Center Meeting House

Thanks to the citizens of Newbury a favorable vote at Town Meeting means that a $100,000 grant from the town to the CMH will be applied to completing the structural restoration of the town's oldest non-residential building. Our total of donations and pledges now exceeds $1.1 million.

This, along with the $100,000 recent grant from LCHIP will move us a long, long way toward a useable building for community events, family occasions and social and educational presentations.

We still have 24 pew sponsorships available; 18 sponsorships have now been sold.  With a sell-out of our pews we will have the money available to complete all of the structural restorations.

Imagine a CMH with no plywood on the windows; a CMH that has new and restored clapboards; a fresh coat of paint!  Add to that new fans over the windows and new and restored shutters!

Your vote will help to make this dream come true!

In the photo at the right we can see how beautiful the restored windows are.  The top half of each window was restored while the bottom halves were all so rotted that only renewal would work.

It is also plain to see how much work is needed to bring the clapboards into a fully restored condition.  In places you can poke your fingers through the rotted wood. 

Above the windows, the fans are also in poor condition.  In some cases, they have totally rotted out and someone painted them back in - a sort of "faux" fan!

In the next picture, we ee that  the windows are covered with plywoood to protect historic features in the interior. However, on this side of the building the restoration of the clapboards has begun.  More work

is required, but just imagine the restored clapboards AND the restored windows working in conjuction with each other.  With new fans above the windows and new shutters to protect the interior when the building is not in use we will have the best that the Center Meeting House has to offer.

Thank you Newbury for your support at Town Meeting!

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