Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post - Preserving the History of the Lakes Region

skisox24 · 10-18-2007, 07:28 PM

A real provocative topic, Argie’s Wife. Thanks for posting. As anticipated by Weir’s Guy his response is, indeed controversial, and I would like to respond to his contribution as well.

My wife and I constantly debate the core issues that are central to your first two questions. My wife laments the changes that have taken place in the Winnipesaukee area in the past ten to fifteen years. She nostalgically worships the days when there were no traffic lights in Center Harbor on Route # 25, and she fondly recalls the old Robbins general store in Moultonborough (currently Wild Meadow Canoes). Yet she fails to acknowledge that around the turn of the century Center Harbor was a bustling tourist destination with several hotels including a massive frame structure situated approximately where the bandstand now exists.

I respect thoughtful and proportionate progress and have no problem with many of the commercial and municipal changes that have occurred, at least those in the Meredith/Center Harbor/Moultonborough areas of the big lake. In fact, I applaud the elected officials of those communities for having exercised reasonable (in my mind) restraint to the pressure for growth without extinguishing all incentives for positive development. I am afraid that other communities have missed the boat (see Tilton).

So, in summary, I like to see our town officials preserve the essential culture of our communities but not block proportionate contemporary progress that would enhance our lives and those that visit our special corner of the world. And yes, I would like to see a continuance of publicly available resources on the internet. This is not a luxury, but a real necessity.

OK, Weirs Guy, let me respond to your question. My family has been visiting the big lake for more than 60 years. My immediate family has actually owned property here for nearly twenty years. We are not year round residents, but we probably spend more than 50% of our time at our NH home. We are active within our community and I have volunteered my time for community needs. I have been a board member for a local association for more than ten years. My son has enjoyed years of employment in the area. We are invested in our town and can’t imagine anyone loving it any more passionately than we do. We invest this time even while realizing the dichotomy that our town displays toward non-primary resident owners. There is really an element of taxation without representation involved, yet we have tried to make up for that deficiency by contributing to community needs. Quite frankly, you would never have enjoyed the benefit of Lowe’s and Wal-Mart without the residential expansion brought to the region by second-homers.

10-18-2007, 07:28 PM	#4
skisox24 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 74 Thanks: 9 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	A Split Thread A real provocative topic, Argie’s Wife. Thanks for posting. As anticipated by Weir’s Guy his response is, indeed controversial, and I would like to respond to his contribution as well. My wife and I constantly debate the core issues that are central to your first two questions. My wife laments the changes that have taken place in the Winnipesaukee area in the past ten to fifteen years. She nostalgically worships the days when there were no traffic lights in Center Harbor on Route # 25, and she fondly recalls the old Robbins general store in Moultonborough (currently Wild Meadow Canoes). Yet she fails to acknowledge that around the turn of the century Center Harbor was a bustling tourist destination with several hotels including a massive frame structure situated approximately where the bandstand now exists. I respect thoughtful and proportionate progress and have no problem with many of the commercial and municipal changes that have occurred, at least those in the Meredith/Center Harbor/Moultonborough areas of the big lake. In fact, I applaud the elected officials of those communities for having exercised reasonable (in my mind) restraint to the pressure for growth without extinguishing all incentives for positive development. I am afraid that other communities have missed the boat (see Tilton). So, in summary, I like to see our town officials preserve the essential culture of our communities but not block proportionate contemporary progress that would enhance our lives and those that visit our special corner of the world. And yes, I would like to see a continuance of publicly available resources on the internet. This is not a luxury, but a real necessity. OK, Weirs Guy, let me respond to your question. My family has been visiting the big lake for more than 60 years. My immediate family has actually owned property here for nearly twenty years. We are not year round residents, but we probably spend more than 50% of our time at our NH home. We are active within our community and I have volunteered my time for community needs. I have been a board member for a local association for more than ten years. My son has enjoyed years of employment in the area. We are invested in our town and can’t imagine anyone loving it any more passionately than we do. We invest this time even while realizing the dichotomy that our town displays toward non-primary resident owners. There is really an element of taxation without representation involved, yet we have tried to make up for that deficiency by contributing to community needs. Quite frankly, you would never have enjoyed the benefit of Lowe’s and Wal-Mart without the residential expansion brought to the region by second-homers.