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2025 Annual Meeting - President's Address
The President's Address at the 2025 Annual Meeting

Mill City Park at Franklin Falls
May 93 min read
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I'm not going to lie...
I didn't want to host the 2025 Boat Bash Snow Crash this year. Rewinding to last year, I was defeated by mother nature on a few different...

Marty
Mar 104 min read
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Extraordinary Times with Extraordinary People
We live in extraordinary times, where technological marvels continue to reshape every aspect of our lives. Over the past four decades,...

Marty
Jan 216 min read
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Surf's Up!
The title of this blog is a slang phrase that means there are good waves for surfing and it's time to get ready to ride them. It can also...

Marty
Jan 103 min read
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A Raw and Beautiful Beginning: Polar Plunge 2025 and Reflections on the Year
Timothy Morrill's Epic Polar Plunge. First Day 2025. Photo by A. MacRae. Yesterday, as Franklin woke up to raw, damp weather on the first...

Marty
Jan 22 min read
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Making Waves (or how about making more waves?)
Moving forward to 2022, we built one third of the whitewater park. Each year that goes by we see an increase...

Marty
Sep 16, 20244 min read
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Plan to make Franklin area a regional draw expands
Concord Monitor | By MICHAELA TOWFIGHI | January 15, 2024 Marty Parichand’s vision for a new whitewater park may sound repetitive. For...

Marty
Jan 15, 20244 min read
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Group behind New England's first whitewater park adds polar plunge to New Year's Day celebration
Union Leader, John Koziol, 12/25/23 FRANKLIN — The nonprofit group behind developing New England’s first whitewater park has added a...

Marty
Dec 25, 20234 min read
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New Hampshire's smallest city is packed with day trip activities
Franklin has seen economic struggles over the years, but revitalization is coming in part by use of an important source: water. WCVB...

Marty
Nov 8, 20231 min read
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Franklin hoping for federal funding to finish construction of whitewater park
Laconia Daily Sun | J. Decker | Aug. 29, 2023 FRANKLIN — The remaining $2.5 million needed to complete Mill City Park could be funded by...

Marty
Aug 29, 20234 min read
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VHB partners with Franklin and Mill City Park to open Northeast’s first whitewater park
Union Leader | From VHB | Feb. 21, 2023 Franklin city leaders estimate new venue will bring 185,000 annual visitors and $6.8 million...
oliviadame03
Feb 21, 20233 min read
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Marty Parichand: Building the Northeast's First Whitewater Park Offers Proof-of-Concept for Old Mill
By Johanna Knapschaefer, Engineering News Record January 26, 2023 Marty Parichand’s father took him at age 16 on his first whitewater...

Marty
Jan 26, 20233 min read
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Franklin, N.H. Builds New England’s First Whitewater Park
Second whitewater park east of the Mississippi provides proof of concept for other New England mill towns ENR New England | Johanna...
oliviadame03
Nov 17, 20225 min read
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Mill City Park officially opens with ribbon cuttings, whitewater festival
The Laconia Daily Sun | Thomas P. Caldwell | June 21, 2022 FRANKLIN — Six years of work at transforming the Three Rivers City from a...
oliviadame03
Jun 21, 20225 min read
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Whitewater Gives Life to NH’s Smallest City
has been working with the City of Franklin since 2015 to create the first whitewater park in New England.
oliviadame03
Mar 27, 20223 min read
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From mills to whitewater, Franklin’s economy driven by the river
The Laconia Daily Sun | Jon Decker | March 18, 2022 FRANKLIN — Franklin is a city of rivers. Both the Winnipesaukee and Pemigewasset pass...
oliviadame03
Mar 18, 20224 min read
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‘Standing wave’ takes shape at Franklin’s whitewater park
Union Leader | John Koziol | Oct. 5, 2021 The first whitewater park in New England is quickly taking shape in downtown Franklin, with...
oliviadame03
Oct 5, 20212 min read
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Visionaries Are Bringing Back The Mill City
InDepthNH.org | Thomas P. Caldwell | July 7, 2021 By Thomas P. Caldwell, InDepthNH.org The city of Franklin has been struggling to...
oliviadame03
Jul 7, 20215 min read
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Ground broken on Franklin’s Mill City Park, a future whitewater destination
Concord Monitor | Julia Stinneford | May 8, 2021 Photos from 4/29/21 taken by Geoff Forester - Monitor Staff When Marty Parichand was 16,...
oliviadame03
May 8, 20214 min read
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New England’s first whitewater park is set to open this year
boston.com | Kristi Palma | April 11, 2021 A central New Hampshire city is transforming its downtown, creating a 13-acre park where...
oliviadame03
Apr 11, 20212 min read
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