Eastern Propane & Oil returns this year as the Presenting Sponsor for the 10th Annual Runaway Pumpkin 10K & 5K Run/Walk—a community fundraiser for the WOW Trail—at Opechee Park on Saturday, Oct. 25, as part of the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival.

“We’re thrilled to lace up our sneakers and join the celebration for the 10th Annual Runaway Pumpkin 10K & 5K,” said Whitney Cloutier, brand and marketing manager at Eastern Propane & Oil. “There’s something truly special about watching the Lakes Region come alive with energy and community spirit—all in support of the WOW Trail’s continued growth. As a family-owned business, supporting events that bring people together is at the core of who we are. We can’t wait to see familiar faces and new ones alike on Oct. 25, soaking up the fall magic that only New England can deliver!”

In addition to sponsoring the event to show its support for the WOW Trail, its team also shows up and adds fun to the family-friendly event.  “We really value their enthusiasm and partnership,” said Jennifer Beetle, event director/WOW Trail Board member.

Beetle added, “It’s a great way for the whole family to get out and have some fun while supporting the WOW Trail. The Kids Fun Run, put on annually by the Downtown Gym, is a big hit.  We also invite all ages to come in a Halloween costume or just wear orange for fun.”

Participants are encouraged to register by Oct. 10 to receive a Meredith Village Savings Bank sponsored long-sleeve tech shirt.

For event details and online registration, visit wowtrail.org. For more information, email info@wowtrail.org.

About Eastern Propane & Oil 

Eastern Propane & Oil is a full service energy provider committed to delivering our customers superior service, comfort and safety. Family owned since 1932, we live in the same communities as our customers and we believe in serving our neighbors the way we would want to be served.

Delivery is available in NH, ME, MA, RI & VT and we offer the sale, installation and service of propane or oil appliances including central home heating systems, water heaters, fireplaces and space heating solutions. Free consultations, 24/7 service, online bill pay, installment plans, service plans, budget plans and pre-buy plans are all available through Eastern Propane & Oil.

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GILFORD—Four or five times a week, Laconia Police Chief Matthew “Matt” Canfield is out on the WOW Trail—running it from end to end for recreation. Sometimes, Canfield is solo. Other times, he has his wife and children alongside him.

“I’m on the WOW Trail regularly, and I always feel very safe,” he said. “It is as safe as any other street in Laconia, and, certainly, I consider all of our streets to be very safe.”

A police officer for nearly 30 years and chief since May 2017, Canfield is an authority on the subject. He said New Hampshire, as a state, is regularly ranked the number one or two safest state in the nation every year.

Canfield oversees a staff of 43 sworn, full-time officers and a total of 68 department employees. He’s proud both of his department and the city his officers help to keep safe.

“We are not only heavily involved in community policing, but the officers here are competent and very well-trained,” said Canfield, who was a full-time Laconia police officer for 20 years before he was named chief. “They have a vested interest in the city, building some of the strongest community relations in the state and serving as a model nationally.”

Allan Beetle, co-owner of Patrick’s Pub & Eatery and president of the WOW Trail, has had many conversations with Canfield about maintaining safety on the trail. 

“The chief is a big supporter of the WOW Trail, and he and his staff have been great to work with in helping to keep the trail a safe experience for the many users out there,” Allan said.

Becoming a police officer was not Canfield’s first thought as he considered his career path as a teen. In high school, he had his eye on architecture. He signed up for his school’s graphic arts program to gain the design experience he thought would give him a leg up. 

Then DARE officer John Egan of the Meredith Police Department came looking for a student who could help produce a brochure featuring that year’s DARE graduates. Canfield volunteered, and Egan, now retired, unexpectedly became a mentor. “I got to know John, and eventually he asked if I wanted a summer job,” Canfield recalled. “I met with the lieutenant, and the next thing I knew, I was a police cadet. I would walk around Main Street in Meredith and issue parking tickets, and ride with an officer in a cruiser in between.”

Canfield was certified as a part-time police officer in his senior year of high school, in 1993, and when he headed off to the University of New Hampshire in the fall, he changed his major from civil engineering to criminal justice.

Canfield said four certified mountain bike officers also have a presence in the city and on the WOW Trail, riding it periodically for part or all of a shift. The department is also poised to help make residents and tourists feel a degree safer by installing technology along the WOW Trail.

The Laconia PD recently purchased three portable video cameras, giving staff the ability to stream video live to the dispatch center. “We’ll use these cameras throughout the city, typically for special events like the New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival,” Canfield said. “As part of that program, it’s my intention to put cameras on the WOW Trail so we can monitor the spots in more remote locations.”

He notes that in a city with 20,000 permanent residents—and a population that swells to two or three times that amount in summer—there are bound to be isolated incidents. “As a whole, all our streets are very safe, and the WOW Trail is no exception,” he said, adding, “I think it’s a source of pride for our community.”

For information on Patrick’s Pub, call 293-0841 or visit www.patrickspub.com.

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LACONIA—John Rogers, the founder and executive director of the Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange, is stepping down from his post and seeking a new leader to run the organization that provides affordable bicycles to area residents.

Since officially founding the Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange, with the help of Better Together in December 2013, the exchange opened on April 15, 2014. Rogers and his crew of volunteers have supplied 750 bikes to those who benefit from bicycle transportation—for work, errands, and exercise. The exchange has a close association with the WOW Trail as it provides safe and healthy riding options for clients.

“We’re a benefit to the community,” said Rogers. “We saw the opportunity to bring the service of alternative transportation to Laconia, something that wasn’t there before. This has benefitted 120 bike recipients per year.”  

He added, “A nonprofit like this accomplishes so many goals—encouraging environmentally friendly transportation, the concept of reduce-reuse-recycle and even healthy living, while most importantly, providing an essential service to those who need it most.”

Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange partners with City Welfare, Genesis, and other human service agencies. “This adds to the importance of the work we do in the community,” Rogers said.

Rogers said candidates for the volunteer executive director position need management, marketing, and fund-raising skills as well as flexibility to operate the nonprofit between April 15 and Oct. 15; currently the exchange is open Tuesdays from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Thursdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The shop is conveniently located on 97 New Salem St. Time in the shop averages about six to eight hours per week.

Experience repairing bicycles is a plus but not a requirement, nor is bookkeeping or administrative experience, Rogers said. The bicycle exchange relies on its volunteers to maintain bicycles and receives the latter services, and its 501c3 status, as an affiliate of the Bike-Walk Alliance of New Hampshire.

“The ideal person would have social skills working with the community and know how to partner well with others,” Rogers said.

Allan Beetle, president of the WOW Trail, is grateful to Rogers for founding and operating the bike exchange and hopes it’s possible that a replacement executive director can be found.

Leaders of the WOW Trail and Rogers have partnered well together to raise awareness about the WOW Trail and also encourage area residents to use the pathway.

“Now with four and a half miles for trail users to enjoy, there are many more bicycle riders using the trail and not just for recreation, but also for commuting to work or running errands,” Beetle said. “The Bicycle Exchange has helped many people get set up with a good, working bicycle.”

The new executive director for the bike exchange will lead a team of four great volunteers, some of whom have been with the nonprofit since its start—Mark Townsend, Steve Cobb, Joe Bush, and Cliff King.

Rogers got the idea to create a nonprofit after taking part in the Landmark Forum, an international organization designed to inspire permanent quality-of-life change in communities around the globe.

In the program Rogers took part in, he was challenged to take an action that would better his community. He was working in the social services sector at that time and had begun collecting used bicycles at transfer stations; he repaired them and gave them to clients he served who were living with mental illness.

He decided to put a structure around his philanthropy, developing a nonprofit that would solicit bicycle donations and then provide bicycles at low cost to those who could not otherwise afford one.

Rogers’ organization got real traction when he was granted a $5,000 start-up award from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation in 2014. He opened the exchange’s first location on Messer Street. Since then, the nonprofit has moved to Court Street and then to its current location on New Salem Street.

Bicycles come to the exchange now through individual donors, collection at transfer stations, and from the Gilford Police Department. In the organization’s early years, the bicycles were free to those who requested one; now, there is a fee that ranges from $10 to $50, depending on the style of the bike and its age and condition.

“It’s really a wonderful thing to see how much we operate by the generosity of people in the community,” Rogers said. “Bikes are donated to us by individuals, police stations who have unclaimed bikes, and transfer stations that know to hang onto the bikes for us.”

Rogers grew up in Gilford and has long had an activist spirit. He has operated his family’s organic farm in Gilford and an organic apple orchard and cider mill in Northumberland that also generated hydroelectricity. He believes in protecting the Earth, conserving open spaces, and giving back to his community.

Before he sold his family’s dairy farm a year and a half ago, for instance, Rogers put a conservation easement on the property so that it’s protected from development. “I’m very conservation-minded,” he said, noting he is involved with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. “I want to do my part to protect the environment.”

Rogers was also a volunteer with the Friends Program, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and Waypoint, and he is also a financial donor for various area organizations.

The Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange currently has about 20 bikes ready to go out the door, with about 75 to 90 in its total inventory.

To express interest in becoming executive director of the Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange, or for a job description, contact John Rogers by phone at 603-630-7571 or by email at labx2014@yahoo.com. For more information, visit the nonprofit’s website at www.labe.bike or like Laconia Area Bicycle Exchange on Facebook.

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Business owner sees economic value in the Winni Scenic Trail and the WOW Trail

BELMONT—The way Brian Baxter sees it, the local bike trails aren’t just a great way to get a new view of the Lakes Region while enjoying some exercise at the same time. The entrepreneur says the paths are gearing up the local economy.

The owner of BB’s Hot Bites -N- Cool Delights, Baxter parks his food trailer at Osborne’s Agway in Belmont, where the Winni Scenic Trail and the WOW Trail now come to an end near the bridge over Lake Winnisquam. From this vantage point, he sees runners, walkers, cyclists—and lots of tourists.

He tells the story of a couple visiting from Pennsylvania who stumbled across the trail while on vacation. They hopped on in Lakeport, pedaled 4.5 miles south to Osborne’s Agway, and got a friendly welcome from Baxter, who was parked in his usual spot.

The man and woman ordered sandwiches from Baxter’s truck and did some shopping inside Agway, where they were happy to find homemade donuts. Then, they treated themselves to some of Baxter’s ice cream and headed back the way they came, with a dozen donuts for another time.

“They were new vacationers up here, and when they left to head back up the trail, they said ‘We’ll see you again next year,’” Baxter said. “They were just so delighted that they fell upon the trail and found a way to view the beautiful scenes of New Hampshire. It was a great experience for them.”

He added: “They had a great meal. They felt safe and comfortable while biking. They had an adventure. Who wins on that? Laconia. Osborne’s. Me, and the state of New Hampshire.”

Every day, Baxter sees similar scenes play out on the combined trails. It offers stunning views of the region’s lakes, a chance to walk, run, or cycle and feel safe, and it connects athletes, sightseers, and commuters to businesses that dot the path.

Cyclists come off the trail hot, thirsty, happy. They buy water and specials such as steak and cheese or egg salad sandwiches, and they talk about what a good experience they’re having, Baxter said.

A Sanbornton resident, he’s owned BB’s Hot Bites-N-Cool Delights, also known as BB’s Scoops, for about 13 years, naming the business “BBS” after himself, his son Brian, and his daughter Shelby. When the children were young, they both worked alongside him in the truck.

For many years, BB’s traveled to events—fireworks, old home days, music festivals, weddings, and corporate functions. But Baxter and his wife, Mary, who is also involved with the business, decided they wanted to set down some roots. Now, you can find them set up at Osborne’s, where they operate Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., BB’s serves hearty lunch fare, such as hot dogs, burgers (including a black bean veggie burger), and grilled cheese sandwiches, along with daily and weekly specials. At Mary’s suggestion, they also sell a fair number of Fluffernutter sandwiches—peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff.

From 3 p.m. until close, Baxter sells only the ice cream he buys from Gifford’s in Maine.

As his customers rest and eat, Baxter said they talk about the trail.

“They feel it’s safe. They feel it’s top-notch,” he said. “There are stop signs. People adhere to etiquette. Everything is spelled out for you on the trail. People are impressed. I’ve talked to a lot of people about the trails, and I have only heard positive comments.”

For more information about BB’s Scoops, visit www.facebook.com/bbsscoops22/; for Osborne’s Agway, visit www.osbornesagway.com/.

For information on the WOW Trail, visit www.wowtrail.org, and for the Winni Scenic Trail, www.belmontnh.org/projectswinnitrail.asp.

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