One of my most cherished memories with my grandmother was when I was about 5 years old and she took me to see the Wizard of Oz, my first ever movie experience. Of course, it would not be my last but my love for that particular movie has never waned and to this day, I will watch it anytime it happens to be on TV.
Like many young girls I fell in love with the ruby red slippers Dorothy wore. The idea of being able to click them and they would take you home has always appealed to me. This past month I have been doing some travelling myself but the one thing that has been going through my head as my train journey from the east coast to the west coast of America and back comes to its conclusion this week is that, ‘there is no place like home!’
For the past 20 years, for me, that home has been Somersworth and honestly I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather call home. Like all cities, Somersworth has its fair share of problems but as a whole we have many things on our side.
It is, as I love to tell people, the only Somersworth in the world, it‘s a 20-minute drive to the beach or 40 to the mountains and within its ten square miles it has everything that in reality we all need. The only thing it doesn’t have is a hospital but it has two in neighboring cities. In the event of a disaster we pretty much have everything we need to survive as a community.
I love the fact that we have a sense of community and an inclusive one. We have festivals, at least before and hopefully after COVID, that rival some of the larger cities in New Hampshire. We have lots of areas for recreation.
Somersworth has a rich history, which if you read this column on a regular basis, you already know I love. Looking back at that history helps me realize the changes and metamorphoses that Somersworth, like all other places that humans have chosen to call home, have been through. Traveling this past month has made me realize how many cities and towns across America are struggling to find their own identities.
Somersworth knows who it is. It’s not a fancy place, it doesn’t put on airs and graces and what you see is often what you get. It’s a community that is rightly proud of its history and heritage as well as culture. This is visible as you drive through downtown and see the banners that hang from each lightpost welcoming people into the city in six languages.
We don’t have million dollar homes here but we do have something money can’t buy: resilience. So we are not as big as our neighbors to the north or south but we’ve never let that get in our way before and we won’t in the future. As I get back on my last train to head home and with all the places I’ve visited, all the towns and cities I have seen along the way I can honestly say, “There is no place like home especially if that home is called Somersworth.”
Cemetery Tour: Save The Date.
Some of Somersworth’s oldest residents are now permanent ones and you can get to know them better when the Summersworth Historical Society and Museum bring them back to life for one day as part of the third Forest Glade Cemetery walk. The walk will take place on Saturday Oct. 2 at Forest Glade Cemetery on Maple Street between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. The cost of the guided tour will be $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Guided tours will leave every 15-20 minutes throughout the day and will last approximately 90 minutes.
There are a few spots left if you would like to help with the day please contact the Museum President George Poulin at Greatfalls@gmail.com or for more information. All proceeds will benefit the Summersworth Museum located at 157 Main street, Somersworth. Hope to see you there!
That’s all I have for this week, so until next week please stay safe, have fun and be kind to one another as you never know what someone else is going through.