BERLIN, N.H. (AP) – The face of Berlin changes today, when explosions bring down three smokestacks at the city’s former pulp mill.

Two former Berlin residents, whose fathers and grandfathers worked in the lumber camps that fed trees to the mills, won a raffle to push two of the detonation buttons.

Marlene Russ of Errol and Phil Belanger of Raymond will be a big part of the historic day.

After the raffle drawing on Friday, Russ said she sees the demolition as a new beginning.

“There were no smokestacks before, and then when they were built, it was for economic hope,” she told the New Hampshire Union Leader. “I think the demolition brings us full circle to new economic hope.”

Russ’ father, Roland Thibault, is 95 and lives in a local nursing home. She said he was one of the head cooks in the lumber camps outside of town. Her grandfather and great-grandfather also worked in the woods.

Belanger’s father worked in the woods before the family moved from the city.

“We left Berlin in the summer of ’69, when I was a junior in high school,” he said. “I wasn’t at first, but I’d say I’ve been homesick for Berlin for the past 20 years.”

The pulp mill closed in May 2006. North American Dismantling has spent the past year tearing it down. When it came time to demolish three smokestacks, officials offered Coos County Family Health Services a fundraising opportunity.

The group held a raffle to raise money, with $5 tickets, for dental care for local elementary school children. They raised more than $2,300.

The demolition is stirring up a lot of emotion.

“The mill helped five generations live a good life,” said Jim Wagner, a former manager of the mills in Berlin and neighboring Gorham. “It put food on the table, sent kids to college and provided a safe and secure life.”

Norman Charest, Berlin’s economic development director, wrote a letter to local newspapers this week, suggesting that people wear a black ribbon today in memory of the thousands of people who dedicated their lives to the mill and the community.

“I think the feeling is like somebody in the family who passes away,” he said, “and the time comes to pack up their possessions. It’s very hard, but by the same token, you have to do it to move forward.”