9 minute read
Town of Hidden Gems
Pelham’s rural charm includes conservation areas, town forests and local businesses
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY JACLYN JAEGER / ILLUSTRATION BY PETER NOONAN
In certain parts of rural New England, there still exists those quintessential close-knit communities that have a way of embracing you like a warm hug, a patchwork quilt of pieces woven so seamlessly together it’s difficult to discern where one thread ends and another begins.
They are places where farmlands and farmstands still dot the land, where unspoiled landscapes and protected habitats offer quiet solitude from bustling city life, cocooned from the outside world.
They are places where local businesses know their customers by name, where the police and fire stations house hometown heroes, and where pillars of the community are honored and remembered. They are places where patriotism runs deep.
This is the essence of Pelham.
“Many of the businesses in town are very friendly and customer-friendly. I like the small-town charm and the many nice residents,” said Bill Brewster, who has lived in Pelham for more than 20 years and is a lifelong New Hampshire resident. “The police and fire department are always helpful and engaged in the community. I love it here.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by many in the community.
Community valuesThe Village Green anchors the town. Every season brings with it a different sentiment.
During the holiday season, the Southern New Hampshire Festival of Trees boasts a beautiful display of decorated Christmas trees and wreaths, donated by local individuals, businesses and community groups. Raffles are held for lucky winners.
Baked goods and refreshments are sold at the Candy Cane Café. Children enjoy daily scavenger hunts, rides on the Polar Express Train around the Village Green, and, of course, visits from Santa Claus. This year’s festival opens at 5 p.m. on Nov. 29 and runs through 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 at the Sherburne Hall of the Pelham Municipal Building at 6 Village Green.
During Fourth of July celebration, young and old generations gather together, celebrating the present to honor the past. The community’s heartbeat is palpable: American flags sway. Children play. The fire station proudly puts its trucks on display.
There are craft fairs and vendor fairs at Old Home Day, Wednesday evening Concerts on the Green, and the farmer’s market on Saturdays in the parking lot of the historic First Congregational Church. Summertime also brings family movie night on the Village Green, co-hosted by the Pelham Police Relief Association (PPRA) and the police department.
“It’s a completely free community social event,” says PPRA President Ashley Milinazzo. Hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and ice cream are provided. “We encourage bringing a blanket or a lawn chair. An outdoor theater is set up, and every year the community votes on the movie. This year it was the Disney feature ‘Moana.’ ”
The kids especially love collecting the police department’s trading cards. Each card features a photo of a member of the police department, his or her title, and a fun fact about themselves on the back. “Every employee in the department, even our dispatchers, has a trading card,” Milinazzo says.
When people interact with the police, often it’s because they’re having a tough day. “When you can personify the people who are protecting your community and are readily involved in your community … it makes the hard times a little easier to get through and makes people feel a little more supported,” Milinazzo notes.
This is the essence of Pelham, supporting one another as a community to make the hard times easier. It shows up in the way we honor our hometown heroes, heroes like Sgt. Daniel R. Gionet, a 23-yearold Pelham resident who gave his life for our country. In June 2013, the bridge on Main Street that crosses over Beaver Brook was formally dedicated in Gionet’s name.
Beaver Valley Farm Farmstands and small businesses are the community’s lifeblood, an unspoken symbiotic relationship where business owners and local farmers rely on the community as much as the community relies on them. Beaver Valley Farm, at 17 Main St., embodies this spirit.
When Donn and Donna Clark purchased the property in 1983, it began as a small grain store and eventually evolved into the family-owned and operated country, pet supply, garden center and livestock-feed store it is today. Many of the items it sells are made or grown locally. Even its local eggs come from one of its customers.
The couple also owns Pelham Saddlery, a horse saddle and tack shop, down the street on Windham Road. “The one thing we offer that the big-box stores, our competition, does not is that we get to know each and every one of our customers,” says Donn Clark.
Gosia Gillis, the manager of Beaver Valley Farm, knows every customer’s name and their pets’ names, down to what pet food each customer orders. “I take pride in that,” she says.
It’s that kind of salt-of-the-earth customer-friendly service that does not go unnoticed. “I love being able to walk into Beaver Valley Farm and being called by name or calling to order dog food, and they know exactly what I want,” says Bonnie I’Anson, who has called Pelham home for the last 38 years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, customers especially appreciated the curbside and home delivery services that the store continues to provide.
Here, loyalty runs as deep as its community roots. At a time when many businesses struggle to find employees, it’s notable that its younger employees fondly refer to the store as DCU, short for Donn Clark University, because of all the practical and hands-on knowledge they learn.
“I personally consider each and every one of them a project,” Donn Clark says, adding, “There are a lot of them I’m proud of.”
The store has many happy four-legged customers as well. “The dogs tear their humans’ arms off to get in the door. They come right behind the counter and look at the cookie station,” Gillis says. Every dog that comes in gets a treat — but, first, they have to get by Baxter, the store’s 17-year-old rescued tabby cat. “He always wants to swat at the dogs when they come in,” she says.
It’s no surprise that the store welcomes animals. Co-owner Donna Clarke founded the Animal Rescue Network of New England (ARNNE), an animal rescue organization in Pelham.
In July 2024, when Pelham police celebrated the grand opening of its new animal control shelter, it turned over the old building to ARNNE. “We have a good relationship with the Pelham Police Department,” Donna Clark says.
Hike challengeNestled within the town are 11 town forests and conservation areas totaling 22 miles of easy, scenic trails. Many of the trails offer expansive views of open habitats, wetlands and an abundance of wildlife. So whether you’re into walking, hiking, birdwatching, biking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, there’s something for everyone.
“The town has put in a lot of time and effort in creating all of this, but many people don’t know they exist,” says Pelham resident Linda Irish-Simpson, who came up with the idea to create a hike challenge, issued by the Forestry Committee.
Those who hike all 22 miles of mapped trails earn a patch. A complete set of maps can be found at pelhamweb.com/forestry-committee/pages/trail-maps. To date, 57 people have completed the challenge, Irish-Simpson says.
In addition to the Forestry Committee, a committed group of volunteers maintain the trails. Most who complete the hike challenge volunteer to become trail adopters themselves. “They do a nice job of mapping and marking everything,” says Pelham resident Katie Webster, who completed the challenge with her dog, Sam.
Webster says her favorite season to hike is fall, “but winter would be a very close second because it’s just beautiful. It is so quiet. You feel like you’re in another world.”
Irish-Simpson says there will be a new winter hike challenge starting this winter. Those who want to participate in that challenge have December, January and February to complete all 22 miles of trails. Once completed, they will earn two patches: a winter hike challenge patch and the original hike challenge patch. There are also many designated trails for snowmobiling.
Other hidden gems include places like Little Island Pond, Gumpas Pond and Harris Pond. With no public access, they are an oasis for locals and boast a fisherman’s paradise of largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, brown bullhead, chain pickerel, yellow perch and more.
A changing landscapeBy November, winter is creeping in. At the edge of Gumpas Pond, the water, as still as glass, mirrors the reflection of mostly bare trees. Leaves blanket the trails like a spilled box of crayons. What few remain on the branches grasp tightly to the final days of autumn.
In many ways, the changing seasons reflect an ever-changing town. Once a summer retreat for out-of-towners, the Pelham of today is a bedroom community. Farmlands continue to disappear in place of residential neighborhoods. The historic Harris Pelham Inn, constructed in 1906, which hosted countless weddings and other functions, has shuttered its doors, a victim of the pandemic. Its closure was a blow to the hearts of many in the community.
But there are, at least, some remnants of the past that remain: Abbott Bridge, New Hampshire’s oldest mortar-free, double-arch stone bridge on Old Bridge Street; Butler Monument, erected in 1886 to honor the town’s first settler, John Butler; the First Congregational Church, over 270 years old; and numerous other private residences and buildings that memorialize the town’s familial and storied history.
No matter how much the town continues to change, there will always be those who will fight tirelessly and passionately to preserve this rural town’s farming and agricultural legacy, unspoiled landscapes, small-town charm, and deep patriotism for a past it stands to honor, because, truly, this is the essence of Pelham.
