Raven Gael Blaisdell Foundation keeps memory of founder's wife alive with literacy programs, family movie screenings

NORTHFIELD — When Paul Blaisdell’s wife, Raven, died in 2018, he honored her and her love of reading by creating a foundation to support the Hall Memorial Library. Today, The Raven Gael Blaisdell Foundation supports several Tilton and Northfield community events, including the Movies in the Park summer series.

The foundation helps encourage children to read, and brings the community together by hosting events year-round.

“I’m very proud that my wife’s name is on it,” Blaisdell said.

Paul and Raven were married for 34 years, living in Northfield. Paul, who’s lived in Northfield since he was 7, thinks Raven’s “greatest joy in life” was reading.

“If she could’ve done nothing else but eat, sleep, and read, she would’ve been happy,” he said. "She loved to travel to places through literacy, and be exposed to characters that she never would be able to experience in real life.”

When Raven finished books, she would often donate them to Hall Memorial Library. Her donations were frequent enough the library named a shelf after her, called the "Raven Corner." Raven’s connection to the library was Paul’s "driving force" to create the charitable foundation in her memory.

“She must’ve donated about a thousand books to the library over the years,” Paul said. “Others looked at Raven, and saw the amount of joy that reading brought her in her life. And we thought that was wonderful, and that it should be encouraged.”

Working with the library, Paul spent two years raising money for the program, and filed with the Secretary of State's Office to become a charitable corporation, and then a tax-exempt nonprofit, to receive grants and outside funding.

“Our goal is to assist the library in children's programming, with the intention of having children be exposed to literature, and enjoy it as much as Raven did,” Paul said, “and to expose children to literacy, encourage them, and bring about a joy in reading that would last a lifetime.”

The charitable foundation’s board of directors is made up of volunteers, some of which are staff at the library.

“I have to offer heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all who volunteer. I'm surrounded by such wonderful people,” Paul said. “They are so creative, and always willing to help. They volunteer their time, spend hours on weekends, and I'm so blessed. They make my job relatively easy.”

The foundation is involved in several events throughout the year, including the Northfield Fall Family Fun Fest, a community dinner for Thanksgiving with free meals, the Tilton-Northfield Christmas Parade, and Tilton Northfield Old Home Day.

At every event, every child who attends receives a free book. In 2024, the foundation distributed over 1,300 books, over 1,500 in 2025, and 650 so far in 2026.

The foundation also created the Born to Read program, which offers anyone who goes to Town Hall in Tilton, or Northfield, to register a birth certificate is gifted a bag of six books: one adult book, and five for children.

“The smiles that we get from the parents are pretty amazing,” Paul said. “I’m very proud of that program.”

The foundation is also involved in Hall Memorial Library's summer reading program, and the Movies in the Park Series at Riverfront Park, in Tilton. During the summer, the foundation hosts a free, family-friendly movie screening on the last Friday of each month, May-September.

“We want to bring families together, and make it easy for them to spend a night together,” Paul said. “They don't have to worry about paying for anything. It's free food, free fun, free drinks, free treats, free popcorn, and a free movie.”

July's movie, screened this Friday, is "Lilo & Stitch" (2002). The film will be shown at 6 p.m. at Riverfront Park. Following will be screenings of "The Road to El Dorado" (2000), on Aug. 28, and "Hercules" (1997) on Sept. 25.

To learn more about The Raven Gael Blaisdell Foundation at Hall Memorial Library, visit hallmemoriallibrary.org/raven-gael-blaisdell-foundation-hall-memorial-library.