The Annual 4-H Cookie and Candy Bar Sale is held
during the month of October. Several varieties are Now available for
only $3.50 per package. Candy Bars are $1.00 each. Your support to
the 4-H youth in your community is greatly appreciated. If a 4-H
member has not contacted you, please call 4-H leaders Pamela
Clattenburg 269-3200, Pauline Wheeler 435-8752, Mark Riel 435-6346
or Corine Miller 435-8497.
The Chichester Town Pantry has reopened. We would
like to thank the Loudon Food Pantry for serving our residents while
we were closed.
The Chichester Town Library’s final Book Sale of the
summer season will be Saturday, October 15, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Go
to the back of the Library at the Pound Road Entrance and pick up a
bag of enjoyment.
Chichester Cub Scouts from Pack 85 will be selling
delicious popcorn at the Book Sale from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Support
your local pack while you support your local library!
Golden Paw Grooming and Central New Hampshire Animal
Care in Chichester and Veterinary Emergency Services in Concord are
show sponsors for the Children’s Theatre Project production of "101
Dalmatians" & "The Aristocats." The shows will be performed at the
Concord City Auditorium on Friday, October 21, at 7 p.m. and
Saturday, October 22, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5.00 each. For more
information call Candy Brehm at 798-5925.
The Chichester Firefighters Association will be
hosting/sponsoring an all you can eat Spaghetti Dinner on Wednesday,
October 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Chichester Fire Station.
Minimum donation requested is $5.00 per person, along with any
non-perishable food items. The Chichester Firefighters Association
will be providing all the food and supplies needed for the event
with one hundred per cent of all money raised being distributed
directly to the Chichester Food Pantry. Hope to see you there.
Cub Scouts do fun things with other kids! They get
to wear a cool uniform, go places, and see things. They play all
kinds of sports and build things, like race cars and bird houses.
Cub Scouting is fun with a purpose! We have fun while learning core
values. If you’d like to know more about Cub Scouting in Chichester,
contact Karen McCormack at
[email protected] or by calling 848-7285.
Enjoy crafts and homemade goodies from local vendors
and get a head start on holiday shopping at the same time! Please
visit the craft fair on October 15 from 9-2 at Chichester Central
School, 219 Main Street, Chichester. Proceeds benefit Chichester
Central School.
Chichester Grange will meet on Wednesday, October
19, at 7 p.m. upstairs in the Grange Hall.
Are you a Chichester resident who winters in Florida
but votes in New Hampshire? You could make life easier on yourself
and the Town Clerk if you arrange for absentee ballots before you
leave for points south. Drop by the Town Offices and fill out your
absentee ballot application for Town Meeting on March 13 and also
for the Presidential Primary, which will happen sometime early this
winter.
"Trunk or Treating" will be held on October 29 from
4:30 to 7 p.m. at Carpenter Park. Reserve your spot by calling Jaan
Luikmil at 545-9087. Spots with electricity are limited. This year
pumpkin carving will be available for a donation. There will also be
games, a costume parade, jack-o-lantern lighting, and a Halloween
story by Lisa, the Chichester Librarian.
Out Of Your Attic Thrift Shop News
Submitted By Carol Hendee
You can really help us by labeling your donations.
When you send in a big bag, it would be helpful if a note were
attached. It doesn’t have to be item specific, just girls, boys,
winter, summer etc. Please use small bags. We are having a hard time
with the 40 lbs. and up bags.
We received some brand new dog collars, all sizes, a
dog stake out and we still have Halloween costumes, especially for
the baby and small sizes. We also have some Tonka metal trucks, an
AB2 canvas exercise chair and lots of new cook books! We have
requests for food processors, food chopper and grinders.
Stop by and see our new sign at 345 Suncook Valley
Highway, Chichester, on Monday 8-12, Tuesday and Thursday 8-4,
Wednesday 11-4 and Saturday 10-4.
Chichester Historical Society
Chichester Town Hall Part IX – The Vault
Submitted By Walter Sanborn
The selectmen’s office in the town hall was a small
room about 10 feet wide and 16 feet long. This room contained a pine
saw horse type table and three captain type chairs for the selectmen
to use and it was heated by a small box stove as I mentioned in my
last article. In the Southeast corner of the room was a wooden
cabinet and shelves to keep the town record books in.
Although the town clerk and tax collector worked
from their own homes, they kept their current records at home but
the old prior town meeting minutes and tax records were kept in the
selectmen’s office.
Whether by town vote or a selectmen’s decision in
1892 work was started on building a fire proof vault to store the
town records in.
A doorway was cut from the selectmen’s office
through the wall into the main hall. As the town hall sat on a stone
foundation on top of the ground there was only crawl space under the
floor. The floor was removed for about a 10 foot square in the main
hall so the foundation for the vault would rest on the ground. The
inside of the vault was about 6 feet square inside being high enough
to walk into standing up with storage space on each side. The walls
were a double row of bricks with space between the rows on each side
and the top and was fire proof. Records do not show when the vault
was finished.
The year 1911 and 1912 show work on the vault door
for $3.50 and metal shelves bought for $129.65. George Ordway was
paid to work on the vault door and Frank Hall for keys to the vault.
The inside door in the selectmen’s office to the
vault was just a regular wooden door. When this was opened the vault
door was exposed. This was an iron door about 4 inches thick like on
a safe or bank on heavy hinges. The key was just a thin piece of
steel with notches, which was inserted into a slot in the door and a
round knurled knob was turned to unlock the door. Then a large T
shaped handle, same as on a safe, was turned to open the vault door.
When this doorway opened another flat steel door had to be opened to
gain access to the vault. Upon entering the vault the metal shelves
on iron pipes were on each side which supported the town book and
records.
Each selectman had a key to the vault and handed
them on to newly elected officials.
After the vault was started in 1892 C. R. Sanborn
was hired in 1893 to build voting stalls in the town hall. In 1896
it was voted to shingle and paint the town hall and in 1897 to
sheath and repair the town hall. Today the walls and ceiling are
completely covered with narrow matched boards which is the original
sheathing done in 1897.
To be continued
Chichester Grange
Chichester Grange met on Wednesday, October 5,
upstairs in the Grange Hall. Secretary Mary West reported that the
dues still owing from 2011 have been paid, and the dues for 2012
have started to come in.
Dictionaries have been ordered for Chichester
Central School, and Epsom and Pittsfield will soon be ready for
ordering. A new sponsor is needed for Epsom this year.
After considerable discussion it was determined that
not enough people are available on October 22nd to handle a
pumpkin-carving event. Perhaps next year the schedules will be
better suited. Meanwhile the members voted to support pumpkin
carving at the Old Home Day Committee’s "Trunk or Treating" by
making a monetary donation toward supplies.
The pancake supper scheduled for the October 19th
meeting has been postponed until the first meeting in November to
allow Chichester Grange members to support the Firefighters
Association spaghetti supper on October 19th. The flower tubs in
Memorial Park are ready to be moved to winter storage.
Hannah West presented the program for the evening.
Members participated in activities prompted by the letters spelling
OCTOBER. These included singing of "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," a
limerick about cider, facts about "today" (October 5th), and sharing
of remembrances of October events. At the close of the meeting
members enjoyed cider and donuts contributed by Anne and Marty
Boisvert.
Chichester Conservation Commission
The Carpenter Park area consists of 3 parcels of
land totaling 48 acres. The smallest parcel is across Route 28 from
Frekey’s and abuts the Suncook River. There is minimal timber. The
best use would be for access to the Suncook River and removal of
some invasive species. However usage of the land is hampered by the
dangerous access from Route 28.
Another parcel is behind the salt shed. This is a 75
year old pine forest with mixed hardwoods. Some light thinning is
recommended so that the overstory can grow as well as enhancing the
growth of young pines.
The remaining parcel is where the recreational
fields are. There are plans underway by the Recreation and Parks
Committee for changes to the park area. The wooded area west of the
fields, consists of a 100 year old pine forest with an understory of
sugar maples. The pines are tall and spindly and very unstable,
prone to being blown over. They should be thinned every 12 years to
enhance the young sugar maples and to remove dangerous trees. The
Chichester Conservation Commission is working closely with the
Recreation and Parks Committee to coordinate efforts.
Please come to our Public Meeting Thursday, October
13th at 7 pm at the Grange Hall for more detailed information on the
Spaulding Town Forest, the Madeline Sanborn Town Forest and
Carpenter Park forestry projects.
Past surveys show that Chichester citizens support
preservation of open space. Voters have also supported funding of
land protection efforts through a conservation fund which receives a
portion of land use change taxes assessed on lands removed from
current use.
Easements in Chichester are currently held by the
Selectmen and the Society for the Protection of NH Forests (SPNHF).
The Five Rivers Conservation Trust (5RCT), another local non-profit,
oversees 40 conservation properties totaling 2,300 acres in Concord
and surrounding towns.
The Conservation Commission will host a program on
open space protection on November 10 at 7 PM at the Grange Hall.
Representatives of the Five Rivers Conservation Trust (5RCT) will be
available to answer questions on a range of topics related to
conservation easements, grant support of local efforts, and federal
tax implications for the landowner.
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