Bake Sale and Soup Lunch
A
Bake Sale and Soup Lunch will be held on Saturday, December 10,
at the Northwood Advent Christian Church on School Street from 9
am to 1 pm.
Join us for a cup of coffee and a scone or muffin before you
pack up with pies, cookies, Christmas Breads, and Gingerbread
men to take home. The soup lunch will be offered from 11 to 1.
It will consist of homemade soup, corn bread, coffee, and a
piece of pie.
The
Northwood Democratic Committee invites all Democrats and
progressive Independents to join them for a Holiday Party at the
Northwood Community Center on Main Street in Northwood Narrows,
at 6:30pm, on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Celebrate the Winter Solstice.
For details and to RSVP, contact Johanna Chase, 942-8940,
[email protected].
CBNA Theatre To Present One Act Showcase
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Theatre will proudly present a
showcase of student directed one act comedies on Wednesday,
December 14, 2016, at 7 pm in the Gerrish Gym on the CBNA
campus.
The
evening will feature On the Porch One Crisp Spring Morning by
Alex Dremann, a spy spoof with a twist, directed by sophomore
Cooper Leduke featuring Nina Laramee and Mackenzie Flanders; the
hilarious detective send-up No More Mr. Nice Guy by Jonathan
Rand directed by senior Teagan Folland featuring Paige Marston,
Lily Marston, Cailinn Monahan and Jacob Lock; Poor Bob by
Elizabeth Meriwether, a comedy that examines the meaning of
life, Yahtzee, and The Neverending Story, directed by senior
Cassandra Barnhart featuring Ian Gollihur, Kayla Pollak, Dylan
DeTrude and Brian Downer; the sci-fi spoof Aliens vs.
Cheerleaders by Qui Nguyen directed by senior Joseph Guptill
featuring Madison Rollins, Hannah Munck, Tim Bowen, Lauren Rose,
Rylee Rogers, Cassuarina French, Zach Helm, Patrick Helm, Sandra
Black, Cody Peck, Mirah Johnston, Olivia Roach, and Caitlin
Reynolds; and the New Hampshire premiere of Ray and Milo by
Chris Sheppard and Jeff Grove, an examination of our
conventional notion of family units, told in the form of a
parable about penguins in a zoo. Ray and Milo is directed by
senior Lauren Burrows and features Alex Mercedes, Ian Gollihur,
Arianna Jones, Marissa Gast, Braelin Ash, Julia Sommer, Erin
Boodey and Emma Tobbe.
Several of the pieces contain material which may not be suitable
for younger audiences. General admission tickets are $5 and will
be available at the door the night of the show. For further
information contact [email protected] or
call 603-942-9931 ext. 237.
Letter To The Editor
The
majority of the Northwood School Board and Budget Committee
members must have fabulous paying jobs with good benefits, like
Health Insurance without premium deductions and high
deductibles. They were voted in to represent ALL the residents
of Northwood, not just themselves and a few parents.
To
the taxpayers, who need TAX RELIEF. Please, please attend the
Budget Hearing at Town Hall on December 10, 2016, at 9:00 AM,
because you are being TAXED WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
First, the bond was paid off which would save about $300,000.00,
right off the top of the budget. They have, instead, deceptively
plowed it back into the budget instead of letting us decide what
to do with our money. The last two years’ budgets were so slushy
with money, they were able to buy all sorts of wishlist items
without a thought of giving any of our money back. Sixteen
unplanned students started at Coe Brown last year and they
didn’t have to go touch the trust fund. The population has
dropped considerably in the elementary school, so they don’t
need as many administrators, teachers, and staff.
Again, they are also planning to put two items into the
operating budget already voted down by the VOTERS: Full day
Kindergarten not voted down once, but three times. Each time by
a higher percentage of voters. The cost is not going to be
offset by bussing, because an extra bus will be added in the
morning and afternoon to accommodate the extra children. Full
time Curriculum Director was voted down last year by a wide
margin. If I thought these were really going to be beneficial to
the education of Northwood’s Children, I would be for them,
myself. I truly know they are not needed to educate our
children.
Sincerely,
Marie L. Correa
Letter To The Editor
To
the Editor,
He
is so right. It really is, at least has been, a rigged system.
We’ll see to it there are changes. Our previous Town
Administrator had a plaque on his office wall that stated that
you could not run government entities in a business like manner.
I argued that he couldn’t but a business man could and would
make government much more efficient and responsive to their
customer.
We
could bring up any facet of government and people would come out
of the woodwork to voice their complaints. Inefficiency and
waste in government is legion. Northwood School is an excellent
example. As a business it would have and should have been
shuttered years ago. Choice would fix this problem. Schools that
struggle to educate their students, only 30% of third graders
are proficient in math, wasting over $18,000 per child deserve
to be closed. Our next Education Secretary is a choice and
charter school advocate. Change in the wind?????
It
appears that with the new budget and if you approve the teacher
and support staff contract the cost will be north or $19,000 per
student. Assuming that the rubber stamp, I mean Budget
Committee, goes along with this atrocity I will not be
supporting the contracts.
I
suspect and hope that a business like atmosphere is brought into
government now. We’ll see who is right. I see that the big
government people are already squirming.
Tim
Jandebeur
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
The
Voice of the People
Northwood voters have spoken loudly and clearly at the polls.
They said no to a full-time curriculum coordinator last year and
no to full-time kindergarten for each of the last three years.
Yet this year the school board has so arranged the budget that
Northwood citizens will get and pay for both, whether they vote
for the proposed budget or the default budget.
One
of the reasons the board has the “extra” money to spend is that
it is not planning to return to Northwood taxpayers the nearly
$300,000 surplus they should be getting from the completion of
school bond payments. Northwood taxpayers had voted to assume
the payment of the bond by a supermajority many years ago. They
did not vote to keep spending that money on other things. In
fact, they voted against doing so.
The
school board and the budget committee should listen to the voice
of the people.
The
public hearing on the school budget will be 9 AM Saturday,
December 10th, at the Town Hall.
Michael Faiella
Northwood
Ma’s An Mine Of Northwood
“The
Little Restaurant That Could”
By
Meggin Dail
Walk into Ma’s An Mine Northwood Tavern and the first thing you
notice is family. Cathy Francoeur, the owner, and her daughter,
Paula often have little ones to greet you as you walk through
the door. That’s because it’s all in the family.
Defying the ups and downs of the restaurant business, including
a fire that sent Cathy looking for another place to do her
craft; and personal tragedy when Cathy’s son, Brian, passed away
last year; Ma’s An Mine has bounced back in style.
Always with a smile on her face Cathy or Paula will greet you at
the door and treat you like family too. They are quite proud of
their homemade corned beef hash recipe and have it available
every single day. “It’s the best you’ve ever had,” says Cathy,
“the recipe has been in the family for years.”
Besides the hash Ma’s an Mine serves up 26 different flavors of
pancakes! Everything that can be homemade is in this breakfast,
lunch and dinner joint. Conveniently located right on Route 4 in
Northwood, they have a stunning burger menu that can’t be beat.
Offering Veggie; Bacon Mac and Cheese; the Cowboy burger; Bleu
Cheese Bacon Burger; BBQ Bacon with Caramelized onions and
Double Burgers to name a few, they are all handcrafted and
completely satisfying.
Ma’s an Mine Northwood Tavern offers Prime Rib every weekend and
serves up some great martinis. With regular and draft beers on
tap and a game room to enjoy the popular sports of the season,
you can sit and watch the game or play some electronic darts.
Ma’s An Mine Northwood Tavern is located at 758 1st NH Turnpike
and serves breakfast lunch and dinner 7 days a week. They have a
full bar and take out is available by calling 942-6024.
Local Author Rebecca Rule At The Chesley Memorial
Library
Local author Rebecca Rule will hold a book signing at the
Chesley Memorial Library on Saturday, December 10, at 10:00 a.m.
Are you looking for that special gift this holiday season? How
about an autographed copy of Rebecca Rule’s newest book? “N is
for New Hampshire” is an alphabet book perfect for kids …or a
coffe table book adults will love! The books will be on sale for
$17.95 per copy.
Rebecca Rule is a humorist/writer who specializes in funny
stories about New Hampshire. Her first picture book for children
was The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever, illustrated by
Jennifer Thermes. Other books include: Moved and Seconded: NH
Town Meeting and Could Have Been Worse: True Stories,
Embellishments, and Outright Lies. She hosts Our Hometown, on
NHPTV.
Northwood Church Christmas Concert
The
Northwood Advent Christian Church, 113 School St., Northwood,
invites you to a special night of Christmas music on Sunday,
December 11 at 6:00 PM. The artists sharing will be Andrew and
Kim Plummer of Nashua and Don Plummer of Strafford.
Andrew has been singing and performing since a young age and has
been a soloist with the Manchester Choral Society where he
performed for many years. He is an outstanding gifted tenor. Kim
has been studying and playing the violin since the age of 3 and
has performed with the New Hampshire Philharmonic. She has a
skill and musicianship that will move the listener. Don Plummer
has been performing concerts for many years and has performed in
36 states and Canada. He currently plays 1st Trumpet with the
Strafford Wind Symphony. The three recently performed at the
church in September to a rousing ovation and are happy to
perform at the most wonderful time of the year!
There is no admission charge. Come and enjoy an evening of
wonderful music and remembering the real meaning of Christmas.
We wish all our friends and neighbors and community a Merry
Christmas.
Letter To The Editor
Funding Full-Day Kindergarten
I’m
not going to directly respond to the opponents of Full-Day K in
this installment, but most of you know where I stand (I’m for
it) and why (lots of reasons).
Instead, I want to encourage you to read the series in the
Pittsfield section of this paper being written by Dr. John
Freeman, Pittsfield School District Superintendent of Schools,
discussing “State Reduction in Education Funding.” If you don’t
know a lot about how K-12 schools are funded in New Hampshire,
this is a good tutorial.
You
can find the first installment (11/30/16) online. The critical
fact I pulled from it is that the State has defined the cost of
an “adequate education” as about $3,500/year per student, with
kindergarten students getting half that amount. He further notes
that data from 2014-15 shows that the actual average cost per
student is more than $14,000, and towns are left to make up the
$10,000+ difference.
Since towns can’t levy room & meals taxes or business profits
taxes or run lotteries or license casinos, we are left to raise
that difference with property taxes.
The
other bit of good news that I will share with you is that,
according to a piece in the Concord Monitor, during the
campaign, Governor-elect Chris Sununu “promised to fully fund
full-day kindergarten in every community.” Assuming that this
Republican Governor can get the Republican House and the
Republican Senate to support this promise, Northwood would
receive an additional $1,750 per kindergarten student – times 30
= $52,500.
That plus the approximately $40,000 that would be saved by not
running a mid-day bus would cover much of the anticipated cost
of full-day K.
Let’s encourage our House and Senate representatives to get
behind this legislation when it comes before them.
Tom
Chase
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
What is the purpose of a school board? According to The Center
for Public Education, “First and foremost, school boards look
out for students. Education is not a line item on the school
board’s agenda—it is the only item.” If you’ve read any of Tim
Jandebeur’s letters to the editor, you would wonder where the
“look out for students” part comes into play for him. He’s too
busy writing negatively about staff, parents, and fellow school
board members while offering no solutions.
Mr
Jandebeur’s latest letter is more of the same. In no way is the
school board trying to bury full-day k or curriculum director in
the budget. School board meetings are held at set times and
dates; the agenda is posted ahead of time and minutes are
available. The community members are welcome to attend and voice
their concerns. Had they attended, they’d have known that three
board members publicly declared they would like to finally
provide full-day k and a curriculum director; which the school
desperately needs.
What is “rigged” about any of this? Nothing. When you don’t get
your way, you can point fingers and call it rigged all you want,
but this is how Democracy works. The voters, like myself, lost
the vote on full-day k for three years. That’s how it goes. Now,
three board members straw voted to include these items in the
budget. Tim Jandebeur and Bree Gunter have said they will not
support them. That’s their decision, but should majority rule
when the final budget is voted on, they’ll have no choice but to
accept it.
I’d
like to say thank you to Keith McGuigan, Barbie Hartford, and
Shane Wells for looking out for the students and putting their
education first at Northwood School.
Amy
Hanavan