It is
time once again to pick Pittsfield’s Citizen of the Year.
Please submit the name of your nominee and the reasons he/she should
be named Citizen of the Year to: Citizen of the Year, PO Box
173, Pittsfield, NH 03263.
Deadline for nominations is June 15th.
On Tuesday, June 9th, PYW will be holding an Open House
from 4:00 to 6:00 PM for new youth and parents to check out the
Drop-In Center, and for everyone to sign up for summer trips and/or
activities. Although this will not be the only time to sign up, we
are suggesting that everyone who is interested in the summer
programs stop by. Some trips fill-up fast! PYW trips and activities
are open to youth in grades six and up (that means youth who just
finished 5th grade), from Pittsfield and the surrounding towns.
There are a lot of great opportunities this summer and we can’t wait
to get started.
Those Celebrating Birthdays are: June
9, Maureen McLaughlin, Jennifer Elliott; June 10, Amber Snedeker,
Keith Wallace, Robert Hildreth, Sr.; June 12, Amy Blackey, Thomas
Dunne, Brian Parent; June 13, Jon Lebrun, Ashley Brown, Joe Rogers,
John S. Kidder; June 14, Roberta Maxfield.
A Very Happy Birthday
To One And All!
Celebrating Anniversaries are: June
13, Glenn and Maureen McLaughlin; June 14, Chester and Dot Shampney.
Best Wishes!
Congratulations to Kaitlyn S. Berry of
Pittsfield, who received a BA in Zoology during the University of
Vermont’s 207th Commencement ceremonies on May 22nd.
Ryan M. Prescott, of Fairview Road, Pittsfield, graduated from
Providence College, Providence RI and received a Master of Education
Degree. Prescott is currently teaching Anatomy and Physical
Education at St. Mary’s Jr/Sr High School in Worcester, MA and is
head coach of the Track Team and the Girl’s Soccer Team.
Cassidy Kearns from Pittsfield, has been recognized by the United
States Achievement Academy as a student of excellence in Language
Arts. This is a prestigious honor very few student can hope to
attain, as the Academy recognized fewer than 10% of all American
high school students.
Cassidy, who attends Pittsfield Middle
High School, was nominated for this honor by Ms. Plante, a Language
Arts teacher at the school. Cassidy is the daughter of
Jennifer Kearns from Pittsfield. Grandparents are Peter and
Julia Swain of Gilmanton, and John and Mary Witham of Barnstead.
Come join The Greater Pittsfield Chamber of Commerce as
we enjoy our monthly Business After Hours. The combined event
will be held at The Innate In You, LLC and Professional Physical
Therapy office buildings on Tuesday June 14th from 6pm to 8pm.
This event is located at 14 Leavitt Road, Pittsfield. There
will be light refreshments served. A tour will be given to all
who participate in this event. This is a networking
opportunity for your business, so remember to bring your business
cards. Everyone is welcome to come. If you are not a
member and are interested in becoming one, this is a great
opportunity to learn what The Greater Pittsfield Chamber of Commerce
is involved in and how it could benefit your business.
Find out more information about this and upcoming events at
www.pittsfieldchamber.org.
Thank you to all who contributed food to the Postal
Service Annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. We collected over
800 pounds of food for the local food pantry to be available for
those who need it. I am sure they thank you as well.
The Pittsfield Historical Society will be planting
flowers in the beds at Lyman Park on Saturday, June 11, starting at
8:00 am. Any and all help would be appreciated. Thank
You!
School
Lunch Menus
June 13 - June 17, 2011
PES
Monday - Hot dog
on bun, beans, fruit, milk.
Tuesday - Salisbury steak, mashed
potatoes, corn, fruit, milk.
Wednesday - Ravioli, veggie, fruit,
milk.
Thursday - Chicken nuggets, veggies, fruit, milk.
Friday - Pizza, veggie, dessert, milk.
PMHS
Monday - Pot
Luck.
Tuesday - Pot Luck.
Wednesday - Pot Luck.
Thursday -
Pot Luck.
Friday - Pot Luck
Diaper
Drive
In the United States, there are almost 750 thousand teen
pregnancies occurring each year. After a drop in the amount of
teen pregnancies in 2002, the numbers have been rising again since
2005. These mothers are young, still in school and more
than likely, do not have a job to support themselves. They are
left with very little and have to find a way to come up with the
money so that they can provide for their child.
For our
final project for English, we were supposed to come up with a
community service project to help out our community. Since
teen pregnancies were happening all over the country and in our own
town, it became clear that this was an issue we wanted to help with.
We decided to do a donation drive to collect the necessary items a
new mother would need; we named this a “Diaper Drive.”
The event
will occur on Wednesday, June 8th in the PMHS cafeteria, located on
23 Oneida Street. We will begin collecting donations at 3pm
and end our event at 5pm. We would like it if people could
bring diapers, clothes, blankets, food, bottles, wipes and anything
else that would be necessary to help give an extra hand for mothers
and their babies. Money can be donated if wanted, but we are
looking more for actual items of donation. The collected items will
then be given to Jane Johnson, the school’s social worker, and she
will distribute the items when needed.
Maren
Rayno, a kindergartener at Pittsfield Elementary School visited the
local cemetery with her father, Matt, to honor those who fought for
our country.
21st
Century Business Exploration And Career Fair Organized By The
Extended Learning Opportunities Program
Pittsfield Middle
High School would like to thank the following local businesses and
business leaders for participating in our first annual 21st Century
Business Exploration and Career Fair held Thursday, May 26, 2011.
Through dialogue, the students were exposed to the professional
career opportunities in our community, gained necessary skills
required to be considered a qualified employee candidate, and
learned how to be best prepared for the continually evolving
business world. We look forward to these and other local businesses
joining us next year.
Jared Griffin from Northway Bank,
Michele Beauregard from The Innate In You, LLC, Scott Brown and Eric
Bahr from Paige Agency, Amy Troy from Chichester Massage, Jane
Schultz from Alternative Healing, Joanne Randall from WTPL, The
Pulse 107.7, Allison Neal from Tutor Doctor, Patricia and Louis
Houle from Patricia J. Houle, CPA, Andy Robichaud from C.E.R.T.,
LLC, Dolores Siik from Center for Cultural Interchange, and Angela
MacKinnon from Mary Kay.
For more information on Extended
Learning Opportunities, please contact Sheila Ward, ELO Coordinator
at 435-6701 X 1117 or
[email protected].
Bob
Moulton spoke about the collection of money for the brass
markers on the appropriate graves and thanked those who gave. Photo
by Diane Vaughan.
Sen. Barnes (also a veteran) wanted to acknowledge all the veterans
there in the
audience and asked them to come forward. Photo By Diane
Vaughan.
Student
Honored At Tilton School Prize Night
Claire L. Cortese ’12 of
Pittsfield, N.H., won an award at Tilton School’s Prize Night, which
honors students with accolades based in Academics, Athletics, Merit,
Activities and Character. Cortese won the St. Michael’s College
Award for Scholarship and Service.
The Saint Michael’s College
Award is awarded to a student in the junior class who is a member of
the National Honor Society and who has demonstrated commitment to
volunteerism and exhibited qualities of leadership and service in
the school and/or community.
Tilton School is an independent,
coeducational, boarding and day school in Tilton, N.H., serving
students in grades 9 through 12 and post-graduates. Tilton’s
curricular model stresses the acquisition of skills, knowledge and
understanding in five areas: communication, critical thinking,
community, creativity and character. Tilton School believes in the
power of each student’s individual potential for lifelong personal
success and service.
Women
Of Rotary
Women of Rotary closed their 2010/2011 season with a
banquet at Dominick’s with 17 in attendance. Annual reports
were read and a gift presented to outgoing President Fred Okrent.
Thank you, Fred, for a great year.
Officers for the coming year
were appointed with Elsie Morse, President; “Babe” Jenisch, Vice
President; Sue Bleckman, Recording Secretary; Alice Lunde,
Corresponding Secretary; Florence Freese, Treasurer; Fred Okrent,
Past President; and Ann Carpenter, member at large.
Letter
To The Editor
Dear Citizen:
Being an elected official
undoubtedly comes with challenges. In a leadership role, we are
oftentimes faced with making difficult decisions. After sitting on
the Budget Committee for almost ten years and the Board of Selectmen
for four, I understand that keeping the balance between services
needed and resources available is not easy.
I agree that the
Town operates under a bottom line budget. The Board of Selectmen, in
its discretion, can transfer from one operating budget line to
another if the need arises. However, there is a differentiation
between operating budget lines and money that is appropriated for a
specific purpose such as capital outlay (police cruiser) and special
revenue (special police detail) items. Additionally, when an
expendable trust is set up for a specific purpose (property repairs
and maintenance) there is no need to appropriate for such items in
the operating budget as this would unnecessarily raise tax dollars.
The role of the Board of Selectmen is stewardship; simply
stated, the Board manages our money. “Moreover, it is required in
stewards, that a man be found faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2). Given
the uncertainty of our economy, it is imperative to be frugal with
our community resources.
One major area that continues to
warrant vast improvement is the lack of management within our
payroll budget. In just the first quarter of the fiscal year, a
total of 526 hours have been utilized for sick time for a cost of
almost $9,600. Consequently, the Police Department has already
expended over 63% of its overtime budget line (just one example).
Being a steward does not suggest that when our budget exceeds what
was approved by the voters we seek alternative resources. To the
contrary, being a “faithful” steward and preparing for an
unpredictable future begins with cutting back on spending.
Linda Small
Fund
Drive For Pittsfield Park Program
JJ Goodwin’s Eatery has
launched a fundraiser for Drake’s Field Park Program for
Pittsfield’s youth. The program has offered a wide range of
activities and trips for many years. This year’s program has
been cut from the school budget and can only operate through the
donations of community members.
Tuesdays, during the month
of June, from 6 to 8 pm, 50% of any pizza order proceeds will
go to the park program. If you would like to find out more
about the park program call Louise Sawyer at the high school,
435-6701.
Letter
Devin Berry and Ben Polizotti placed American Flags on the graves of
former servicemen and around the Thyng Memorial as a celebration for
Memorial Day. A great deal of those flags were donated by Ace
Hardware. We are very appreciative of Ace Hardware and would like to
thank them for their involvement in honoring those who have served
to protect our freedoms. Thank you.
Ben Polizotti
Merrimack County DUI Task Force Sobriety Checkpoint
Submitted By:
Sgt. Jeffrey M. Cain
As a result of the increasing incidents of
drinking and driving, the Pittsfield Police Department in
cooperation with the Merrimack County DUI Task Force, applied for
and obtained an order from the Merrimack County Superior Court
authorizing a Sobriety Checkpoint to be conducted in Pittsfield
during the first week of June 2011.
A review of statistics has
shown that the use of alcohol by individuals who operate motor
vehicles has resulted in an alarming number of deaths and personal
injury accidents. The Sobriety Checkpoint is the most
effective method of detecting and apprehending the impaired
operator. The program, approved by the NH Highway Safety
Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
provides federal highway safety funds to support these checkpoints.
The purpose of the Sobriety Checkpoints is to detect and apprehend
the impaired driver. The Pittsfield Police Department is
taking an aggressive stance to prevent persons from driving while
impaired. New Hampshire has some of the most aggressive laws
in the country to fight the impaired driver and the law enforcement
community will use those tools to their full extent.
The
Merrimack County DUI Task Force consists of police departments from
Allenstown, Chichester, Concord, Epsom, Pembroke, Pittsfield and the
Merrimack County Sheriff’s Office.
From
The Superintendent’s Desk
Submitted By John J. Freeman, Ph.D.,
Superintendent Of Schools SAU #51
As many Pittsfield folks know,
the Pittsfield School District was awarded a planning grant from the
Nellie Mae Education Foundation back in December to support the
transformation of our middle high school from a traditional school
to a student-centered learning environment.
Since that time, our
Community Advisory Council, which includes many community members
and community educators who have been appointed by our School Board,
has been developing a multi-year plan for this transformation.
We have been researching effective educational practices and
visiting successful, break-the-mold schools to learn how we can
better serve our students and community.
Eventually, our plan
will be submitted to the Nellie Mae Education Foundation with the
hope that the Foundation will fund the transformation plan over
six-years to help us create a student-centered education for all
Pittsfield students. We will submit our plan next October and
learn about the awards in this highly-competitive process in
December.
Of course, most people would
think that schools should be student-centered, but this is true only
presently to a limited extent. The nation’s dropout crisis,
the need for so many high school graduates to take remedial courses
in college, and the testimony of employers about poor preparation
for work tell us that schools still have a long way to go before
they are truly successful in meeting the needs of all our students,
our communities, and our country.
The traditional high school
model, originally developed over 100 years ago, is outdated in
today’s digital world. The knowledge and skills that it
provided and the methods used for instruction no longer serve the
needs of our students and country. The institution has served
us well for a long time, but we must recognize that our world has
changed and so must our institutions, even long-standing
institutions like our high schools. It’s time to remodel.
What skills do our students need to be successful in college and
career beyond high school in today’s and tomorrow’s worlds? Of
course, students will need a basic competency in core subjects, but
will also be served by an expanded conception of core subjects to
include health, civic, and financial literacies.
Creativity and
innovation skills will help prepare students for increasingly
complex life and work environments. Information, media, and
technology skills will ensure successful function in our technology
and media-driven environment. And life and career skills –
such as flexibility, self-direction, and leadership skills – have
become essential for living and working in our information age.
Clearly, it’s time for our education system, particularly our high
schools, to be remodeled. As with a house remodeling,
educational remodeling will require that the same essential needs be
met – students need to be prepared for post-secondary school success
in college or career, our communities need to be well-served by
high-quality, effective schools, and our nation needs involved,
capable citizens to continue our culture and traditions.
But,
remodeling also means upgrading and updating. When we upgrade
and update our schools, we raise standards and expectations, and we
update our approaches to engage young people in their own learning.
And, remodeling means making the best use of available resources and
providing improvement at the best value. This is what our
Community Advisory Council is planning for Pittsfield’s schools.
More information on the exciting transformation of Pittsfield’s
schools will follow over the months ahead.
F.B.
Argue Recreation Area Opening Soon
On Friday, June 24, 2011 the
F.B. Argue Recreation Area opens for the 2011 summer season at 1:00.
We will be having an opening cook out on Saturday, June 25th from
5:00 - 7:00. This year we will be open Monday - Saturday from 12:00
- 5:00 pm. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights we will
stay open until 7:00 pm for families. This is an extra night
on Wednesday. We are hoping to get more families to use the pool
area on these nights and are considering having an adult volleyball
time on one of those nights. Children 11 years old or older must be
accompanied by an adult during the night time hours. All children
under age 8 must be accompanied by an adult during all of our hours.
We will be offering Red Cross swimming lessons again this
summer. Registration for swimming lessons will be held at
the recreation area from 12-5 the week of June 27. We will run
three 2 week sessions (pending adequate enrollment). You will
find more information about swimming lessons and the registration
form on the back of this sheet The lessons will run for 20 minutes
to ½ hour each. The dates for the sessions are as follows:
• July
5th - July 15th (10:00 am – noon)
• August 1st - August 12th
(10:00 am - noon)
• July 18th –July 29th (5:30 – 7:00 pm)
The
cost for the swimming lessons for residents is $10 per child, not to
exceed $30 per family. Children under 5 years old will be admitted
free with a paid adult. The cost for non-residents is $25 per
child not to exceed $75 per family.
The daily admission
for residents is $0.75 per person or a family season pass can be
bought for $40. Daily admission for non-residents is $1.00 per
person. All persons entering the area will be expected to pay.
There will be activities during the summer which will be advertised
at the recreation area. If you have an idea for an activity, please
contact the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Contact the Parks
and Recreation Committee at 435-1850 or Forest B Argue Recreation
Area(after June 24) at 435-7457 with questions.
TOPS
News
Spring has sprung and we are all out trying to get our yard
work done with raking, planting, spring cleaning, wow...lots to do.
All that work could really pay off for some of us. At TOPS we
try to stay active and eat right so that we can live longer and stay
healthier. It’s a daily lifestyle living and we as members try
to encourage each other by making phone calls, sending emails,
dropping a little note in the mail box, and a giving a hug
here and there. Everyone needs that!
At TOPS we have also
started a night to walk around the town in place of our meeting.
So on a Tuesday night if you see a group of us walking, smile and
wave and we will surely wave and smile right back. Hopefully,
we are shedding a few inches or saying goodbye to some calories.
All in all its a really good time and its getting out and doing
something fun.
We are always trying to keep some sort of a
contest going to help us along the way. Each week we have a
program put on by a member or maybe a guest who has offered to come
in and give some information. We are a non-profit
organization.
So if you are not doing anything on a Tuesday
night, stop by and say hi and see what we are doing. You
might want to stay awhile and enjoy the fun.
We meet at 5:30 pm
for weigh-in and 6:30 pm for the meeting at the St. Stephen’s Church
in Pittsfield. For more information, please call Laurel
Tiede at 269-8721 or Pat Smith at 435-5333. Both of these
ladies would be glad to talk with you. Enjoy the week!
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