In 2015, Southwestern Community Services, led by their Supportive Services for Veterans Program staff members John Rider and Matt Primrose, held the first Cheshire County Veterans Summit & Stand Down. The event featured representatives from several local service agencies that shared information and resources for area veterans, in an effort to make them aware of, and to provide easy access to the region’s many services available to them. The event was a tremendous success, with hundreds of veterans in attendance. SCS would continue to host the event annually for the next four years, the last being in September of 2018.

Fast forward to 2022… Southwestern Community Services has partnered with the Keene Family YMCA to bring this valuable resource back to the community. 

“There are so many veterans out there who aren’t aware of the resources and support services available to them,” Matt Primrose, who now works as the Facilities Manager at the Keene Family YMCA said about resurrecting the event. 

“The team here at the Y started talking about how we could honor our veterans this fall, and that got us talking about the SCS event. We reached out to them, and they were on board with the idea immediately.”

The 2022 event was a success and the team vowed to keep it going. 

The 2023 Cheshire County Veterans Expo will take place on Friday, September 22nd from 10am-2pm at the Keene Family YMCA.

Representatives from several agencies will be on hand to share information and resources. Click here to view the list of exhibitors.

Veterans in attendance are invited to enjoy a free lunch. They’ll be setting up the barbeque grill and serving hamburgers, hot dogs and all the typical barbeque faire. Lunch will be served from 11am-1pm. 

Veterans can also get a free haircut while they’re at the expo, courtesy of Jed’s Barber Shop.

There will also be several raffle prizes, thanks to the generosity of local businesses who donated to the event.

This free event will take place rain or shine. To learn more, or if you’re interested in exhibiting at the expo or making a donation, please reach out to Colleen Manzi at cmanzi@keene-ymca.org or call 603.283.5580.