Skating rink planned for Derry Winter Festival

One Londonderry, a citizen led organization, is making plans for the town including a skating rink to be sited behind Jake’s Restaurant in the Mountain Marketplace and is expected to be ready for use this season.

The 120 foot by 50 foot rink is being planned by One Londonderry‘s Winter Festival Group, which has found a  company that can install the liner and the sides while a local excavating company will be asked to level the area. The total cost is expected to be around $5,000that will be funded, in part, with a Kick-Starter campaign. Volunteers are encouraged to help with rink maintenance and organizing events.

Martha Dale presented the project to the One Londonderry Steering Committee meeting on Oct. 28. The Winter Festival is being planned for March 5, 2022 and will include a bonfire near the rink.

Dale said the Trails Group is looking into a 2-mile walking and mountain biking trail on the town’s Shamburg property. A longer east-west connecting trail from Magic Mountain through Middletown Road to the West River is also in the works. A river-walk type trail running north-south between the villages is also under consideration. An extensive four-season trail map should be ready for distribution in the spring.

One Londonderry co-chair Elsie Smith said holiday decorations will be expanded beyond the Marketplace tree and kiosk this year. All Mountain Marketplace archways will be lit, wreaths will be hung, and a tree located on the former-Genser property at the junction of Routes 100 and 11 (at the flashing light) will be lit. The Congregational Church and Jelley’s will also be decorated. One Londonderry will seek $1,000 in a GoFundMe campaign called Light Up Londonderry.  Donations can also be sent to the Community Fund for Londonderry, P.O. Box 399, Londonderry, VT 05154. Contributions are tax deductible.

Patty Eisenhaur, chair of the One Londonderry Housing Group, said her group is looking into grant opportunities to conduct a housing needs assessment. In the meantime, the Housing Group, the USDA Rural Development Agency, the Windham & Windsor Housing Trust and the Second Congregational Church are in discussions to build an affordable single-family home on donated land near the north village.

One Londonderry is a citizen led organization with a mission is to serve Londonderry and the surrounding communities by maximizing their strengths as a regional hub, ​a four-season recreation destination, and ​a beautiful place to live. ​The organization is independent of the town of Londonderry municipal government, and its volunteers work in concert with the town and other organizations and agencies on projects geared toward community betterment with the aim to create and sustain a thriving, healthy, and vibrant community for Londonderry residents, neighbors and visitors.