The Dana Meeting House Association will hold its third Annual Meeting on Saturday June 8 from 3:30-6 pm at the Dana Meeting House at 288 Dana Hill Road in New Hampton, New Hampshire followed by a presentation with Stone Wall historian, teacher, and actor, Kevin
Gardner. The Meeting and presentation are free and open to the public and this event is sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities to Go.
There will be a business meeting, election of officers and refreshments from 3:30-4:30.
The meeting is open to the public and is a great time to learn more about the Dana Meeting House and sign up to be a volunteer for the Summer 2024 season. Thomas Smith, President, will lead the meeting with updates from others including Greg Flowers, Treasurer, Bill Huckins, Vice President and Board Members, Blair Folts and Nick and Lucienne Brown. The position of Secretary is open and attendees will be invited to consider volunteering for this seat. Summer
editions of the Newsletter will be on hand as will the summer event schedule. Attendees are invited to bring ideas or questions for further promotion of the Dana Meeting House.
Following the business meeting, Kevin Gardner will give a presentation on Finding New England Stone Walls. Kevin’s informal talk covers a few of the main topics of his book about New England stone walls, The Granite Kiss (Countryman Press), touching on history, technique, stylistic development, and aesthetics. He explains how and why New
England came to acquire its thousands of miles of stone walls, the ways in which they and other dry stone structures were built, how their styles emerged and changed over time, and their significance to the famous New England landscape. Other topics may include: differences in approach between historical and contemporary wall-builders, a
discussion of restoration tips and techniques, and information about design, acquisition of materials, preservation, and analysis. There is always a generous question-and-answer period, during which listeners are encouraged to bring up specific problems or projects on their own properties.
During the presentation, Kevin occupies himself by building a miniature wall or walls on a tabletop, using tiny stones from a five-gallon bucket. It is a fascinating way to connect viewers to his talk and everyone will leave with new knowledge about the stone walls we all love.
Kevin Gardner is a lifelong resident of Hopkinton, NH. Like many independent rural Yankees, he’s been a jack of many trades, a builder, logger, writer, teacher, radio voice, even an actor and director. For more than forty years he has been a stone wall builder in a family business widely known for traditional New England stonework, particularly for historic restoration of antique structures.
Come learn more about the Dana Meeting House and Association. Dana Meeting House Association is a 501c3 formed in 2019 to protect, preserve and promote the historic Dana Meeting House in New Hampton, New Hampshire. Construction of this building began in 1800 and was first used in 1802 by the Freewill Baptist movement. It is a fine example of 19th century architecture and the only one of its kind in New Hampshire. It was included in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
DMHA is especially grateful to New Hampshire Humanities to Go for sponsorship of this unique event. We look forward to seeing you on June 8 th .