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
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.
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!
|