12 Days of Christmas Promotion on 98.7 The Bay Radio Highlights Downtown’s Unique Gift Ideas

Dover, NH—December 5, 2012- Dover Main Street invites shoppers to enter in a winner-takes-all contest of great prizes from Downtown Dover merchants including Ross Furniture, Alie Jewelers, All Critters Corner, Nicole’s Hallmark, Positive Direction Hair Salon, One Second Computer, C Style Boutique, Market Square Jewelers, Child Light Yoga, Cartelli’s Restaurant, Jewelry Creations, and Cocheco Print Works. The Discover Dover Great Holiday Giveaway runs from now until December 21^st in which the winner will be announced live on 98.7 The Bay Radio at 8 a.m. from Santa’s Workshop in the Mill Courtyard.

The Discover Dover Great Holiday Giveaway campaign seeks to highlight all the reasons Dover is a great place to shop, live, work and play, by promoting 12 days of unique gift ideas for the holidays. Each participating business will be featured on Seacoast in the Morning at 98.7 The Bay Radio starting on December 6^th for their particular prize that they are giving to the lucky winner during the 12 days of the promotion. The lucky winner will take home all of these unique gifts. Anyone can enter to win at participating merchant stores. The Bay Radio and Ross Furniture have helped Dover Main Street organize this seasonal promotion as part of the Discover Dover holiday campaign, and The Bay will spotlight one merchant during each of the twelve days.

Michele Alexander, Director of Dover Main Street, said, “We are excited that people are supporting local businesses this holiday season, and this promotion will give people some great gift ideas, with the chance to win fantastic prizes from our downtown merchants. We encourage people to go to the participating merchants to fill out the contest form, and see what they have to offer. Think local this holiday season and you could be a winner!”  People can also enter to win by sending an email to discoverdover@987thebay.com.

For more information visit www.discoverdover.com, call 603.978.9924, or visit the Dover Main Street Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/dovermainstreet.

Host of Family-Friendly Events Planned and Promoted For This Weekend

Dover, NH— November 29, 2012- As we head full force into the holiday season, Dover Main Street is leading the way with a host of community organizations, to offer events that celebrate the City of Dover’s assets and a return to the nostalgic, community-based activities that have been a part of family holiday traditions in the Garrison City in years past. After the success of returning Santa’s Workshop to the mill courtyard on Plaid Friday after a six year hiatus, and promoting local shopping at the Dover Holiday Parade, Dover Main Street offers another slew of activities to make Downtown Dover a happening place to be this weekend.

The Dover Main Street weekend line-up of festivities starts with entertainment from the Rebel Chef Cafe Christmas Carol cast at the Rotary Pavilion during Santa’s visits with children after the Tree Lighting at 6:00 pm this Friday at Henry Law Park, with cocoa and baked goods sold as a fundraiser by Woodman Park School PTO. Fire barrels and sing along carols planned will be sure to keep the mood festive after Dover Parks & Recreation lights the grand tree. This event is the same evening as the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce Festival of Trees at City Hall, from 5-8 pm. Dover Main Street coordinated with the Chamber to connect the two events, with on-the-street luminaries guiding the way, for those wishing to attend both holiday spectaculars.

On Saturday, Dover Main Street invites the community to Discover Dover Day- with merchants and restaurants offering special promotions to customers, and Santa visiting downtown, at the Noggin Factory from 10 am-12 pm & 2-4 pm, and photo opportunities with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Holly the Elf at his Workshop in the mill courtyard at 1:00pm. A First Annual Flash Mob Caroling Event planned by Dover Main Street will kick the holiday spirit into high-gear Saturday afternoon at Santa’s Workshop at 2 p.m. led by St. Thomas Aquinas High School Music Director, Brenda LaForce and their Chamber singers.  “This is a come one, come all, show up event with no musical talent required—  just come prepared to make some noise in downtown Dover as we create holiday cheer and fun memories with family and community,” said Erik Roy, Dover Main Street Board member, and lead organizer.

“Make a night of it of Friday with all the family-friendly holiday entertainment planned.  You can make a whole day of it on Saturday, enjoying downtown Dover— come and have breakfast Saturday morning at one of our diners or bakeries, spend time with Santa, join in on the caroling, visit our shops for unique gift ideas, stop at the Children’s Museum, have lunch at our great downtown restaurants, visit our mill artists, enjoy the view of our waterfall, take pictures at Santa’s Workshop, get tree ornaments, and enjoy spending time with your friends, family and neighbors in the leisurely, festive historic setting of Downtown Dover,” said Michele Alexander, Dover Main Street Director. For more information visit www.discoverdover.com, call 603.978.9924, or visit the Dover Main Street facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/dovermainstreet.

With a return of Santa’s Workshop to the Mill Courtyard for the Holidays

Dover, New Hampshire—November 13, 2012- Dover Main Street has issued a call to residents in the area to support the City of Dover’s downtown merchants by shopping for gifts at local businesses first this holiday season through a campaign called Discover Dover. Dover Main Street has partnered with Seacoast Local to spread the message that shopping local keeps more money in the local economy, and supports the businesses that reinvest in the City and that are the backbone of a thriving Main Street community.  The organizations have created a website www.discoverdover.com to highlight everything going on in Downtown Dover throughout the holidays.

The Discover Dover Campaign will kick off on Plaid Friday, November 23^rd, at 9 a.m. with Santa making a very grand arrival from the Dover Fire Station into downtown Dover at the Mill Courtyard, 430 Central Avenue, with the whole merchant community on the streets decked out in plaid. Plaid Friday is the nationally recognized celebration of the diversity and creativity of independent businesses, sponsored regionally by Seacoast Local, and promoted in communities across the country as the alternative to the big box store “Black Friday”.

Dover Main Street will host a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at Santa’s Workshop when he arrives at 9 a.m. on Plaid Friday, and Dover Main Street invites the community to come out, in plaid attire or scarves, to attend.  Cocoa from Kelley’s Row, holiday music, photos with Santa, Mrs. Claus, & Holly, and visits with the Dover Mounted Police Unit- all donning plaid for the occasion- will all be part of the celebration. The Workshop, a former mainstay of Dover holiday decor, is being lovingly restored by volunteers after many years in storage and suffering damage by vandals, and will be back in the courtyard for the entire holiday season in its full nostalgic glory.  Ross Furniture, City Councilor Robert Carrier, Mandias Consulting, Central Paint, Newsky Electrical Contracting, Sprague Floor Covering, Cynthia Design Studios, and Andrew Clark of Strafford Appliances, are all part of the crew of volunteers and sponsors who came on board with Dover Main Street to donate time and materials for the Workshops repair.

Michele Alexander, Director of Dover Main Street, said “Plaid Friday is a great day to celebrate our community and all it has to offer- and the perfect day to launch the Discover Dover campaign. The return of Santa’s Workshop to the courtyard this year, as a community volunteer effort by local business people, is a symbol of the ongoing commitment that LOCAL businesses have to their community– and why it is so important we support our LOCAL businesses back.”

Throughout the season, the Discover Dover campaign will offer promotions featuring unique gift ideas, a Discover Dover Shop Local holiday float sponsored by Federal Savings Bank and Ross Furniture, with Shift Your Shopping re-usable tote bags filled with discount give-aways for local businesses, downtown events coordinated with the City and the Chamber, a Great Holiday Giveaway contest sponsored by Dover Main Street’s participating merchants, Santa visits at downtown businesses, and more events to be announced. Dover Main Street Board Member, Erik Roy of Ross Furniture, will be sponsoring Discover Dover announcements on The Bay Radio and he has been an integral part of the campaign plans. He noted, “Dover Downtown is a great place for neighbors and friends to gather during the holidays, and we hope to make Dover a very exciting place for the community to be this season.”

Michelle Sawyer, Dover Main Street’s Board Chair said “Our small, independent businesses offer unique merchandise you can’t find at national retailers, competitive prices, and great customer service—all within our charming, historic New England mill town atmosphere. Our historic buildings, festive holiday decorations, friendly merchants, and unique gift selection all make shopping downtown a great family-friendly experience. Holiday shopping with our local businesses is an enjoyable alternative to fighting the crowds at 4 a.m. sales. We invite people to spread the holiday spirit where it counts—at home.”

Dover, New Hampshire— On Saturday, October 27^th, 2012, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. downtown Dover businesses will offer trick-or-treating to visiting children. Dover Main Street coordinated the “Enter if You Dare” event to run hand-in-hand with the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire’s Not-so-Spooky Spectacular, which features an all-day full schedule of events for kids of all ages. Participants in trick-or-treating downtown can begin at The Children’s Museum, which will kick off their Halloween event starting at 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and will be open for visitors through 5 p.m. In addition, The Children’s Museum will provide guests with the list of the thirty plus Dover Main Street businesses participating. Trick-or-Treaters in Dover downtown should look for the “Enter if You Dare” signs, which will mark the participating businesses.

Kerry Wood, Board Member of Dover Main Street and owner of the Noggin Factory, helped organize the event. Wood said, “Dover Main Street invites the public to a full day of Halloween festivities in downtown Dover, starting with the Children’s Museum’s treats, eerie experiments, crafts, bat cave exploration, face painting and more which will run all day, to talking a walk through the downtown in costume in between these fun museum activities to trick-or-treat at our local participating businesses which will display the “Enter if You Dare” sign. In addition, at 2 p.m. starting at the Dover Chamber of Commerce, will be the 7^th Annual Dover Zombie Walk, down Central Avenue to Adelle’s Coffeehouse culminating with colorful gelatin “brain-eating” contests. Dover has a great day of events planned downtown, so come and play, eat and enjoy.”

Also, visitors can explore the One Washington Mill over the bridge from the Children’s Museum and travel through a Living Halloween Art Installation as they partake of Halloween snacks from Soup Guy Cafe in the lobby, serving up a delicious cup of soup or chili when visitors come in, and cookies by Popper’s pastry chef. Participants can bid on very silent silent auction items donated by local businesses, and continue on your way to a brand new play based on fairytales and fables! Have your photo taken in costume by local photographer Ron St Jean and trick-or-treat as you explore the Mill. Theater Unmasked on the fifth floor of the mill offers the play “Into the Grim” with show times specifically designed with families in mind. Early shows (10.30am and 1pm) are child and family friendly, while our later shows (5pm and 8pm) are for the spookier of heart.

Poet Kayla Wheeler and artist Jessica Allard present a collaborative art & poetry project inspired by Kayla’s new chapbook, Graveyard Flowers. Reception begins at 6:00pm Saturday, October 27th, at The Washington Street Mills East Tower Gallery, with performance and reading to follow.

For information email director@dovermainstreet.org or visit www.facebook.com/dovermainstreet

Dover, New Hampshire—October 15, 2012- This week, Dover Main Street is launching a program “Storefront of the Week” which will publicly recognize a downtown Dover merchant’s efforts to create an inviting street front presence.  Each week a business will be selected, photographed, and highlighted on the Dover Main Street Facebook page based on the aesthetic visual appeal of their street-level “storefront”.  Care taken to display attractive signage, clean appearances, seasonal and holiday decorations, and unique displays, will all be aspects taken into account in the selection process.

Each Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer a contest will be held at the end of the season to pick the public’s favorite photo, based upon the photo’s number of ‘likes’ by Facebook fans.  The goal of the program is to both offer appreciation for those businesses that make a special effort to create a welcoming feel to the downtown Central Business District, and also to create a nice photo album each season on the Dover Main Street fan page highlighting all the downtown has to offer residents and visitors. Any type of business in the downtown is eligible to be spotlighted, including those within Dover’s blossoming mill merchant community, where many local entrepreneurs and artisans are now offering an indoor “Main Street” shopping and eating experience.

Michele Alexander, Executive Director of Dover Main Street, introduced the program, which is modeled after a similar Main Street program in a west coast town. Alexander said, “We hope to find unique ways to showcase the great things going on in our community. This program offers fifty-two opportunities a year to do just that.”

Lucy’s Art Emporium was the first business chosen as Storefront of the Week and it was announced on the fan page on Monday. Alexander noted, “Lucy’s Art Emporium embodies the spirit of this program, with tasteful and unique signage, fall season themed decorations in the window boxes and window displays, and one-of-a-kind products for sale made by our talented Seacoast community. Residents and visitors can find many unique items, including affordable fine art, baby gifts, handcrafted jewelry, and more there. It is Dover’s own Etsy style store, but without having to pay the shipping costs of shopping online, and your purchases made directly at this locally-owned shop means more of your money stays in our local community.”

To learn more visit www.facebook.com/dovermainstreet.

Dover, NH—October 15, 2012- At the 2012 Annual Meeting of Dover Main Street, many Dover community members and businesses were given awards for their hard work, dedication, and sponsorship of the many programs and activities of the non-profit organization. All 2011-2012 volunteers were acknowledged and thanked for their service.

Federal Savings Bank and D.F. Richard were both honored and awarded as the Businesses of the Year. Outgoing Board Chair, Jeff Spires credited them saying, “These companies both earned the title of ‘Most Consecutive Years of Sponsorship of Dover Main Street Programs’ and are a big part of all our events and programming”.  He added, “The mission of Dover Main Street is accomplished through supporting and organizing downtown community events and programs that encourage economic development, within the context of historical and cultural preservation. Active Board Members, civic volunteerism, and business sponsorship are all critical to the success of these programs.”

Spires was awarded for his volunteer service as President of the organization’s Board for the last several years. Eric Hagman, Board member and incoming Board Vice President, recognized Spires saying, “Jeff brought the downtown business pulse to the Board.  He has given countless hours to nearly every initiative that Main Street has delivered in recent years, and most recently the Seacoast Irish Festival.”

Tim DeKorne, Owner of One Second Computers, was awarded for “Volunteer Service as Vice President of Dover Main Street” and, noted Hagman, “For his effort in overseeing the development of a new website for the organization which will be launched in the coming months.”

Tom Massingham, owner of Garrison Hill Florist, also received an award for “Volunteer Service as Secretary of Dover Main Street,” and applauded for his dedicated commitment to the organization.

Other noteworthy recipients of awards included: Cathy Beaudoin, for the “Most Consecutive Years of Volunteering and Board Service”; Mary Kranz, for her commitment and service as “Clean Up Day Chair and Volunteerism on the Board”; Mr. & Mrs. Claus, for their “Time and Dedication to Holiday Programs”; and Mark Moeller, for “This Year’s Most Funds Raised Through A New Program”.

Announcements Made at Dover Main Street 2012 Annual Meeting

Dover, NH— October 15, 2012- Dover Main Street announced at their Annual Meeting on Wednesday that Michele Alexander has been hired to lead the organization as Executive Director, filling the position that had been vacant for several months. The Dover Main Street Board also made new appointments to its Executive Committee, with Michelle Sawyer announced as Chairperson, and Eric Hagman, retired Assistant Chief of Dover Fire & Rescue, taking the role of Vice Chairperson.

Alexander brings a background in public relations, marketing, event planning, town planning, community development and non-profit program management to the Dover Main Street organization.  In 2011 she worked for the City of Dover Department of Planning and Community Development to develop a Sustainability Plan, has been an active member of the Dover Community Trail Committee, and has been a resident of Dover since 2004. She has previously served as a Public Relations Director for an international brand marketing agency, and is now a public relations consultant for local non-profits and businesses as owner of her Dover-based communications firm Revelry. She has led programs across Southern New Hampshire for Easters Seals, and Co-Founded several community-based organizations and programs over her career including a Youth Drop-In and Sports Activity Center, a co-working and networking organization Tech Mill Dover, and launched the pilot program Walk Dover with Seacoast Local. She holds a Masters in Public Administration from University of New Hampshire.

Taking the helm of the organization once again, Michele Sawyer returns to the Board again as Chairperson, after an over two year hiatus. The new executive committee will consist of Michelle Sawyer as Chair, Eric Hagman as Vice-Chair, Jessica Smith as Treasurer, and Gail Daudelin as Secretary.  This year should prove to be an exciting year for Dover Main Street.