PARIS – The town of Newry was named 2003 Cooperator of the Year by the Oxford County Soil and Water District at its annual meeting in South Paris. Randy Harrington of Bethel, an associate supervisor with the organization, said in presenting the award:

“In my position with the board I have had the opportunity to hear many stories about the people and local organizations making great strides to protect water quality in Oxford County by reducing erosion.

“During 2003 the residents and businesses of the town of Newry, were exceptional in their efforts to protect soil and water quality within their community. They had the willingness to seek out technical assistance, to work with other agencies to identify major watershed concerns and to partner with local landowners and businesses to design solutions to the problems identified.”

Harrington said, “The town and its resident and nonresident volunteers found solutions by location problem areas within their community, taking the time to studying the cause of the problems and putting forth the resources needed to improve soil stability.

“As our engineer Peter Marsenick stated in the OCSWCD annual report: The town has been a very active player in the Sunday River Watershed 319 grant. Many of the town-owned eroded sites identified on the watershed survey have been corrected. This commitment to conservation is a model for other towns and other watersheds to follow.'”

Harrington continued, “This year the voters of the town of Newry continued to show their commitment to improving the health of the community by passing an article at their annual town meeting to raise funds to study the Bear River Watershed. Their willingness to step forward financially and to continue to look for solutions, show their devotion to resource conservation and stewardship.”