​HUMMINGBIRDS ARE ENERGY NINJAS TALK ON APRIL 27      
Join New Hampshire Audubon on Wednesday, April 27 at 7pm, with the Live Virtual program “Hummingbirds are Energy Ninjas, Day and Night,” 

Celebrating Poetry & Abstract Art at Twiggs Gallery

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Twiggs Gallery is hosting a poetry reading and book signing with Alice B. Fogel, NH Poet Laureate (2014-2019) on Saturday, April 16 from 1-3 pm. Alice will be reading from her new book of poems inspired by Abstract Expressionist art, Nothing But: a series of indirect considerations on art & consciousness. The reading will take place in the gallery alongside the abstract art exhibition, IMPACT! ABSTRACT, which showcases six New Hampshire artists boldly approaching abstraction with an interesting variety of media

​An open letter to our community,

It is with heavy hearts that we share that after 53 years, Penacook Pharmacy is closing.  This decision was not made lightly or in haste and has come with many emotions and the knowledge that this day was coming.  The challenges facing independent pharmacy are great and we have only been able to stay open for as long as we have because of the support from our valued customers.  

The pharmacy allowed us to immerse ourselves deeply into this wonderful community, and our lives are defined by the relationships we’ve developed with each person who came through the door. As much as we've been a part of this community, this community has been a part of us. We are extremely grateful for the support you have given us through three generations of our family.  We never took this lightly and always appreciated that you chose to come to us because you wanted to. 

Thank you to our staff, past and present.  Our success has been because of you and your loyalty.

All prescription records will be available at Rite Aid located at 165 North State Street Concord NH 03301 Tel (603)223-6713. There will be no interruption in service. 

​The Merrimack’s Annual Community Photo Contest Returns
 
Grab your camera and get ready; we’re just days away from kicking off our Annual Community Photo Contest! Starting Monday, April 4, 2022 through Tuesday, May 31, 2022, we want to see your best color photography for a chance to be featured in our 2023 community calendar, website, and social media.

​Save Our Granite Stages’ grants available for smaller-sized NH arts venues
 
Small performing arts venues and performing arts production entities are welcome to apply for funding through the N.H. State Council on the Arts Save Our Granite Stages grant program.

​If You Live On A Private Road

SB246, (Qualified Private Communities Act) will be heard before the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Municipal and County Government Committee this Thursday, April 7, 2022, at 11:00am. SB246 is companion legislation to SB250 (Tax Credit) which passed the New Hampshire Senate Election Law and Municipal Affairs Committee in February as an interim study bill which in legislative parlance means the bill is dead. SB250 would have given municipalities the authority to offer property tax credits to existing qualified private road residents. However, that same Senate Committee recommended SB246 be sent as amended to the full Senate which then voted to pass it on to the House. 
SB246 is mandatory legislation  which will require municipalities and developers to respectively approve and build future qualified residential private road communities under either one of two conditions: Number one, build the private roads to existing municipal public road standards (so that residents may later petition the municipality to take over the financial and legal responsibilities of maintaining and replacing those roads and related infrastructure); or number two, require the developer to fund a fair estimate type of Capital Reserve based on certain factors of the cost to replace those private roads and related infrastructure at the time of completion (and turn those funds over to the residents to help defray future road/infrastructure maintenance and replacement costs). 
It is crucial that SB246 be approved by the House Municipal and County Government Committee this Thursday and passed to the full House for a vote as this legislation would be the first recognition by Concord to fix the unfair imbalance of property taxation of private road residents to public road residents. If we can get this legislation passed it will help future efforts to pass legislation for existing private road residents.
Anyone residing on a private road should visit www.nhpvrta.com , sign up and follow the instructions of what to do to support this important legislation as this is the initial step in creating tax fairness between private and public road residents. The NHPVRTA fully intends to follow through with additional legislation next year to remedy the long-time property tax injustices for all current private road residents. 

​Woods Without Gile owners named 2022 NH Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year
 
The N.H. Tree Farm Program has announced that Ann and Marc Davis have been named New Hampshire’s 2022 Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year.

Straddling Springfield and Wilmot, the Davises’ 500-acre tree farm, Woods Without Gile, is a working forest that implements the four pillars of the Tree Farm program: wood, water, wildlife and recreation.

“When we purchased the property in 2002, the forest was dense and had been severely damaged by the 1998 ice storm,” said Ann Davis. “Working with Tim Wallace, a licensed New Hampshire forester, we’ve had four timber harvests that have focused on extricating some of the damaged hardwood, which has allowed existing conifers to regenerate and flourish.”