During the month of October, the Northwood Congregational
Church, UCC will be recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness
Month by collecting items for several organizations. Donations
of shampoo, conditioner, soap, wash cloths, feminine hygiene
products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, body wash, socks,
toilet paper, bath and hand towels will be collected and
distributed to organizations including - local New Hampshire
domestic violence shelters, Rosie’s Place in Boston, End
68-Hours of Hunger, and several local Food Pantries. Donations
(of any size) can be brought to the church, located at 881 First
NH Turnpike (Route 4) next to Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, and
placed in the collection box (in Fellowship Hall) when the
church is open ~~ Wednesday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., or
Sunday 8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Northwood Congregational Church,
UCC services are open to all - we invite you to join us for our
9:00 service any Sunday morning.
Letter To The Editor
Sights and Sounds at Northwood School in our first month:
First and fifth graders sharing the joy of reading together,
children expressing genuine care and concern for each other in
the nurse’s office, brainstorming ways to help victims of
natural disasters, intriguing new books in our library, students
excited about starting to learn a new musical instrument, having
fun and getting exercise playing new whacky games in gym class,
helping a peer struggling with a mobility issue, offering to sit
with someone new at lunch, staff and students being patient and
tolerant with the heat and humidity in the building, middle
schoolers stepping up to be leaders, staff gathering, preparing
and setting up a student art exhibit at the Deerfield Fair, 8th
graders taking responsibility for fundraising for their class
trip, kindergarteners doing hands on learning about the life
cycle and migration of monarchs, our new online student art
museum at Artsonia.com, energetic soccer players despite long,
hot days, everyone - staff, students, parents - working
together with caring and resilience despite the challenges we
begin the year with. Way to go, Northwood!
Beth Benham, RN
Northwood School Nurse
Northwood Lake Watershed Association Celebrates Selection As
Hannaford Cause Bag Program Beneficiary
Northwood Lake Watershed Association (NLWA), a nonprofit
committed to the preservation and health of Northwood Lake, has
been selected as a beneficiary of the Hannaford Cause Bag
program for the month of October 2017.
The
Hannaford Cause Bag program was launched in October 2015 and is
designed to support local nonprofits through the sale of the
reusable Hannaford Helps bag.
NLWA was selected by Hannaford store leadership as the October
beneficiary of the program at the 174 First NH Turnpike,
Northwood NH Hannaford store. For every blue Hannaford Helps
reusable bag with the good karma message purchased at the
Northwood Hannaford during October, NLWA will receive a $1
donation.
“We
are honored and excited to be chosen as the beneficiary of the
‘Hannaford Helps’ bag program. The NLWA and Hannaford are
committed to protecting our lake and its watershed,” said NLWA
President, Kevin Ash. “100% of donations received will be used
to continue our mission of combating invasive aquatic plants in
order to preserve Northwood Lake for all to enjoy.”
NLWA has a goal of raising $1,000 during October, which is
equivalent to 1,000 bags bought in support of NLWA.
NLWA is a nonprofit based in Northwood NH. Founded in 1992, a
group of concerned Northwood Lake residents formed the NLWA to
deal with the worsening milfoil infestation problem. Since then,
our activities have continued to include the monitoring and
control of the ever-present milfoil in our lake, as well as
providing educational resources to our members and the lake
community at large. Learn more about NLWA by visiting
www.northwoodlake.org.
For
more information on the Hannaford Cause Bag program, visit
hannaford.bags4mycause.com or
facebook.com/hhbagprogram.
Letter To The Editor
In
response to the September 20th opinion of Tim Jandebeur and the
student test scores accompanying it.
To
point out the obvious, data intended to demonstrate change over
time must have at least two points, a start and end point. It
is not possible to back up a statement like “…after over four
years… the three towns certainly show a decline” with the spring
2017 SBAC scores alone.
To
point out what is not obvious, but what Mr. Jandebeur and school
board members know, is that four years ago the state DOE
mandated the NECAP, which is not comparable to the SBAC. The
2013 data isn’t comparable to the 2017 data. There are no data
sets available which support nor refute Mr. Jandebeur’s claims,
at least involving student test scores. It is misleading to
imply otherwise.
It
is not this author’s intention to persuade the community one way
or the other, but those interested can compare school scores
against the state average and can track grade levels back to the
2016 SBAC scores via education.nh.gov. For Northwood in 2017,
five of six grades are at or above the state average in math and
three in reading. The one year trend shows overall increases in
math proficiency and declines in reading proficiency.
I
provide this information to be transparent, interpret as you
will, because I believe Mr. Jandebeur ignored this data along
with the incompatibility of the SBAC/NECAP tests when he
presented his opinion. In doing so, his opinion and incomplete
data combination are misleading.
To
declare that the district is in decline is one thing, to attempt
to persuade us with faulty data is immoral.
Brian Winslow
(a
Northwood parent and taxpayer)
LRPA After Dark Celebrates Halloween With Its 2nd Annual
“Shocktober” Festival, A Month Of Scary Cinema!
This Weekend’s Feature: 1965’s “Planet Of The Vampires”
Throughout October, join Lakes Region Public Access Television
each Friday and Saturday night at 10:30 p.m. for a scary good
time! “LRPA After Dark” celebrates Halloween with four
frightening films from Hollywood’s past. This weekend (October 6
& 7), we get the month started with 1965’s eerie sci-fi-alien
gem “Planet of the Vampires,” directed by Italian horror master
Mario Bava and starring an international cast that features
American film actor Barry Sullivan.
In
“Planet of the Vampires,” two spaceships – the Argos and the
Galliot – are sent on a mission to the uncharted planet of Aura.
As the crew of the Galliot enters the planet’s murky atmosphere,
the crew inexplicably begins to violently attack one another.
Only Captain Mark Markary (Sullivan) has the ability to resist
this murderous urge, and he keeps the crew from killing each
other. Upon leaving the ship, the crew finds the remains of the
Argo, only to discover that the entire crew is dead, having
apparently killed one another! Markary and his crew bury some of
the dead, but most seem to be locked in the Argos’ control room.
When the Galliot’s crew returns with tools to unlock the doors,
the dead bodies have disappeared. As the realization that not
all is well begins to set in, the crew of the Galliot tries to
leave, but their ship has some damage that must first be
repaired. One by one, the crew begins to be found dead. Will
Markary and the rest of the crew get back to civilization? Or
will the mysterious planet Aura keep them all from returning
home?
Many film critics and sci-fi writers agree that Ridley Scott,
director of the classic horror movie “Alien,” was greatly
influenced by “Planet of the Vampires.” Some of the plot points
share similarities. It is also interesting to note that, as the
cast was international, each actor spoke his or her own native
language – Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English – often with
no way of understanding what the other actor was saying. The
film was then dubbed for individual markets. The movie was made
with a very low budget, and so Bava used miniatures, forced
perspectives, colored lights, leftover props, etc. to achieve
the look and atmosphere of the film. Sci-fi and horror fans love
it, and you will too. So grab your candy corn and join LRPA
after dark for this rarely screened gem from the past.
Mark your calendars for these coming Halloween treats:
October 13 & 14: 1959’s “A Bucket of Blood”
followed by Halloween cartoons
October 20 & 21: 1962’s “Carnival of Souls”
October 27 & 28: 1972’s “Horror Express”
From The Town Administrator’s Desk
By
Joe Gunter, Northwood Town Administrator
I
have been lucky enough to serve the Town as Administrator for
more than two years now and it has been a pleasure serving the
community. Today, I want to acknowledge the progress in
Northwood over the last year and thank all of those folks who
quietly volunteer their time to keeping the town running. You
know who you are; thank you for your time and effort.
At
the transfer station, the cost to haul our trash away has been
reduced by as much as 27%, and the money we receive from
recycling is at a 3-year high, up 21% over last year.
In addition to saving the town money and increasing recycling
revenue, we have seen a big increase in volunteering at the Swap
Shop. We now have a group of 12 who quietly clean the “Shop”
every week asking nothing in return. As an added convenience we
have started accepting credit and debit cards at the Transfer
station.
Another example of progress is the ongoing work at the athletic
fields. Many people don’t know that the Town built a baseball
diamond at the Route 4 ball fields and we received a $20,000
grant to install a picnic shelter. The shelter will be ready for
the trunk-or-treat event on October 28th. In addition, the
Conservation Commission has created hiking trails on
conservation land just south of the athletic fields. Your
Recreation Commission is working on expanding the small
playground near the soccer fields. Fingers crossed we receive a
$30,000 grant from the Fed for new playground equipment in 2018.
Last week we received a $10,000 grant to refurbish the historic
Town Hall windows. After installing energy efficient heaters
and AC units, this window project will help the Town save on
energy costs in the future. I know, it’s boring, but
improvements like these help keep the tax rate down.
Other things that are important: the boat ramp and Mary Waldron
Beach will be refurbished this year. All of the road work was
completed before school was let out for the summer of 2017 and
we are in the process of replacing one of our bridges on Bow
Lake Road. The best part about the bridge work is that 80% of
the project, about $560,000, will be paid by the state just
because we asked to be placed on the list to receive the money.
By simply asking for the funds back in 2015 we are keeping the
tax rate down and improving infrastructure.
A
plug for volunteers: we are always looking for more. If you are
passionate about soccer or recreation; keeping the swap shop
looking good; recycling; economic development; or want to be
part of the playground improvement/expansion or trunk-or-treat
event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. My number is
462-0456 and my email address is
[email protected].
Or better yet stop by and chat - I’m around Town Hall from 7am
to about 4:30pm almost every weekday and many days later than
that. Stop by and see me.
Letter To The Editor
Full day Northwood kindergarten... can you believe it?!
The
kids are all settled into the routine. There are two classes;
one class has 22 kids and the other 20. The first few days were
exhausting, with so many new things to do.
So
far they have done their computer state testing and assessments
for reading placements; they have hatched butterflies, made
“apples” to enter at the Deerfield Fair, painted handprints in
the kindergarten hallway (yes... on the walls!) and had a blast
showing off their classroom at Open House evening. They have
made lots of friends and have learned their names. They have
“discovered” school lunches (pizza day being the favorite) and
have classroom jobs including taking care of our class pet Teddy
the guinea pig.
As
of this writing, they have learned two sight words (I and can)
and read them every chance they get! Today in math we learned
about commutative properties: 5+3=8, so 3+5=8. I acted like,
“Are you sure? It can’t be right!” They were so funny
“teaching” me. Can you believe today was only day 14?! Wow, we
are amazing in Kindergarten!
The
pace is so strange now that we have these kids all day. It’s
not a “big rush” to get things done... we actually have painted
three times!
They all love making projects and are so proud of their work
that is hung up on the bulletin board. This is by far the best
thing our town has done for our children! I wish the doubters
could ask the kids. I try to post stuff on our Facebook page,
“Northwood School Educators.” I want everyone to know how
special our school really is! We will be making applesauce next
week and squeezing cider after that.
Beth Boudreau,
Northwood Kindergarten Paraeducator
Thank you, Tom Chase, for showing NWS kindergarten students how
to make apple cider! They loved learning about the process and
participating in making their own cider!
CBNA To Host Opera Mozart And Salieri
CBNA alumnus Michael Dodge (left) as Mozart and Rob McGinness
(right) as Salieri will perform Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and
Salieri October 2 at CBNA.
On
October 2nd, 2017, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy will present
Mozart and Salieri, an opera in one act by Nicolai
Rimsky-Korsakov.
This rare masterpiece will feature tenor and CBNA alumnus
Michael Dodge in the role of Mozart, baritone Rob McGinness as
Salieri, accompanied by Dr. Dan Perkins of Plymouth State
University on piano.
The
performance will take place in the Gerrish Gym on the CBNA
Campus at 7pm. The opera will be sung in the original Russian
with English translations supplied. Admission is by freewill
donation. Rob McGuiness is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory
and will receive his Master of Music from Peabody Institute in
May. As a scholar of musicology and theory, Michael Dodge has
presented research papers on vocal music at conferences in the
United States and abroad. Michael holds degrees from Plymouth
State University in New Hampshire, and the Peabody Conservatory
of Johns Hopkins University where he worked as a graduate
assistant and was awarded the George Woodhead Prize in Voice.
Dr. Dan Perkins is in his 24th year at Plymouth State
University (NH), where he is professor of music and director of
choral activities, and in 2007 was appointed the first
Stevens-Bristow Distinguished Professor.
Northwood Receives New Hampshire Division Of Historical
Resources Grant
Selectmen Richard Wolf (left) and Donald “D.J.” Hodgdon accept
the $10,000 Moose Plate Grant for the Town of Northwood.
The
Town of Northwood received a grant from the New Hampshire
Division of Historical Resources for its Town Hall refurbishment
project. The Grant will go towards refurbishing the 7 Historic
single pane windows in Town Hall.
The
Town of Northwood recently received a $10,000 grant from the New
Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. The grant will help
further Northwood’s mission of preserving it historical
resources by refurbishing the 7 original 1847 windows in Town
Hall while at the same time shrinking the Town’s carbon foot
print through reduced energy consumption for heating the Hall.
“With the help of the New Hampshire Division of Historical
Resources, the Town of Northwood is preserving its rich
architectural history embodied in Town Hall. We understand we
are custodians of the Town’s historic resources and wish to
preserve them for future generations to enjoy. Northwood thanks
the NHDHR for its support.” – Joe Gunter, Town Administrator
About the Town
The
Town of Northwood, New Hampshire, seeks sustainable growth that
protects its natural and historic resources, while preserving
our values, qualities, and culture.
The
town actively looks to promote and improve the quality of living
for its residents, enhance the Town’s sense of community, and
preserve the integrity of its small-town heritage.
The
town is committed to providing excellence in service for all
citizens, businesses, and visitors through constant improvement
and determination. We strive to sustain the public trust through
open and responsive government, and we encourage public
participation from our citizens and businesses.
About the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources
New
Hampshire’s state historic preservation program began in 1974 as
the State Historic Preservation Office in the Department of
Resources and Economic Development. In 1985 it became the
Division of Historical Resources (DHR) and was moved to a new
department, and was renamed the Department of Cultural Resources
in 1998, which also includes the State Council on the Arts, the
State Library, the Film and Television Office, the Commission on
Native American Affairs, and Curatorial Services. As of July 1,
2017, and since the adoption of the New Hampshire’s state budget
for Fiscal Year 2018-2019, the Department of Cultural Resources’
four divisions have combined with the Division of Parks &
Recreation and Division of Forest & Lands (both formerly
divisions of the Department of Resources and Economic
Development) to form the Department of Natural and Cultural
Resources.
Letter To Editor
Next time you ride through the Narrows, take a minute to check
out the Community Hall. This building has been brought back to
pristine condition because one person took an interest in it.
Twenty years ago, the building was falling down, but because one
person was willing to make an effort, this building is once
again a valued part of our community.
Community pride is something we should all think about and do
what we can, when we can, to make our town the best it can be.
Everyone is busy with life and all that it entails, but if you
take a little time to give back, the rewards are usually worth
it.
Which leads me to my favorite subject, the transfer station.
I’ve started a petition to have a warrant article so the
taxpayers can vote for a new swap shop building at the transfer
station, which we are in dire need of. An interesting fact I
didn’t know, the board of selectmen can refuse to put any
warrant article in to be voted on. That doesn’t seem fair at
all; it doesn’t even seem very democratic! It would seem the
taxpayers should have a say in how their money is being spent by
being allowed to vote on it. What are they hanging on to that
expendable trust for?
Meanwhile, if you see me around, stop and sign the petition. The
new swap shop will save us money, and it’s always fun to fund a
treasure.
Til
Next Time,
Viena Dow