Those Celebrating Birthdays are: January 11,
Jay Hubbard, Anthony Bender; January 12, Lurene Riel; January 14,
Lyn Ward;
January 15, Carole Abbott, Daniel Ward, Sr.;
January 16, Daniel Ward, Jr.; January 17, Nancy Fogg.
A Very Happy Birthday To One and All!
Celebrating Anniversaries are: January 15,
Robert and Wanda Boston.
Winners in the November drawing at the
Peterson-Cram Post No. 75 American Legion Post were: Valerie Rowell,
Allan A. Enario, Henry Stapleton, Scott Aubertin, Joe Fullen.
Winners in the December drawing at the
Peterson-Cram Post No. 75 American Legion Post were: June Paige,
Scott Ward, Bill Welch, Richard Kelleher, David Hartley.
Revolution United U14 Boys soccer team invites
you to tryout for the 2012 spring competitive team. Tryouts will be
held indoors and will be drawing players from Alton, Barnstead,
Pittsfield, Chichester and more! For more information please contact
[email protected]
The Pittsfield Police Department is looking
for individuals who want to help the police department with
community programs, investigations, Citizens Emergency Response
Team, and other aspects of law enforcement. In order to meet the
ever growing changes and demands of law enforcement. We, the members
of the department, feel the need to involve residents in helping us
solve crimes and reaching out to your neighbors. If you are
interested please contact Chief Robert Wharem at 435-7535 X11
School Lunch Menus
January 16-20, 2012
PES
Monday
Martin Luther King Day
No School
Tuesday
Saturday Supper
Creamy chicken and noodles, green salad, honey
wheat roll, cranberry sauce
Wednesday
Early Release
Ham and cheese sandwich, veggie sticks,
pretzels, fresh fruit
Thursday
Brunch for Lunch
French toast with syrup, sausage patty, hash
brown potatoes, orange smiles
Friday
Fresh Picks Pizza
Cheese pizza or chef’s topping, garden salad,
peaches
PMHS
Monday
Martin Luther King Day
No School
Tuesday
Burger Bar
Build your own burger on a bun, seasoned rice,
tossed green salad, peaches ‘n cream
Wednesday
Saturday Supper
Creamy chicken and noodles, roasted butternut
squash, honey wheat roll, fruit cobbler
Thursday
Brunch for Lunch
French toast with syrup, sausage patty, hash
brown potatoes, orange wedge
Friday
Diner Days
Turkey/bacon melt, oven fries, green peas,
fresh Mac apple
Pastor’s Corner - January 2012
Submitted By Reverend David Stasiak First Congregational
Church of Pittsfield
As we begin a New Year these words which in my
view are inspired by God but voiced by W.L. Bateman are extremely
apropos, "If you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep
on getting what you’ve always got." Bateman’s words apply to our
thinking, as well as our actions. It stands to reason that if we
keep indulging in a habit that is harmful to us, we’ll keep reaping
harmful effects. In the same way if we keep feeding our mind
negative, defeated, hopeless kinds of thoughts we’ll most likely
become depressed, unmotivated and unable to reach the potential that
God created us to achieve.
We truly are creatures of habit. We settle
into routines that are comfortable and predictable so much so that
change becomes frightening and intimidating. Consider the Exodus
story. The Israelites wanted to go back to Egyptian captivity even
when they had a whole new beginning in front of them. At least there
in Egypt they knew what they had. We would rather have the life as
we know it even if it is not the best we can have. For example, we
may ask what will happen if I go back to school to learn a new
trade. How can I even think about leaving the job I dislike with the
economy the way it is to do something that I really love to do? If I
stop smoking, drinking or eating as much as I do what will my life
be like? Every change means a new beginning and an ending to
something else. The French writer Anatole France wrote that, "All
changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what
we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before
we can enter into another.
In his letter to the church in Rome the
apostle Paul said, I have the desire to do what is good, but I
cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,
the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing." Now Paul was
talking of course about his sinful nature that kept showing its ugly
face but I think it applies to many New Year’s resolutions. My guess
is that we all would like to quit doing some of the things we have
been doing because we’re not happy with the results. As hard as it
is, we all would like to make some changes in our lives so we make
resolutions. We set goals. We want to carry them out but we fall
short and end up returning to doing the same old things.
Now I know you may be thinking, oh no not
another James Allen or Norman Vincent Peale character but actually
and as you may already know, positive thinking or positive imaging
or Imagineering or whatever you want to call it is rooted in the
Word of God. Having been created in the image of God each one of us
is given the freedom to write our own story. Within that story there
are many beginnings and endings. Like the Apostle Paul our story
includes times when we did not do the things we wanted to do and it
most likely will continue to include those times. So what am I
suggesting? Resolve to include God more and more this New Year as a
co-author in writing your life story. Have faith in God. Each and
every day, from morning till night remind yourself that you can do
all things through him who strengthens you and that if God is for
you who can be against you. Believe in these words of Jesus who
said, "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go,
throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but
believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it will be yours." (Mark 11:23-24)
May God bless your New Year.
Letter To The Editor
Last Saturday I helped my son, James,
slaughter chickens. I brought over six roosters myself that had worn
out their welcome. John from Northwood was helping.
He had the idea that instead of occupy Wall
Street, we occupy our own land. I go to town and within two hours
I’ll meet three people looking for work.
Government should be encouraging folks to
start something on their property. That’s where business starts.
It’s too bad you just can’t put up a sign and open a business.
Up in our neighborhood we have our freedom to
do almost anything we want. I just wish it extended through our
town, where folks could hang a sign without fear of the government
tripping them up.
So I think John and I are saying do not
surrender your land rights, your right to voluntary exchanges or
your pursuit of happiness.
They can’t lock us all up.
Dan Schroth Piermarocchi
Walgreens No Longer A TRICARE Pharmacy Provider
Submitted By Merrill A. Vaughan Commander
American Legion
Peterson-Cram Post 75
Pittsfield, NH 03263
The expiration of the retail pharmacy contract
between Express Scripts, Inc. and the Walgreens pharmacy chain means
Walgreens is no longer a TRICARE pharmacy network provider as of
Jan. 1.
"The majority of beneficiaries have access to
another network pharmacy very close to home as our pharmacy contract
requires ESI to maintain high-access standards," said Rear Adm.
Thomas McGinnis, chief of the TRICARE Pharmaceutical Operations
Directorate. "There are still 56,000 network pharmacies nationwide
-- easily meeting or exceeding our access requirements."
Besides 56,000 network pharmacies, TRICARE
beneficiaries have other pharmacy options including military
pharmacies at no cost and TRICARE Pharmacy Home Delivery. Generic
medications are available at no cost through Home Delivery.
Beneficiaries who use non-network pharmacies,
including Walgreens, pay full prescription costs upfront and submit
their own claims for reimbursement. Reimbursement will occur only
after the non-network deductible is met. Out-of-network costs
include a 50 percent point-of-service cost share for TRICARE Prime,
after deductibles are met. All other non-active duty TRICARE
beneficiaries pay the greater amount of a $12 co-pay or 20 percent
of the total cost for formulary medications, and the greater of $25
or 20 percent of the total cost for non-formulary medications, after
deductibles are met.
For more on pharmacy costs, visit
www.tricare.mil/pharmacycosts.
TRICARE beneficiaries changing from Walgreens
pharmacy can simply take their current prescription bottle to their
new network pharmacy to have the prescription transferred. To find a
nearby network pharmacy, use the "find a pharmacy" feature on
www.express-scripts.com/tricare. Beneficiaries who want help
finding a pharmacy, changing their medications to Home Delivery, or
who have other questions can contact Express Scripts at
877-885-6313.
Beneficiaries with questions and concerns
about this issue can go to
here for more information.
The issues between ESI and Walgreens are not
specific to TRICARE. Other employer-sponsored and some Medicare Part
D pharmacy plans are also affected. "We are committed to ensuring
all our pharmacy beneficiaries are aware of the many options that
TRICARE makes available to them," said Brig. Gen. Bryan Gamble,
TRICARE deputy director. "By now, all of our beneficiaries who use
Walgreens to fill prescriptions should have been contacted to advise
them of their pharmacy options and to take action to ensure their
pharmacy benefit remains uninterrupted."
For more retiree news and information, please
visit www.retirees.af.mil.
TOPS News
Submitted By Terrie Azotea
We had a great meeting to jump-start the new
year with a good weight loss. Royalty was handed out to those who
had a weight loss during the last month. We do that the first
Tuesday of the month to reward the ones who worked hard to lose. One
of our KOPS had her 10 year anniversary. Kudos. An award was given
to her by another KOPS and her speech was beautifully spoken. Also,
we had a new KOPS, who has worked really hard to get to his goal,
get an award. We as members are very proud of the new KOPS and all
the hard work that it takes to get to your goal and stay at it.
Awesome Job.
It’s a new year and a new start so if anyone
is interested in seeing what we do, come on out on a Tuesday night
at the St. Stephen’s Church on Main Street in Pittsfield. We meet at
5:30 pm for weigh in and at 6:30 pm for our meeting.
If you have any questions, please call Laurel
Tiede at 269-8721 or Pat Smith at 435-5333. We are a non-profit
organization and have lots of fun and success.
We ended our meeting with a little story that
was read which was taken off the computer. I thought it was pretty
cute so here it goes:
Twas the month after Christmas and all through
the house, nothing would fit me, not even a blouse. The stuffing I’d
nibbled, the turkey I’d tasted, the yummies I’d eaten, gone straight
to my waist. The wine and the mince pies, the bread and the cheese,
I should have said "No thank you, please." So I dressed myself in my
boyfriend’s old shirt. I couldn’t believe that my bottom and belly
the girth. I said to myself, as only I can "You can’t spend your
year disguised as a man". So away with the last of the sour cream
dip. Get rid of the fruitcake, every cracker and chip. Every last
bit of the food that I like must be banished, til all the additional
ounces have vanished. I won’t have a cookie, not even a lick.
Instead I will chew on this long celery stick. I won’t have Irish
coffees or chocolate, or pie. I’ll munch on a carrot and quietly
cry. I’m hungry, I’m lonesome and life is a bore. But isn’t that
what January is for? Unable to giggle, no longer a riot. Happy New
Year to all, and to all a good diet.
Defense Bill Limits Retiree Health Care Increases
By Karen Parrish, American Forces Press Service
Submitted By Merrill A. Vaughan, Commander
American Legion
Peterson-Cram Post 75
Pittsfield, NH 03263
President Barack Obama signed the 2012
National Defense Authorization Act on Dec. 31 which contains a
critical initiative to help control spiraling health-care costs
within the Defense Department.
Section 701 limits annual TRICARE enrollment
fee increases for retirees and their family members to an amount
equal to the percentage by which retired pay increases that year.
The act also contains critical initiatives to
develop counterterrorism initiatives abroad, build the security
capacity of key partners, modernize the force and boost the
efficiency and effectiveness of military operations worldwide.
The NDAA also includes:
Section 347 requires DOD to finance an
independent assessment of overseas troop basing, advising retention,
closure, realignment or establishment of U.S. military facilities
outside the United States "in light of potential fiscal constraints
on [DOD] and emerging national security requirements in coming
years."
Section 402 reduces authorized Army minimum
end strength from 562,000 to 547,000. The other services’ authorized
minimum strengths are unchanged, with 325,700 for the Navy, 202,100
for the Marine Corps and 332,800 for the Air Force.
Section 512 of the act creates a new member of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which currently includes the Army and Air
Force chiefs of staff, the chief of naval operations and the Marine
Corps commandant. The new member will be the chief of the National
Guard Bureau, who will have responsibility for "addressing matters
involving non-federalized National Guard forces in support of
homeland defense and civil support missions."
Section 526 extends voluntary separation pay
and benefits authority, formerly set to expire Dec. 31, to the end
of 2018. Section 530 converts the high-deployment allowance from
mandatory to authorized. The allowance currently pays $100 a day, in
addition to all other pay and allowances, to a deployed service
member who has been deployed 401 days or more out of the preceding
730 days.
Section 702 sets mental health assessment
requirements for service members deployed for contingency
operations. The act calls for a series of assessments: one within
120 days before deployment; another during the period between 90
days after a deployment begins and 180 days after it ends; a third
within a year after the deployment ends; and a fourth between 18
months and 30 months of redeployment.
The act states assessments are intended to
"identify post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendencies, and
other behavioral health conditions … in order to determine which
such members are in need of additional care and treatment for such
health conditions."
Assessments are not required for service
members "not subjected or exposed to operational risk factors during
deployment in the contingency operation concerned," the act states.
Section 954 affirms that DOD "has the
capability, and upon direction by the president may conduct
offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our nation, allies and
interests," subject to the law of armed conflict and the War Powers
Resolution.
President Barack Obama acknowledges "serious
reservations" about parts of the act, particularly provisions that
regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected
terrorists.
"I have signed the act chiefly because it
authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its
interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their
families and vital national security programs that must be renewed,"
Obama said in a statement released Dec. 31.
For more retiree news and information, please
visit www.retirees.af.mil.
New Year’s Resolution?
Have you made some resolutions this year like
you did last year – to diet, exercise, be kinder, improve your
outlook, go to church, enroll your kids in Sunday School, become
more spiritual? What do we really want to change?
Making those lasting changes that affect our
daily spiritual lives are ones that can be easy to keep. If you feel
you want to attend church and perhaps have your children or
grandchildren attend church with you or attend Sunday School, begin
2012 with a church community that shares your commitment.
First Congregational Church of Pittsfield, 24
Main Street, invites you to become part of their great group of
friends and encouraging supporters for the good times and the not so
good times. Meaningful relationships start there and you are welcome
to join in.
Come to meditate, find peace, increase your
faith, connect with God, listen to music and hear the "good word."
Everyone is welcome; please consider visiting – you will not be
disappointed. Worship is Sunday at 10:30 a.m. with adult Sunday
School at 9 a.m. and children’s Sunday School at 10:20 a.m. Handicap
parking and accessibility are available at the rear parking lot. For
more information about worship and other church programs, contact
the church office at 435-7471.
Letter
Pittsfield Taxpayers, They Need Your Help!
I have been attending budget committee work
sessions since October on the town and school budgets. I have to say
Pittsfield is indeed extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated,
and might I say, diverse group of concerned citizens. They have
listened carefully to the presentations by all our town and school
administrators, as well as department heads, justify how much and
why the money is needed to conduct their respective assigned tasks.
The question the budget committee members now
have is what do the taxpayers want – are you satisfied with the
taxes and the services you are receiving or do you have ideas on how
our community could save money, consolidate or do without in certain
areas.
There will be a public hearing on both of
these budgets on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the
Pittsfield Middle High School Lecture Hall (snow date, Saturday,
February 4th). Your input is very important and this is one group
that will listen – I know because they ask for public input at each
meeting, something that is not required. Take just a few minutes out
of your busy lives to come and voice your opinion. If no one comes
to these meetings, the budget committee may assume taxpayers are
satisfied with the tax rate and no changes need to be made. Remember
these town and school officials work for you.
Have a Happy Healthy New Year.
Carole Richardson
Obituaries
Richard M. Emery
Richard M. Emery, 74, of Leavitt Road, died
January 3, 2012 at the Harris Health Hill Care Center in Concord,
following a long illness.
He was born in Biddeford, ME; the son of Frank
and Irene Emery. He worked as an electrical inspector on nuclear
submarines at the Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard retiring after 34
years. He was a Marine Corps Veteran of the Korean Conflict. He is
survived by a daughter, Deborah Robinson of Alfred ME; three sons,
Mark Emery and Brian Emery of Kennebunk, ME and Douglas Emery of
Cape Elizabeth, ME; and several grandchildren.
The Perkins & Pollard Memorial Home,
Pittsfield, is assisting with arrangements. To sign an online guest
book, log on to
perkinsandpollard.com.
Robert Taylor
Robert Taylor, 68, of True Road, died December
30, 2011 at the Concord Hospital following a long illness. He was
born in Augusta, ME, the son of Henry and Diana Taylor.
He has lived in Pittsfield since 1977. Prior
to retiring he owned and operated T N T Auto Sales. Following
retirement he was a cook at Circle Child Care in Epsom.
He leaves his wife Marley (Meyers) Taylor of
Pittsfield; three sons, Robert Jr., Daniel, Rodney and his wife
Penny; four daughters, Deirdré Taylor, Reneé Shankle and husband
James, Hedy Graybill and husband Geoff and Jody Taylor; eighteen
grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren. He was predeceased by
a son Carl.
Private services will be held at the family’s
convenience. Perkins & Pollard Memorial Home, is assisting with
arrangements.
To sign an online guest book, go to
perkinsandpollard.com.
|