Betty Beaverstock

by Lynne Ober

When you go to the polls to vote, do you ever wonder about the people who patiently cross your name off the Town Voter Roster and hand you a ballot? They are Ballot Clerks and Betty Beaverstock has been among their ranks for over ten years.

She has to be at the polls by 6:30 a.m. and usually works “only a twelve hour day because I usually have a conflicting night meeting. A couple of times I’ve stayed until the ballots were counted.” Despite the early start, Betty loves it. “I have a ball. I get to see people that I haven’t seen for a year.”

Betty has lived in Hudson since 1975. She and her husband, Eric, looked at property on Heritage Circle before the road was put in. “It was all woods and we decided not to buy because it looked a little risky without the road. However a year later the road was in and we bought. Cost us lots more money because we waited for the road.” The Beaverstocks’ house was the third house to be started. “We moved in 1975 and have been here ever since.”

She earned her B.S. in Home Economics Education from University of New Hampshire and taught in Maine and Massachusetts before “retiring” to be a mother. Holly Beaverstock, her daughter, went through the Hudson School system before following in her mother’s footsteps to UNH where she studied journalism.

Today the Beaverstocks are avid hockey fans that belong to UNH’s Varsity Club. Every year they travel to the Frozen Four – the hockey tournament that determines the best team in college hockey.

The Beaverstocks have been members of First Baptist Church of Hudson since 1976 and have both been served the church in a variety of functions. Betty recently completed her fourth term as a member of the Board of Trustees by serving as its Chairman. Eric is the Board’s Secretary this year.

Betty joined the church’s B.A.F.T.A. (Be a Friend to All) Group. “Our group tries to help out. We serve luncheons after a funeral, hold showers, run suppers and at either Easter or May Day we prepare baskets for shut-ins.”

Betty belongs to one of the church Prayer Chains and can frequently be found cooking meals for a church member who needs assistance. “The Benevolent Society keeps track of members who need help. If you’ve had surgery, for example, we’ll see that you don’t have to cook when you come home from the hospital.”

Betty’s father lives on the Cape and she and Eric spend time enjoying the Cape atmosphere while visiting her father. A sunny day will find them playing golf on one of the Cape’s golf courses.

Both of them are avid theatergoers and frequently travel around New England to visit favorite Playhouses. “We go as much as possible,” said Betty. Before the demise of the American Stage Festival, Betty and Eric were Guild Members. This group helped make the productions go smoothly. “We worked at productions in both Milford and Nashua,” recalls Betty.

Lighthouses have fascinated Betty for years. She and Eric frequently include a visit to a new lighthouse as part of their vacation travels. “The year that we toured the Canadian Atlantic Provinces, we saw most of the lighthouses along the coast.”

Community Questions:

HLN: What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in Hudson over the years?

Beaverstock: “Houses. You used to drive by woods when you drove through Hudson. Now you drive by houses and more houses.”

HLN: What do you like to read?

Beaverstock: “I’m an avid newspaper reader and, of course, cookbooks.”