley joined forces to create an art gallery. Under the name of the Community Gallery, their first exhibition took place in a barn in Norwich, Vermont. Soon after, the gallery moved to Hanover, obtained nonprofit status, changed its name to AVA (Alliance for Visual Arts) Gallery, and began broadening the scope of its programs to include art classes and community outreach.

In 1990, AVA relocated to former H.W. Carter & Sons overall factory at 11 Bank Street in Lebanon. For the next 13 years, the organization rented exhibition spaces and teaching studios in the building to promote and pursue its mission. Simultaneously, the remaining part of the facility filled with artists who rented studios.

In 2003, thanks to the generosity of several supporters, AVA acquired the 11 Bank Street building. Shortly thereafter, plans for a necessary and extensive renovation began. Made possible by a $4.5 million capital campaign, the renovation broke round in September 2006. The building re-opened its doors in October 2007.

In fall 2010, AVA was one of six organizations nationwide to receive an “Innovative Space Award.” This highly competitive national award recognizes outstanding efforts in the design and development of affordable spaces for artists, and is given to organizations that “provide a firm base from which artists may pursue their work while simultaneously contributing to shaping vibrant, healthy communities.”

The present-day AVA provides unique experience for people of all ages and abilities. AVA’s stunning exhibition spaces have come an increasingly sought-after venue for artist from all over New England.
The 41,500-square-foot building houses four exhibition spaces, seven teaching studios – including two children’s student studios, a stone carving studio, a printmaking studio, and a digital arts media lab – and a resource library, as well as 20 individual artist studios.

If a company has successfully served a local community for 65 years in one location, you have to acknowledge that it has found the key to success.

Lebanon’s Blaktop paving company is such an example. Founded by Lebanon resident William Taylor back in 1950, the company later merged with the nearby Twin State Sand and Gravel. Located at 73 Elm Street in West Lebanon, the two companies cover some 85-plus acres overlooking a breathtaking view of the Upper Valley.

On its website, Blacktop bills itself as “a family-operated asphalt paving business founded in 1950 to provide the highest quality asphalt and paving services to the Connecticut River Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. Now in our second generation, that commitment to quality, service, and value stands today.”

Blacktop president Stuart Close, who graduated with a degree in business administration from the University of Vermont and resides in Norwich, Vt., is extremely proud of the fact that his company has lived up to that reputation entering its 65th year. The company has followed a simple but effective philosophy for more than six decades.

“I attribute our success to a closely held desire to achieve customer satisfaction for our customers and our community,” Close said. “Developing a good reputation and establishing ourselves as a stabilizing influence is very important.”

The paving industry has proven to be an extremely competitive one that often sets up a David and Goliath scenario. The Blaktop company often finds itself playing the role of David.

“Some of these paving companies are huge conglomerates spread out across the country, and many have management and ownership offices overseas. They are very competitive when the bidding starts, with their resources, and we do enter our bids in those situations, but mostly we concentrate on our local customer base,” Close explained. “We are able to focus on local, smaller contracts such as paving driveways and parking lots.”

Close also noted that operating a successful local business brings with it certain obligations to the surrounding community. That is taken seriously when you note the company’s “Giving Back” policy:
“Being a long-standing member of the Upper Valley community, Blaktop is a strong supporter of charitable organizations and believes in the importance of giving back to the community.”

A shining example of that commitment comes from local resident Paul Karp, who has served as the lead salesperson for Blaktop since 1990. Karp is well known in the Lebanon area for his devotion to the Karp’s Classic, an all-state basketball tournament that is staged each year at the Carter-Witherell Center (CCBA) in downtown Lebanon. That hoop tournament has become one of the most prestigious in the state. In addition, CCBA Executive Director Curtis Richardson adds further praise:

“We know Blaktop is a community-oriented firm that supports events such as our annual Touch-A-Truck event. Blaktop helps make the Upper Valley a great place to live.”

Close and the Blaktop company serve the Upper Valley sometimes in a very subtle manner that is critical to local tax payers. Residents of every town in the Upper Valley grow weary of roads in poor condition, especially in the spring when the dreaded potholes appear.

“We fully understand that road repairs are one of the biggest-ticket items in any municipality’s budget,” Close said. “Repairing potholes and such is the responsibility of each town’s highway department, but when it comes to paving an entire section of road or a town-owned parking lot, we offer bids. In that regard, we keep those bids as affordable as possible noting the tight budgets involved. Again, we fully understand the cost factor to tax payers.”

While Close and his company place a huge emphasis on the smaller jobs for paving in the Upper Valley, when asked what was one of the largest projects Blaktop has tackled over the years, his face lit up with a quick smile.

“Oh, that had to be the contract with a big wood chip generating station in Berlin, N.H. We have another Blaktop location in Littleton, N.H., and they were a factor in this contract. The contract paid close to a half a million dollars and involved about 10,000 tons of asphalt! The site has a lot of access roads leading into it and was quite a challenge,” he said.

While noting with pride that completion of that project was an impressive accomplishment for his company, Close quickly turned his attention to what has established Blaktop for 65 years.

“It’s those small jobs that can give us the most satisfaction,” he explained. “You know that neighbor with the bumpy driveway or that small business owner with a cracked parking lot. We are all part of the same community, and we make sure the work is done properly. If they are not happy, we go back and talk to them and redo everything if necessary. Whatever it takes to make a customer happy.”

Close looks toward the future of Lebanon and really likes what he sees down the road. Pointing out the diverse types of businesses with growth potential, combined with stable medical and educational institutions close by, the future appears bright. But when pressed for the biggest challenge that lies ahead for his company, the soft spoken executive became more animated.

“There is no doubt that we face what any service industry faces in this high-tech world we live in where technology rules,” he said. “Finding skilled labor in this new environment has become a huge challenge for everyone. Workers with mechanical knowledge and who love the outdoors have become more difficult to find. We have noticed that fact for the past decade, and it’s only getting to be more of a problem.”

Compounding that situation is the fact that the unemployment rate in the Upper Valley is one of the lowest in the state, and expansion of industry continues at a rapid rate. Paving the way for the next decade will be complex.

“We employ a work force of around 40-50 and offer good-paying positions, but the most difficult part of that is our jobs are mostly seasonal. Seven and a half months or so, depending on the weather, is all we operate.”

Whatever the future holds for the Upper Valley, you can count on Blaktop and Twin State Sand and Gravel to be an integral part of keeping the region’s roads, parking lots, and driveways up to the challenge.

We like to think that education as a “gateway” is open to all, but the reality is that for some that gateway is hidden, slams shut as they approach, or just won’t open at all.

Many young people struggle to find their own way to that gateway. However, there is a man who knows where that gateway is and, furthermore, has the key to unlock it.

He is John Higgins, executive director since last July of the six-year-old Ledyard Charter School (LCS) in Lebanon. As I spoke with Mr. Higgins in his office on the third floor of the Whipple Building overlooking Colburn Park, it became increasingly evident that his passion is to try to help every person “find that gateway.”

I watched him during our interview interact with the students as they came into his office with various questions, problems, changes to schedules…. He was open and engaged. He cares for the students and speaks with them with respect, openness, and enthusiasm. He smiles and has their trust and respect. It was a joy to observe that.

I was first introduced to Higgins a few months ago when he visited and spoke to the Rotary Club of Lebanon. He was passionate and clear about his enthusiasm for LCS, and he was eager to share this with our Rotary members. We learned that LCS “is a public school designed to serve high school students who are looking for an alternative to the traditional public school.”

Higgins, 46, came to teaching from the corporate world. He was the director of sales at Pepsi for their Northern New England operations, but feeling the need for major changes in his life, he entered the field of education. He taught at Kearsarge for 13 years as a special education case manager and classroom teacher. He came across the LCS opportunity on a job-posting site, applied, and was hired.
“It is clear there is a true need for LCS, and continuing to gain support from our community partners is essential to our success,” he said.

High school is a challenge even for those who are well prepared and come from the ideal environment.

“LCS is often asked why our students are so different from their peers who thrive in traditional high schools. The difference is what we call the ‘curveball.’ It is that event or circumstance that throws a young person’s world upside down,” he said. “Our students have experienced a variety of curveballs, and we provide an alternative education for these students, as well many other teenagers who simply need a different approach to learning.”

Students who do not find success in a traditional high school might turn to Ledyard Charter School to find that “gateway to life-long success” that may have eluded them in the past. They might be more successful at LCS due to its more individualized, hands-on approach, and classes on average of fewer than 10 students.

When students understand there is an alternative place for them that offers a welcoming atmosphere where they can feel safe, not be judged, find help for their individual needs, and have peers with this same mind set, they will be better able to achieve their personal goals. These goals might be as simple as earning a license to be a successful auto mechanic, or finding his or her “stride” and being put on the path toward achieving a master’s degree in nursing after high school.

“The foundation of our school lies in our belief that fostering healthy relationships – with self, with others, with community – must be a priority,” says the LCS website. “We ‘grow good people’ at LCS, and we are proud to send them into the world, knowing they will be happy, healthy, successful young men and women who value community and what they may do to contribute to help make the world a better place.”

The Mission of LCS is: “A robust personalized course of study, the application of 21st Century concepts, skills and dispositions to real-world problems, the authentic performance of mastered competencies, and meaningful relationships with the adult community through personal advisors, mentors, apprenticeships, and hands-on service learning.”

The school was conceived and started by former Lebanon Superintendent Mike Harris and officially chartered in 2009. There were only eight students at the beginning.

There are now 40 students enrolled in LCS. Each takes the New Hampshire state-required subjects and credits (a minimum of 20 to graduate) that will enable them to receive a high school graduation diploma, the same as for any high school.
Charter schools in New Hampshire receive $5,400 per student per year from the New Hampshire Department of Education, whereas traditional public schools receive more than $15,000 from state and local sources. All New Hampshire residents may attend the school free of charge; Vermont residents may apply and must pay tuition.

Higgins explained that the sending schools from around the community and state are not required to share the cost of the student. He explained the rest of the expenses needed to meet the requirements of the students are raised through grants, private donations, and foundation support.

LCS staff and faculty include Executive Administrative Assistant Lisa Swett, Student Support Coordinator Michelle Lutz, Outdoor Education and Social Sciences teacher Matt Stuart, Art and Language Arts teacher Wendy Tucker, and Stephanie Gregory, who supports the math, science, and technology programs.

The Ledyard Charter School Board of Trustees comprises eight members of the Upper Valley. Current members include Lauren Morando Rhim (chair), Steve Zuckerman (treasurer), Elizabeth Bailey (secretary), Michael Harris, Martha Parker, Kevin Purcell, Chris Rhim, and Lauren Seifert.
Higgins expressed thanks to the private donors who over the past years have become tied to the school through their generous support. “The Byrne Foundation has been incredibly supportive of the LCS,” he said. “There are so many people and organizations that have been involved in making a difference at LCS, and we are so thankful for their continued support, as well as new supporters and volunteers.”

Students at LCS don’t just stay within the physical walls of the school. LCS partners with Second Growth, Dartmouth College, Whaleback, Hartford Area Career and Technology Center, and more to give students a variety of real-life learning experiences. When students see the real-world applications for the knowledge they are gaining in school, their commitment and success grow.

To learn more about Ledyard Charter School, visit LedyardCharterSchool.net, stop by their location at 2 West Park Street, Suite 300; write to Executive Director John Higgins at P.O. Box 327, Lebanon, NH 03766; call (603) 727-4772; or email JHiggins.LCS@Gmail.com.