2010 PROFILE AWARDS
John D. Harrigan has authored a weekly column, “Woods, Water and Wildlife,’’ for the New Hampshire Sunday News for more than 30 years. For two decades, he owned and operated two North Country newspapers, the Coos County Democrat in Lancaster and the News and Sentinel in Colebrook. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 and is a recipient of the Robert Frost Award, given by Plymouth State University in recognition of singular New Hampshire personalities. Harrigan’s volunteer work has included membership on the Northern Forest Lands Council, which made crucial recommendations for the future of 26 million acres of northern New York and New England forests, and on the Connecticut Lakes Partnership Task Force, which oversaw the planned continued public and private use of the northern three percent of New Hampshire’s land mass. Harrigan has become one of the best-known and most distinctive voices of the North Country in particular and of New Hampshire’s great outdoors overall. He has been a consistent, clear voice for the maintenance, wise use, and preservation of New Hampshire’s northern forests and lands.
Copper Cannon Camp of Franconia is one of the few summer camps in the country which provides a free camp experience to low-income children. The non-profit camp welcomes any New Hampshire child, aged 9-16, regardless of race, color, national origin, or sex, who is physically capable of coping with rustic camp life. The camp began in 1963, when Hamilton Ford, who himself attended a fresh-air camp and overcame the experiences of an underprivileged childhood, started bringing children from orphanages to his ski lodge during the summer months. The present facilities opened in 1976 on 128 acres of land made available by the town of Franconia. Recently, Copper Cannon welcomed military families from throughout New Hampshire to its first cookout of 2010. It collaborated with the New Hampshire National Guard offering two weeks of Spring Break Camp in April for children of military families and will be a host site for Operation Purple Camp, a free summer camp for military children sponsored by the National Military Families Association. Since 1969, Copper Cannon Camp has been the state project for the New Hampshire Elks. For more information concerning Copper Cannon Camp’s summer program or to become involved, contact Peter Christnacht, director, at 603-823-8107 or pchristnacht@coppercannon.org
New London, Newbury and Sunapee boast an impressive array of natural and cultural resources, including Lake Sunapee and Mount Sunapee, many smaller lakes and hills, nature preserves, hiking trails, and charming village centers with lovely old buildings. All of these resources are managed and stewarded by an extraordinarily engaged citizenry. Volunteers staff town boards and committees, as well as dozens of non-profit organizations and programs that all contribute to a remarkable sense of community engagement and environmental awareness. The Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, the Lake Sunapee Protective Association, the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway, and Sunapee State Park are just some of the cherished institutions that protect natural resources and provide recreational opportunities. Historic preservation successes abound. Current notable projects include restoration of the Newbury Center Meeting-house, energy upgrades to the New London’s Tracy Library, and on-going preservation of the house and gardens at The Fells. The three towns’ historical societies collaborate with the Barn Playhouse in shared programming as PALS, Partners Around Lake Sunapee. The three town managers meet weekly. For all these things, and more, these towns form a notable triumvirate in central New Hampshire. Accepting the award are town administrators Jessie Levine (New London), Donna Nashawaty (Sunapee), and Dennis Pavlicek (Newbury).
