The Buzz Online

2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick (far left), eight-year-old Speedway Children's Charities NH Chapter ambassador Elliot Perry (middle) and long-time NASCAR pit reporter, magazine editor and 2020 Squier-Hall Award for NASCAR Media Excellence recipient Dick Berggren (far right) at Speedway Children's Charities NH Chapter's Champions Breakfast at NH Motor Speedway. Photo Courtesy: NHMS.

In the Spotlight: NASCAR race weekend at NH Motor Speedway in Loudon was successful for local nonprofits thanks to Speedway Children’s Charities NH Chapter (SCCNH) and the volunteer groups who helped raise more than $161,000 during the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 weekend July 19 to 21. There were six events over the course of the week, including Laps for Charity, the Charity Clay Shoot presented by NRA, Champions Breakfast, the Wicked Good Live Auction, Track Walk presented by PPG and the Red Bucket Brigade presented by PPG. These events, plus other donations, helped SCCNH raise more than $73,000 for local children’s charities and groups.

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Merchants Fleet promoted Jen Gordon to regional sales manager for its Southeast team. Gordon will be responsible for new client acquisition and retention efforts in Virginia and North Carolina. Previously, Gordon served as a product sales consultant/account manager. Gordon first joined Merchants in 2012 as a community relations coordinator.

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Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) was recently named a Top 10 Domestic Airport by Travel + Leisure magazine in their annual World’s Best Awards. Readers rated the airport on access, check-in/security, restaurants/bars, shopping and design.

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Newburyport Bank donated $5,000 to Arts in Reach in Portsmouth. The funds will help support programs for teen girls in the Greater Seacoast to develop their creative freedom and power of voice in a supportive setting.

Newburyport Bank donated $1,200 to the Portsmouth Rotary Club for its annual golf tournament.

The bank also donated $1,250 to Experience Hampton to support its 2019 Christmas Parade Golf Tournament, held at Pease Golf Course in Portsmouth in August. Experience Hampton is a non-profit organization of local business owners and residents committed to enhancing the town of Hampton through community events and projects.

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UpReach Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Manchester, a nonprofit providing equine-assisted activities and therapies for veterans and their families, was named a 2019 Champion in Action in the category of Veterans & Military Families. The award, announced jointly by Citizens Bank and NH Union Leader, includes $35,000 in unrestricted funding as well as promotional and volunteer support for the organization’s outstanding work.

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The New Hampshire Film Festival, now in its 19th year and running October 17-20, will accept film submissions until September 1. It attracts more than 10,000 patrons over the span of four days. In 2018, the festival screened more than 100 unique feature films, short films, animated films, and documentaries at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, the festival’s main stage theater and a variety of other venues throughout the city.

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MarketReach, Inc., a provider of marketing services for tech firms, recently won three AVA Digital Awards. The Nashua firm won a platinum award for an animated video it created for Deloitte, the professional services multinational. A video MarketReach produced for UiPath, the robotic process automation leader, won gold. And a new website MarketReach created for the Chicago-based IT solutions provider ACP also won a gold award.

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McLane Middleton attorney Jennifer L. Parent was recognized by Suffolk University Law School’s Outstanding Alumni Service Award. The award is given to a graduate who has made a significant contribution to the betterment of the Law School.

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New Hampshire Women’s Foundation awarded this year’s Pathways to Prosperity grant to the American Furniture Masters Institute for a program to bring furniture making skills to the NH Women's Correctional Facility. The grant is given annually to a program or organization that works to boost the economic security of women in NH.