Bandstand project finally completed

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:44:00 GMT

BY MICHELLE KIM

Residents celebrated the newly built town commons bandstand with a Christmas tree lighting and a special visit from Santa Claus on Sunday, Dec. 2.

It took the Dunbarton Garden Club and the Town Commons Project seven years to raise the $50,000 needed to build the 20-foot wide octagonal lighted structure. But the long wait finally paid off Sunday evening, as more than 60 residents and neighbors mingled over hot chocolate and a small, crackling bonfire as they admired the tree housed under the lighted cupola of the bandstand.

Girl Scouts Troop 2470 and Brownie Troop 65 sang Christmas carols, and wide-eyed kids lined up for a chance to talk with Santa.

For 2-year-old Jack Mann of Dunbarton, it was his first time on Santa’s lap. He smiled shyly as he asked only for a candy cane.

It was a much greater turnout than normally seen at tree lightings, said Jacque Belanger, Parks and Recreation Department commissioner.

“People are excited to see the gazebo,” said his wife Kim Belanger, a teacher at Dunbarton Elementary School. “They’ve been raising funds endlessly.” Judy Petersen, president of the Dunbarton Garden Club, gave opening remarks thanking the organizers and committee and club members for their hard work.

“The community actually built this,” she said, by donating to and supporting the project.

Donna Dunn, co-chairman of the Town Commons Project Committee overseeing the bandstand project, explained that the lighting in the bandstand, thanks to the suggestion of the Green Committee and the assistance of volunteer electrician Alain Biron, was designed to be energy efficient, costing only 2.5 cents an hour or $36 a year to run.

Many design features of the town library were incorporated into the bandstand as well, she said, such as round tapered columns, matching roof shingles, black railings and dentil molding.

Petersen said the project is not quite finished as it still needs landscaping and a few benches installed that were donated by different groups.

But, as the event wrapped up and thick, flakes of snow began to fall, the bandstand was still a sight to behold - an otherworldly beacon glowing in the winter night.

Dunbarton news : Bandstand

Bandstand project finally completed