Chester, NH, September 23, 2006 — Granite State Telephone presented its 3rd annual Hometown Heroes Award to Gladys Nicoll of Chester, NH during the company's annual Open House celebration on September 23, 2006. Gladys Nicoll, a long-time Chester resident, was nominated for this award by the Chester Board of Selectman for her outstanding contributions to the Chester community.
Ms. Nicoll has been a driving force in education in her community since the 1950's. In addition to her 2006 Hometown Hero status, she is a recent inductee of the Pinkerton Academy Hall of Fame, and was named "Woman of the Year" by the Chester Lion's Club. She taught elementary school in Derry, Chester and Salem through the mid 1970's, Children's Literature at White Pines College, and "Know Your Town", a program she developed and taught for many years at Chester Elementary School. She is also a past member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an honor society for women educators, and continues to participate in "Read Across America" at Chester Academy.
Gladys also became a docent with the Society for the Protection of NH Forests and taught environmental programs for them at elementary schools throughout Southern NH. She was the driving force behind the establishment of the Natural Area in the center of town, serves on the Tree City USA committee, and organized the Golden Steppers, a fitness program for seniors. An active member of the Chester Congregational Baptist Church since 1941, Gladys has served as Sunday school superintendent and teacher, youth group advisor and committee member. It is this high level of dedication to the community that earned Gladys Nicoll the Granite State Telephone Hometown Heroes Award for 2006.
The Hometown Heroes Campaign is part of Granite State Telephone's annual celebration of National Small Telecommunications Week, an effort to reinforce the importance of supporting small, independent telephone and telecommunications companies and their customers. Rural Americans are served by more than 1,000 small telephone companies and have access to reliable, affordable and state-of-the-art telecommunications technology. Many independent telephone companies are small, family-owned businesses, while others are subscriber-owned cooperatives.
Granite State Telephone is a locally owned and operated communications 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 offering high-speed Internet access, and full-service website hosting, development and maintenance.
William Stafford, Chief Operations Officer, presents Gladys Nicoll with Granite State Telephone's Hometown Heroes Award at the company's annual Open House celebration on September 23, 2006. |
