Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Have you thought of showing your loved one how much you care by having their name engraved on a bench?
Three years ago, William and Peter Brine gave donations to the Hanover Improvement Society to have their wives' names, Ann and Karen Brine, placed on a bench.
"It was a surprise," Ann Brine said. "Our husbands didn't tell us about it. They brought us to the bench and asked us to sit down on it. Then they showed us our names."
Dotted around Hanover are a number of similar benches, each bearing the names of past and present prominent members of the community.
General Manager of the Hanover Improvement Society Tom Byrnes said, "The benches were the final part of the Main Street beautification project which started in 1990 and lasted for four years."
"We may add a few more if we find a nice spot," Byrne said. "It is a nice memorial especially for those who were doing great things around Hanover."
Three of the benches are dedicated to past presidents of the Hanover Improvement Society.
One of these benches is located on Allen Street and honors Adna D. Storrs, "Dave," who served as society's first president from 1922-1949.
The other two benches, located in front of the Nugget Theater, are dedicated to Presidents Edward M. "Pete" Cavaney (1949-1973) and Lewis J. Bressett (1973-1991)
John G. Skewes '51, current president of the Society, raised funding for the Dartmouth Class of 1951 bench, which is located in front of Ledyard Bank, at a class reunion, Byrne said.
Unfortunately, Byrne said there is not enough room on Main Street for every class at Dartmouth to have its own bench.
In front of the post office, there is a sienna-colored bench whose engraving reads: "Chauncey N. Allen, In Honor of Chince Allen; Teacher, Philatelist, Counselor, Good Friend, From the Nelson Family." Chauncey Allen, a professor emeritus of psychology was a busy man around the town, Byrne said.
But a bench may not always be the wisest investment.
Once, Byrne said, a truck owner backing out from Lou's, pushed the accelerator rather than the brakes and hit two benches in front of the Co-op.
One of the destroyed benches was dedicated to Wilbert Goodhue who was the manager of the Dartmouth Bookstore for many years. The other bore the name of the Hanover Improvement Society.
Presently in front of the Co-op a bench commemorates the life of Addison L. Winship '42, member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and vice president of Development at Dartmouth.
A second bench in front of the Co-op is dedicated to John Piane, the store's founder.
Some of the funding for the benches came from the Hanover Improvement Society and some was solicited from local businesses, Byrne said.
Some of the eight benches bearing the name "Hanover Improvement Society" may be changed if someone wished to add a name, Byrne said.
Other businesses that have their names on the Main Street benches include Ledyard Bank, Lou's, First NH Bank, McLaughry Associates and College Supplies Inc.
The Hanover Rotary Club and the Hanover Lions Club have benches near the corner of West Wheelock and South Main Street.
The mission of the Hanover Improvement Society is very broad, Byrne said.
"We do anything that would add to the physical beauty and the spirit of the town," Byrne said.
The Society clears Occom Pond for skating during the winter, conducts Fourth of July festivities and maintains the flower beds along Main Street, he said.
The improvement society manages the Nugget Theater, and its operations also include the Storrs Pond Recreational Area and the James W. Campion III Ice Rink, Byrne said.
Bryne said the Society has supported the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the Howe library and the school system through some donations.
Bryne is the former Associate Director of Computing at Dartmouth. He retired in 1991 after working for 26 years with the College.
