Laconia Kiwanis Club

Guests:
Brenda Kean - guest speaker
Warren Huse- guest Speaker
Emma Winslow- guest of her dad, Brian Winslow

News From The President:
Immediate Past President, Scott Laurent "pinch hit" for President Jack. Scott reported Home Run Derby will be moved forward into the middle July as Laconia Little League season has numerous games. July will minimize the challenge of securing the ball field for the event.

News From The Members:
Meredith Horton updated the Club on the Bike Rodeo & Family Safety Day, which will be held Saturday, May 17th Lake Opechee Park parking lot. A sign-up sheet was then handed out requesting volunteers. Meredith is working on extensive publicity of the event. For more details, “click” here.

Brian Winslow, Chairman of the nominating committee, advised the membership that election of Officers and Directors will be done at our next meeting. The following candidates have agreed to run:

President: Jack Batchelder
First Vice President: OPEN
Second Vice President: Kevin Irish
Treasurer: Joe Adrignola

Board of Directors:
Bill Gile (one year term)
John Walker (one year term)
Betty Ballantyne (two year term)
Scott Laurent (two year term)
Steve Loughlin (two year term)

Additional nominations will be taken from the floor right up to the day of election on May 12th.

Joe Adrignola reported on a successful Kiwanis KARES at Elm Street School. Alice Contardo and Joe handled the program reading to an audience of about 30 kids.

$2 from Larry Murphy: $1 because his wife just retired and $1 just because he was standing up
$4 from Kathy Calvin to celebrate the success and wonderful experience she had traveling with the LHS Band who just returned from Toronto
$1 from Brian Winslow for his date, Emma, who was watching the Disney movie Frozen on a DVD during the meeting
$1 from Joe Adrignola for the “one more month” that he is going to be Treasurer
$5 from Meredith Horton because she was excited to report that Laconia Kiwanis is “leaping into the digital era” as we are now on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The intent is to attract more members.
$3 from Bill Gile: $1 for winning the 50 50, $1 for the “thank you” received from Key Club Co-Advisor for the Club’s participation in the remembrance to Lily Johnson and $1 for the great time he enjoyed last week in Washington, DC
$2 from Betty Ballantyne: $1 in appreciation for Meredith Horton brining the Club into the digital media age and $1 to recognize Irwin Motors on their success with the 3rd Annual Ladies and Wheels event which was held on April 23.f

Steve Loughlin was pleased to announce that tonight’s guest speakers were two officers from the Laconia Historical & Museum Society: Brenda Kean, Executive Director and Warren Huse, Treasurer.

Brenda Kean came from the banking industry as Vice President of Banking Services at Franklin Savings Bank. Her involvement with LHMS began in 2006

when she started a

small volunteer project of transcribing a journal entry that chronicled the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This project evolved into a six-year venture of transcribing three thousand pages of daily hand-written journal entries by Rev. Jeremiah Smith Jewett - a Laconia man born in 1822. The journal covered a period of 40 years of this man's life chronicling local and national events of the time. It was then that the “history bug” grabbed her. She eventually served as a Director on the Board of LHMS and when the job of Executive Director opened in 2012, she was very happy to take on that position.

Brenda reported her organization was originally founded as the Laconia Historical Society in 1951. In 1994, a second group known as the Laconia Museum Society, headed by Bob Dearborn, was incorporated. The two organizations merged in 1998 and became the Laconia Historical and Museum Society (LHMS).

The activities of LHMS are overseen by a 16 member volunteer Board of Directors and one full-time person, Brenda Kean. Brenda coordinates the marketing, monthly lecture programs, Four Exhibitions each year, various volunteer programs and manages the membership base and some bookkeeping. She also takes on curatorial responsibilities by collecting, cataloging and managing the collection of historical artifacts, photographs, manuscripts and other archival materials.

Brenda then introduced Warren Huse noting he is much like a walking history book. Warren D. Huse is the author of three books from the Images of America Series: Laconia, Lakeport and The Weirs.

Warren did a power point presentation covering Laconia’s Urban Renewal project. The presentation spanned the years from 1962 to 1975.

Warren reported that Urban Renewal was meant to address:
Substandard housing
Substandard buildings (as many were rotten)
Potential fire fight problems
Vacant mill buildings and
An antiquated infrastructure

Some problems for Urban Renewal included:
Resistance by some property owners
Destruction of historic buildings
New traffic pattern problematic
New Main Street too narrow
City Hall on hiatus
No mixed use allowed
Loss of eclectic architecture
Parking garage scary
Relocation of Methodist Church to Gilford
Problem of renting space under parking garage
“Speedway” Beacon Streets East and West

The following is a time line of the Urban Renewal project:
1963: O’Shea Industrial Park created
1967: Demolition begins
1968: (May) Construction begins on new O’Shea’s and LCDC Building
1968: New drive-in for Peoples Bank
1969: (Jan) Five stores temporarily in Tilton Block
1969: New Citizen plant
1970: (Mar) New O’Shea’s and LCDC Building open
1970: (April) Sunrise Towers opens
1970: (July) Beacon Streets East & West open
1970: (Aug) Residential relocations completed
1970: (Aug) Melnick’s Shoe Store opens
1970: (Oct) Lynch’s opens in adjoining space
1970: (Nov) Laflamme’s moves to Water Street
1970: (Dec) Ground broken for New England Telephone building
1971: (Mar) Ground broken for City Hall
1971: (June) Laconia Savings Bank and NET buildings nearing completion
1971: (July) Mall construction starts
1971: (Nov) Break ground for South Gate Condos
1971: (Nov) Stafford’s buys Mall property
1972: (Jan) New City Hall (new gable roof ’85-’86)
1972: (June) South Gate approaching completion
1972: (Dec) Construction begins on Stafford building
1973: (Spring) Stafford Building completed
1973: (Nov) Stewart Park dedicated
1973: (Mid) Ground breaking for Ramada Inn
1974: (Jan) Belknap Mill Society takes over mill – (opens July 4, 1976)
1974: (May) Last business relocates out of UR area (Emanuel’s Quality Market)
1974: (July) Downtown parking garage opens
1974: (Oct) New Ramada Inn opens
1974: New Central Fire Station
1974: (Nov) Winnipesaukee River Walkway dedicated (Laconia Key Club)

The following are a few of the slides shown during Warren’s presentation:

"Click" on the picture to view a larger picture.

In this aerial photo from late 1970 or early 1971, the west side of Main Street in the urban Renewal area has been completed, but the Municipal Parking Garage has not yet been built. Belknap and Busiel mills are seen at top center and, across the river, the office building and ‘Old Red Mill’ of the Tilton Hosiery Co. occupy the space to the south of the Avery Dam. In lower right corner, the Folsom Opera House Block awaits demolition. Beacon Streets East and West have been put in service and the stretch of Main Street between the bridge and Bank Square has been closed to vehicular traffic. In lower left corner, buildings of Allen-Rogers Ltd. are seen, including one, next to the river, that was cut in half to permit construction of Beacon Street West.

Laconia Public Library Photo (Text by Warren D. Huse of the Laconia Citizen)

"Click" on the picture to view a larger picture.

The Ramada Inn, at center, is rapidly nearing completion in the early 1970s, as is Stewart Park, in right lower corner. The Main Street-Union Avenue-Court Street intersection awaits traffic lights and other final touches. Meanwhile, at center left, the old South Main Market Building is home to the Western Auto Store and other businesses and the Daniel Tilton House – in later years, known as the ‘General Knight House’ – is seen on Rowe Court, with the Moose Hall directly behind it, along with an ancient wooden building that, many years later, was occupied by Steve Stokes, architect and finally, by Lakes Region Pottery before many of these structures were finally razed to make way for a Walgreens Drug Store, which opened Oct. 16, 2009. To The right, most of the new construction under the Urban Renewal program has been completed. The brick planter and flagpoles at the entrance to the pedestrian Downtown Mall are glimpsed at the far right center.

Laconia Public Library Photo (Text by Warren D. Huse of the Laconia Citizen)

"Click" on the picture to view a larger picture.

In this photo from September 1971, Laconia’s Urban Renewal Program is at about the half-way point, with new buildings on the west side of Maine Street, Sunrise Towers and a new Melcher & Prescott Building south of Union Avenue in place (at top right of photo), a new Telephone Company Business Office south of Court Street, a new drive-in facility for Peoples National Bank on Beacon Street East and a new ‘Municipal Building’ under construction near the Avery Dam at upper center. The Tilton Block (Oscar A. Lougee Department Store) and other structures at the Court Street corner have been razed, and the new one-story Laconia Savings Bank Building has replaced the old City Hall. The Picard/Perry Veterans Square Auto Supply Co. is still in position, next to the entrance to Beacon Street West, in the lower right corner. The area to the south of Evangelical Baptist Church (foreground) is still occupied by a number of buildings, including the St. James Episcopal Church and Sewall Cape, on the Pleasant Street side, which would be removed during the city’s Downtown Revitalization Project of 1986- 1987.

Laconia Public Library Photo (Text by Warren D. Huse of the Laconia Citizen)

"Click" on the picture to view a larger picture.

The new home of Laconia Savings Bank is seen under construction on Pleasant Street in May 1971. The new bank building was erected on the site of the former City Hall, which was located here from 1926 until the mid-to-late- 1960’s when the Police Department moved to the Railroad Passenger Station and other city departments took up temporary residence in the former Scott & Williams plant at Normandin Square.

Laconia Public Library Photo (Text by Warren D. Huse of the Laconia Citizen)

After Warren and Brenda fielded questions, Steve presented Brenda with a personal check as his personal endorsement encouraging other Kiwanians to join the Society.

For more information on the Laconia Historical & Museum Society “click” here.

John Walker was featured in the 5/2/14 edition of The Laconia Daily Sun. To read that story, "click" here.

Monday - May 12th
Club Meeting - Guest Speaker: Meghan Noyes, Program Director, Greater Lakes Child Advocacy Center
Board of Directors Meeting will follow

WANT MAIL?
If you are not on the Kiwanis Bulletin e-mail list (and would like to be) please give Steve Loughlin your e-mail address. Also, if you are reading this bulletin and are not presently on the mailing list (and would like to be), “click” here.

Kiwanis Kronikle is publication of the Kiwanis Club of Laconia, P.O. Box 757, Laconia, NH 03247-0757.
We meet the second and fourth Monday at 6:15 p.m. at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club, Country Club Road, Gilford
Please call your President or Secretary about any member or family member in case of illness. Email: Roger Landry or Steve Loughlin


These books are available for purchase at the Belknap Mill Gift Store or from the Laconia Historical & Museum Society. The price is $16.99.