Dover Download

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Media Services Mike Gillis about September's board, committee and commission meetings.

The Planning Board tabled proposed zoning amendments after two public hearings and eight months of work, choosing to weigh public feedback before revisiting them in October. Board members also questioned a request to convert rental units at 54 Back River Road to for-sale units, focusing on long-term affordability. Applicant John Randolph withdrew the request, leaving the project as originally approved.

The City Council's Sept. 2 workshop covered the water system and the July 1, 2027, switch to toters for curbside trash pickup, with residents starting with 64-gallon carts. The related ordinance is now with the Ordinance Committee. On Sept. 9, the council adopted three ordinances, including parking provisions, along with a City Hall tower lighting policy modeled on the city's flag policy. It also approved the sale of tax-deeded property, a rare step. On Sept. 23, the council tabled the paraeducators' contract pending more financial information.

The School Board set its budget calendar, with Superintendent Christine Boston presenting Nov. 23, and approved a generative AI plan. The Zoning Board heard an unusual appeal over whether Tuscany Drive is a legitimate road, which the city attorney said fell outside its jurisdiction. Looking ahead, the council and Planning Board meet jointly Oct. 7 on the capital improvements program.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Margaret Joyce and Jed Allen of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce about the 42nd annual Apple Harvest Day. What began as a small craft fair on Orchard Street with about a dozen crafters has grown into a signature event often described as Dover's homecoming, with roughly 250 vendors, two food courts, a road race, an apple pie contest and entertainment on two stages. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the 5K road race starting at 8:30 a.m.

Construction on Henry Law Avenue has required some changes. Activities in the lower portion of Henry Law Park, including bouncy houses and the train ride, won't happen this year, but the chamber relocated most vendors, giving priority to crafters and longtime returning vendors. Upper Henry Law Park will still feature a stage, animal ambassadors, yard games and Children's Museum activities, and a sensory space will be available at Fish Ladder Park. The guests also set the record straight on rumors: Apple Harvest Day is happening.

To ease congestion, free parking is available at 100 Liberty Way off Exit 9, with three times as many shuttles as last year running until 5 p.m. A new bike valet will operate near the Church Street parking garage. Joyce and Allen also credited city public safety staff, sponsors First Seacoast Bank and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, and the many volunteers who make the day possible.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back to Oct. 12, 1985, when a group of downtown business owners known as the Apple Corps launched the first Apple Harvest Day. The inaugural festival drew thousands with apple-themed breakfasts, a pie contest, a craft fair, a petting zoo, a Dover High School Band parade and tethered hot air balloon rides over Henry Law Park.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Kathy Beebe, executive director of Haven, as part of the podcast's continuing look at local nonprofits. Haven is the Seacoast's domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and support agency. It was formed through the merger of A Safe Place and Sexual Assault Support Services. Beebe explains that the new name was chosen deliberately to make clear its services are for anyone affected, including men, teens, adult survivors of childhood abuse, and family members.

Haven offers a 24-hour support line, court and hospital accompaniment, support at the Child Advocacy Center, a transitional shelter and a federally funded rent subsidy program. Its educators reach about 13,000 students a year in kindergarten through 12th grade with age-appropriate lessons on body safety, bullying and healthy relationships. Beebe describes staff as "navigators" who connect clients with partner organizations when their needs go beyond Haven's own services.

Haven has a $3 million annual budget, about a third of which comes from fundraising, and has more than doubled in size since its merger 10 years ago. A capital campaign is now underway to move its Portsmouth office and build a new shelter at an Episcopal church on Route 1. The project is a partnership with the Portsmouth Housing Authority, the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and a child care provider, with occupancy targeted for late spring 2027. Beebe also highlights volunteer opportunities, from outreach events to board service.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back at the September 1849 opening of the Cochecho Railroad, which carried passengers about 18 miles from Dover through Rochester to Farmington. The line later extended to Alton Bay on Lake Winnipesaukee, helping make Dover an important rail junction between northern New Hampshire and Boston.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Lily Hanscom, Dover's new director of Public Welfare, about the city's role as a local safety net.

Hanscom, a Rochester native, traces her path into the field: volunteering at Haven at 19, an internship with a Strafford County Corrections transition program for young women, and six years with the state Department of Health and Human Services before coming to Dover earlier this year. She gravitated toward resource-focused work over crisis work, she says, and appreciates that local decisions take days rather than years.

She describes a small office on the third floor of the McConnell Center, guided by Dover's welfare guidelines, which she calls the rulebook that keeps casework consistent and fair for everyone, herself included. Beyond meeting the emergency in front of her, Hanscom emphasizes long-term sustainability, pointing to job fairs, New Hampshire Employment Security programs, and close partnerships with My Friend's Place, Cross Roads House, and other area nonprofits. She also stresses prevention, such as collecting donated backpacks and school supplies so families don't spend money they will need later for a utility bill. Parker and Hanscom agree the office should be a place people can walk into without shame, and that anyone can end up a missed paycheck or an accident away from needing help.

The Public Welfare office is in the McConnell Center, Room 334, and is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointment is necessary.

In This Week in Dover History, we return to 1857, when workmen excavating a house foundation on Nelson Street uncovered an old chimney and cellar wall, human bones believed to be a woman's, and a spoon of a style unused for 150 years. The ruins were thought to belong to the garrison house of Peter Coffin's son, or possibly Dover's first tavern. The segment traces Coffin's remarkable life: an original purchaser of Nantucket Island, a sawmill owner, a lieutenant in King Philip's War, and later chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Jennifer Elliott and Christopher Kozak of Community Partners, continuing the podcast's look at nonprofits serving the Dover community.

Kozak, the organization's president and CEO, and Elliott, the organization's communications manager, describe Community Partners as a large social service agency serving primarily Strafford County, with a mission of helping people participate fully in their communities. It is both the county's designated community mental health center and its designated area agency, supporting people with developmental disabilities and acquired brain disorders through case management, early supports and services, therapy, psychiatric care, and residential programming with more than 120 home providers. Its rapid response mobile crisis team, dispatched through 988, serves the county and neighboring regions.

They also discuss the Aging and Disability Resource Center, formerly ServiceLink, which handles Medicare Part D open enrollment and the Choices for Independence program that helps older adults stay in their homes. Recent growth includes acquiring Southeastern New Hampshire Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, bringing the Turning Point residential program and the Kane House sober living program under the agency, and purchasing a 28,000-square-foot building in Somersworth. Kozak explains the coming transition to a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic model, which will broaden eligibility and better integrate mental health, substance use, and physical health care.

The conversation also covers the agency's board and advisory councils, its more than 500 employees, internship and volunteer opportunities, mental health first aid training that has reached over 2,400 people, and how listeners can get involved.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back at the General Sullivan Bridge, which opened across Little Bay on Sept. 5, 1934, carried traffic and later cyclists and pedestrians for decades, and is now being demolished under a state project expected to be complete by early 2027.