The Merrimack County Stamp Collectors will hold its monthly meeting
at the Bow Mills United Methodist Church, 505 South St., Bow, on
April 19th beginning at 1 pm. All who are interested in stamp
collecting are welcome to attend. Meet other collectors and
learn more about their hobby and varied interests in Philatelic
resources and issues. For more information, call Dan Day at
603-228-1154.
The Pittsfield Area Senior Center on
Thursday, April 21, from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM is having their annual
Meals on Wheels (MOW) bake sale fundraiser so no senior goes hungry.
There will be a number of baked goods, including cookies, brownies,
breads, and pies. So come on in and purchase the delicious locally
made products while at the same time supporting the senior meal
programs. The center is located on 74 Main St. Pittsfield, NH it is
in the same building as the Pittsfield Community Center. If you have
any questions please call at 435-8482. Donations for the fundraiser
are welcomed.
Student-Centered Learning In Pittsfield
John J. Freeman, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools Fifty years ago,
as I was finishing up my high school education, my high school
looked a lot like most high schools of that time period:
teacher at his desk in the front of the room facing about
twenty-five students each seated at our own individual desks
arranged in neat rows. We were quiet unless spoken to; we
didn’t ask too many questions. Easy to picture, isn’t it?
Class time typically began by correcting our homework assignments –
we all had the same assignment; our teachers then lectured to us on
the topic of the day, and we took notes in every subject. We
knew that almost anything they said could appear on our end-of-unit
test (some of our teachers really liked to surprise us on those
tests), and we didn’t want to miss easy points by not taking down
the right information. Fortunately, school was sometimes
actually interesting.
Today’s high schools, however, are changing; today’s high schools
are becoming more student-centered or learner-centered in their
approaches. Expectations are different for both students and
teachers; responsibilities are different too. As with so many
aspects of life, schools are changing and often don’t look much like
they used to; but why?
Schools are changing for several important reasons (which I will
describe in greater detail in the months ahead); these reasons for
change include exciting new research about how people learn as well
as the demands of the workplace in twenty-first century America.
Schools are changing because we know a lot more about brain
functioning than we did even fifteen years ago.
Schools are also changing because we know that workplace demands
have changed significantly in recent years as well. We know
that different skills are needed today for success in the
foreseeable future and that different skills and attitudes are
needed in the long term to support student success in the
unforeseeable, unknown future. What a challenge for us all!
Next time: How brain research is driving school change.
Pittsfield Area Senior Center News
The Pittsfield Area Senior Center invites
you to join us for a live musical performance by Bill Parker on
Tuesday, April 12, at 10:30 AM. If you have not seen Bill in action
this is a show you do not want to miss. While playing the keyboard
and harmonica he also sings. He plays a wide variety of music from
the Great American Songbook. Come, enjoy the free concert, and stay
for lunch. If planning to stay for lunch please call 435-8482 to
RSVP so the meal can be planned accordingly. We are located at 74
Main St. in Pittsfield.
Do you enjoy quilting or want to learn how
to quilt? The Pittsfield Senior Center quilting group meets on
Wednesdays at 12:30 PM. All quilters no matter their experience are
invited. These quilts are used for fundraisers for the center and
other community organizations, you will learn the art of quilting
while giving back to the community. So come and work on a quilt and
make new friends. The cost is free.
Ready For
Kindergarten!
If you have a child that will be age 5 by September 30th, 2016, they
will be ready for Kindergarten this coming fall. Kindergarten
has changed significantly over the last 10-20 years. We now know
that kids can and want to learn more. At Pittsfield Elementary
School, our goal is to help our students reach those higher levels
of understanding.
Over the next four months, you will find a
flyer inserted into the Suncook Valley Sun that will highlight some
of the skills that will be helpful for your child as they enter into
Kindergarten. The flyers will also include some strategies and
resources to help families support their children’s learning. If you
have a child entering Kindergarten this fall at Pittsfield
Elementary School, please come to our school to pick up a packet of
resources. Each month, a new packet will include items that will
further support your child. For example within this month’s packet,
there is an Eric Carle board book, a set of magnetic letters, and
some other great resources. We welcome the opportunity to share this
knowledge with you during your visit to our school.
The flyer was created by the Early Childhood Consortium, which
includes staff from Pittsfield Elementary School, Blueberry Express
Day Care Center, Early Headstart and Headstart. We look forward to
building these partnerships with you as you begin to prepare your
child for Kindergarten. Feel free to contact Kathy LeMay at
Pittsfield Elementary School if you have any questions. (603)
435-8432. [email protected]
Trish Whynot Joins Sage Wellness Center And Spa
Trish Whynot, D.C.Ed, holistic counselor,
is now practicing at Sage Wellness Center and Spa in Pittsfield, NH.
She is author of the insightful book, “Why Me? Why Now? Why Not?
Finding Opportunity in Your Obstacles,” an illustrated guide to
living that expects opportunities even during challenging times. Dr.
Trish has been practicing ASAT™ C.O.R.E. Counseling for 17 years.
She is currently serving as chairperson for the American Society of
Alternative Therapists and co-founder of the Mindful Goddess
Retreats with Deb Godin, owner of Sage Wellness. Dr. Trish has
spoken to groups on a variety of topics including boundaries,
meditation and how our thoughts can hurt or heal. Her most recent
lecture, “Make Way for Desires,” was presented at the Natural Living
Expo in Marlborough, MA sponsored by Spirit of Change Magazine. On
April 2nd she presented “Boundaries: A Key to Thriving
Relationships” at a women’s retreat sponsored by The Joy Source in
Hampton, NH.
“There is always a deeper purpose to
circumstances that carry a stress factor,” states Dr. Trish. She
helps clients find the opportunities for learning, changing and
growth that are at the root of our health, relationship and
financial issues. Her work is best illustrated by a paragraph from
her book, “We are in a relationship with everything—with people,
with our health, and even with our finances. Experience is our
teacher. When the fruit of our labors is health, relationship or
financial discord, it is a heads-up that we may have encountered an
insane coping skill such as pridefulness. Insane, because it is
incapable of providing us with the results our hearts are seeking.”
Dr. Trish works with clients from coast to coast. She is currently
accepting new local and regional clients. She offers sessions via
phone, Skype, FaceTime and in person from her Pittsfield office. She
can be reached at 978.314.4545. Her book is available in paperback
and electronically from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes. More
information can be found on her website at
www.TrishWhynot.com.
VA Awards Grants to Develop Technology to Help Veterans,
Servicemembers Modify Their Specially Adapted Homes
Submitted
Via Merrill Vaughan
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) announced today the award of $784,421 in Specially Adapted
Housing Assistive Technology (SAHAT) Grants to eligible individuals,
researchers, and organizations to develop new technologies that
would enhance Veterans and Servicemembers’ ability to live in
specially adapted homes.
The SAHAT Grant Program was authorized by
Congress to design assistive technologies to expand home
modification options for Veterans who apply for VA’s Specially
Adapted Housing (SAH) benefit. Grants of up to $200,000 have been
issued to four selected grantees.
“We’re excited and expect that the
technology developed with these grants will augment Veteran and
Servicemembers’ options for living independently in their own
homes,” said Curt Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic
Opportunity. “New technology will serve Veterans who currently live
in specially adapted houses and open doors for more Veterans looking
to modify their homes to fit their needs.”
VA issued a Notice of Funding Availability in January for the SAHAT
Grant program via the Federal Register and
www.Grants.gov. In order to foster competition and best serve
the needs of Veterans and Servicemembers, VA did not limit the type
of entity or individual eligible to apply. There was no restriction
on the number of grants that could have been awarded within the $1
million funding limit.
VA administers the SAH benefit, which helps Veterans and
Servicemembers with service-connected disabilities purchase or
modify a home. Typical adaptations include ramps, wider halls
and doors, and wheelchair accessible bathrooms. New technology from
the SAHAT Grant Program will be added to the list of home
modification options as they become available.
Selectmen’s Update
Submitted By Carl Anderson
Selectboard Meeting, March 29
Let me start by cautioning readers that
this weekly letter I’ve been doing must not be construed as actual
minutes of a meeting, nor a complete list of topics discussed.
Letter size constraints won’t allow it. This is only meant to
announce things I think the general public might like to know about.
It’s not official- and is essentially my opinion as to what should
be highlighted.
Official minutes are posted to the Town
website as they become available. So, with that in mind; Pittsfield
Police gave an overview of the K9 program, including what kinds of
work the team engaged in when responding in Pittsfield as well as
area towns. 2015 saw 28 times the dog and handler were utilized for
valuable drug and human search cases.
There was much discussion about procedures
used recently by the Zoning and Planning Boards, however, these are
not under jurisdiction of the Selectboard and were not addressed.
Clayton Wood accepted the task of getting
the volunteer Town website back up and running, thereby saving the
cost of the commercial site.
Larry offered to donate his pay to cover
the cost of having an architect assess the needs of the Town Hall
basement in order to come up with a viable plan going forward.
In an effort to liquidate as many town
owned properties as possible, while attempting to maximize return to
the town in back taxes, and to allow any member of the town to
actually see what we have and the often misleading condition of the
interiors, a list of high priority properties follows: 31 Berry Ave;
33, 37, 81 & 114 Main St; 85 Catamount St. and 11 Watson St. We also
would like to sell the Franklin St. parking lot and 2 land only
lots; U3-55-1 on Warren Ave. and R-18-6 on Upper City Rd. Any
interested party is welcome to call the Town Hall to arrange to see
and/or make an offer to purchase any of these properties.
Cabaret For A Cure Returns April 23
“This Is Our Fight Song”
Just one of the many efforts of The
Cabaret supports, Meggin’s team “Super Friends Fighting Cancer” has
raised over $10,000.00 over the last four years. This year we plan
to support Josh Crowell’s Relay For Life Team and Maye Hart’s
efforts in raising money through the Lend Me A Hand Fund of the
Payson Center. Maye is a member of Performers Who Care, who put on a
show each year to raise money and awareness of cancers of all kinds.
“After all,” Maye says, “Cancer is cancer and we want it gone.”
We missed you last October but we’re back
for Cabaret Number 4 with a whole new cast and brand new energy. The
Scenic Theatre will host a Cabaret for A Cure this spring to raise
money for beating the scourge of cancer. Maye Hart will direct this
variety show featuring favorite Broadway and contemporary songs in
the style of the old Encore shows. The show will run at the Scenic
on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 pm. Stay tuned to The Suncook Valley
Sun for information on tickets for this show.
Maye has put together a cast that includes Angelo and Jean Gentile,
Marty and Cathy Williams, Caleb Molloy, Bill Schultz, Lena Luongo,
Dee Dee Pitcher, Jeff Gregoire, Josh Crowell, John Chinn, Margot
Keyes, Vicki Watson, Catherine Martinez and Meggin Dail. Phil Breton
will accompany the group on piano with Dave Goulet on drums.
The cast will be singing the night away to raise money for a cure to
cancer through The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Making
Strides and the Payson Cancer Center’s Lend Me A Hand Fund.
If you’d like to make a donation to support this show and/or if you
would like to make a raffle donation for the night of the show,
please contact Meggin Dail at
[email protected]
or 603-736-8073.
VA Makes Contract Awards Totaling Up To $6.8 Billion For Medical
Disability Examinations
Provides efficient, streamlined process in
support of the MyVA Initiative of Medical Disability Examinations
for Veterans
Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan
WASHINGTON – The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced the award of
twelve major contracts that will enhance its ability to deliver
timely disability benefits claims decisions to the nation’s Veterans
in line with the MyVA initiative. The contracts make up a $6.8
billion enterprise-wide Medical Disability Examination Program under
Public Law 104-275, and represent a major step forward in improving
the disability examination experience for Veterans.
A unique feature of this multi-contract
award will see the consolidation of the contracts under a single
program management initiative, with representation in the central
management group from both the Veterans Benefits Administration
(VBA) and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). To date,
contracts for medical examinations have been managed by both
administrations with varying degrees of efficiency and delivery time
of exam reports, which are critical to Veterans’ disability
determinations supporting their compensation and pension claim.
The new program management and delivery
process will also continue to ensure broad national and
international coverage of medical examination requirements to meet
Veterans’ needs world-wide. Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary
for Benefits, Tom Murphy noted that, “This will be a major
accomplishment for Veterans going forward, not only for the
efficiencies and additional oversight, but VA can now maximize the
capacity of inherent capability and leverage the contract expertise
and capacity as needed. The goal will be to reduce the veteran’s
wait times for examinations as much as possible thereby providing
faster claims decisions and enhancing Veterans’ experience in a
positive way.” Contracts were awarded to the following firms:
VetFed Resources, Inc., 2034 Eisenhower Ave., Ste 270, Alexandria,
VA - Large Business Veterans Evaluation Services, Inc., 3000
Richmond Avenue, Ste 540, Houston, TX - Large Business
QTC Medical Services, Inc, 21700 Copley Drive, Ste 200, Diamond Bar,
CA - Large Business The contracts are being awarded for a
period of 12 months with four, 12-month options, with an aggregate
ceiling of $6.8 billion. The contract will be managed by VA’s
Strategic Acquisition Center based in in Frederick, MD.
Josiah Carpenter Library Monthly News –April 2016
April is a busy month full of activities sponsored by your community
library. In acknowledgment of National Poetry Month, the library
will be decorated with “leaves of poetry”, and will host an
afterschool junior poetry event as well as an evening of poetry. See
the details listed below. We hope to see you stop by to find out
more about this year’s Summer Reading Theme: “Exercise your mind-
Read!”
Josiah Teen Book Worms Discussing “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper
Lee on Thursday, April 7th between 7-8:30 pm at the
library
Preschool story hour Thursdays April 7,
14, 21 & 2810:00 am – 11:00 am April themes are Spring, Flowers,
Rain (weather) and frogs. Join Mrs. Grainger & Ms. Rosalie for a fun
filled hour of stories, crafts and a snack. Ages 2 – 5 Afterschool
Maker Club Legos Wednesdays April 6, 13th. Junior Poetry activities
on April 20th and spring craft on April 27th Program runs from
3:30-4:30 pm. Sign-ups (sign-ins) required.
Library Board of Trustees Meeting Tuesday,
April 19, 2015 at 7 pm April 20th Mrs. Grainger visits Blueberry
Express Daycare to read stories from the library from 10:00-11:00 am
April 21st- Join us with Guest Poet, Steven Manning and others for
an Evening of Poetry celebrating National Poetry Month at 7:00 pm at
the Library April 26th 6:30-7:30 pm 1,000 Books before Kindergarten
milestones celebration. The library staff will recognize 1,000 books
before Kindergarten participants at the library. Parents and
children welcome. Ms. Grainger will read traditional bedtime
stories, a free book will be given to those who have reached 100
books courtesy of the Friends of the Library.
Read Meet & Talk Join us for an exciting
book discussion on “The Hotel and the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” by
Jamie Ford at the Pittsfield Senior Community Center Tuesday, April
26th at 10:30. Stay for a leisurely lunch afterward.
April 28th at 1:00 pm Ramblin’ Richard at
the Pittsfield Senior Center – Songs and stories of WWII. Richard
asks interesting and thought-provoking questions, such as “What
popular song was written in response to the bombing of Pearl
Harbor?” “What song was popular world-wide and thought to be from
each country where it was popular?” and “What WW II-era song was a
top hit written and recorded by a state governor?”
The Josiah Carpenter library will be
hosting an art exhibit of ink drawings by Pittsfield resident, Gene
Matras from March 7 through May 8th. Stop by the library to view the
detailed and various natural New England scenes that this talented
local artist has rendered.
Nonprofits Serving Seniors Are Invited to Participate In Pioneering
Fundraising Effort
First Online Fundraising Program Focused on
Seniors Hosts Online Giving Event in July
Everyday, 10,000
people in the United States celebrate their 65th birthday. Many of
these seniors across the country are in need of social service
programs to enhance their quality of life. However, despite the
increased need for support, only two percent of funding from the
nation’s largest grant makers is specifically focused on seniors.
That’s why nonprofit organizations right
here in Manchester and surrounding communities are invited to
partner with GIVE65 to help less fortunate seniors in our community.
GIVE65, a program of the Home Instead Senior Care Foundation, is the
nation’s first and only online giving website focused exclusively on
helping nonprofit organizations raise funds for programs and
services benefiting seniors.
“Most people don’t realize how many
seniors need assistance,” says Lisa Byrne, co-owner of Home Instead
Senior Care of Central New Hampshire. “We want to help local
non-profits that benefit seniors with GIVE65. GIVE65 raises a light
to this issue in the hopes of engaging our community so we may ease
the burdens that many seniors face at a time when they need
assistance the most.”
GIVE65 will take place July 12 - 14,
2016. During this 65-hour event, organizations will compete for up
to $100,000 in matching grants and one of two $10,000 prize rewards.
A simple application process allows nonprofits to participate in the
annual GIVE65 Event or feature a fundraising project on GIVE65.
Beginning mid-March, any 501c3 non-profit that directly benefits
seniors will be able to apply on GIVE65.org. The application
deadline is April 29th, 2016.
Through GIVE65, donations will help
non-profits raise more money to help the seniors in our communities.
For just 65-hours, selected nonprofit organizations will harness the
power of generosity to help seniors in their local community while
competing for matching grants and financial rewards.
For more information about GIVE65, visit
GIVE65.org or call Home Instead Senior Care at 603-668-6868.
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