$1,000 gift goes to Cross Roads

Sumner Winebaum has chosen the Cross Roads House to receive the $1,000 charitable gift he won as recipient of the first ever Joseph Sawtelle Leadership Award. Winebaum, who helped found the Piscataqua Region of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, won the award in recognition of his commitment to community service.

The Cross Roads House is a shelter on Lafayette Road in Portsmouth that houses more than 100 people per day and served 23,000 meals in its soup kitchen in 2007. Families taking advantage of Cross Roads’ services stay in the Transitional Program for an average of seven months before finding more permanent dwellings. 

The inaugural Leadership Award honors Joseph Sawtelle, who helped found Cross Roads and spread his goodwill around the Portsmouth area up until his death in 2000. The award celebrates the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Piscataqua Region of the Charitable Foundation.

Winebaum’s father Harry donated the original Cross Roads building, and his son has carried on his work with a number of charitable projects. In addition to helping found the Piscataqua Region of the Charitable Foundation, Winebaum has been an important figure in the Wentworth Coolidge Commission, the Bow Street Theatre Trust, Theatre-by-the-Sea, the Portsmouth Athenaeum, Temple Israel, Strawbery Banke Museum and the Museums of Old York.

“We do not believe we will award this award every year,” said Piscataqua Region cofounder Paul McEachern in a press release. “The ‘Joe Sawtelles’ of this world are few and far between. But one name clearly rose to the surface for the inaugural award: Sumner Winebaum.”

For more information on the N.H. Charitable Foundation, visit www.nhcf.org or call 603-225-6641.

Portsmouth Chamber hosts business networking events

The Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce will host a number of networking events and meetings for area business owners in January. 

The Chamber’s first networking event of the new year will take place at The Press Room in Portsmouth on Thursday, Jan. 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. The food-filled evening will celebrate the success of the eCoast, an organization focused on high-tech development in the Portsmouth area. Underwritten by Good Leads, the party will offer people from the Seacoast’s high-tech community an opportunity to hook up with colleagues from other companies in the area. The event is open to all employees and guests of local high-tech businesses. For more information, visit www.ecoast.org. The Press Room is at 77 Daniel St., Portsmouth.

The Chamber will host its monthly mid-day meet for downtown businesses at The Page in Portsmouth on Friday, Jan. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Guests should bring business cards and be prepared to share some basic information and success stories about their businesses. Facilitators will be on hand to help out. To RSVP or get more information, call Salina McIntire at 603-610-5514. The Page is at 172 Hanover St., Portsmouth.

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the Chamber will kick off its 2009 breakfast forum series with a presentation from Jonathan B. Tourtellot, director of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations and its geotourism editor. A National Geographic Society senior editor since 1980, Tourtellot will discuss the factors used to create the magazine’s rankings of “Historic Places,” in which Portsmouth recently ranked sixth in the United States and 26th in the world. The breakfast takes place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at Sheraton Harborside hotel at 250 Market St., Portsmouth. The cost is $20 for Chamber members and $27 for nonmembers. Register at www.portsmouthchamber.org or call 603-610-5510.

Finally, the Chamber will host its monthly mid-day meet for members of the Seacoast business community at Pease Tradeport on Friday, Jan. 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Volunteers will facilitate the networking session, and guests are invited to share business stories and discuss who they’d like to do business with. Those interested in attending should contact McIntire and arrive early to get a seat, as the forum usually draws more than 30 people. The event will take place on the third floor of the building at 1 New Hampshire Ave.