NH SIERRA CLUB 10TH ANNIVERSITY PARTY

The New Hampshire Sierra Club held its 10th anniversity party on December 7, 2002 at the Sierra Club Office in Bicentennial Square, Concord, NH. Members and friends gathered to celebrate ten years of enthusiastic defense of the environment.

The New Hampshire chapter was founded in 1992 (after several years of effort) by Sue Hale deSeve, seen second from left in the picture below.

In the early 1990s, the national Sierra Club was represented regionally by a New England Chapter which tended to focus on Boston area issues. Sue, Bob Norman and several other NH Sierra Club members determined what steps should be taken to form a NH Chapter. After their continued effort to develop the structure of the Chapter, and flights to the Sierra Club's national headquarters in San Francisco by Sue, approval was finally received in 1992, and the NH Chapter was born. Subsequently, Vermont and Maine formed their own chapters as well.

The Chapter formed a loose alliance with several other environmental groups in NH, and Dick deSeve (who is now Sue's spouse), was hired as a lobbyist to represent environmental interests before the NH legislature - a role currently assumed by Cathy Corkery. In the left photo above, seen from left to right, Jon Barrows, Chapter Chair; Laura Scott; Bob Norman, Co-Chair of the Upper Valley Group; and Dick deSeve, Chapter Secretary; recall the early history of the chapter. The 10th anniversary birthday cake is shown in the right photo. (Cake photo courtesy of Aline Lotter.)

From 1992 to the present, the NH Chapter has been a leading environmental voice in the NH legislature. The chapter has also been active in endorsing political candidates. The endorsements are made after candidates respond in writing to questions prepared by the Club's political committee. In addition, the chapter has an active outings program, an on-going global warming campaign, and is active in numerous regional or local issues such as preservation of the Hackett Hill Atlantic white cedar swamp complex in Manchester.

The 10th anniversary party eventually moved to the courtyard outside the Sierra Club office. Here, Chapter member John Schlosser volunteered his doo-wop band, the Fondtones, to entertain the crowd.