Our Hometown
Plymouth | A Commitment of Caring
Clip | 5m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
Jessica Dutille talks about re-building community, after the pandemic changed the world.
Jessica Dutille talks about re-building community, after the pandemic changed the world.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS
Our Hometown
Plymouth | A Commitment of Caring
Clip | 5m 1sVideo has Closed Captions
Jessica Dutille talks about re-building community, after the pandemic changed the world.
Problems with Closed Captions? Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Our Hometown
Our Hometown is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
And for me, the most memorable of our initiatives, our community wide efforts came during the Covid 19 pandemic, and I remember having a campus wide meeting in the beginning of March 2020.
We were told that we were gonna go home for about two weeks and let the pandemic play out, and of course, we know how that played out.
We were home for way longer than two weeks.
Lockdown lasted for months.
It was a time of collective grief, not only because of the lives lost, but because of the sense of our day to day daily routines.
Our sense of normalcy was lost and a time of great physical disconnection.
we over that summer, were invited by President Donald Burks of Plymouth State to form a task force looking at how do we reopen the university come fall.
And under that task force was 11 working groups looking at the different various aspects of what it would take to open the university and welcome back our students.
and really collaborating with the broader community and looking at how are we going to garner that commitment to one another to make sure it's safe to bring the students back to to Plymouth?
And on that working group were represented representatives from not just Plymouth State, of course, faculty, staff, students, alumni, but also the Town of Plymouth Selectboard, business leaders, organizational leaders.
And we had some really important conversations, real honest dialog, and we shared collective concerns.
Of course, everyone from the PSU side, we're also community members of Plymouth at that time, we didn't see significant Covid cases in our community.
In fact, we didn't even have one.
And so there was an undercurrent of fear and worry about what does it mean to bring students back from not only throughout the country, but throughout the world?
As Covid was sweeping the globe.
And we knew that we had to really focus on messaging around our commitment and care to the community and to one another.
And one of our faculty members racial lines, dear friend of mine had the idea of how could we visually represent this commitment of care to one another, and that is how the Community of Caring Flags project was born.
So we found recycled bits of material.
We cut them into rectangles and we bought some fabric markers.
We had different sites throughout Main Street and local businesses, of course throughout campus, where community members could come and visually reflect their feelings around Covid.
Messages of care and concern and worry and hope.
And it was incredibly moving.
And so this is one of my favorite flags.
It said I miss seeing my occasional friends.
And I thought, you know, the little things we took for granted, the times that we're in the supermarket.
And we passed by an acquaintance and we could just chat and connect and share a hug and a moment when we're walking on Main Street, those occasional friends.
And so, we gathered all those messages and we literally and figuratively stitch all of those reflections, all those messages of care and concern and hope together.
And then we hung those flags from lampposts to lampposts through Main Street throughout our campus.
And as we were going through this challenging time, it was a visual reflection that we are interconnected, that we needed each other.
I think when times are going well, it's easy to say we're connected, we care about one another, but when we are under a challenge and stress, that's when I think the true colors and the true nature of a connected community come to light.
And so for me at least, this project represented the best of Plymouth.
And this is a place of love and belonging.
And I couldn't imagine raising my kids any place but here
Video has Closed Captions
Dan Salzer and Jonathon Picard talk about Pemi Baker TV. (3m 15s)
Video has Closed Captions
Maryann Barnsley tells us about a childhood dream. (3m)
Video has Closed Captions
Katharina Kelsey and her husband made a list, Plymouth checked all the boxes, and so much more. (2m 1s)
Plymouth | The Happiness Quest
Video has Closed Captions
Dr. Marie Sanders relates what can happen when an entire town works together to discover happiness. (2m 34s)
Plymouth | Memories, Stories and Cake
Video has Closed Captions
Patricia Hoyt came to Plymouth for college, launched her career here. (5m 41s)
Plymouth | Memories of Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Louise McCormick is a townie. She grew up in Plymouth, and has spent most of her life here. (1m 55s)
Plymouth | Local Foods Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Marianna Evans talks about Local Foods Plymouth, and how the pandemic helped to create a model. (3m 23s)
Video has Closed Captions
Carol Dunn tells about how this amazing town bonded together to save her business on Main Street. (2m 21s)
Plymouth | From Minsk to Plymouth
Video has Closed Captions
Jim Lurie tells us how in 1917, his grandfather travelled from Minsk, Russia, across Siberia. (3m 41s)
Video has Closed Captions
Bob Gannett speaks about an interesting story unfolding as he was on the radio. (1m 34s)
Video has Closed Captions
Terry Fifield has lived in a lot of places, but found that the Plymouth area to be the best. (4m)
Plymouth | Community... on Wheels
Video has Closed Captions
Mike Currier talks about the roots of the Plymouth Skate Park. (6m 14s)
Video has Closed Captions
Bill Clark talks about, even with growth and progress, Plymouth is a special town. (1m 45s)
Video has Closed Captions
Suzan Gannett talks about Artistic Roots, and the programs and passions that it has inspired. (4m 19s)
Video has Closed Captions
John Scheinman shares how the skills needed in successfully coaching can be used. (2m 31s)
Now PlayingPlymouth | A Commitment of Caring
Video has Closed Captions
Jessica Dutille talks about re-building community, after the pandemic changed the world. (5m 1s)
Video has Closed Captions
Yvonne recalls growing up in Berlin, and speaking two languages in school. (4m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
Andre speaks to us about growing up in Berlin. (6m 41s)
Video has Closed Captions
Walter tells us about Berlin's Skier/Soldier, Paul Petersen, and a love story. (12m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
Roland talks about working in every aspect of the paper industry, over 4+ decades. (3m 36s)
Video has Closed Captions
Renney tells a couple of great stories about growing up in Berlin. (4m 19s)
Video has Closed Captions
Berlin has a language all its own, and Rachelle decided to compile a dictionary of words. (5m 37s)
Video has Closed Captions
Olive speaks about growing up in Berlin, in a family that owned Bisson's Sugar House. (4m 24s)
Video has Closed Captions
Lorna recalls heading into Berlin on Friday nights, for shopping & meeting up with friends (3m 5s)
Video has Closed Captions
Moving to Berlin was a dream come true for Haven, as he loved working in the woods. (3m 54s)
Video has Closed Captions
Diane talks about going from a 45 year career in the banking industry. (2m 43s)
Video has Closed Captions
Dennis tells the story of the history of boy scouts in Berlin, NH. (6m 40s)
Video has Closed Captions
speaks about growing up in Berlin, his paper route, and a creative way to make some money. (6m 12s)
Video has Closed Captions
Aime tells the story of his immigrant grandfather, Francois Bisson, migrating from Quebec. (7m 49s)
Video has Closed Captions
You can spend your life dreaming of visiting exotic places. Sometimes it's better to dream (53s)
Video has Closed Captions
Neil Davis says he probably shouldn't have an umbrella that nice, plus another fish story. (2m 42s)
Video has Closed Captions
A little yankee math makes the negotiation more fair (1m 9s)
Video has Closed Captions
What should be in the school's curriculum? Even spouses don't always agree. (57s)
Video has Closed Captions
Sometimes you have to think about what to put your faith in. (54s)
Video has Closed Captions
A true Downeaster doesn't use any more words than need be. (1m 21s)
Video has Closed Captions
You really have to keep an eye on what the neighbors are doing. (1m 16s)
Video has Closed Captions
She has made it her mission to help other immigrants, arriving in Nashua. (3m)
Video has Closed Captions
He recalls how welcoming & helpful the people of Nashua were when he first arrived. (2m 51s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Tony Courounis
Video has Closed Captions
Tony Courounis edited by Jacob Whelan (2m)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Nathan Burns/Piper Burns
Video has Closed Captions
Nathan Burns edited by Piper Burns (3m 18s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Nathan Burns/Carolyn Byrn
Video has Closed Captions
Nathan Burns edited by Carolyn Byrne (3m 9s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Kendall Reyes
Video has Closed Captions
Kendall Reyes edited by Abigail Russell (1m 28s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: John Richard
Video has Closed Captions
John Richard edited by Jackson Torres (3m 22s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Gabriel Cadet
Video has Closed Captions
Gabriel Cadet edited by Austin Duponte (1m 31s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Ed Lecius/Torbio Blanco
Video has Closed Captions
Ed Lecius edited by Samira Torbio Blanco (2m 52s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Ed Lecius/Adam Breen
Video has Closed Captions
Ed Lecius edited by Adam Breen (2m 52s)
Nashua | Student Filmmaker Series: Cathrine Poulin
Video has Closed Captions
Cathrine Poulin edited by Kylie Soucy (2m 31s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for PBS provided by:
Our Hometown is a local public television program presented by NHPBS