[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 91 (Thursday, June 9, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3718]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                STRATHAM'S 300TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

 Ms. AYOTTE. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the 300th 
anniversary of the town of Stratham, New Hampshire.
  Stratham is located in southeast New Hampshire, in a region inhabited 
by Native Americans for thousands of years before the arrival of 
Europeans on our shores. It was first settled in 1631, and in 1709, the 
residents petitioned for the creation of their own town in order to 
build a school, church, and meeting house. Lieutenant Governor George 
Vaughn granted residents permission, on March 20, 1716, to collect 
taxes, hold town meetings, elect selectmen, appoint a minister, and 
build a meeting house on Kings Grant Highway. The location of the 
original Stratham Meeting House is where the Stratham Community Church 
stands today.
  In 1906, a park was opened in town after Edward Tuck sold 70 acres of 
land to the town of Stratham for $1. Mr. Tuck's major stipulation 
during the transfer of Stratham Hill Park's land was that ``it was 
given for the free use and enjoyment of the residents of Stratham and 
the surrounding communities.'' In 1966, the town of Stratham celebrated 
their 250th anniversary and residents have gathered every year since to 
celebrate their founding at what is now known as the Stratham Fair. A 
Land Protection Committee was created in 2002, and a decade later, over 
543 acres or nearly 6 percent of the town of Stratham has been 
conserved and protected permanently.
  Today Stratham is home to the headquarters of the Timberland 
Corporation and to the only Lindt & Sprungli factory in the United 
States.
  This year, on the occasion of Stratham's 300th Anniversary of its 
founding, I join more than 7,000 residents in commemorating the rich 
heritage and valuable contributions to the State of New Hampshire and 
our Nation.

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