Honoring a local 'powerhouse': Belknap Mill dedicates patio to Rod and Gail Dyer

LACONIA — Mayors past and present, city leaders, members of the Laconia schools community, state representatives, friends of the Belknap Mill and others gathered to officially dedicate the Powerhouse Patio to Rod and Gail Dyer Friday afternoon.

Rod served as mayor from 1968 to 1974 — during which time he helped shield the mill from demolition — is a longtime former member of the Laconia School Board and more than half-century partner at Wescott Law in addition to his work as a rotarian and supporter of community organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club and Lakes Region Cancer Support Team. Gail, a former legal secretary, is likewise an involved supporter of Girl Scouts in the Lakes Region, Lakes Region Boys & Girls Club  and the Laconia Public Library.

The more than 50 people in attendance from a range of associations demonstrated the reach of the Dyers in the Lakes Region, said Jennifer Anderson, co-chair of the Belknap Mill Society board of directors, in an interview, adding she was proud the Dyers could be there to receive the honor.

“What a great time to be able to honor someone and have them be able to actually hear it,” Anderson said. “We should do more of that.”

“If there's anyone that has, you know, a credible say as to how the Lakes Region has turned out the past few years, it’s Rod,” said Dana Gardner, a member of the mill's board of directors. "Rod has had his name and fingerprints on a lot of the things that we're now sort of reaping the benefits of."

Construction of the patio, located outside the mill’s powerhouse and serving as a gathering place that links it to the green carpet of Rotary Park, started in 2021 to celebrate the service of Rod Dyer and his family to the mill and the city.

The patio is “a bridge between the public space and this historic space,” Gardner said. “It's continuing like this emerald necklace of Laconia ...  and showing, I think, that the progress continues after preserving this as they did.”

Peter Karagianis, also co-chair of the mill’s board of directors, recounted in remarks ahead of the ribbon cutting how his father “worked with Rod to save the mill from the wrecking ball.” It was symbolically fitting, he continued, that the north side of the building at its entrance had been named after his father, Peter S. Karagianis, and that the south side would now be dubbed after Rod Dyer.

In remarks, Anderson praised Rod’s service to the city — not only as mayor but also as a founding member of the Laconia Putnam Fund, a leading member of the push to restore the Colonial Theatre, and a drafter of the Winnipesaukee River Basin establishing legislation. Wescott Law partner and former mill board member Allison Ambrose heralded Rod’s ability to create a culture at the firm of confidence, mentorship and earnestness. 

“He knows how to just make people feel appreciated and special, important,” Ambrose said. “There's a ripple effect as a result of all of that, because as young people gain the confidence in order to do the good work, and be a good person and contribute to the community, then they're instilling confidence in others to do the same thing.”

In his own remarks, Rod expressed gratitude for the support at the ribbon cutting, for his friends at the mill and for the support and love of his family.

“To be perfectly honest, I was astonished by the number of people that came out,” Dyer told The Daily Sun. 

“The mill means a lot to me, simply because I've been so involved with it,” he continued, recalling the stand he took as mayor in his second term against demolition amid the controversy at the time about whether the mill should be retained or torn down for parking. The mill is currently celebrating its 200th year.

Dirk Nadon, who in addition to being a cousin of Rod is a member of the mill’s board, noted the importance of pausing to take stock of those who have brought the city to its current moment. 

“To be here, to be able to commemorate Rod and Gail, that means the world to everybody here,” Nadon said. “This is an important thing to not just promote, but to commemorate. It's meaningful, it talks to our heritage.”