Center Meeting House

Dan Wolf, with Bill Weiler in attendance, made our verbal proposal to LCHIP on Monday, January 11, 2010.  Center Meeting House was making an impassioned plea for further support due to the escalated costs of restoring one of New Hampshire's most treasured historic buildings.

On Tuesday Dan received word that we have been awarded a further $100 thousand to continue our restoration.  In explaining the award, Deb Turcotte Young, the executive director of LCHIP noted that CMH is the only project that has been awarded funding more than once.

With LCHIP's support the CMH fundraising effort now exceeds $1 million.  With other fundraising plans that are afoot, it is entirely feasible that the CMH could be in a useable state by late summer or early fall.

When one considers that the town's full-time population is in the neighborhood of 2,300 people, and that the meetinghouse's membership is over 230 people, this is an astounding fundraising feat for a small town. 

To view the press release online and for a full list of projects awarded funding in Grant Round 8, visit: 

http://www.lchip.org/news-and-events/default.asp#N20

Thank You LCHIP!  And Congratulations Newbury!

We are all expecting a great year in 2010.  Some would say that we have nowhere to go but up.  With our Bell Tower up we are feeling "mighty fine" around the Center Meeting House.  And even our current wintery weather does little to dim our enthusiasm for what 2010 has in store for us.  (Thanks to Maureen Rosen for today's picture of a frozen Lake Sunapee on a snowy day!)

Gloria Whelan and her committee has some fine entertainment (almost) lined up for the night before Old Home Day.  Their theme for this year's entertainment is "Boston Comes to Newbury."

Dan Wolf and the whole board of directors is working hard on our current application to the New Hampshire "Land and Community Heritage Investment Program," affectionately known as LCHIP.

Bill Weiler is waiting patiently for more funds to arrive so that he can continue with the restoration.

Claire Vannatta has all of her software and computers on standby waiting for new deposits to be made in our accounts.

Barbara Steward continues in her attempts to find CMH members, both returning and new.  Be sure to sign up to continue as a member or to become a new member as this new year promises to be a great one.  You definitely want to be a part of this year's excitement.

Doug Whelan continues looking for more sponsors of our pews.

Come join us in this exciting quest for a completed meetinghouse that will further our vision:  

“It is our Vision to conserve the Center Meeting House for future generations and to make it a center for activities that will unite and enrich our community.”

As 2009 ends, we all have a lot to be thankful for.  In our family, everybody is in pretty good health; we all had a great Christmas; we are enjoying the grandchildren; and we are thankful that the Center Meeting House is coming along and that the Bell Tower is restored and back up.

This photo, provided by Maureen Rosen, follows the recent snowfall.  Alice's Tree is coated with snow and the Bell Tower shines in the improving light.

As we make those wishes and pledges to ourselves about the New Year, we hope for a day when the rest of the meetinghouse looks as great as the tower does now. 

And speaking of making pledges for the New Year, don't forget that a pledge to sponsor a pew in the meetinghouse will result in almost every penny going into restoration and will bring the day when we are finished just that much closer.

We closed 2009 with 17 of the 42 pews available getting a sponsor.  This provides a nice bit of momentum going into 2010.  With 25 pews left and around 10 potential sponsors considering whether to make the commitment, now would be a good time to consider selecting your own pew number.  Be sure to select a pew that is near a friend or family member.

We Wish Everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year

It just seems that the center of Newbury has come alive with the completion of the new Bell Tower on the Center Meeting House.  Is it the excellent materials that were used?  Could it be the quality of the paint?  Did the outstanding workmanship contribute?  On a sunny day the new tower literally glows.  It is an amazing sight and is well worth the time that it took to marshall the funds that were needed to make it all happen.

Well, we never seem to get a moment's rest when it comes to fundraising?  With another $400,000 needed to bring the project to completion it seems that a fundraiser's work is never done.

So what is happening now?  We completed an application to LCHIP and their process will extend into mid-January, 2010 before we know whether there is any support from this quarter.  An important part of our request included how the cost of this project has escalated time after time as we were able to open up a new part of the meetinghouse and find new and unexpected areas that required restoration or outright replacement.  For a town of about 2,000 full time citizens and another cast of thousands who come during the winter or the summer or during the weekends the $900,000 that has been raised so far is far beyond what we ever thought that we would need or be able to raise.  Thank you Newbury!

While we wait for word from LCHIP and hope that the town will be able to offer further assistance the citizens of our town are not sitting around waiting.  Our program of offering pew sponsorships is breathing new life into fundraising.  The meetinghouse has 42 pews and the board of directors determined that we would ask people to sponsor a pew for $5,000 and in return receive recognition on a brass plaque that will be placed in the Center Meeting House as well as a page in a Museum Quality Book in which sponsors can document the history of their family or any other remembrances or dreams that they choose.

We are pleased that since the tower went up and as the year draws to a close there has been a significant increase in interest in pew sponsorships.  Seventeen pews have now found a sponsor and in the past week alone, five sponsorships have been finalized.  Over a dozen other potential sponsors are in the midst of their deliberations about whether to proceed with a donation.  It is easy to do the math on how much progress we can make if the remaining 25 pews should receive sponsors.  With a lot of good luck and continuing support, it is beginning to seem possible that the Center Meeting House could be completed in 2010.

We hope that you recently received our third annual Newsletter in the mail.  Check the application form found inside it for details about the pews, memberships or other news.  ANY AMOUNT of help will be put to good use.  Over 95% of what we receive goes into the restoration process.  So join up as a member and add a little bit more to your check if you can.  The Center Meeting House is registered with the IRS as a tax free charity.  If you didn't receive your newsletter, or if it got caught up in a Christmas cleanup campaign around the house, just click on the Newsletter icon to the right and you can read it online or print it out again.

The newly restored tower fits right in with the town's new street lights, as shown in the picture to the right.

Thank you Newbury!