At its June meeting, The Andover Community Hub Board of Directors elected four new members and then welcomed their participation in the meeting itself, held at The Hub at 157 Main Street.
The new members are: Tom Brown, who moved to Andover in 1998, and is now the information-technology manager at Duncraft Wild Bird Superstore in Concord; Deb Huntoon, an Andover resident since 2001, currently retired after a career in healthcare; Gregor Makechnie, who moved to Andover in 1985 while in the eighth grade, currently Director of Athletics and Social Entrepreneurship teacher at Proctor Academy; and Beth Page, a six-year Andover resident, currently Director of Student Support Services at AE/MS.
Asked for their thoughts about The Andover Community Hub’s role in the community, the new board members offered the following thoughts. Tom Brown said, “My thoughts about The Hub’s performance to date? It certainly appears to be doing much to be better known and utilized by the community.
Deb Huntoon responded, “The Andover Community Hub is a wonderful place to meet people, participate in educational and fun programs, and volunteer for whatever is going on.” Gregor Makechnie said, “The Hub serves a vital role in Andover strengthening individuals and families while providing meaningfully valuable services.” Beth Page added, “The Hub has some great programming. I am interested in helping it to expand.”
The Andover Community Hub is a relatively young organization, housed in the 1879 building that served as Andover’s original town hall and the place in which generations of Andover residents played basketball, attended community dances, and cast ballots on Town Meeting Day. Our goal has always been to return this building to its original function of being a gathering place for the whole community.
The Hub’s mission statement is to help nurture and enhance a more vibrant, resilient, and sustainable local community, to encourage a sense of belonging and personal investment in the town, and to revive Andover’s historic old Town Hall as a place for people of all ages to gather for social, educational, cultural, recreational, and economic activities.
Launched in 2017, The Hub has grown significantly in the last six years toward fulfilling its basic mission of being a community resource and center for the whole Andover community, and offering a range of classes and events — everything from speakers on Andover geology, to travel nights, art classes, and a weekly pre-school playgroup; from a Senior Health Clinic provided by the Visiting Nurse Association, to AARP volunteers offering Tax Prep help and workshops on health, crafts, and how to retire; from yoga, Bone Builders, and tai chi, to drop-in coffee hours and bingo.
The Hub has also provided meeting space for other community organizations, including the Friends of the Northern Rail Trail, the Andover Historical Society, the Fourth of July Committee, the Andover Democrats and Andover Republicans, as well as space for private parties.
The Hub sponsors the monthly Andover Community Coffeehouse, now in its fifth year of offering great local live music. In addition, The Hub’s 2020 holiday effort, The Giving Tree, raised $5,000 to help local families in need. The Hub has no staff and relies on community volunteers to lead, teach, and organize most of our workshops, classes, and events.