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Pittsfield NH News

June 17, 2015

The Suncook Valley Sun News Archive is Maintained by Modern Concepts. We are NOT affliated in any way with the Suncook Valley Sun Newspaper.



 

Presentation on Tolerance

 

On Friday, June 19, 7 p.m., Cathy Preston, a Holocaust survivor, will give a presentation on tolerance at the First Congregational Church, 24 Main Street, Pittsfield. The presentation will be preceded by a pot luck supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the church vestry. Please bring an item to share. Call 435-7471 for more information.

 


 

Pittsfield Old Home Day Annual Cook-Off

 

The Cook-Off for the Pittsfield Old Home Day this year is BEST BERRY PIE.   This event is sponsored by the Victory Workers 4-H Club.  Anyone and everyone is invited to submit their best Berry (any kind of berry) Pie and bring it to the 4-H Booth at Dustin Park by 9am on Sat, July 11.  The winners will be selected by the public by popular vote.  Cash prizes will be awarded:  1st- $75; 2nd- $50, and 3rd- $25.  The first 10 cooks to call will be registered.  Please call Andi Riel at 435-6346 to register.

 


 

Suncook Valley Area Lions Club, serving Barnstead & Pittsfield, may be able to help with your eye care needs. You will need to have an interview with our Eye Care Coordinator and present some info such as income, expenses, and a few more questions.

 

If you qualify ,we may be able to provide an eye exam and basic glasses. If you think you may qualify, and need help, please contact Laurie at 435-5052

 


 

Pittsfield kayaks.jpg

The Friday Night Kayaking Club paddles every Friday night at 6 PM at a different local site. On June 5 seven kayaks explored the Suncook River, launching at Drake Field in Pittsfield. To learn where you can join the group this Friday, visit the group’s web site: huffnpuff.info. See you this Friday!

 


 

VA Launches Community-Based Employment Service For Homeless Veterans

Securing Stable, Long-term Employment A Key Step To End Veteran Homelessness

Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a new employment program aimed at helping job-ready Veterans exiting homelessness, and those on the brink of homelessness, gain stable and long-term employment. 

 

The new program, Homeless Veteran Community Employment Services (HVCES), relies on Community Employment Coordinators (CECs) who know their communities and can work with local employers to identify suitable jobs based on a Veteran’s skills and abilities.

 

“Securing long-term, stable and fulfilling employment is important for Veterans who are exiting homelessness or are at-risk of becoming homeless,” said VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald. “We know that finding gainful employment can change the life of a Veteran. This new program is a key component of the overall strategy to prevent and end Veteran homelessness.”

 

Each VA Medical Center (VAMC) will have a dedicated CEC who will be responsible for connecting homeless and at-risk Veterans to appropriate VA and community-based employment services. The goal is to establish relationships with employers who may be able to hire Veterans while VA provides the necessary support services to ensure each Veteran’s transition back into the workforce is successful.

 

CECs also will work with existing VA employment programs and local workforce development organizations to identify other employment-related resources for this subset of the Veteran population. Veterans exiting homelessness offer a diverse skillset that is applicable to many different fields and leadership roles within organizations.  VA offers a variety of wraparound services including health care, housing assistance and other VA supports to increase the likelihood of on-the-job success.

 

Employers who are interested in hiring a job–ready Veteran exiting homelessness should contact a local CEC who can work with them to find local Veteran candidates with applicable skillsets. Visit www.va.gov/homeless/cec-contacts.asp for a list of the CECs in your local area. 

 

More information about VA’s homeless programs is available at www.va.gov/homeless. If you know a Veteran who is homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless, refer him or her to a local VAMC, where homeless coordinators are ready to help. Veterans and their families can also call 1-877-4AID-VET to get connected to VA services.

 


 

Letter To The Editor

 

The Pittsfield Beautification Committee would like to thank everyone who came to our fund raising yard sale.   It was a great success and we appreciate all the wonderful comments about the gardens.

 

We have recently experienced some damage to the plants at the Washington House garden at the intersection of Main/Chestnut/Oak streets.

 

We would like to ask all of the parents and childcare providers in town to please ask your children to not walk through the garden or uproot any of the plants or cut any flowers.

 

If they would like to learn about gardening or know the names of the plants, please tell them that they can ask any of our members when they see them weeding or watering the garden.  One of us is usually there at least once a week.

 

Thank you for your help and support.

 

Carol Lambert, Secretary 

Pittsfield Beautification Committee

 


 

Letter 

 

To the Citizens of Pittsfield,

The Pittsfield High School Alumni Association’s executive board has been considering the purchase of an LED announcement board for the Pittsfield Middle High School.  Although the old, damaged sign has been replaced and is serving its purpose, it was thought that an electronic sign that was able to provide multiple pieces of information and easier for the office people to change would be appreciated.

 

We have been fund raising for several years and are still short the necessary funds, but have the desire to proceed, if the community feels that this is a valuable use of money and time.

 

In order to determine the sentiments of our community, we ask that you use the link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6DSGCSR to answer a very short survey or call 603-435-8521 and leave a message.

 

If we decide to proceed, and you are willing to support the effort, please use the above telephone number to notify us of your intentions.  We would not only be looking for financial support, but physical labor when the sign is actually installed, including the work of masons, carpenters, electricians, and general laborers.

 

Over the past eight years, many of you have generously donated to the PHS Alumni Association, allowing us to award scholarships to graduating seniors.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your generosity and support.  And in advance, thank you for responding to our survey. 

 

Respectfully,

PHS Alumni Association Executive Board 

 


 

Public Presentation Of Suncook River Assessment Results

 

PEMBROKE:  June 24, 2015 – The Suncook River fluvial geomorphic assessment (FGA) has been completed.  A public presentation will be held on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 6:30 PM, Pembroke Safety Center Training Room (upstairs), 247 Pembroke Street in Pembroke to provide an overview of the results of the data collection along the Suncook River in Allenstown, Pembroke, and Epsom. This presentation concludes the Suncook River geomorphic assessment which was introduced at a Public Information Meeting held in October 2012.

 

Speakers are Dr. John Field of Field Geology Services, the firm that performed the assessment, who will describe and discuss the geomorphic features surveyed on the river.  Dr. Shane Csiki of the NH Geological Survey (NHGS) will describe erosion hazards and the inventoried large wood in the Suncook River from the assessment.

 

All interested people are invited to attend. For more information, please contact Shane Csiki, NHGS, at 603.271.2876 or [email protected].

 


 

Josiah Carpenter Library 2015 Summer Reading Program 

 

Readers of all ages are invited to join the Josiah Carpenter Library at the Scenic Theater on June 16th at 3:30 pm for the Hampstead Stage Company’s presentation of Robin Hood. Admission is free with a ticket and tickets are available at the library. The program commences the kick-off of the 2015 Summer Reading Program theme: “Every Hero has a Story.”  This summer the library will be offering six fun filled weeks of Summer Reading Activities for children of all ages. The following schedule gives parents an idea of what to expect: 

 

Week One: July 9th, Heroes Inside of Me~ Finding the Hero inside of you! 

 

Week Two: July 16th, Heroes in My Community~ Firefighters, Policemen, Teachers, Selectmen         

 

Week Three: July 23rd Heroes in My Family~ Who is a hero in your family?                  

 

Week Four: July 30th    Folk Heroes through History~ Robin Hood, Pocahontas, Paul Bunyan

 

Week Five: August 6th Superheroes to the Rescue~ Famous Superheroes – Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Nemo   Larry Frates, guest presenter-Cartoonist & Storyteller

 

Week Six: August13th  Heroes Save the World ~ Finale Famous heroes, environmental heroes, 

 

All programs run on Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 and 11:00- 12:00. The locations may vary, so if you are interested in having your child participate, please register them first and pick up a more detailed schedule at the library. Information about these programs will also be sent home from school. Children can participate on many different levels, so come when you can. The most important part of this program is to keep your child engaged in social and literary activities throughout the summer so they will be better prepared to return to school in the fall and to have some fun while doing so!

 

Robin Hood will be presented by the Hampstead Stage Company, a local theater group from Barnstead. This presentation was made possible through a Kids Books and the Arts grant, funding provided by the Jack and Dorothy Bryne Foundation, CHILIS, Cogswell Benevolent Trust, and is supported in part by a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts & National Endowment for the Arts, LISTA, and the Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library. 

 

The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter library will be presenting a raffle at the Old Home Day celebration for a beautifully designed quilt made by president of the Friends, Paula Belliveau. The raffle of this quilt will help to provide books and supplies for our programs.

 


 

Summer News From Josiah Carpenter Library & Friends

 

The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library is a group of dedicated volunteers who raise extra funds to support various library programs.  In the past they have raised money to buy furniture for the Children’s Room, and desk furniture for the Director’s Office, among other things.  They have provided in-kind donations for honorariums, to provide quality speakers, made contributions to acquire new children’s books, supported their “Books for Babies” program, and contributed a significant portion of the budget to the Summer Reading Program.

 

Examples of their fund raising projects are; an Annual Poinsettia Sale, Election Day Raffles, and an Annual Summer Book Sale.  This year the Friends of the Library president, has taken the fund raising efforts to a new level. When the Director mentioned the Summer Reading Theme of “Every Hero Has A Story”, The Friends, who were present, made mention that historically, quilts often had the intention of “telling a story.”  Suddenly, many thoughts came together and an idea to create a quilt representing this year’s theme was formed. It took a while for the idea to take shape, but after a couple of group meetings, The Friends found a solution for representing many different aspects of community heroes.  As the quilt pieces came together, it was apparent the end product would be spectacular.

 

The finished quilted wall hanging is on display at Pittsfield’s Josiah Carpenter Library, now through July 13, 2015, when a winner will be drawn.  Raffle tickets can be purchased at the library or from any Friends member.  Tickets are $1 each, or six tickets for $5.  Because the quilt has a history to the library, the winner of the Raffle may choose to receive a $75 Gift Certificate, if they are willing to let the quilt remain at the library on permanent display in the Children’s Room.

 

The Library Director wishes to thank Paula Belliveau, Judith MacLellan, Liz Dimmick, Carol Grainger, Gail Allard, and Eleanor Joyce for all of the time and effort they put into this project.  We look forward to seeing the children of Pittsfield during this Summer’s Reading Program.  Please stop by the library to purchase some raffle tickets and help support Your library.

 


 

Pittsfield Chamber.jpg

Don’t miss out on this years Chamber Dinner, June 23rd at Jitters in Pittsfield.  Our speaker will be Ann Hall from NH Healthy Communities.  Ann will speak on the ACA, as it relates to individuals, self-employed folks and small employers.  Come and get your questions answered. For more information go to PittsfieldChamber.org  For tickets call Louie at 435-6938.

 


 

Letter Of Thanks

 

The Pittsfield  Historical Society would like to thank the PMHS students and faculty for the wonderful job they did on their “Day of Action” (May 26) with the cleaning at Lyman Park and the Thyng Memorial.

 

We deeply appreciate the efforts of:  Jenny Wellington and Christie Dunlavey (faculty in charge of Lyman Park); Star Chagnon, Xenthios Cyr, Emma Farwell, Joshua Fraser, Jacen Lemieux Dixon, Cailey Marston, Sam Nevins, Fred Pantis, and Alyssa Sullivan (students); and  Jesse Slater (the supervising Student Council student member) as well as  Matt Harrington (f aculty in charge of Thyng Memorial); Kyle Hamel, Malena Urbanek, and Alie Wolfe (students); and Colby Clark (the supervising Student Council student member).

 


 

Letter To The Editor

 

To address some of Mike Williams’s accusations aimed at the Former Website Committee volunteers:

 

1. There was never a problem or complaint with our town’s website.

 

2. Nonspecific, random chatter about completely upgrading a functioning website could never be properly addressed by the volunteers.

 

3. Defined upgrades were always possible and were never denied.

 

4. Pittsfield-nh.com was a volunteer effort, free of charge to the taxpayers.

 

5. Volunteers typically published requested additions and changes within 24 hours.

 

6. The PittsfieldNH.Gov domain name was being used.

 

7. The Website Committee was in the planning stages of redesigning the town site when we were fired.

 

The fired volunteers of the former website committee do not agree with the accusations that Mr. Williams made in The SUN.  In fact his evidence shows that there was no real attempt to work with the Website Committee. Yes, he sent emails asking simple questions but only in an attempt to gather evidence to move forward with hiring a paid company to replace the volunteers, not to work with the Website Committee. Mr. Williams’s statement “Board of Selectmen and I have attempted for over a year to work with the Website Committee,” there were NEVER any emails from, requests by, or meetings scheduled with the selectmen, EVER! In fact, a search of the minutes shows only one mention of a new website during the December 4, 2014 meeting when they decided not to include a new website in the budget. They spent YOUR money anyway!

 

We want you to know that we’re still here for you – free of charge. As an alternative to the new town website, there is myPittsfield.com. If you wish to continue with our volunteer services please email us at [email protected].

 

Clayton Wood

Matt Goodwin

Bob Legg

Bill Provencal

 


 

Letter To The Editor

 

Mr. Williams has a habit of cherry-picking quotes and lines from written exchanges to suit his needs, as he did in his assessment of the Planning Board witch-hunt that cost the taxpayers over $6000. For that reason, and since Mr. Williams specified certain email exchanges in his SVSun letter, I have taken it upon myself to place all of these emails, in their entirety, on the following website link: archive.org/details/websitetakeover 

 

It is obviously the only way that those who are interested can really read the full and accurate exchange. 

 

When you enter the archive.org/details/websitetakeover website page, look to the right under ‘DOWNLOAD OPTIONS’ and click on the PDF files.  You will find the email exchanges.

 

It is interesting that Mr. Williams never emailed both Clayton Wood and Matt Goodwin at the same time, nor did he ever include the selectmen in his correspondence.

 

The website issues perceived by Mr. Williams will ultimately cost the taxpayer thousands of dollars.  For a paid employee of a town with one of the highest tax rates in the state, was there nothing better to focus on than targeting a well-functioning volunteer effort that saved precious taxpayer dollars for the entire 8 years the Website Committee was in charge of the town site?? IN HIS OWN WORDS he even describes the town site by saying it “has worked very well for 8 years and is a valuable resource” (see Mr. Williams 6/10/15 SVSun article). If he feels the current town site works “VERY WELL” then why didn’t Mr. Williams and the BOS allow the Website Committee to finish the redesign of the new site they were already planning??

 

God Bless Our Troops,

Rachel Wood

 


 

For Women Only!!

 

Feeling tired... alone ... used up… with nothing else to give anyone???  How would you like a few hours to JUST BE… to be with a bunch of other women… to be pampered… to be able to eat without having to cook it… or serve it… or clean up after it? How about being able to laugh and sing and listen to a message that will meet your needs, challenge your life, and help you to grow… and survive in this crazy world? And if that isn’t enough, can you say lots of chocolate?

 

Well, we would like to offer you that time. Here at the Pittsfield Advent Christian Church* at 68 Main St, we are hosting our 2nd Annual Suncook Valley Ladies Day, on Saturday, June 20.  Our gifted guest speaker/comedienne and former Pittsfield resident, Denise Gordon Richardson will speak on Joy in the Journey.   She will be joined by various local, talented women who will share their travels in the Lord through music, skit and poems.  We will begin at 11:00 and end at 2:30  (Doors open at 10:30).  Just enough time for you busy ladies to take “a bit” of time JUST FOR YOU!!  Cost? $8.00  which includes a light lunch. What more could you want? Oh ya… and there are prizes, also…. and did I mention chocolate?  (LINDT) Contact Donna DeTrude (942-6262) or  Dot Hardy ([email protected]). WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!

 

*not associated with 7th Day Adventist

 


 

Study May Help Department of Veterans Affairs Find Patients With High-Risk of Suicide

Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan

 

Clinicians are challenged every day to make difficult decisions regarding patients’ suicide risk. Using Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health system electronic medical record data, Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) scientists were able to identify very small groups of individuals within the VHA’s patient population with very high, predicted suicide risk -- most of whom had not been identified for suicide risk by clinicians. Such methods can help the VHA to target suicide prevention efforts for patients at high risk, and may have more wide-ranging benefits.

 

John McCarthy, Ph.D., M.P.H, director of the Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center in the VA Office of Mental Health Operations, Robert Bossarte, Ph.D., director of epidemiology in the VA Office of Public Health, Ira Katz, M.D., senior consultant for mental health program analysis in the VA Office of Mental Health Operations, and colleagues report their findings today in the online issue of American Journal of Public Health. This paper is the result of a collaboration between the VA and NIMH, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

 

Dr. McCarthy and colleagues developed their suicide-risk algorithm by studying the VHA patient population from fiscal years 2009-2011. Data on manner of death came from the National Death Index, and predictors of suicide and other types of death came from VHA clinical records. Dividing randomly the patient population in half, the team used data from one half to develop the predictive model, and then tested the model using data from the other half. Each of the two study samples included 3,180 suicide cases and 1,056,004 control patients. Researchers compared predicted suicide risk to actual mortality to assess the performance of the predictive model.

 

“As the largest health care provider in the U.S., VA has the responsibility to continuously examine how our extensive suicide prevention efforts are working, and to identify critical opportunities for improvement in service to our nation’s Veterans,” said Dr. Caitlin Thompson, Deputy Director for Suicide Prevention for VA. “This collaborative effort with NIMH provides us with unprecedented information that will allow us to design and implement innovative strategies on how to assess and care for those Veterans who may be at high risk for suicide. This model will advance the care provided to Veterans through VA’s suicide prevention programs to allow us to better tailor our suicide prevention efforts so that we can ensure that ALL Veterans remain safe.”

 

The VHA care system identifies patients as being at high-risk of suicide based on information assessed during clinical encounters. Researchers found that their predictive model was more sensitive than this clinical flagging, in the sense that, even in groups with the highest predicted suicide risk based on the model, less than one-third of patients had been identified clinically.

 

“This is valuable, because it gives the VA more extensive information about suicide risk,” said Michael Schoenbaum, Ph.D., senior advisor for mental health service, epidemiology and economics at NIMH and one of the co-authors of the report.  “If the VA can identify small groups of people with a particularly high-risk of suicide, then they can target enhanced prevention and treatment services to these highest-risk individuals,”

 

“It’s particularly encouraging that these analyses use the types of data available to any large health care system,” said NIMH Director Thomas Insel, M.D. “ These methods could help us prevent civilian as well as veteran suicides.” 

 

In addition to identifying suicide risk, the team looked at deaths among people identified as highest risk for suicide in 2010. The team found that this group had both very high suicide and non-suicide death rates over the next 12 months.

 

“This finding reinforces the idea that using this process to target suicide risk interventions may have wide benefits across an extended span of time,” concluded Dr. Schoenbaum. 

 

Reference:

McCarthy J.F., et al., Predictive Modeling and Concentration of the Risk of Suicide: Implications for Preventive Interventions in the US Department of Veterans Affairs. American Journal of Public Health (in press)

 


 

Letter Of Thanks

 

Suncook Valley Area Lions Club (Barnstead and Pittsfield) would like to THANK all of the people who donated items for our town wide yard sale and for the members who helped work the sale.

 

A special THANKS goes out to James Locke and Northeast Earth Mechanics for the use of there site to hold our yard sale and Pittsfield Storage for providing us two units to hold all our items until the yard sale.

 

Ed and Laurie Vien

(Lions V.P. and Event Leader)

 


 

What’s Up at PYW?

Submitted By Paula Martel

 

On Friday, June 5, 2015, PYW held the 13th Annual Pittsfield Fiddle Contest and Silent Auction at the Pittsfield Middle High School Lecture Hall. 

 

Not only did everyone have a good time, they were totally enjoying watching Heather and Mike Morris’s two daughters, Lily age 3 and Rosalia age 18 months, play the violin and dance! So cute!

 

In the Youth Division 1st place was won by Audrey Smith of Lee NH, 2nd place by Shelby Smith of Lee NH, and 3rd place by Lily Morris of Strafford NH.

 

In the adult division 1st place was won by Liz Faiella of Northwood, 2nd place by Brennish Thomson of Lee NH and 3rd place by Ryan Thomson of Lee NH. 

 

PYW would like to thank all the participants and volunteers for their support. A big thanks to our volunteer judges Keith Fletcher, Amanda Stickney and Kevin Cleary and to the Pittsfield School District for letting us use the Lecture Hall!

 

We would also like to thank Globe Manufacturing, Nathan Wechsler & Company and Keeley Painting for the prize money donations in addition to Salty Dog Pottery, Maxfield’s, Natural Choice Therapeutic Massage, NH Fisher Cats, Boston Red Sox, TC’s Service Center, Harris Furniture, Cheryl Brown, Sue Bleckmann, Sanel Auto Parts, Corine Miller, Tammy Colby, Dawn Hamel, Terry Riel, Bill Mitchell, Freight House Consignment, Rockywold Deephaven  Camps, Corrections Creations/Hobby Craft, 603 Brewery and Journey to Peace Yoga & Wellness for the donations toward PYW’s silent auction.

 

Thank you, Jack’s Pizza for the pizza, CocaCola of Belmont for the soda and water, and to AnneMarie Chapman, Elisha Griffin, Becky Frost, Andi Riel, Lora Allison, Dawn Hamel and MaryEllen Siudut for the delicious baked goods!

 

All proceeds from this events will benefit the Pittsfield Youth Workshop’s programs and activities. Please check out our web page for more information about the summer calendar and don’t forget to LIKE us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/PittsfieldYouthWorkshop!

 


 


 

 











 

 

 

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