A Very Happy Birthday To One and All!

MUM SALE FUNDRAISER

The Suncook Valley Sno-Riders snowmobile club is holding its 2nd annual Fall Mum Sale fundraiser!

When: Saturday, Sept. 14 and Sunday, Sept. 15 (9am-3pm)

Where: EXIT Reward Realty’s field (Corner of Rt. 28 and River Rd.) in Pittsfield.

We will also be selling fall decorative items like hay bales and corn stalks.

For more information see the club’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/svsnoriders/

Letter

A recent letter to the editor by the Belknap County Commissioners contains a novel legal theory, viz., that a properly noticed meeting must contain all of the items on the agenda. That is simply not true. There was nothing to prevent the commissioners from attending the August 12 meeting concerning a revenue anticipation note for Gunstock Mountain and nothing to prevent them from staying for any other business to come before the convention.

One of the commissioners was present for discussions concerning certain budgetary transfer requests which came before the executive committee of the convention and easily could have stayed for the properly noticed general meeting of the delegation.

The context which is unmentioned by the commissioners is that they have spent several years and three hundred thousand dollars of the public’s money to produce a plan for a new prison which has very little support.

A lame attempt to deflect notice from their incompetence does nothing to advance the public interest.

Sincerely,

Dick Burchell

Belknap 5

What In The World?

Adult Sunday School begins Sunday, September 15th at 9:00 am. Center Barnstead Christian Church will offer a new study using the best-seller, “What on Earth is God Doing?” by Dr. Renald Showers. Dr. Showers is widely recognized as one of the most distinguished theologians in America today. A graduate of Philadelphia College of Bible, he holds a Th.D. from Grace Theological Seminary, Indiana.

Dr. Showers documents how the secular world view in the arena of politics, economics, education, human behavior, and religion has been polluted by the systematic intervention of spiritual wickedness. 

Join Center Barnstead Christian Church as we explore the course of human history and Satan’s hand in directing the malignant affairs of mankind. Even though the victory is won through the sacrifice of Christ, Satan remains active today in his attempt to discredit the Bible, compromise the deity of Christ, and appropriate God’s predetermined plan to establish an end time theocracy.

Center Barnstead Christian Church is located on Route 126 in beautiful downtown Barnstead, NH.  For more information call the church at 603-269-8831.

Summer Reading Programs End At Barnstead Library

The 2013 Summer Reading Programs at Oscar Foss Memorial Library were a Huge success! This year we had 102 children and teens participate in the programs, with 78 of those individuals completing the programs and receiving their certificates and special awards/surprises. We started our programs with a “Dig Into Reading Kick-Off” event in June when we got ‘down and dirty’ creating an underground display, complete with lots of creepy crawly animals! The school-aged children really enjoyed the weekly activities at the library, especially making fossils and going on a Treasure Hunt. 

Our weekly Summertime Songs and Stories and Arts and Crafts activities were also well attended. Children of all ages had a great time listening to stories and creating many different projects relating to the “Dig Into Reading” theme. The teens also enjoyed getting together for fun “Beneath the Surface” activities. Some of them included a Library Scavenger Hunt, making Time Capsules and an inspiring visit with Kristina Schram! Kristina is a local author who has several published books, including the “Chronicles of Anaedor.” The teens got an opportunity to hear about her experiences and ask her questions. As we have many writers in our group, this was extremely helpful and insightful. We would all like to thank Kristina for her time, honesty, and enjoyable conversation. 

This year the Hampstead Stage Company donated a performance to the library to enhance our summer reading program. They performed “The Secret Garden” to go along with our “Dig into Reading” theme. The performance was wonderful and the two actors did a fantastic job portraying all of the characters in the play. Everyone who attended enjoyed the show so much that we had an increase in circulation of our copies of “The Secret Garden”! 

Our special ending performance was done by Daniel Forlano on August 6th. Daniel amazed us all with his hilarious and astonishing physical skills! The children and adults who attended thoroughly enjoyed watching and being a part of his fun show. This performance was supported by a grant provided by the Byrne Foundation, CHILIS, Cogswell Benevolent Trust, NH Library Association, NH State Library, and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. 

To end our “Beneath the Surface” teen program this year we celebrated with a “Pizza Party!” The teens enjoyed a delicious meal of various pizzas donated by Jack’s Pizza in Pittsfield. They received their certificates, awards and surprises and had fun playing games. The “Dig Into Reading” group celebrated with an “Ice Cream Party!” They got to make an ice cream sundae and received their certificates and awards and surprises. We also chose the raffle winners for our “Read To Me” program. Please stop by the library to pick up your child’s certificate/awards if you were unable to attend the celebrations. 

We are also very excited to announce that the participants in our Adult Summer Reading Program read a total of 221 books this summer! Congratulations to all for doing such a fantastic job reading this summer. We hope you enjoyed your reading and please continue to visit us at the library.

Barnstead Library - Thanks For SRP Success!

Oscar Foss Memorial Library would like to thank the following people and organizations for helping to make our 2013 Summer Reading Programs Hugely successful this year: the Town of Barnstead and employees for allowing and assisting us in using the Town Hall for our final SRP performance; Daniel Forlano for his amazing and astonishing performance; the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Byrne Foundation, CHILIS, the Cogswell Benevolent Trust, NH Library Association and the NH State Library  for the grant which allowed us to provide such a fantastic final performance; the Hampstead Stage Company for donating a wonderful performance of  “The Secret Garden,” and Kristina Schram for donating her time and experience to the teens. Also, Chuckster’s in Chichester for free game tickets, Pizza Hut in Concord for free Personal Pan Pizza certificates, UNO’s in Concord for free pizza coupons, and Friendly’s in Concord for free breakfast coupons for all the children who completed the reading program.

We would also like to thank our other generous sponsors who donated to our Summer Reading Programs: Wal-Mart in Concord for donating a $50.00 gift card to assist in purchasing supplies for our arts and crafts projects, Jack’s Pizza in Pittsfield for donating 4 large pizzas for our Teen Pizza Party, and Sage Wellness Center and Spa in Pittsfield for donating 4 free relaxing treatment certificates for our Adult Summer Reading Program Raffles.

This summer the children enjoyed 4 fun-filled activities as well as 6 weekly “Songs and Stories” and “Arts and Crafts” activities that followed our Summer Reading Program theme, “Dig Into Reading.” These programs were well attended and we had many wonderful parents/guardians who helped make them successful. We also had a fabulous group of teen helpers who were an integral part of implementing all the activities. Big thanks to everyone who helped; we couldn’t have done it without you! 

Again, thank you to all the parents/guardians who helped their children with the Summer Reading Programs this year. Your support not only helps to make the programs successful, it encourages your children to become lifelong readers.    

Nighthawk Hollow Seniors News

Submitted By Beverly A. Goodrich, Secretary

The Nighthawk Hollow Seniors of Barnstead met at noon at the Barnstead Town Hall and enjoyed a delicious pot luck lunch on September 4, 2013. A business meeting followed. Members are asked to pay their $4 annual dues at our next meeting on October 2nd at 12 noon. Election of officers will be held at that time. Members are requested to make a special effort to attend and invite a friend to accompany them. We have interesting, delicious, informative and entertaining meetings. All men and women are welcome to join. Suggestions are welcome.