Itโs true. There is a McDonaldโs coming to Allenstown where the old Aubuchon Hardware stood for years before moving across the street into the old Rite Aid. Stunningly boring news to 99% of the population. But please, donโt bail on me yet.
See, around these parts, a week canโt go by where someone isnโt saying, โYou hear a McDonaldโs is going where Aubuchonโs was? Going to turn this whole place into Manchester.โ
โYes, sir,โ I tell them. โI heard that, like the pilgrims pray ringing in my ear.โ
A change is afoot, that is for certain. All those big holes dug for new plazas and banks and gas stations in Hooksett over the past few years, leading into Pembroke, well, fate apparently has arrived at our front door. The first of the Big Dogโs just stuck their yellow flag at the interaction of Progress and Fear here in our small town.
Itโs a real thing, the fear. But, whatโs to fear, right? Weโre just talking about Big Macโs
and chicken nuggets. Well, to some, yes. To others, itโs a doomsday scenario where
the Big Mac leads to Whoppers being grilled down the road, followed by a KFC/Taco
Bell, which inevitably leads to a new car wash for some baffling reason. And of course,
the return of a chain drug store to handle all the impending gastrointestinal issues.
Which very well might happen someday soonish. High paid researchers from Fortune
500 companies like McDonaldโs are tasked to pinpoint growing gold mines around the
country to set up shop. They look for little nuggets exactly like what Allenstown or Pembroke is today โ quiet, raw and rife with potential. Also, on the cusp of change.
Pembroke has stayed, for the most part, very much under the radar for a very long time.
For me, before moving here, Pembroke was a secret getaway from the intoxicating lure
of Elm Street, a place to go and see old friends where the conversations last a little
longer, the food tasted a little more like home and you didnโt need to shine up before
going into town for a beer.
Today, now living as a local, I appreciate being able to chew on the quieter bits of life
without feeling the weight of commerce swallowing me up. Still, the future doesnโt
leapfrog over progress for anyone, especially for the sensibilities of a small-town
community.
The future is coming, like it or not.
Now, itโs all about game planning. We decide as a community along with our elected
leaders what we want growth to look like for us, not for some out-of-town developer with
no skin in the game but the green backs. Itโs our canvas to paint and it only seems
fitting we help pick the colors and framework of our future.
Pembroke has already seen marvelous growth at Pembroke Pines, a truly fantastic
place to live, raise kids and just be. In Allenstown, the Dunkinโ Donuts plaza now
looks clean, buffed up and ready to present itself to the future. Across the street, again,
Aubuchon is leading the charge revamping that haggard-looking parking lot into a bright
new future. Iโd bet a Big Ben on it!
And what Brady Sullivan Property Management did on Canal Street is miraculous, a
perfect renovation complete with new residents of the highest caliber. Young families,
couples, go-getters, many less interested in the nightlife than just living life in a quiet
place thatโs figuring itself out as much as they are.
So, donโt fear the future, donโt deny it, donโt hide from it. Embrace it, control it, be part of
it. What else are you going to do? Itโs your town after all.
Rob Azevedo can be reached at onemanmanch@gmail.com.