Last weekend I completed the 234 Club requirements to visit each city and town. Although I had been in many of the towns during my lifetime, in 1985 I began trying to get to all of them. It has been an enjoyable quest.
Most often, my wife and I would choose an inn and explore the area around it. New Hampshire is certainly a beautiful state, and the 234 Club gave us the impetus to see it all. We did stop in many towns and met people in some of them, but just being in the town "counted" for me.
My earliest visit was in 1946 when I was six years old. We lived in Tyngsboro, MA, and I remember going to the old grass strip along the Merrimack River for an airplane ride. I guess I remember because I eventually spent 40 years of my life flying airplanes around the world. So, my visits span 63 years.
I'm glad I discovered the 234 Club. I believe it was in a Boston Globe article in the early 1980s. It took time, but it is now complete for me. I have told countless people about it including Fritz Weatherbee of New Hampshire Chronicle. I believe he recently did a piece on it. I hope it inspires others to try it.
In closing, I have to say, "It's been a great ride."
Welcome...
...and, thank you for your interest in the Two Thirty-four Club of New Hampshire. Membership in the club is easy: the only requirement for membership is that you must visit all 234 towns in the state.
The idea is to explore the back roads. Get to know the countryside. Talk to the residents. Experience the sights and attractions. And, most of all, have a good time seeing and enjoying every section of the beautiful state of New Hampshire. With those thoughts in mind, here are the "rules" for membership in the club.
Rule #1 - The Two Thirty-four Club operates on the "honor system." If you say you have visited each of the towns and cities, you have.
Rule #2 - There is no time limit for your visits. You might have visited Acworth in 1900, but didn't visit Woodstock until 2000. No problem.
Rule #3 - To "visit" a town, you must merely have been there. In other words, driving through one corner of Sharon on Route 124 satisfies the requirement. On the other hand, you may wish to establish a personal goal for each visit. For example, you might choose to set foot or collect a souvenir in each town. Perhaps you will choose to talk with a resident or to have your picture taken in each town. The point? You decide what constitutes a visit.
Rule #4 - By far, the most important rule: Have fun!
Please feel free to write or call with any questions or comments. I would also be happy to post stories and pictures of your travels for other 234 Clubers to read and enjoy.
Happy exploring!
Chester Bowles, Founder
698 Route 123, Sharon, NH 03458
603-924-9901 - chet@csbowles.com
The idea is to explore the back roads. Get to know the countryside. Talk to the residents. Experience the sights and attractions. And, most of all, have a good time seeing and enjoying every section of the beautiful state of New Hampshire. With those thoughts in mind, here are the "rules" for membership in the club.
Rule #1 - The Two Thirty-four Club operates on the "honor system." If you say you have visited each of the towns and cities, you have.
Rule #2 - There is no time limit for your visits. You might have visited Acworth in 1900, but didn't visit Woodstock until 2000. No problem.
Rule #3 - To "visit" a town, you must merely have been there. In other words, driving through one corner of Sharon on Route 124 satisfies the requirement. On the other hand, you may wish to establish a personal goal for each visit. For example, you might choose to set foot or collect a souvenir in each town. Perhaps you will choose to talk with a resident or to have your picture taken in each town. The point? You decide what constitutes a visit.
Rule #4 - By far, the most important rule: Have fun!
Please feel free to write or call with any questions or comments. I would also be happy to post stories and pictures of your travels for other 234 Clubers to read and enjoy.
Happy exploring!
Chester Bowles, Founder
698 Route 123, Sharon, NH 03458
603-924-9901 - chet@csbowles.com
2 comments:
Mr. Bowles, you may be interested to know that your idea of visiting the 234 incorporated entities in New Hampshire has been picked up by the Geocaching hobby! (www.geocaching.com) There is now a "challenge" for geocachers to visit, but not only visit, to find a geocache, in each of the 234 incorporated towns.
DocRoss
I heard about this interesting 234 project and I thought the OpenStreetMap project might be of interest.
www.openstreetmap.org
The is a free map created by volunteers. See a problem with the map? You can update the data to fix it.
I've been editing the map in southern New Hampshire. Recently I finished adding town boundaries for all 234 municipalities in NH. Not sure whether you visited Chandler's Purchase or not?
map of Chandler's Purchase
If you browse around in the northern part of NH, you can see that hiking trails and ski lifts have been added to the map. These types of off-road features usually don't appear in commercial maps.
Questions? Feel free to contact me. My OpenStreetMap user name is
Peter Dobratz
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