About us
Photo from left to right: Jim Guy, Laura Elcoate, Mary Loftis, Denise Frankoff, June Brening (former board member), May Clark, Susan Stover (former board president) and Volkert Volkersz, program coordinator.
Monica Laskey
Center Director
Monica Laskey started work as the Center Director in January 2023.
Board of Directors
May Clark – President
Denise Frankoff – Vice President
Ken Page – Treasurer
Mary Loftis – Secretary
George Crawford
Laura Elcoate
Jim Guy
Frank Rizzo
Ruth Thompson
COVID Policy
During the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rising cases of the Delta variant, our general procedure will follow the “2 out of 3 rule.” The three variables are outdoors, masks, and distancing. In any situation, we ask guests at the HUB to adhere to 2 of these 3 variables. If you are outdoors, you should either mask or distance. If indoors, you should mask and distance.
All events will take place outdoors whenever possible. Larger events, like concerts, picnics, readings, etc. will be scheduled with a rain date. Coffee and Conversation on Mondays and Wednesdays may move indoors, to the North Room, using masks and distancing, windows
open. Any food served will be pre-packaged and handed out. There will be no open buffet tables. For any event with an indoor component, like an art show concurrent with an outdoor picnic, 10 visitors will be allowed in the building at one time.
We will allow rentals on a case-by-case basis. Rentals will be limited to a maximum of 10 people, following the 2 out of 3 rule, using the North Room, where windows will be opened on 3 sides.
Anti-Racism Statement
The Dublin Community Center recognizes and stands with the awakening recognition that violence – individual and systemic – towards Black people, Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC) is unacceptable. We affirm that this is a human rights issue.
We acknowledge that there is structural racism within our country, and as such, inherently present within our community. We acknowledge that privilege for our white community members exists at both the simple level of daily life and within our larger financial, governmental, educational and political institutions, and that this privilege, whether overtly or unconsciously expressed, is harmful for our BIPOC
community members. We also recognize and respect that within our community there are differing opinions and expectations of how we move forward as part of this change that is happening in the larger world and here in our community. Recognizing that the strength and character of a community is not reflected in its harmony, but in how it addresses the complexity of its conflict, we pledge to serve as a safe space where healthy conversations can happen to address these conflicts and to support opportunities so that our community can consciously address and change all forms of racism.
Adopted by the Dublin Community Center Board of Directors,
September 8, 2020
HISTORY
The Dublin Community Center’s historic building began its long life as a general store (Union Store/Mason-Allison Store) in the heart of Dublin in the early 1840’s. In 1856, the front portion of the building, a Greek Revival structure, was added to expand the store to the street. As the Dublin General Store, it became an integral part of the village streetscape and was a vibrant destination for shopping, eating and gathering. The building is included in the National Register Village District along with the Dublin Community Church (1852), the 1836 Dexter Mason House (now Yankee Magazine), the Town Hall, Dublin Public Library and three other historically preserved residences.
The building operated continuously as a general store until 1982 when it closed its doors. Phyllis and Charlie Burt, who owned the store for many years, continued to live upstairs until 2007 when Phyllis, having survived her husband, died. She left the building to be sold and the proceeds to be distributed among several town and area services and agencies.
The building sat empty for more than a year when Dublin resident, Nancy Cayford, assembled a small group to envision a new life for the neglected structure. Rumors had circulated that it might become a laundromat or be torn down for a parking lot. In 2009, a Board of Directors was formed and The Burt House Preservation Society, a New Hampshire nonprofit, was established. This ambitious group of
A video about the history and renovation of the building
volunteers began the arduous process of raising funds, purchasing the building and planning for its renovation and re-use as the new Dublin Community Center. Full details and photos of the renovation project, which began in 2010, are recorded in Nancy Cayford’s engaging book Building the Dublin Community Center, A Place for All Ages.
Thanks to the vision and vitality of the founding Board, the Dublin Community Center opened its doors to the public in 2014.