The Buzz Online

In the spotlight: NHTrust employees spent an afternoon weeding, clipping and raking at NH Food Bank’s Production Garden in Manchester to help the garden continue to produce fresh vegetables through the end of summer for distribution to the NH Food Bank agencies. NHTrust also presented the NH Food Bank with a $500 contribution to help with their mission of providing food.

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Index Packaging in Dover expanded to increase production adding 58,000 square feet to the building at 150 Venture Drive. The company that has seen a 37% increase in sales over the past year. Index Packaging also purchased Plastifoam in Manchester and Merrimack and expects to consolidate operations to Merrimack by the end of September.

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Bar Harbor Bank & Trust employees recently presented nearly $12,000 in donations from the Bank’s employee-driven charitable giving program, Casual for A Cause, to nonprofit organizations in Maine, NH, and Vermont. The recipients of the donations are: Hospice Volunteers of Hancock County, Island Health & Wellness Foundation, People Plus, and Trekkers (Maine); Lake Sunapee Region VNA & Hospice (NH); and Changing Perspectives Inc. (Vermont).

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Brittany Hodge has joined the residential lending team at Meredith Village Savings Bank as Mortgage Loan Officer (NMLS #2387835). She brings with her several years of experience in mortgage credit reporting.

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Cheshire Medical Center, a Dartmouth Health member in Keene, received a $750,000 Rural Residency Planning and Development grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to support the start-up of their proposed Family Medicine Residency Program. The grant, one of only 11 nationwide, specifically supports the development of rural residency programs.

Cheshire Medical Center also hired Joshua Torrey, MD, to its Emergency Department who finished his residency in emergency medicine in Pennsylvania; Alexis Gadwah, APRN and Lara Kirkpatrick, MD, join the Family Medicine department.

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Best-selling author and distinguished scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi will be delivering the keynote at the Black New England Conference Awards Dinner, on Friday Oct. 21 at Southern NH University. Dr Kendi is the founder of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research. 

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Beer for History 2022 kicks off On Thursday, Sept. 22 at the American Independence Museum Folsom Tavern with Pipe Dream Brewing Londonderry, Pipe Dream Brewing. They will pour three beers, including West to East IPA, Berrylicious Sour Ale, and Pumpkin Ale.

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The N.H. State Council on the Arts awarded $43,305 through its Youth Arts Projects grant program, which is designed to foster positive social and emotional skills and bolster creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. Organizations receiving fiscal year 2023 Youth Arts Projects grants are:

• Arts in Reach: Encouraging Growth through the Arts, Portsmouth; multi-disciplinary
• Arts Rochester, Inc., DBA Sole City Dance, Somersworth; dance
• Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua; community mural project
• The Grapevine Family and Community Resource Center, The Avenue A Teen + Antrim; creative writing
• Hopkinton School District/SAU 66; artist in residence
• Positive Street Art, Nashua; multi-disciplinary
• Upbeat New Hampshire, Nashua; music
• West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts; music