The Chichester Town Library has a drop off box for
donations of new and gently used winter clothing that the Epsom
Chichester Lions Club will disperse to local children in need. The
Lions Club has 3 agencies in our area looking for assistance with
hats, mittens, scarves, blankets, new warm socks, fleecewear and
even cash donations.
We would like to thank John Martell, member of the
Police Association, for purchasing the wreath displayed at Memorial
Park for Veteran’s Day.
The Capital Region Food Program Holiday Basket
Project will be on December 22, 2011. All interested residents must
complete an application form by November 23, 2011 at the Town Office
during regular business hours.
Happy Birthday to Lauren Lane on November 17.
Happy Belated 16th Birthday to Felicia Gelinas on
November 11.
The following titles have recently been added to the
shelves of the Chichester Town Library in the Adult Non-Fiction
Section: Terrific Garden Tonics! 345 Do It Yourself, Fix Em Formulas
for Maintaining a lush lawn and gorgeous garden by Jerry Baker;
Lidia’s Italian Table – More than 200 recipes from the first lady of
Italian cooking – Lidia Bastianich; The Oasis Guide to Asperger
Syndrome by Patricia Bashe M.C. Ed.; The Complete Encyclopedia of
flight 1945-2005; Discover Nature at Sundown – Things to know and
things to do – by Elizabeth P. Lawlor; Barn Plans & Outbuildings;
The American West by Dee Brown; The Drivers of Nascar; Card Games
for Dummies; He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not – A memoir of finding
faith, hope and happily ever after – by Trish Ryan; and What
Einstein Told His Barber by Robert L. Wolke.
Out Of Your Attic Thrift Shop News
Submitted By
Carol Hendee
The Attic now has Christmas items and winter wear
out for sale. There are some long, warm women’s winter coats in our
third room, along with hats, gloves and mittens. If you are looking
for Christmas lights, just ask and someone will check "out back" for
you.
We are in need of carpet squares for our floor. The
cement is rather chilly and if anyone has any to donate, we would
appreciate it. We could also use some plastic bags that are a little
bigger than the grocery bags. Coats and sweaters need bigger bags.
Baby Threads is in need of hygiene items such as
shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes and baby diapers.
Please label your donations "For Baby Threads."
We are at 345 Suncook Valley Highway, Chichester.
Donations are accepted on Mon. 8-12, Tues. and Thurs. 8-4, Wed.
11-4, and Sat. 10-4.
If you need something picked up, please call
247-7191 or 707-7577. Thank you for your support!
Chichester Historical Society
Chichester Town Hall – Part XI
Submitted By
Walter Sanborn
In my last article I stated that the warrant article
in the 1953 town report to raise and move the town hall back 20 feet
and build a basement under it was voted in the negative. I have
recently discovered a newspaper article about the vote regarding
this incident.
In the Concord Monitor of Friday, April 3, 1953
there appeared a front page picture of the Chichester Town Hall and
headlines, "Legalization of Chichester Town Hall Repair Bill Fails
to Get Legislative Approval."
The warrant article asked that $4000 be raised with
$1000 being raised over a period of four years and passed on a vote
52 to 39.
It was only after the town meeting was over we
realized that a 2/3 vote was needed because it was to be paid over a
period of four years instead of one year so the vote was not 2/3
majority.
It was then decided to see if the vote could become
legal as the money had been appropriated by the voters. The bill was
then presented to the Legislature along with a similar bill from
Barrington relating to a school appropriation in that town.
A hearing on the bill was called only one day before
the Legislature was to vote on it. There was some stiff opposition
to the bill by some of the big taxpayers of Chichester and a
petition by others saying like earlier that the building wasn’t
worth fixing. Some people are not interested in preserving old
buildings but the town hall, now the library, is still serving the
town after 220 years.
The Legislature deemed the bill inexpedient to
legislate. The full text of this bill can be reviewed on the Concord
Monitor as it is too lengthy to include in this article.
Nothing was done in 1954 but in 1955 the matter of
moving the town hall was placed in the town warrant and was passed
by an affirmative vote at the 1955 town meeting.
In 1956 the new basement was built and the town hall
was raised and moved back onto it. Two overhead doors were installed
so town equipment could be stored in the basement.
The biggest obstacle in moving was removing the
vault and rebuilding the floor in the main hall to its previous
construction. When the new basement was built a new concrete vault
was built in the southeast corner of the basement. The former steel
shelves and iron doors were installed as were in the first vault in
the Selectmen’s office on the first floor.
All the town records were then stored in the new
vault. Although the concrete hardens quickly it emits moisture and
takes years to cure.
After several years we found mildew was forming
inside the vault so a heat lamp was installed and later bags of
calcium chloride placed inside also to absorb the moisture.
By 1970, in reviewing records and documents, we
found much damage to papers stored in the vault, however, the town
records in heavy covered books only had mildew on the outside so
were salvageable.
The contents of the vault were all removed by the
Chichester Historical Society, wiped clean and dried out in the open
basement of the hall on boards. The new vault was never used again
for storage of town records.
Today the vault remains with its steel doors in the
basement of the library. I want to particularly draw attention to
this as the library has partitioned and placed book shelves around
the vault and it is enclosed and not visible. I want to mention this
as sometime in later years it will again be uncovered and may be
mistaken for a jail or unknown room.
My next article will be Phase 3 The Town Library and
relocating the town offices.
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