It’s time for the 4th installment of my sporadic Spotlight of Positivity series, and the public servant I’ve selected is the state house gift shop manager and tour guide, Virginia Drew. She is also the head selectman in Epsom. Because she will eventually read this, I’d better call her position by its proper name, which is “visitor center director.” I wanted to start the article with a “meet Virginia,” but I’m guessing that her parents are too old to wrestle alligators or work on carburetors.
Virginia has a long list of citations and accolades in Epsom, including Citizen of the Year(1993), but most of the Grok readership is outside of Epsom, so let’s talk about Concord, instead. It’s not uncommon to be in a friendly conversation about a public figure and have someone ask “how do you know…” or “when/how did you meet…” that person. The following is my story, and I’m sticking to it.
I had never been inside the gift shop because I had no reason to go there while at the state house until shortly after the 2022 election. Ms Melanie Levesque lost to Kevin by about 700 votes and requested a recount, and then changed her mind a few days later, upon deciding that she wanted Scanlan’s job. Kevin paid me a visit to share that news in person as he needed to retrieve his campaign signs I had rounded up among my own and those belonging to other members of the Team Red slate in Ward 2. We got to talking about the history of recounts, how ties have been settled, and old furniture in Scanlan’s office when Kevin said, “You should talk to Virginia because she’s the history guru.” That was when I put “meet Virginia” on my to-do list.
At the end of Organization Day, I strolled into the gift shop and noticed a big bulletin board full of campaign buttons and bumper stickers that functioned as a Hall of Fame, so to speak. While looking for Cyril and Clayton’s green elephant button, designed by Kathy Holmes, a staffer greeted me. That’s when I asked for Virginia. Meanwhile, the big screen TV was livestreaming the House as they were discussing a Rochester tie. This was pure coincidence, as I saw a Senator Gray button in the Hall of Fame. Virginia greeted me, and I said, “That cartoon button caricature really does look like Senator Gray.” She asked if I was from Rochester, a reasonable question, considering things. I said no, though we talked about Senator Gray’s button, and I learned some trivia that’s not on his home page.
Virginia told me a story about a “kid governor” from Rochester and how Senator Gray flexed some clout in getting a “proclamation” printed on short notice when learning about this Rochester kid governor visiting. She went on to say that Senator Gray makes his own buttons for every Rochester student in visiting school groups with a picture of the state house, the name of the school, and the date of the tour. Then she went on to say that he crochets little hats for babies in the hospital. I stood there, thinking “wow, that’s a lot of detail and she must know this kind of stuff about the whole senate and perhaps leadership reps, the executive council, and staffers for all 3 bodies.” When she asked if I was from Rochester, and I said no, I said I was in Nashua. Then I said Kevin told me we should meet and discuss all that history stuff.
Each subsequent visit to the state house usually included a quick drop-in on Virginia, though sometimes she was out giving a tour or using vacation time. When she’s in the office, I always learn something new. A few examples of such things have been the age of the back of the state house, the original use of the spiral stairs in Room 103, the gift shop, and Donna Soucy’s office (now RPK’s), which was the original Corner Office. In the summer of 2023, Vermont got flooded, and I saw pictures of how close the Winooski River came to their state house, and it made the whitewater paddler in me think of the great flood of 1936. I wanted to know how close the Merrimack River came to ours. That was the topic of questions I had saved for Virginia. On another visit, I asked about old redistricting maps, particularly in the Senate, because of something Fritz Wetherbee said about the late Jean White, a Rindge selectman who became a senator and was in a primary with Charlie Bass. Seeing that Charlie is a Peterborough guy, I couldn’t make sense of it, which is why I asked Virginia about old maps. She had some, but not far enough back in time. She opened an old red book and told me where to look for further information.
Similar to the late great Clegg, Virginia is truly gifted at seeing the good in everyone. I have never observed her saying any unkind words, even when we are talking about unhinged members of the enemy camp. And when I speak my mind, unrestrained, such as when I complain about Howard Pearl, she reels me in with a “why do you say that,” followed by smiling with an admonition to be nice. There’s a gun-hater who keeps suing the Town of Epsom, and I asked some questions about him after my first time observing his campaign trail antics. All her answers were very matter-of-fact, and she never said an unkind word about the guy, even though he’s clearly a nuisance to the local government and its treasury. You will never catch her saying anything unkind about anyone. Read that again because that kind of self-control is truly an asset.
Do you know people that everyone wants to talk to? I’m sure all of us do. Everyone approaches them for a variety of reasons. They have answers. They have solutions. They have explanations. They have uplifting things to say, and they’re just plain likable. One way to tell is that having such a person all to yourself, no matter how little time you get, is seen as a rare treat. Virginia is one of those people. I’m glad to have access to her, even if it gets cut short by a ringing phone, someone else wanting to talk to her, or the clock itself (when she’s on the clock).
Virginia is also the designer of the annual statehouse Christmas tree ornament, available in the gift shop. She also has 2 cats, Ulysses S Grant and Fatima. I suppose I ought to mention that she also has a dog, just to be fair to dog people.
On Tuesday ,2/10, Virginia becomes NH’s newest senior citizen, so if you’re at the state house that day, it’s a good day to drop in the gift shop with a warm greeting. Her staff might tell you she’s out giving a tour and will return later, and if it’s your first time there, be sure to try again later before leaving so you’ll get to MEET VIRGINIA.
