Tell us about yourself! Who are you and what is your mission?
The Tapply-Thompson Community Center (formerly Bristol Community Center) began in 1946 and was the dream of A.B. Thompson who was the pastor of the United Methodist Church in Bristol. A new Church had been built and the old Church was available for other programs. A.B. envisioned a place where the youth in the community could come and be engaged in recreational and learning activities. When the Church Council approved the idea, and the use of their old building for this purpose, A.B. brought his dream to reality. In 1946 the first Director of Recreation was hired. His name was Richard “Wink” Tapply and they could not have found a better person for the job. The mission was to provide recreational opportunities to the youth and families in the Newfound Region. From the onset the Bristol Recreation Advisory Council (Board of Director’s) made sure that youth were not turned away for inability to pay for programs. “Wink” and his wife, Ruth were an unbeatable team and knew how to garner community support in a time that did not value the importance of community recreation. Many of the programs that “Wink” founded are still happening today such as Santa’s Village.
What have you accomplished in our community?
The TTCC has been running for 75 years and has offered After School and Summer programs since its inception. We provide youth and adult sports, fitness programs, special events and collaborate with the towns we serve, the NASD and many groups and organizations in the area. We offer many community traditions that are near and dear to the area such as Santa’s Village, the Annual Apple Festival and our Lobster & Chicken Supper.
We employ many local students in our After School and Summer programs and have provided generations of students with a sense of how important community service is. We have collaborated on many of the projects in the area that include the multi-use path to the lake, the Kelley Park playground, new scoreboards at Kelley Park and the development of Wells Field. It is difficult to quantify what we have accomplished as this is a continuous process but we have been fortunate to have made a difference in the lives of many of our Newfound families.
We have recently added the Newfound Every Child is Ours program to our offerings. This program is a collaboration with Bristol Police Department and it allows us to give out bags of ‘weekend food’ to our students that may be food challenged on weekends. At this time we are averaging over 100 youth per week. We also offer the Operation Warm program through a collaboration with Bristol Community Services and the Bristol Fire Department. We are able to provide coats, snow pants and boots to local youth that need them. This year we were able to warm 125 youth with these items!
We have an active Teen Council under the oversight of Gina Richford. The Teen Council volunteers at all TTCC events, holds Parent Night Out events and has fundraised for building improvements such as the upgraded gymnasium and kitchen, new front windows and the purchase of a water/bottle filler fountain.
What do you want to accomplish next?
We will continue to offer programs and activities to meet the needs of the community. We will continue to add new programs as needs shift and interests change to stay current. Our Teen Council is currently working on raising funds for an upgrade to our front porch.
How can people get involved?
Participate! Go online to check out the many different programs we offer – (www.ttccrec.org) We have many volunteer opportunities available for people that would like to help. We also accept donations for our general programs, Operation Warm, and Newfound Every Child is Ours. For more info on how to volunteer give us a call at 744-2713 or send an email to bccfun@metrocast.net.
