The Pittsfield Historical Society would like to thank all who have
supported our efforts by purchasing tickets to our 2014 Cash Raffle.
We congratulate this year’s winners: Randy Foster, Linda Blackey,
Jacob Zoeller and Heidi Fisher.
Josiah Carpenter Library News
Join us
for a special October event at the library on Thursday, October
23rd, Share a Spooky Story Night at the Library.
6:00 pm ages 3rd- 6th grade Teen writers will read from “Scary
Stories to share in the Dark” folktales collected and retold by
Alvin Schwartz
7:00-8:30 pm Middle school ages and up are invited to read from
“Tales of Terror and Mystery” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan
Poe’s Complete Poems & Tales” or “Ghost Stories of New England” by
Susan Smitten. In addition to reading from these selections, our
hosts, the teen writers, will delight participants with some spooky
stories of their own creation. A short workshop will also be
conducted on writing your own scary story using “A Writer’s
Notebook” by Kimberly Weinburger. Come dressed for the occasion.
Light refreshments served.
Call the library at 435-8406 or stop by the library to register for
this event which is imited to 15 participants.
Skywatch with Bob Veilleux on October 21st or November 18th at 7 pm.
Come for a second demonstration of our telescope and learn a little
bit extra about what exactly falls from the sky. . . call the
library for registration and more information.
Other ongoing events at the library:
Preschoolers! Join Ms. Grainger for story hour on Thursday mornings
from 10:00am – 11:00. It’s always fun to discover new books, learn
about fall, do a crafty project and have a snack! Upcoming themes
include apples, (yum) autumn leaves and night winged creatures. Can
you think of any?
The “Read, Meet and Talk” book club: We enjoyed discussing the
historical drama “The Kitchen House” by Kathleen Grissom. Many of us
were impressed by the author’s ability to imagine such a vivid and
detailed story most probably based on the author’s own research of
an old plantation tavern that she and her husband had bought to
restore in Virginia.
What better time of year to read some historical non-fiction? The
group has selected the best selling non-fiction title by Brian
Kilmeade, “George Washington’s Secret Six: the Spy Ring that Saved
the American Revolution” for the discussion on October 28th. The
author conveys the story behind the discovery of some long sought
after research done by 1920’s historian, Morton Pennypacker. We are
still meeting at the Pittsfield Community Center but we are now
meeting from 10:15 to 11:45. Please join us for a cup of coffee and
some great discussions!
The Library will be hosting its First annual Tellebration event on
Thursday, November 13th featuring New Hampshire writer, storyteller
and creator of Coyote’s Inkwell, Michael Lang. This event will be
from 3:30-4:30 at the Pittsfield Elementary School Media Center. No
registration required. Come enjoy a mix of some old and some new
traditional and international folktales from an “old” pro.
Soldier’s Mother Tells Her Story At Pittsfield Senior Center
The Pittsfield Senior Center has received a grant from the NH
Humanities Council to present, “Soldier’s Mother Tells Her Story.”
This program will be presented on Tuesday, October 28 at 10:30AM at
the Pittsfield Senior Center located on 74 Main St.
Sharon Wood will be speaking as Betsey Phelps, the mother of a Union
soldier from Amherst, New Hampshire who died heroically at the
Battle of Gettysburg. She offers an informative and sensitive
reflection on that sacrifice from a mother’s perspective. Wood
blends the Phelps boy’s story with those of other men who left their
New Hampshire homes to fight for the Union cause and of the families
who supported them on the home front.
This program is free and open to the public.
Refreshments will be provided. If you would like to have lunch after
please call the center at 603-435-8482 to reserve your spot. This
program is made possible through the NH Humanities Council and you
can learn more about their programs at
www.nhhc.org.
Concert Celebrates 225th Anniversary
The First Congregational Church, 24 Main Street, Pittsfield, will
offer a free concert entitled “Through the Years” to celebrate the
church’s 225th anniversary with music! This free concert is this
Friday, October 17, 7-8 p.m. and will feature selections by the
Chancel Choir and the JuBellation Handbell Choir. They will
illustrate the changes to worship music and congregational
participation back to 1789, when the church was first organized.
Please plan to attend this educational concert. Light refreshments
will be served. Parking and wheelchair accessible entry are
available at rear of church. For more information, call the church
office at 435-7471. Information about other upcoming anniversary
events will be published in The Sun soon.
Globe Manufacturing Company was recently recognized by Business NH
Magazine as one of New Hampshire’s 2014 Top Family-Owned Businesses.
Rob Freese, Sr. VP of Marketing at Globe, accepted the award.
Fifth Pittsfield All Board/Committee Forum Meeting
Members from official town boards and committees met on Saturday,
September 27th for the fifth All Board/Committee Forum.
The purpose was for us to formalize our Mission and Vision
Statements, and discuss issues on which to focus our attention.
Issues included the appearance of Pittsfield’s downtown and Route 28
vs. downtown zoning districts. General timelines were agreed upon
for dealing with specifics within these areas.
There have been actions taken that are direct results of these
meetings, including:
1. Establishment of monthly meetings between all board and committee
chairmen. The purpose for this sub-committee is to continue the
enhancement of communications between town boards and committees,
ensure that the momentum from the forums continues, and act as a
steering committee to the forum.
2. Enhanced communications between the Planning and Zoning Boards
when working on proposed zoning ordinance changes or regulation
issues. In this regard, last year the first ever joint Planning
Board/Zoning Board meeting took place to discuss zoning ordinance
changes.
3. Overall communication between boards, committees and town
officials has greatly improved. An example of this is how swift and
coordinated the response was to the Rustic Crust crisis and
rebuilding.
4. Better understanding of the responsibilities of each board and
committee, and the issues that they currently are dealing with.
It should be noted that neither the “All Board/Committee Forum” nor
“All Chairmen Communication Enhancement Sub-Committee” act outside
of established State and Town regulations. We do not make decisions.
All action items identified within these two groups go to the
appropriate elected boards or official committees for discussion,
decision-making and authorization. We are strictly advisory in
nature.
We look forward to providing you with even more concrete results of
our continued forums and sub-committee meetings, in the near future.
Stay tuned.
Members, All Board/Committee Forum
Forum Mission
The mission of the All Board and Committee Forum is to create
ongoing communications with the community and collaboration in
implementing Pittsfield’s Master Plan, working with town government
to create a business-friendly community and developing long-term
growth for Pittsfield while maintaining quality standards and
observing the Master Plan.
Letter To The Editor
To the Editor:
Denis Beaudoin is a candidate for the Pittsfield-Epsom NH
Legislature seat now occupied by a Tea Party member. I talked with
him recently to learn what he is all about.
Denis is a 45 year resident of Pittsfield - he told me “this town
has raised me.” He is also an electrician who describes himself as a
“Blue Collar Democrat.”
I’m not sure we agree on absolutely everything, but I do agree with
him that the Middle Class in this country is in big trouble. Its
share of the national income has been steadily drained away by the
top few percent.
Consider this: In 1970 the top 1% got 10% of the income and the
bottom 90%, which includes all the middle class got 70%. In 2012 the
top 1 % got nearly 25% and the bottom 90% only got 50%.
And the divide is getting bigger. Employment numbers may be
improving, but income is not.
I’ll vote for Denis because he understands that our country will
never prosper until the middle class people get a fair share of the
wealth they work to create.
Pittsfield needs this kind of representation.
Bill Miskoe
Letter
To my fellow citizens,
I hope that we as voters are getting informed and engaged because I
think as all of us can see after the last election there have been
consequences. With the amount of scandals coming out of this
Administration and the passing of the buck of this President, I
think Nixon would be jealous.
As important as the federal races are I think the state and local
races are just as critical as they affect our lives too. I’m hoping
that we elect more Tea Party conservatives to the State House and
Senate since they represent our traditional American values very
well. NH will do well to be served again by the speakership of Bill
O’Brien. It was refreshing to have somebody on the right with some
leadership and some guts. I often hear liberals refer to the last
legislature as extreme among other things but that is because we
have a media that is very biased. The Concord Monitor even had a
cartoon of speaker O’Brien to look like Hitler. If you look at
history, our state was just going back to the way it was run before
the liberals found it, which is living within its means and letting
us be free. As a state, we used to elect presidents like Reagan,
governors like Mel Thompson and senators like Bob Smith by huge
margins. What’s funny is that the liberals were attracted to this
red state, and the Tea Party Republicans who ran it were able to
steward a clean attractive enviroment, a place with low crime and
low gun violence, low taxes and a high quality of life.
If you like your liberty, your freedom to choose whether to carry a
gun, drink raw milk or buckle up, then please, choose the
conservative candidates this fall. If you like the nanny state,
there are three surrounding us with wide open arms.
Respectfully,
Willie Matras
Obituaries
Delphis M. Chagnon
Delphis M. Chagnon passed away October 3rd, 2014 at the age of 82 in
San Jose, California.
Del is survived by his wife of 61 years, Valerie, as well as 5
children, 12 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
Raised in Pittsfield, Del is also survived by his brothers, Bill,
Fred, Larry, Terry and Richard Chagnon and his sisters, Audrey
Baxter, Kelly Plummer and Sherry Brackett.
Del, a graduate of San Jose State University, loved to hunt, fish,
golf and travel. A “Celebration of Life” will be held at a later
date.
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