About Us

The idea for Concerned Citizens for Regional Impact was first conceived during a community pot luck dinner on February 12th, 2006 when a couple of people from Dorchester asked a group from Groton what was going on about North American Training Lodge and their proposal to put a private military-like weapons training facility in Groton. The group from Groton had no idea about NATL and was shocked that they did not. Over the next day or two the group started to do research on what this company was all about and started calling more people to try and find out who knew about this. The more they found out the more alarmed they got. So one person called another and called another and come prepared to attend to a selectmen’s work session on February 15. (three days later). Well so many people showed up at the selectmen’s work session that everyone could not fit in the town hall and North American Training Lodge was asked to reschedule the meeting in a place where everyone could attend.

Over the next 30 plus days thousands of hours have been volunteered, hundreds of people have become involved and Concerned Citizens for Regional Impact was incorporated as a Non-Profit Corporation on March 16, 2006.

Our mission is to insure that all citizens who anticipate an impact from the North American Training Lodge facility in this area be informed and have an opportunity to participate in decisions regarding this project.

Concerned Citizens for Regional Impact
Board of Directors

Quentin Mack – Chairperson
Wentworth

Quentin might be thought of as “old New Hampshire” except he defies the description of “old” and perhaps is better recognized as “wise”. He completed his first 12 years in the Orford School system, then graduated from UNH Forestry School in 1964. He spent an exciting 28 year with the U S Forest Service, stationed all over the US, including 4 years in Alaska. He is now semi-retired with a small forestry consulting business. Quentin would say his first love is his family and wife of 43 years; followed by being on his own 200 acres. He also enjoys hunting and fishing and has the trophies to prove it.

Brenda Hume Ackerman - Vice Chairperson
Groton

Brenda is a retired registered nurse who began her life and career in Canada migrating “south” in 1965. She worked in a variety of clinical settings providing care for laboring moms, and for many years mentally ill veterans. She has degrees in Psychology and Health Services. As a single mom, she raised seven children and now enjoys her many grandchildren. Brenda moved to Alexandria, NH in 1989 where she met a local farmer, Bob Ackerman, and as they say - the rest is history. Brenda and Bob share a love for gardening, and are particularly interested in alternative & organic life styles. They involve themselves in the community, both as volunteers and as outdoor enthusiasts. They find being members of the extended PSU college community provides them with some wonderful cultural opportunities. Finally, Brenda and Bob love N.H. and are dedicated to helping to preserve its healthy environment, as well as its beauty.

Valerie J Michaud – Secretary
Dorchester

Valerie is a life long resident of New Hampshire. She grew up in the town of Dover NH, and raised two daughters on a farm next to Merry Meeting Lake. Valerie has resided in Dorchester, NH for the last ten years where she lives with her husband, dog, two cats and pet turtles. She is currently employed at the mammography center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. She is the co-author of Wildflowers of the White Mountains, a pocket field guide the wildflowers of the New Hampshire. Her interests include photography, nature writing, snow boarding, horseback riding, gardening and competitive shooting. She is the two time New Hampshire women's state pistol champion in 2003 and 2004. She is currently working on a new book on the wildflowers of Maine. Valerie became involved with CCFRI for several reasons: first she and her husband have property in Dorchester just below land that was initially identified as interesting to NATL and she is concerned about noise and property values; second as a long time member of the Pemi Fish & Game Club in Holderness NH, she is confident and comfortable as a competitive shooter who participates in a variety of gun club activities and sees no need for an additional shooting range for local use. She wonders about the uses NATL is preparing people for; and finally she did not like being told she had no right to learn what NATL's proposal included nor the impact that it might have on her property and the quality of her rural life.

Elizabeth A (Betty Ann) Trought – Treasurer
Dorchester

Betty Ann moved to Dorchester, NH full time in the summer of 2003 after living for over 35 years in North Carolina. Her mother was from Plymouth and father from Whitefield, NH. One of eight children, she has a family network throughout NH and Maine. Betty Ann has spent several months each year in NH since she was an infant and came to see rural NH as home at a very young age. Professionally she has served as a staff nurse, Head Nurse, Supervisor, Director of Education, Vice- President for Patient Services and faculty for BS, MS and PhD students. She has been active in many nursing organizations. Dr Trought is currently trying to be retired from nursing. An active community volunteer, Betty Ann serves a variety of nonprofit organizations including the Mascoma Valley Health Initiative, D Acres of New Hampshire, Dorchester Old Home Days, etc. An active long-term member of the League of Women Voters she is currently Vice-President for Voter Services of the Upper Valley League and has a strong commitment to citizen involvement in America’s democracy. Betty Ann actualizes her beliefs through serving the Town of Dorchester as a Supervisor of the Checklist, member of the Cemetery Committee, and Auditor. Betty Ann became a founding member of CCFRI after attending a meeting in Groton to hear about North American Training Lodge’s proposal and hearing comments made over and over that could be summarized “the residents of Groton and surrounding towns had no ways to stop this enterprise or any other commercial enterprise from coming into rural New Hampshire”. She believes rural New Hampshire is a special place and must be protected from the mistakes in unchecked growth made in so many other areas of the country. She also believes that no citizen should be denied their right to be involved in decisions that effect their lives and property.

Catherine Ashley - Director
Groton

Kate and her husband Rowe have been part of the Groton/Dorchester communities for as long as most people remember. They were educated locally and graduated from Plymouth State with degrees in education. After graduation they taught locally for two years and then relocated to New Jersey where they taught for thirty years and raised their three children. They have owned land in Groton and Dorchester for over fifty years and upon retirement decided to return to their "roots". They have enjoyed their home on top of "Bailey Hill" where they have lived for over fifteen years. Kate has been an active member of the Dorchester Grange for over ten years and especially enjoys working on community projects. Both Kate and Rowe believe it is important to be part of a community where people are concerned and help each other when necessary. They became involved with CCFRI after trying to obtain factual information on the NATL proposal and being frustrated by the company's unwillingness to cooperate with the Groton Selectmen's request for a public presentation. This episode has convinced them the Town of Groton needs some type of Rural Land Use Regulations that require commercial and industrial land developers to provide accurate information to the town's people and other taxpayers whose property may suffer an impact.

Some Volunteers
 

Michelle Dunn

Groton

Michelle Dunn is the founder and president of Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, is a writer, teacher, consultant and the Editorial Advisor for Eli Financial Debt Collection Compliance Alert Newsletter. The previous owner of M.A.D. Collection Agency in Plymouth, NH, she owns and runs Credit & Collections.com a nine year old online community for credit and business professionals with over 850 members.

Michelle has been featured in Ladies Home Journal, PC World, Home Business Magazine, Home Business Journal, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, Professional Collector, Credit & Collections Risk, NH Business Review and in many books including Home Based Business for Dummies. Michelle has been a featured guest on (NPR) National Public Radio and has been in many newspapers and magazines nationwide as well as on the CBS Early Show. She has many published articles and 7 published books. Michelle has recently completed a book for Entrepreneur Press, “The Ultimate Credit & Collections Handbook” being released in August 2006.

Michelle lives in Groton, NH and is the mother of two teenage boys. She enjoys cooking, snowmobiling, and reading. Although originally from RI and has lived in NH for 18 years.

Michelle became involved in CCFRI when she read that the selectmen of the Town of Groton stated in a newspaper article that the NATL wanted to build a facility in her town and that "there was nothing we could do". Michelle moved to NH from the busy, noisy city. She moved north to live and bring up her children where there is peace, quiet and a small town sense of community.


Bill Trought

Dorchester

Bill is the son of a police Captain and a former major in the US Air Force. He has been involved in his family’s farm since 1946 when his aunt and uncle moved to Dorchester and family were drafted as “helpers” to rebuild structures, clear pastures, bring in firewood, maple sugar, care for the animals and enjoy the bounties of the area. He officially took over ownership of the family holdings in 1989 and supported his children’s dream of converting the acreage to organic farming and opening an educational homestead. He moved to D Acres of New Hampshire in 2003 after “retiring” from his private radiology practice in North Carolina. He quickly became employed by Dartmouth Medical Center and now works as the Chief of Radiology at Speare Memorial Hospital in Plymouth. In his spare time he enjoys walking in the woods, putting up the wood for winter, helping on the farm and cooking for friends and neighbors. Bill volunteers for CCFRI because he is very concerned about the possible negative impact of North American Training Lodge’s facility on the quality of life he and his neighbors enjoy in Dorchester. He wants information which NATL has not provided and he dislikes the company’s secret tactics and threats to the Groton community.