Is it time to bring back the Welcome Wagon?
Karen Hatcher, who moved to Peterborough three years ago, thinks that might be a good idea. “There doesn’t seem to be an organized way to welcome new people to the town,” she said.
Hatcher reached out to chorus singers and yoga aficionados as a way to connect with her new community. “It was up to me,” she said.
Some people, she said, aren’t as extroverted as she is.
Hatcher said that when she and her husband Mark stopped by a house two doors down to warn of bears and birdfeeders, they were the first Peterborough folks that neighbor had met. She had moved here 18 months ago.
Hatcher was one of over a dozen people at Bass Hall taking part in a Community Conversation Tuesday night about welcoming people into communities.
The speakers addressed myriad ways people can be welcoming – even to those we do not see.
“Notice who is here and who is missing,” said Leaf Seligman, author and college professor. “Listen well,
and be empathetic.”
Margaret Nelson of the River Center also encouraged a more welcoming attitude toward those who may not look or sound or act in ways that are familiar to us. “It is the stranger among us,” she said, who needs to feel welcomed.
Andy Peterson, of Peterson’s Real Estate, talked about being friendly. “We need to be friendly to new people, and new business. This is a friendly town.”
Lina Hervas, an immigrant from the Philippines, spoke of her experience coming to the United States the challenges of learning a new language and new customs.
“You are a gift to me,” she said. “This place is a gift to me.”
Representatives from the Mariposa Center, the Fresh Air Fund and the Peterborough Women’s Club discussed initiatives at their respective organizations that help bring community members together.
Community Conversations, now in its third year, is a collaboration of the Monadnock Center for History and Culture and the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.
The goal is to provide a forum for public dialogue surrounding issues that are important to the region’s residents.
Michele Nuttle can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or at mnuttle@ledgertranscript.com. She does not Tweet – yet.