Lebanon
“We wanted to finish raising our kids in this environment,” Kathleen Vasconcelos, 43, who plans to move to her childhood hometown of Woodsville from a Washington, D.C. suburb later this summer, said on Friday. “It’s small town, and rural and family-oriented. It’s just a healthy environment for the whole family.”
The Lebanon-based council, founded in 1972, now operates eight different senior centers throughout Grafton County, and is a major player in providing direct services to seniors. In 2017, it served 200,000 meals, some of them through the Meals on Wheels program, provided 40,000 rides, and made 12,000 outreach visits for more than 8,000 seniors.
“We’re very fortunate to have the services of the senior citizens council here in this area,” Vasconcelos said. “Having these centers around the county for those who want to be a part of that community, and also home-served meals for those who want to live independently — that might be harder to come by in other rural areas of the country.”
Vasconcelos is coming off a near-20-year stint as a manager and administrator with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit and Association Management at the University of Maryland’s University College.
She said she hopes to take advantage of her proximity to the Lebanon airport.
“I’m a pilot,” she said. “I hope to be doing some recreational flying up here.”
Vasconcelos will be joined in the Upper Valley by her husband; her daughter and son will attend seventh and fifth grades, respectively, in Woodsville in the fall.
The current executive director at the council, Roberta Berner, plans to retire later this summer, and will help transition Vasconcelos into her new role.
When she begins, she will be the fourth executive director in the organization’s 36-year history.
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.