My Town Alton, NH and Old Home Week #MyTownProud

This content is sponsored by the Monsanto Fund’s America’s Farmers Community Outreach programs, but views and thoughts are my own.

From the time I was a toddler, my family has always lived in small towns in rural communities.  Yes, I grew up “slopping the hogs”, feeding the chickens, helping my Dad neuter goats and even helped make sausage from said hogs.  There is nothing like living in a rural community- people are proud to live there and are willing to help you in any way they can.  I remember our neighbors helping us roundup a few escaped pigs when I was about 8 or 9 years old.  It was like a country block party in Cape Neddick Maine!

Now that I have my own family and own home, we still live in a small rural community in New Hampshire.  Every summer, our town celebrates the history of the town and the growth of the town with “Old Home Week.”  It is actually starting this weekend with the 5K road race and fireworks on Saturday, August 12th.

What is Old Home Week?

Alton Old Home Week celebrates the history of our community and supports local businesses.  It’s like a town-wide, week long appreciation party!  This is the 37th year of Alton Old Home Week!

Residents and visitors alike enjoy the celebration of Alton’s Old Home Week with concerts, a parade, barbeques, fireworks, 5K race, craft fair, block party, antique boat show, barbershop singing, outdoor family movies, toy boat building and racing, cribbage tournament and more!  It’s an exciting time all run by volunteers on the Old Home Week Committee in our little community.  Here are a few of the specific events:

• Kick off Old Home Week with a scenic run through Alton Bay! USATF-certified course: slightly varying, paved, flat/downhill with one moderate incline. Computerized timing, prizes, raffles, music and refreshments.
• Old Home Week cribbage tournament this Sunday, August 13, from 1-3 pm at the Alton Bay Bandstand.
• Old Home Week Craft Fair is being held on Saturday, August 12 from 9-5 pm and Sunday, August 13 from 10-3 pm. Join us in Alton Bay for crafts, toys, fudge, lemonade, quilts, and much more.
• Annie & The Orphans concert this Saturday, August 12, from 7-9 pm. Join us at the Alton Bay Bandstand for rock and roll from the 50’s to the 70’s.
• There will be games, face painting, a caricature artist, a DJ and the Lock-M-Up fundraiser for Alton resident
  Brent Stranger. He was in a serious car crash on Route 11 last year that resulted in a traumatic brain injury,
  and the fundraiser will help raise funds for a wheelchair van for him

 

But, not all small towns in rural communities can continue to grow and prosper in today’s economy.  That’s where America’s Farmers programs come in!

What is America’s Farmers?

The America’s Farmers programs, sponsored by The Monsanto Fund, put the farmer in the center of the story. In rural communities throughout America, farmers not only provide food and fuel, but they are also pivotal characters in their communities – often serving as the backbone of the areas in which they reside. Through the Grow Communities, Grow Rural Education and Grow Ag Leaders programs, The Monsanto Fund,  with the help of local farmers, celebrates the accomplishments throughout communities with grants to help them continue to grow and thrive.

Rural communities are places that people are proud to be from and live in. I know I am proud to live in our community!  The Monsanto Fund celebrates these communities and invests to make them even more vibrant for future generations through America’s Farmers Community Outreach programs. A new campaign sponsored by the programs called My Town will continue this celebration of the people, places and stories that make small towns great.

Alton, my rural community, is a wonderful place to live.  Every year, Old Home Week gets bigger and bigger.  Not only does it bring the community together, it reminds us all that by supporting our town, we can accomplish anything!  My son was in Boy Scouts and each year at Old Home Week, they got to see what happens when a community works together to keep our town alive!

Be sure to visit America’s Farmers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and You Tube!

What makes you #MyTownProud?  Let us know in the comments below!