The Lane Memorial Library and Friends of the Lane Memorial Library will present an online event, The Sketches of Lee Collection by local author Michael Ward on Thursday, November 19, at 7 p.m. This is a virtual program and will be presented via the Zoom app available on most PC and handheld devices. Ward who was recently featured on WMUR’s New Hampshire Chronicle will present his family's story with a Q&A session at the end.

Registration is required, after which a confirmation email will be sent containing information about joining the meeting.  Follow this link to register in advance.

From the author’s website

“In the summer of 1957, the Ward family moved from Brooklyn, New York, to Lee, New Hampshire to escape gang violence. It was an era when racial tensions were high, and they were the first “colored family” in the area. Needless to say, over the years they encountered many interesting experiences. They also became respected members of the community, led by parents, Harold and Virginia Ward, a couple with strong character, conviction and compassion.

Harold, Michael Cameron Ward’s 94-year-old father, was hospitalized in the beginning of May 2015 with only weeks to live. On May 20th, he made a request of his son: “Michael, I want you to write the stories of our existence. I want my great grandchildren to know where they came from.”  As Michael sat at his father’s bedside on the 4th floor at Exeter Hospital, his father recounted stories of his life that had never been told before. If not captured, they would be lost forever. On June 9th, 2015 Harold died, and Michael has been fulfilling his father’s request ever since.

The Sketches of Lee collection is not just the tale of a family’s relocation in the summer of 1957 from Brooklyn, NY to Lee, NH. It is also a chronicle of family life as the “Index of Integration” for Lee and other New Hampshire towns.The first book in the collection, “A Colored Man in Exeter,” is a biographical account of Harold E. Ward’s, life and times. It begins with his maternal family’s slave origins on Zachary Taylor’s plantation in 1852-54. It proceeds through his childhood, his WWII US Navy career, and his post retirement in the Exeter, NH hospitality trade. The second book, “The Colored Folks Ain’t Gonna Make It,” is stories of the Ward’s “normal family life” as the “Index of Integration” in Lee, NH and the local area. It encapsulates the year from 1957 until 2017, with their home “Solar Vista” as the nexus. "The early years were tough. We made it, but it wasn’t easy."

The library will have a limited number of autographed copies of both books available for in-person purchase and pick-up during browsing library hours M,W,F 10am-2pm & T,TH 2-6pm. Payment will be via debit or credit card only with guided assistance at one of our computer workstations. Unautographed copies may be purchased via Amazon.

Seacoast Volunteers provides FREE grocery shopping for seniors 60+, healthy or not. The website is at www.seacoastvolunteers.org, and the contact telephone number is (603) 263-4799.

How it works

"We usually ask the senior to meet the volunteer at their local Market Basket, Hannaford, or Shaw's, since most of those grocery stores have a camera in the parking lot and the grocery store, for both the senior's and the volunteer's safety.

We ask that you both exchange license plate # and car description, for safety reasons, as well as helping you find each other. The volunteer will usually find the senior's car and with both the volunteer and the senior wearing masks and gloves, the senior will hand the volunteer their grocery list, with most important items at the top, and the estimated amount of cash. This is in case the estimated cash is not enough to cover the cost of the groceries - we can insure that the senior ends up with the most important items. Then, the volunteer will shop, and bring the groceries to the senior's car, bringing the change and the receipt, and place the groceries in the back seat for the senior.  We do ask that when you get home with your groceries that you continue wearing the mask and gloves while you clean each item before bringing them into the house.

If the person is not healthy enough to leave the house, the volunteer can stop by and pick up the list and cash, shop for the senior, and bring the items to the home, leaving them on the door step and contacting them upon arrival.

For those who use GATHER, we can get a list over the phone and shop for the senior based on both the senior's preference and GATHER's hours of operation. Those groceries are then delivered to the senior's home.

We can also do prescription pick up, as long as the pharmacy OKs the third-party pickup. Senior will have to make arrangements with pharmacy to confirm this.

All specific arrangements are made over the phone between the senior and volunteer.

Seacoast Volunteers was created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is made up entirely of volunteers,We are not officially a non-profit, and we accept NO DONATIONS, as this is temporary during this crisis.  The best way for folks to contact us and get a volunteer response is to use the website and include their request and phone number in the 'Contact Us' section."

The staff of Lane Memorial Library have served the community of Hampton for over 130 years. This winter, they’re aiming to serve up some good, warm food to residents in need. “Read to Feed,” is a reading challenge that will benefit the St. Vincent de Paul Community Kitchen. The library will urge children and adults to “earn” donations by reading great books. Local Hampton businesses are sponsoring the program.

"It's a winter reading program that mirrors our summer reading program. The difference is we're giving back to our community, instead of earning prizes for ourselves," said Lane Library Assistant Director Stacy Mazur.

The all-ages reading program will run from February 1st through March 31st, 2020. The library will have bookmarks available at the end of January for readers to track their progress. Students in grades K-5 read for 20 minutes, on 4 different days, per bookmark. Older students, in grades 6-12, and adults will read 4 books per bookmark. For every bookmark, a donation of $5 to the Community Kitchen will be made in the reader’s name.

The library’s initial goal is to earn $500. If the community reaches $500, the library has a “stretch” goal, where every book or 20 minutes read (by the younger kids) will earn $5 each, to reach $800. Library patrons can also make extra monetary contributions or donate non-perishable items for the Food Pantry.

"This is a great opportunity to promote literacy and encourage generosity within the Hampton community," Mazur said.

The Community Kitchen is in downtown Hampton at the Seaside Elderly Day Out Center. They serve five meals a week from mid-October to mid-May. “Clients have a sit-down dining experience when they come,” said Lisa Parker, volunteer coordinator.

Volunteers and local community organizations prepare the meals off site.  On days when volunteers are not able to meet the demand, monetary donations help to make sure a hot meal will be available for clients.  Parker spoke about the continued need for volunteers to cook meals and staff the dinner service. “We operate completely on donations and through volunteers,” she stated. “There are between three to four volunteers here every time we serve.”

The funds raised by “Read to Feed” will help in part with on-going supply costs. "I’ll come in to check and see if we have plates, silverware, or paper towels, and we’re out again. Supplies are a constant need," Parker said. Donations also go towards upkeep and maintenance of the space as well as providing food supplies for volunteers who wish to prepare a cooked meal, but do not have the funds.

The Community Kitchen is an invaluable resource to the Hampton community, serving 40 to 60 people per night. “We get many donations over Thanksgiving and Christmas but find it harder to manage through the rest of winter. We still have people coming, but not as many donations or volunteers,” Parker noted.

The Community Kitchen experienced the hardship of losing their long-time space at Hampton Beach to fire. The Hampton Fire Department and Chamber of Commerce offered temporary spaces in 2018/2019. The library looks forward to helping them continue to serve the Hampton community in their new downtown location.

The library is partnering with Marston School’s Good Citizens Club on this project. Their members will make posters for the school to encourage their fellow students to take part, and they are also planning a food drive. Student representatives will be on hand to present the donations to St. Vincent de Paul at the completion of the reading campaign.

The library would like to thank local business sponsors, the Law Office of Eileen A. Nevins, Parsons Electric Co. Inc., Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory, Hampton Beach Casino, Bean Insurance Agency LLC of Hampton, NH, Pauline Maloney of Stoney Knoll Realty, Lions Club International of Hampton, NH, Tom Muldowney, Strategic-Partner of Schooley Mitchell.

AARP Tax Help runs February 5th thru April 9th.

AARP will be unable to do face-to-face tax returns this tax season due to COVID‑19. The IRS has given AARP permission to prepare taxes via a "Drop-Off" method where you consolidate your tax documents as described below and then deliver them to an AARP Tax Aide representative at the library.

Take one envelope per filing.  Refer to the Scope Poster which identifies what AARP can and cannot do. If you are self-employed, make sure you take a self-employment worksheet in addition to the tax envelope.  If you have employees, losses, expenses that exceed $35,000, depreciation, business use of home, 1099 filing requirements, or other complicating factors, AARP Tax-Aide is unable to complete your return.

You may return your completed package to an AARP representative at the Hampton Library.  Please maintain social distance of 6 feet.  A counselor will inventory your documents before you leave. 

Days and times for dropping off completed packages are as follows:

Wednesday:  1:30pm-3:30pm
Thursday:  2:30pm-5:30pm
Saturday:  10am-11 am 

All forms must be completed before you arrive to drop off your tax package. Incomplete packages will not be accepted.

What to bring for drop off: 

1) Copies of all social security cards associated with the return;

2) Official government identification;

3) Completed Intake/Interview, Form 13614;

4) Completed and signed Form 14446, Virtual VITA/TCE Taxpayer Consent;

5) 2020 tax forms and documents, Economic Impact Payment and Advanced Child Tax Credit Payment letters, and a copy of your bank information if requesting direct deposit of refund or direct withdrawal of amount due; and

6) Last year's completed return.  

When in doubt, include documents in the envelope. 

A tax counselor will contact you by telephone for an intake interview. 

Due to inclement weather, this event has been postponed until Tuesday, January 14th from 6:30 - 7:30 PM in the downstairs Lane Room.

Join Justine Paradis, reporter and host of NHPR's Second Greatest Show on Earth & Tricia Peone, historian and program manager at New Hampshire Humanities as they talk about witchcraft in New Hampshire. Their three-part series The Real Witches of New Hampshire begins with the story of Eunice Cole in Hampton, the only person convicted of witchcraft in the state. Why did this happen to Eunice Cole in Hampton, and why didn't this lead to a widespread witch hunt in New Hampshire?