Those
Celebrating Birthdays are: June 15, Catherine Boston, Mellie Riel,
Mark Wallace, Linda Harnden; June 18, Nicholas Shaver, Guy Derby,
Jr., Whiley Clattenburg; June 19, James Dunne; June 20, Charly Zahn;
June 21, Rob Richardson. A Very Happy Birthday To One And All!
Celebrating Anniversaries are: June 17, Tim and Becky
Mineau; June 18, Robert and Paullette Chagnon.
Best Wishes!
Suncook Valley Soccer Club, will be holding sign ups for
fall soccer. The first sign up is on June 16th at Pittsfield
Middle High School from 6-8pm. SVSC will also offer sign ups
at Old Home Days on July 23rd. The final sign up will occur on
August 21st at Drakes Field from 3-5pm. Come join the fun and
make new friends by joining soccer.
The Suncook Valley
Sun would like to thank Diane Vaughan and our contributors to last
week’s Memorial Day Observance pictorial spread.
School
Lunch Menus June 20 - June 24, 2011
PES Monday
- Taco
salad, lettuce, tomato, cheese, fruit, milk. Tuesday - Chicken
noodle bake, veggie, fruit, milk. Wednesday - Ravioli, veggie,
fruit, milk. Thursday - Fish & cheese on bun, veggie, fruit,
milk. Friday (Early Release) - Pizza, veggie, dessert, milk.
PMHS Monday
- Pizza, veggies, fruit, and milk. Tuesday
(Finals) - Cold Lunch Wednesday (Finals) - Cold Lunch
Thursday (Finals) - Cold Lunch Friday (Finals) - Cold
Lunch
Patriotic Concert Enjoyed By Many
What a wonderful concert of
patriotic music we enjoyed on Friday evening, June 3, at the First
Congregational Church of Pittsfield! Our Chancel Choir
sang beautifully; our JuBellation Handbell choir played some of
their most challenging pieces; and the UNH Inextinguishable Brass
Quintet was a terrific feature to the program, giving our concert
that brassy boost to get the audience tapping their feet and feeling
proud to be Americans.
In addition, there was a salute to
the Armed Forces, played skillfully on the piano by Linda
Bissonnette, the church’s music director, with veterans and their
family members standing during their service’s individual theme
song, to receive the appreciation of the flag-waving crowd.
A big
thank-you to all who worked hard to bring this concert together,
including those of the Dorcas Guild who provided and served the ice
cream refreshments during intermission. Follow the church’s
endeavors at its website:
www.pittsfieldcc.com.
Thank
You From Friends Of The Josiah Carpenter Library
The Friends of
the Josiah Carpenter Library would like to thank Lee Benoit, cook
and owner of the Little Bear BBQ (www.litlbearbbq.com)
for his generous donation to the Friends of the Josiah Carpenter
Library. Lee and Rosa Benoit prepared and served delicious food
during the town wide garage sale and the profits from the food sales
were donated to the Friends. Thank you also to the many
people whom purchased books at the Friends book sale. All
these monies will be used to support the Josiah Carpenter Library.
Pfc.
Steve Nadeau and Catherine Anderson were married in Watertown, NY on
May 26, 2011. Steve, son of Steven and Wanda Nadeau of Londonderry
is an explosives ordinance specialist in the US Army, stationed at
Fort Drum, NY. Catherine is the daughter of Krista and Matthew
FitzGerald of Londonderry and Carl and Valerie Anderson of
Pittsfield. Catherine is attending secondary education in Watertown,
where couple will make their home pending Steve’s deployment
overseas.
NH
Scholars Honored At Special State House Ceremony
Pittsfield’s first recipients of New Hampshire Scholars recognition at the
State House last week: Ben Polizotti, Brendan Norton,
Craig Paggi.
On
May 25, 2011, more than 1,500 high school seniors were recognized in
Concord at a special ceremony for New Hampshire Scholars.
Thirty-seven of the forty high schools recognizing NH Scholars this
year were in attendance.
Among the dignitaries offering
congratulatory remarks were Governor John Lynch, Commissioner of
Education Virginia Barry, Chancellor of CCSNH Dick Gustafson, NHCUC
President Tom Horgan, and NH Scholars Director Scott Power.
Manchester School Superintendent Tom Brennan read congratulatory
letters written by Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Kelly Ayotte.
Be
Involved In Our Schools Submitted By Angela Perlupo
For my
senior year of English at Pittsfield Middle High school, we were
asked to design a project that would benefit our community in some
way. There were many thoughts that came to mind when I heard this,
but the one that really stuck out was volunteering at the local
elementary school. Working with children has always been a passion
of mine and I knew I would be able to enjoy this project.
I
contacted the school’s principal and with his help got set up
working in a second grade classroom once a week, helping the
students with their math lessons. During my time there I gained such
an appreciation for all the hard work our teachers put into planning
and creating lessons. I have been working on creating a lesson as
part of this project as well, and I can say from my experience, that
there is a lot more involved than just photocopying a couple of
worksheets and explaining a few steps. Although it has been very
time-consuming, it has been very rewarding.
Volunteering is
something anyone can do regardless of what they like, where they
live, or the things they are interested in. Anyone who is interested
in volunteering should contact the place they want to work with by
phone or e-mail, and set up a time they can meet with the person in
charge to see what they can work out. Most places will not turn down
volunteers and the benefits for all involved are so great, it is
worth it to give it a try.
The benefits of volunteering at the
elementary school include seeing the kids feel accomplished when
they do something well, helping the teachers so they aren’t trying
to get to every student at once, and having someone be excited to
see you. Every time I go there the students are all very excited and
that alone is worth going back for. The school benefits as well,
because if people want to go and help out that means it is a
positive environment a positive school is going to produce children
who are more knowledgeable and who will have a greater educational
experience. Students enjoy volunteers as well, because it
gives them a bit of change instead of the same thing every day.
Once you start volunteering the only hard part will be stopping! It
is so great to be able to give your services to others and get a
great sense of accomplishment and gratification out of it. If I
could do it again I would start earlier in the year so I could have
more time to work with the children. This project was a great
experience and definitely one that was well worth it.
Letter
The American Legion Peterson-Cram Post 75 would like to thank the
following individuals that help Post members place flags over the
graves of our deceased veterans on May 26, 2011: Lea Adams, Liz
Dimmick, Clarence Schmidt, Barbara Rogers, Diane Vaughan and others
who did not identify themselves.
The Post would also like to
thank the following individuals who helped us during our annual
Memorial Day observance that was held on May 29, 2011: Reverend
Curtis Metzger, St. Stephens’s Episcopal Church, where we had our
church service then the social afterwards; NH District 17 Senator
Jack Barnes our guest speaker, Stephanie Joyce, for singing our
National Anthem; Donna Ward for Scott and Donna Ward of Gold Star
Families; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hetu of Blue Star Families; Rob Freese
for playing TAPS; Madelyn Winslow for performing the TAPS echo; the
local police and fire departments who always help us when we need
it; and the committee who puts out the flags along our sidewalks
every holiday.
A special thanks goes out to Jan
Heath of Heath’s Flower and Gift Shoppe who arranges the beautiful
flower baskets for the Legion Post, Blue Star Family and the Gold
Star Family. We also wish to thank your many visiting special
guests we had with us.
Thank you, Merrill Vaughan, Vice
Commander American Legion Peterson-Cram Post 75
General
Allison A. Hickey Sworn In As Under Secretary For Benefits
Submitted By Merrill A. Vaughan, Vice Commander,
American Legion
Peterson-Cram Post 75
Pittsfield, NH
Retired Brig. Gen. Allison A.
Hickey, a 27-year Veteran of the United States Air Force, Air
National Guard, and Air Force Reserves and a graduate of the first
U.S. Air Force Academy class to include women, has been sworn in as
the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Under Secretary for
Benefits.
“General Hickey is a proven leader with deep experience
and passion, who is dedicated to the welfare of Veterans, their
families and survivors,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki. “With her extensive knowledge, insight, and commitment, I
am confident we will achieve the bold and comprehensive changes that
will continue the transformation of the Veterans Benefits
Administration into a 21st century organization.” As Under
Secretary, Hickey is responsible for a $72.3 billion budget and
benefit programs that include compensation and pension benefits for
more than four million veterans and survivors, education programs
including the Post 9/11 GI Bill, home loan guaranties, vocational
rehabilitation and employment services, and one of the nation’s
largest life insurance programs.
Hickey, a pilot and aircraft
commander, has 17 years of leadership in Department of Defense (DoD)
strategic and transformation planning, program and resource
implementation, public and congressional affairs, and quality and
organizational management.
She served as head of the Air
Force’s Future Total Force office, and as Assistant Deputy Director
of Air Force Strategic Planning, leading one of the largest mission
and culture change efforts the Air Force has gone through since its
inception.
Additionally, Hickey held the position of Air
Force Future Concepts and Transformation Division Chief, focused on
the integration of technologies, organizations, and operations that
became the model for the Air Force of 2025.
She also
brings private industry experience, leading human capital management
as an executive for Accenture in their work for the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and supported operational business
processes for other intelligence community organizations in the
areas of customer relationship management, call center practices,
and other 21st century information technology systems.
“As a
recently separated Veteran, I have firsthand experience with the
transition processes that thousands of Veterans and their families
experience every day,” said Hickey. “I also have personal
knowledge of the issues and sacrifices made by military families
- including those of our National Guard and Reserve. I am
excited to be part of the VA team focused on serving Veterans.”
In addition to her own military service, Hickey is part of a
proud military family. She is the daughter of a career Army
Officer and Vietnam Veteran, Lt. Gen. William J. Hilsman (Ret.).
Her mother, Jean Hilsman, a military mother and spouse, served as a
Director and Past President of the National Military Family
Association and as the first Department of Defense Family Policy
Office Director.
Hickey is also the spouse of Col. Rob Hickey
(Ret.), a 30-year active duty Veteran, Guard and Reservist and a
current federal government civilian employee. Hickey and her
husband have three children.
Hickey replaced Acting Under
Secretary for Benefits Michael Walcoff, who has served with
distinction throughout the Veterans Benefits Administration
including positions as Deputy Under Secretary, Associate Deputy
Under Secretary for Field Operations, Deputy Area Director, and
Regional Office Director. He will be retiring from VA after
more than 35 years managing the department’s benefits programs and
57 field offices with nearly 20,000 employees.
For more
information about VA and the Veterans Benefits Administration, go to
www.va.gov.
Pittsfield Project HOME Breaks Ground At PES
On Thursday, June 2, Pittsfield Project HOME broke ground
outside of the Kindergarten area at the elementary school with the
help of Mr. George Szelest and some hard working six graders. Our
first project is to create a butterfly and hummingbird garden that
will serve as a study area for the Kindergarten classes. The
Kindergarteners will be helping with the planting before the end of
the school year. Pittsfield Project HOME is a schoolyard habitat
improvement initiative that aims to develop our schoolyard so it is
attractive to wildlife and people as well as creating an outdoor
classroom for our students. A group of teachers, parents, and
community members along with Marilyn Wyzga, of the NH Department of
Fish and Game, has been meeting monthly since December to develop a
master plan for the schoolyard. In order to make the projects more
relevant to the educational process, the teachers share their
students’ ideas and their plans for lessons with the team. To find
out more about the program and what you can do to help, please go to
the school website and click on Project HOME (www.pittsfield-nh.com/pes)
or call Clayton Wood at 396-6663.
Letter
Dear Pittsfield Residents: At a Planning Board meeting on May
19th, the Board discussed:
1. Zoning Ordinance Article 16 -
Parking Requirements:
• The central Commercial District of
downtown has ten (10) street parking spaces with fourteen (14)
businesses (including vacant storefronts).
• In order to create
the proper formula to determine required parking spaces per square
footage, it is necessary to know the square footage of building and
business.
• By next meeting, Board will have the proper
information to create this formula.
• Other issues with working
of article (beyond that which residents voted on in March) include
dimensional standards for parking spaces which were initially
removed from article, but should be reinstated; and
•
“Conditional Use Permit” (to reduce parking requirements) should be
achieved by Special Exception.
• Article 16 should be rewritten
and resubmitted to voters.
2. Article 23 - Senior Housing:
•
Article 23 density conflicts with Article 8 - Cluster Development.
• Strict requirements take precedent combining Article 8 and 23,
with Senior Housing being a sub-section, which may solve the
problem.
• Board will seek information from other towns that have
senior housing ordinances and successful senior housing
developments.
Again, the Planning Board thanks you for your
interest and encourages you to visit the Planning Board blog:
Pittsfield-NH.com/Planning.
Ted Mitchell Chairman, Planning
Board
Congratulations to Pittsfield’s Police Chief Robert Wharem, who was
sworn in as the President of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs
of Police on Saturday June 4 at the Mountain Club Resort in Lincoln.
2011 4H
Spring Cleanup and Planting at the BCEP
Team Work
4H members worked very
hard to clean up and plant flowers at the BCEP. We finally got a
year with nice weather for this event. Thank you to the 4H members
who came out to help: Dylan Connors, Nick Connors, Elizabeth Boyd,
Cassie Boyd, Derrick Ladd, Austin Ladd and Jordan Pinto. 4H leaders
in attendance were: Jen Elliott, Matt Goodwin, Peter Elliott, Sue
Elliott and Colleen Laro.
Thank you to all members who donated
flowers, Gordon and Nancy Wheeler who donated bark mulch and to Earl
from the BCEP who stayed late with us.
4H members mark your
calendars. The fall cleanup and planting will be on Friday,
September 9th, 2011 at 6 pm. All 4H members are welcome to attend.
This is a great way to get some community service hours and help
your community.
It’s A
Cub Scout Fun Day Extravaganza!!!
Concord, Bow, Pembroke,
Allenstown, Loudon, Epsom, Chichester and Pittsfield - Cub Scouts
Invite YOU to Join !!
Boys In Grades 1-4. (This year’s
Kindergarten students can join)
WHEN: SUNDAY JUNE 12th, 1:00 –
3:30 pm WHERE: CHUCKSTER’S on Route 4 East of Concord COME
JOIN US FOR A GAME OF GOLF!
For more information please contact:
Jay Taylor at 603-289-2497 or
[email protected]
$15.00 includes membership fee and round of golf. The whole
family is invited to come and play as well at our group rate of
$7/pp.
Join cub scouts and let the fun begin!
Letter
Now that a few Grinchy “local community members” have gotten their
way and had our awesome fireworks canceled, perhaps one of them
would be so kind as to explain why they felt the need to do that,
other than the lame excuse that they were not an “acceptable” use of
the cemetery? Since they’ve been held there for some years, one is
left wondering at what point they became not acceptable? Secondly,
who appointed them to decide this? Was there a committee formed, and
was it voted on? I doubt it.
It is indeed a sad day in the
community when the actions of a few disgruntled people with their
own negative agenda can take away what was an asset to the
community.
They should be ashamed of themselves, but somehow I doubt
that as well. Bruce Cobb
Congratulations To The Library Book Bag Raffle Winners!
The
winners each received a new, royal blue, sturdy canvas, Josiah
Carpenter Library book bag with their choice of six titles from a
selection of twenty items. Forty raffle tickets were sold at the
Library on Saturday, June 4th, during the Town-Wide Yard Sale. First
place went to Eric Corliss of Barnstead, while 2nd and 3rd place
went to Pittsfield residents, Denise Grant and Tina Zoeller,
respectively. All three winners brought their children to
assist with selections. Proceeds from the raffle
go directly to the Josiah Carpenter Library.
Letter
THANK YOU!
On behalf of the National MS Society, team Kelly’s
Krusaders would like to extend a HUGE thank you to JITTERS CAFÉ in
Pittsfield NH. Their consistent effort and extreme dedication made
our MS Walk Fundraiser Dinner a tremendous success. We served just
over 100 customers which brought great success in our fundraising
efforts.
In addition to thanking Jitters Café for all they
have done for us, we also have many businesses to thank for their
donations: Get FitNH Bootcamp, TC’s Service Station, Natural Choice
Therapeutic Massage, Maxfield’s Ace Hardware, Cindy’s Hair Affair,
Happy Pups, Marla’s Sharp Sheers and The Suncook Valley Sun.
Thanks to all who participated in the event. We couldn’t have been
so successful without your help!
If you weren’t able to
attend the event, but would still like to make a donation, you can
issue a check payable to: The National Ms Society. The check can be
mailed to: Attn: Deb Gauthier, 134 Dowboro Rd, Pittsfield NH, 03263.
Or you can donate online:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Deb.Gauthier
Thanks
Again For All Your Support!! Team Kelly’s Krusaders
TOPS
News
Well, TOPS has had another busy week. We would like to thank
everyone who stopped by to check us out at the town wide yard sale.
We had a great day and got to see some old friends that we haven’t
seen in awhile. Our members had a good time and are looking forward
to maybe having another one throughout the summer.
The summer
heat is here and it’s important to drinks lots of water. Our bodies
need that to keep us going throughout the day. A nice fruit smoothie
is always refreshing and some fresh fruit cut up just to grab quick
is always a treat.
At TOPS we try to encourage each other and
teach each other the importance of good health. Each week we have
lots of laughs and we are always trying to come up with new ideas or
maybe a recipe or two.
If you’re around on a Tuesday night and
would like to stop by, please come on in and check us out. We are
located at the St. Stephen’s Church on Main Street in Pittsfield. We
meet on Tuesday nights at 5:30 for weigh in and our meetings start
at 6:30. If you have any questions please feel free to call Laurel
Tiede @ 269-8721 or Pat Smith at 435-5333. Hope everyone has a great
week!
Letter
I can not even begin to explain how deeply saddened and angered I am
that Pittsfield will no longer be able to have the fireworks display
at our annual Balloon Rally. I also cannot believe that it is
due to complaints from “local community members.” Do they even
care about their community and the effect that this is going to have
on it? Have they ever even been to the show to see how many people
come out to see the fireworks? The amount of joy it brings to the
people, the business it generates, and the positive press that it
brings to our small town is crucial in building a better name for
ourselves.
Balloon Rally is something my family and I look forward to all year
long. It is a weekend filled with cookouts, camping, visiting
with friends (friends that come all the way up from Cape Cod
specifically for Balloon Rally), watching the balloons go up, and
the fireworks, the highlight of the weekend.
To do away with them because they are launched too close to the
cemetery is just ridiculous. What damage is it causing??
Who is it hurting?? Fireworks are for celebrating. How
do these community members know that the people in those graves
wouldn’t want to be celebrating with us?!
I think they
just need to get over it, find something else to complain about and
waste someone else’s time. And for future reference, please
feel free to light those fireworks right off my gravesite!
Katie
Bachelder
Extended Learning Opportunities In Pittsfield Wouldn’t Happen
Without You!
ELOs are the primary acquisition of knowledge and
skills through instruction or study outside of the traditional
classroom methodology.
PMHS would like to thank the following
Community Partners for volunteering their time, resources, and
efforts this spring in providing ELO experiences to our students:
Ross Morse, Suncook Valley Sun; Officer Webber, Pittsfield Police
Department; Zach Powers and Kristen Treacy, Pittsfield Youth
Workshop; Dr. Gary Cote, Merrimack Valley Church; Alexandra Briggs
and Jessica Bickford, PMHS faculty Heather Kingston, S.A.T.
Counselor Dan Bisson, Harriman Architects & Engineers.
For more information about Extended Learning Opportunities
please contact Sheila Ward, ELO Coordinator, at (603)435-6701 X1117,
(603)219-3742, or by email at
[email protected].
One
World, Many Stories
It is time to register for the Summer Reading
Program at the Josiah Carpenter Library. Please register
between now and the end of the month. The Summer Program is
sponsored by Children’s Librarians of New Hampshire and the Friends
of the Josiah Carpenter Library. We will visit different
continents each week, which will include a story, craft and snack.
The program will begin on July 7th and continue through August 18th.
A weekly gathering will take place in the Children’s Room on
Thursdays from 1 pm to 2 pm.
Preschool through sixth graders are
encouraged to enroll in the program.
We will conclude our
Summer Reading program with Andrew Pinard’s Alejandro’s Olde Tyme
Magic Show on August 18th at 1 pm at the Pittsfield Community
Center.
Pittsfield Girl Scouts
Your Girl Scouts have had a very busy, very successful year this
year! This years Daisy troop consisted of five busy little girls.
The girls, who are in Kindergarten and First Grade, participated in
selling cookies and used their earnings for a princess pizza party,
complete with Cinderella reading them stories! They also did many
craft projects, played games, cleaned up trash around the community
center and made new friends.
Our Brownie troop held strong
with 12 second and third grade girls attending many
adventures. The cookie money we earned allowed us to attend a
sleepover at the New Hampshire Children’s Museum in Dover. This was
a first GS sleepover for many of our girls, and they did awesome!
This year we had two different Junior troops made up of girls in
fourth and fifth grade. The Juniors will be attending a
camp-out in the fall with the theme of Laura Ingalls Wilder with the
cookie money they earned. We also attended and held many
events on a town wide level this year. When you see a Girl
Scout in town ask them about going to a corn maze at night with a
full moon and flashlights, sponsoring a successful Father Daughter
Dance, Rock Climbing at Vertical Dreams in Manchester, going to a
Monarchs Game, seeing Disney Princesses on Ice, and much, much more.
We would also like to recognize five Junior Scouts who have earned
their Bronze award this year. The Bronze Award is the highest
achievement that a Junior Scout can earn. To complete this project
the girls must complete a project within their community with the
goal of making the community a better place. Each of these
girls put at least 20 hours of work into their project. Megan
Callicoat worked with an animal shelter to get the word out about
pet adoption and getting donations for the animals. Olivia Frost and
Emily Thompson organized a winter hat/coat/glove drive at the
elementary school. Mackenzie Desilets and Delaney John-Zensky
volunteered at Vintage Hill Assisted Living Facility organizing
games and craft projects with the residents. Congratulations Girls!
Teen
Volunteers Wanted
Position: Library Page Volunteers
Qualifications: Must be age 14 to 17 with valid working
papers. Demonstrated ability to perform essential job
functions.
Job Description: • Shelves library materials and
performs other tasks to keep the collections in order. • Uses
computer hardware and software to access information. • Uses and
maintains various library equipment. • Requires frequent lifting
and carrying of library materials; pushing and pulling of book
carts; and frequent stooping and reaching. • Requires visual
discrimination and the ability to read spine labels.
Apply:
Library Page applications are taken, when positions are available,
at Josiah Carpenter Library. Contact the Library Director,
Rozalind J. “Roza” Benoit
Josiah Carpenter Library makes
employment decisions without regard to an individual’s race, color,
religion, creed, sex, age, national origin or disability.
Letter
To Whom It May Concern! I am so sorry to read in The Suncook Sun
that there will not be any more fireworks displays in the usual area
as years past.
I am sure others feel the same way!
I have many
family members buried in that cemetery, and several in that area. I
am sure if it were possible, they surely enjoy them also.
As a
child growing up, that was one thing my parents made sure of, was to
have a nice display of fireworks for the Fourth of July!
I cannot
for the life of me see any harm done in or to the cemetery. If so,
show us the proof!
All it takes is just one old ???? to spoil it
for the rest.
Do you realize the amount of money that comes back
into town from this affair?!
Get smart if it’s possible! But I
doubt it.
I hope others feel the same as I do, if so, please
speak up!
Sincerely, Norma Gilman
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