Why is a banner across the front of Harman's Store?

Those of you that live in NH and VT, may have read about our project in the Manchester Union Leader, seen it on WMUR's Channel 9 news, or even heard a bit on the radio. The banner is part of over 1200 donations that were collected to give our Army National Guard this summer. We put the banner up because we needed your help. It's a bit of a long story, so settle in for a little read.

For the past few years SFC Paul Amey (far right) has played concerts at our Lupine and Autumn Festivals with either the Parker Hill Road Band, Not the Best, or Uncommon Folk.. Paul is going to be played at the Lupine Festival Market Sunday, June 20th this year but he won't be at our Autumn Festival nor will he be at next year's Lupine Festival. Paul is being deployed with Army National Guard as part of the 744 Forward Support Company along with several others. This particular deployment is the single largest NH has seen since WWII.

I wanted to encourage Paul (and his wife, Samatha) to do something special together before Paul leaves for a year . . . the more I thought about it and shared with others, a group of us decided to try and see if we could do something special for all the soldiers being deployed from the Littleton Armory where Paul is stationed. We thought we would try to get admission tickets to family attractions like Polar Caves or Storyland for the families, romantic dinners for two, and other activity gift certificates that would encourage these citizen soldiers to take some time to do special things this summer with their loved ones, like go to a country fair or the movies. I went out to the armory to visit and check with Family Services to see if it was possible and they thought it was a good idea and that it sounded feasible.

The local Chamber of Commerces from Lincoln Woodstock, Littleton, and Franconia Notch; along with Suzanne Flagg, Rosemary Ellms, Linda Samson, Myself, and a few others started a quiet "word of mouth" collection of certificates. We started collected certificates for dining, activities, lodging, and other unique certificates. The first goal was one certificate for each 40-50 Guard being deployed. The first certificate that was promised matched that goal, so we aimed higher for a goal of 150 so that each Guard member would have 3 different types of certificates to enjoy. The number of certificates grew and now have 1,242 certificates from about 100 donors. Since we had such a an overwhelming response, we decided that we could share them with the entire company that Paul has been drilling with and will be deployed with (that's about 140 men and women Citizen Soldiers). This means that we are going to give this certificates to the Armories in Littleton and Hillsboro, New Hampshire that make up the 744 Forward Support Company of the NH Army National Guard.

Up until June 14th, the National Guard were thrilled with this project and looking forward to it. In fact, I had a very positive call on Monday from the National Guard. But on Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm, I was notifed that due to a federal law about donations to Federal Employees (applies to Guard and to their family members) that although the Guard was grateful, they would not be able to accept any donation that was worth over $20 from each donor. Needless to say, the majority of our tickets (while they have no monetary value) are worth over $20.00. A single ticket to a family attraction can cost over $20.00 and we wanted to provide the entire family with tickets, so the guard member would take his or her family.

We were told that we should give these certificates to organizations that help famililes of deployed soldiers. That's a great cause, but it misses our focus. There are lots of wonderful organizations that encourage us to send care packages to our Soldiers when they are overseas and organizations that encourage us to help families left behind and organizations for support services for when they return. All of those are wonderful, but our littlet project started because we wanted to encourage each soldier to take time with their loved ones before they leave on deployment. We live in a wonderful part of the world with lots to do in the summer and we just wanted to make sure that midst the busy preparation of getting ready for deployment they the guard members took a day or evening off to do something special with their loved ones.

This is where you came in, this law needed to be brought to people's attention. It's a Federal law and can't be changed overnight but people need to know about it. I thank each of you that took time to contact your senators, representatives, tv, radio, newspapers, friends, etc.Your voice added to our voice helped us find a solution in a short time because this deployment is coming up at the end of the summer. The National Guard's lawyer, Col. Francine Swan, Senator Gregg's office (esp. Brian Miller) and others worked hard to help us find a solution so we can distribute these wonderful gifts we've collected.

The law does have a purpose and perhaps needs to be looked at, but most of all we need people aware of this law so that they don't put a member of our military in an awkward situation or frustrate donors that meant well. We are back on track with our project, the law hasn't changed but we have workable solutions in place to come into compliance with the law and the NH Army National Guard 44 Forward Support Company based in Littleton and Hillsboro will receive their gift certificates and/or gift discounts as soon as we work out the details and change several of our gift certificates.

On Sunday, June 20th at the Sugar Hill Meetinghouse, we had a small celebration ceremony let you and our Guard know that something is coming soon. Howie Wemyss came over from the Mt. Washington Auto Road to speak on behalf of the donors and wish the guard a wonderful summer. The Honorable Ray Burton added his voice to the best wishes to the Guard and thank you to the donors. Linda Samson baked us a beautiful cake. Her husband, Rick Samson (retired National Guard, far left) helped cut the cake along with deploying Guard, Josh Overton (center) and Paul Amey (right).

We working on certificate distribution now to the 744th Forward Support Company of the Army National Guard based in Littleton and Hillsborough, NH. We've giving out our first certificates and the guard have already started using them. The Guard will be at many NH attractions this summer along with enjoying wonderful nights in some our great Inns.

I would still encourage you to drop a note to your Senators and Representatives about this law because if someone is being deployed to a War Zone; shouldn't we be able to say thank-you with a gift that isn't limited to just $20.00 in value?