Ways to Make a Difference: Big and Small Preservation Activity Ideas

Boscawen.

May is Preservation Month, and here are some big and little ideas of ways to engage in preservation activity.

Take care of your old home. Spring is a great time to evaluate repair needs and plan for the year ahead.  An energy audit can also help you prioritize investments. Get ready for the next cold season with properly-installed insulation in your attic and around your foundation. “Re-tuning” old windows keeps cold air out and preserves original features of an old house. Check our Directory of Preservation Products and Services for key contacts.

The Weeks Estate in Lancaster includes this fire lookout tower. Prepare for tremendous views!

Take a second look around you.  Are there places you can’t imagine your community without? Start a conversation with other interested citizens, and consider planning tools like easements and tax incentives to turn a challenge into an opportunity.  Support your local farm, and thank a neighbor who has fixed up his or her barn.  Visit a local historic site that you haven’t been to in a long time or check out the state’s cool fire towers.

Be an advocate for preserving our heritage. Volunteer to serve on your local planning board, library board, heritage commission, cemetery commission, or downtown organization. Help with a preservation project or enjoy dinner in an old inn or theater in a historic venue. Talk to your legislator about the benefits of the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, New Hampshire's popular and effective matching grants program for historic preservation and land conservation projects. E-mail the Preservation Alliance to receive preservation news updates.

Support the Preservation Alliance by becoming a member or renewing your support. Give to local preservation efforts. Buy a “Moose Plate” conservation license plate for yourself or as a gift. 

Preservation activity creates local jobs and keeps more money circulating in local economies than new construction, and is part of the landscape that attracts visitors and businesses to New Hampshire. For you, it also can be an activity that makes you feel good and connects you to special places, old friends and new ones.

More at www.nhpreservation.org or by calling 603-224-2281.