Granite State Telephone will also have a booth set up at the festival on Thursday, July 6th, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The event is the first of several town fairs the company will be visiting in its service area over the summer to talk to residents and answer questions about the telecommunications industry. Customers are invited to stop by the GST booth to enter a raffle for a chance to win a prize and receive a FREE gift. Customer service representatives will be on hand to provide information on the company's SmartChoice packages — a line of bundled services. SmartChoice allows customers to consolidate such services as unlimited local calling, long distance, and high-speed Internet on one Granite State Telephone bill.

"We are proud to sponsor this event which has become an annual tradition," explains William Stafford, chief operations officer. "The community fairs are a great way for us to meet our customers and answer any questions they have about our services or recent improvements to our network."

The festival will feature carnival rides, food, games, a fireworks display, and of course, hot air balloons. Proceeds from the fair support the Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce, Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Department and Lions Club.

Look for Granite State Telephone at Weare Patriotic Celebration on July 15th, Sandown Old Home Days on Saturday, August 12th, and at the Chester Town Fair on Saturday, September 9th. The company will also be hosting a special open house at their Chester Operations Center located in Chester on Saturday, September 23rd.

Granite State Telephone is a locally owned and operated company serving the communities of Chester, East Deering, Hillsboro Upper Village, Sandown, Washington, Weare and Windsor with over a century of telecommunications experience. Affiliates include Granite State Long Distance, providing long distance telephone service, and GSInet, providing high-speed Internet access and full-service website hosting, development and maintenance.