What a Strong Citizen Can Do for a Community
A single person can make a huge impact, especially at the local level
Spring is here and perhaps you have noticed the flowers around downtown Dover. Those are accomplished with volunteer effort, people spending their free time to work in their communities. In the 6 principles of a Strong Town, the 5th one mentions the concept of "Strong Citizens", and describes them as "people who care". These individuals can have a huge impact in a community, cleaning up trash, leading volunteers, beautifying spaces, and generally working to make their places better. Our cities and towns need Strong Citizens, and it is a prerequisite to improvement. One of the most inspiring things about Strong Citizens, is that anyone can become one. The only qualification is to care enough to get involved.
2025 May Meeting Details
Monday, May 12th 6:30PM - 8:00PM
Garrison City Beerworks
455 Central Avenue
Dover, NH 03820
This month we are going to be having a social gathering at a local brewery and take an opportunity for the group to gather and get to know each other better without a dedicated topic. Appetizers will be provided by Strong Towns Seacoast and we look forward to a more relaxed evening with our attendees! Hope to see you there!
The Case for the Strong Citizen
What does your community look like if no one cares? People just pay their taxes and give the minimum amount of effort that is demanded of them in the community. If this were the case, eventually the systems and processes would be in charge of our communities, as no people care enough to challenge or exceed them. Does a place like that succeed over time? Does it become prosperous? Can we trust the wellbeing of our places to be fully cared for by policy alone? No, we need more than just a set of rules and big sticks to enforce them, we need leaders and people to take ownership. We need people to become stakeholders in their communities.
This is where the Strong Citizen comes in. Someone identifying a problem, a need, or an opportunity and taking charge of the solution. These can be small, everyday problems getting solved that add up together to create beautiful results. These citizens take pride in their role in the community. They can be people who pick up trash on the street, a business owner who puts together a public market event, a homeowner who builds a tiny library in their yard, or someone who starts a local club for a hobby. Everyone has something they can offer to the community, and our places shine brightly when more people contribute.
Examples of a Strong Citizen
I want to take a moment to brag on a few Strong Citizens that I see around me and highlight what they do to make the Seacoast region better. These are people that I know personally, and I want to make it clear that this list is certainly not exhaustive, or else this article would be very long. My hope here is to get people thinking about the many ways that we can all work to be strong citizens and look to make improvements and build stronger communities together.
Deb Clough
Sort of a local superhero, Deb leads several organizations and plans events to brighten up multiple communities around the Seacoast. Her Dover Doers group plants and waters flowers, decorates the Central Avenue bridge, and engages in multiple beautification projects around the city. Our Strong Towns group partnered with Dover Doers to do the Henry Law Park cleanup and bench painting.
She got started picking up trash all by herself and eventually started a monthly trash pickup called Don't Trash Dover in 2018. There are also sister organizations for Barrington, Milton, Rochester, and Somersworth. Each cleanup event only lasts for an hour, and Deb says that she does this because she wants to prove to people that it doesn't take much time to make a big difference. This is most apparent in her annual Dover citywide cleanup event, The Power of an Hour where she recently organized 165 people to clean up 2840 pounds of trash in just one hour.
If all of that wasn't enough, she also volunteers her time for Dover boards and commissions. Like I said, a superhero.
Jason and Kim Kolligs
My wife and I attended a Seacoast NH Board Game meetup at Jason and Kim's house the first week after moving to New Hampshire, and their Wednesday Night Games has become part of our weekly schedule ever since. The Kolligs have fostered a great community at the gaming focused event that extends into monthly kid-friendly gatherings, football game watch parties, Friendsgivings, New Years bonfires, and more. Their event has never missed a single week, hosting people for games even on Christmas Day or while on vacation. My wife and I have made some wonderful friends at this event, especially with the Kolligs themselves, and I would encourage anyone with a remote interest in board games to attend.
Outside of their board game meetups, Kim volunteers at the Durham Swap Shop and is a board member of the Oyster River Parents and Preschooler (ORPP). They are incredibly generous people, providing a wonderful, welcoming environment to meet others and make friends.
Ellen Andrick
Ellen runs Replenish Refillery, a low-waste retail store and one of the more distinct shops in Downtown Dover. She uses her storefront as an opportunity to engage the community offering movie nights, a book club, presentations, and workshops focused on waste reduction and community building. Her business includes a child-friendly play area which has been a valuable addition for parents coming to her shop and it would be great to see this trend become more popular in our communities. She built a little library right outside of her business and truly cares about making places better and more sustainable. She is a bright and gregarious person, ready to make a new friend with the customers that walk into her store.
Jeff Bernstein and Mozy
Perhaps better recognized by the name Mozy and Me, Jeff Bernstein and his dog Mozy walk around Dover, taking pictures of Mozy posing with local businesses, at volunteer events, or to highlight local developments. Together, they are constantly promoting the local community of Dover and shining a cute dog-shaped spotlight in various directions, bringing attention to the many great things that are right here in Dover. I met Jeff when he and Mozy attended several of my earliest meetings for Strong Towns Seacoast and as I got to know him I was really impressed with his energy and dedication to the community.
Conclusion
I'm sure as you are reading this you can think of several people who deserve recognition for their community contributions and even I could name a few others. While it is a great feeling to know that we have so many people worth mentioning, there is always room for more. Our places belong to the people who live there and we can't just leave the wellbeing of our communities up to policy. We need Strong Citizens, people who care enough to step up and put in that extra effort to make their place a just a little bit better. The more people who can do that, the stronger our communities will become. The recipe for becoming a Strong Citizen is simple, observe your community for opportunities, identify the next smallest thing that you can do to make an improvement, then do that thing. Rinse and repeat.