Wow, it’s hard to believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away as I sit down to write this column. As I mentioned last week it would be nice to see at least some snow, but even without it, Christmas is coming and the lack of the white stuff does make festive shopping easier for sure.
This past Thursday Dec. 9, the Falls Chamber of Commerce that represents many of our local businesses here in both Somersworth as well as those in the Berwicks and Rollinsford celebrated those chosen for the awards of Citizen of the Year, Educator of the Year, Non-profit of the Year and Business of the Year.
This year the event took place at the Tri-City Christian Academy on Rocky Hill Road with a country theme.
The honor of Citizen of the Year was bestowed on Jeremy Lambert, while Jennifer Landry received the honor of Educator of the Year. Business of the Year belongs to Tri-City Subaru CDJR and last but by no means least, the Non-profit of the Year was awarded to Monarch School of New England. All of these individuals and businesses were nominated by members of the community and were then selected by a committee as in previous years.
The Chamber of Commerce has been active in the city since its inception in 1987 and until a few years ago was known as the Greater Somersworth Chamber of Commerce. According to a Fosters article a year later, the chamber had grown to 105 businesses and had hired its first full-time Executive Director: Amy Hodgson. At that time the Chamber was housed in one room in the Masonic Temple, which was at the time housed in the GAR building which can be found on the corner of Highland and High Street. At some time, the Chamber would purchase and move to the building located directly next to the current City Hall where it would continue to provide local businesses with a voice within the community.
Nowadays the Chamber continues iyd mission from a different building and with a new Executive Director: Allison St. Laurent. If you are interested in joining the chamber or learning more about its mission, Allison would love to hear from you and can be contacted at info@thefallschamber.com.
I’d like to add my congratulations to the recipients of the awards and to the Chamber for all the work that they do promoting the businesses we have locally. I’m going to ask again that you consider shopping locally at the end of this festive season. The big box stores will be there no matter what but the smaller locally owned businesses rely on this time of the year to survive throughout January, February and beyond.
Food Pantry Serves The Community
Since 1990, the Somersworth Community Pantry has provided food for many families who would otherwise go hungry. Located at the First Parish Church at 176 West High Street, during the first ten months of 2021, the pantry has served a total of 2,558 families or an average of 256 families per month. The total number of individuals served so far this year is 5,353 and the number of children served is 1,269. During those ten months, the pantry has distributed approximately 145,000 pounds of food. Since the pandemic began, the pantry has been serving families from any town as often as needed and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
The pantry is a non-denominational 501(c)(3) non profit and relies on the generous donations of many organizations as well as the community at large. The community food pantry is open Mondays 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Wednesdays 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursdays 3 to 5 p.m. Donations can be dropped at that time as well and are always welcomed.
If, like me, you love a good nativity play or scene this time of year, you are in luck. As in years past, St Ignatius of Loyola will be presenting a living nativity scene at Holy Trinity Church on High Street. The fun will start at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 19th and all are welcome.
That’s all I have for this week, So I’ll close by reminding you to stay safe and to be kind to one another as you never truly know what someone else is going through.