REMINDER
BCEP
Change of Hours
Effective January 1, 2018 B.C.E.P. Solid Waste will have new hours
of operation:
Tuesday
– Saturday 8:00AM – 4:00PM
Scales
close at 3:45PM
Closed
Sundays and Mondays
The
Merrimack County Stamp Collectors will hold its monthly meeting at
the Bow Mills United Methodist Church, 505 South St., Bow, on
December 19, 2017 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.
Pittsfield Players’ Kids’ Theater Workshop Auditions
The
Pittsfield Players will hold auditions for their 2018 Kids’ Theater
Workshop production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr. at The Scenic
Theatre, 6 Depot St. in Pittsfield on Sunday and Monday, December 17
and 18 at 4 pm both days. Those auditioning will be taught a song
from the show and asked to sing in a group and, if they wish, as a
solo. They’ll also learn a few simple dance steps and be asked to
read from the script.
Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jr. takes us back to the 1920’s, the Jazz
Age, when flappers were in style and bobbed haircuts were the rage.
The show has 8 major roles, 7 featured roles and many parts for the
ensemble as a whole. There’s lots of singing and dancing, and tons
of fun to be had in this year’s Kids’ Workshop. If you are
interested in working behind the scenes on the show, please come to
the auditions to sign up for tech crew.
The
Kids’ Theater Workshop is a program by kids for kids ages 8 to 18,
and participants not only perform on stage but also work behind the
scenes, learning about set design and construction, set painting,
stage managing, stage lighting and sound and costumes and make-up.
The
group rehearses two days a week after school and on Saturdays and
then performs the show at two matinees for local schools and three
evening shows for the general public. This year, the shows will be
performed February 20 through 24, with a set strike and cast party
on Sunday, February 25. For further information, contact director
Maye Hart at [email protected].
Letter
Select
Board meeting 11/28/17- The second hearing regarding the Gamble
proposal for restoring the existing old Mansard Roof building known
as a ‘Second Empire’ form of architecture at 33/37 Main St. for
conversion of the interior into commercial space (tentatively a
wheelchair accessible coffee shop) with two apartments above it, had
comments including the Library expressing support for a pending
offer by Larry Berkson to tear it down and donate the land to the
Historical Society and the Community Development Committee
supporting Gamble’s proposal and having it back on the tax rolls.
This ends the hearing process for the Gamble proposal, with state
statute now requiring an up or down vote by the BOS not later than
Dec. 12.
We
heard a brief overview of Mid-State Regional Ride- an opportunity to
join a group that provides free transportation to seniors. The
offer was taken under advisement.
Resignations were accepted for Patrolman Brandon Walker and
part-time Patrolman Justin Swift.
Due to
extraordinary circumstances, a union request to carry over some
accrued leave time for the PD to next year was approved with the
understanding that we don’t expect to be having the same
conversation next year at this time.
Our
committee appointment process was reviewed. When a committee
has an opening it will be announced and when that committee has an
interested resident to fill the position, and they feel will be a
proper fit, they will contact the BOS for consideration of that
appointment.
The
state sent us a letter of deficiency for the Clark’s Pond Dam, with
their timetable for the repairs they say we need. This will be
a topic for Town Meeting, no doubt.
A
citizen’s petition to place an article on the town warrant relative
to removing the position of Building Inspector was on the agenda as
informational only.
Carl
Anderson
Josiah Carpenter Library December News
Library
personnel really enjoy having the children’s room upstairs, and we
want to thank everyone for their patience while the books and
furniture were being moved. One of the changes includes a
charging station for mobile devices next to the upstairs computer
for visitors. Visit the library to see the new arrangements!
The
Teen Book Worms will gather on Monday December 6th at 5:00pm; they
will enjoy a light supper and discuss The Wrath and the Dawn by
Renee’ Ahdieh. The Pittsfield Writer’s Circle will meet at the
library on Monday December 13th at 5:00pm. The adult book club
will meet to discuss Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck,
and select books for 2018, at 10:30 am on Tuesday December 5th at
the Pittsfield Senior Center. New members for all
of our ongoing activities are always welcome!
During
December the 10:00am Thursday preschool story hour will enjoy cookie
decorating, ornament making and explore holiday traditions.
The afterschool Cozy Nook Book Adventure Club meets at 3:30pm on
Tuesdays and will be learning about
holiday traditions, decorate gingerbread houses and make ornaments.
The Stay and Play group for toddlers and their parents/caregivers
meet on Tuesday mornings at 10:00am for a brief story, simple
activities and time to socialize.
The
Chichester-Epsom-Pittsfield Libraries Memory Café will enjoy music,
food, and simple activities to seasonal generosity at 2:00pm on
Monday December 13th at the Epsom Public Library. Caregivers
and folks living with memory loss are invited to come and savor
supportive socialization.
The
library will be closed for the Christmas holiday on December 25th
and 26th.
Pittsfield Senior Center News
The
Pittsfield Senior Center has a couple of special programs occurring
during the month of December. On Tuesday, December 12, 10:30am, Judy
Cook, a Certified Health Coach, will be discussing Joint Health, how
to reduce inflammation while improving mobility. Did you know that
the foods we eat could cause inflammation in our bodies? We have the
ability to change our diets to decrease the inflammatory response of
our joints. It is important to keep moving but it is hard to do it
if our knees, hips, back, or feet hurt. Judy will expand and enhance
your knowledge about making simple changes to help you feel better,
have more energy, and decrease joint discomfort.
On
Thursday, December 14, 10:00am, the Pittsfield Senior Center is
having their annual Christmas Party. Please join us to spend some
special time together. There will be a Yankee gift swap. If you want
to participate in the gift swap, please bring a gift of no more than
$10.00. The Christmas dinner will be served at 12:00pm. Hope to see
you here and please call 435-8482 to make your reservation by
December 7. We are located on 74 Main St. in Pittsfield.
From The Farm - Leftover Pumpkins For Pigs
Submitted By Carole Soule
Not sure what to do with all those Thanksgiving pumpkin
decorations? No need to cook them or peel them just donate them to
your favorite cows or pigs. Are they soft and squishy? All the more
tasty for your four-legged friends.
What is
one man’s waste can be dinner for a pig or a cow. Our barn is filled
with a mountain of pumpkins and squash donated by Cole Garden.
Frozen, then thawed pumpkins are soft and perfect for cattle to eat.
The hard pumpkins need to be split so we have a smash fest to crack
them open before we feed them. A friend of the farm, whose apple
trees exploded with fruit this year, brought us boxes of apples
which the pigs and cattle devoured. We also get kitchen scraps from
Grappone Conference Center which include the occasional bucket of
eggs for the pigs. The cattle love the pineapple and melon rinds and
besides the eggs, the pigs get bread and apple pie. Each week Crust
and Crumb gives us two or three bags of bread and pastry scraps
which the pigs also devour. Not only are these scraps staying out of
landfill, they are feeding hungry livestock. The cycle is
complete when we sell pork to Grappone Conference Center.
When we
drive up to the feed bunker with a load of scraps the chickens and
ducks flock over to see what we’ve got. They love the lettuce scraps
and what the cows don’t eat the birds finish off. Bree, the dog,
gets into the act too so we have to make sure the scraps are out of
her reach.
We
won’t feed the livestock meat and what we do feed them has to be
edible for humans so no garbage is allowed. The food scraps are
refrigerated until fed out and sometimes I’ve been known to sample
the food, not because I love chocolate cake with thick frosting or
lemon pie with cream topping but because I need to make sure the
food is “safe” for the critters. While we feed out kitchen scraps
we’ll never give scraps off plates that have already been served.
There are some diseases that transfer from humans to pigs so we
don’t want to risk the health of our livestock. Besides, would you
eat food off a stranger’s plate?
Remember the adage, “Waste not, want not?” Well, if you have
pumpkins or whole squash hanging around don’t think of it as trash,
think of it as a meal for a farm friend. If you don’t have a farm
friend, make friends with our cows and pigs, they’ll love you for
it. Imagine the joy you’ll share as they chomp on that squash you
were going to throw out. Besides, smashing pumpkins is deeply
satisfying when it’s done for a good cause.
Carole
Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, NH, where she
raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products.
She can be reached at [email protected].
TOPS News
Front row left to right- Sandi Truscott, April Ellis, Pat
Smith, Catherine Snow; Back row- Pearl Demyanovich, Peg Driscoll
Our
TOPS chapter recently recognized members who were best losers for
the month of October. The top three best losers received a
certificate and others receiving honorable mention got blue flowers.
Congratulations to all.
Take
Off Pounds Sensibly is our goal. We have weekly weigh-in for
accountability, encouragement, and support for members, helpful
healthy tips for better eating, and a lot of fun at our meetings.
We appreciate the staff at Berakah for allowing us to meet there for
several years. Beginning December 5 at 6:30, we will be
meeting at Joy Church, 55 Barnstead Rd., Pittsfield. We are
grateful to Joy Church for allowing us to meet there. Come and visit
us. For questions, please call Pat, 435-5333, or Beth, 435-7397.
“Christmas Jubilation” Concert
The First Congregational Church, 24 Main Street,
Pittsfield, will offer a free Christmas concert entitled, “Christmas
Jubilation” this Friday, December 8, 7 p.m. It will feature
the church’s Chancel Choir, the JuBellation Handbell Choir and other
musical talent. And there are some great carols for your
participation! Plan to attend this holiday tradition.
Parking
and wheelchair accessible entry are located at rear of church at
Chestnut Street. For more information, call the church office at
435-7471.
Letter
To the
good citizens of Pittsfield,
Thank
you, Jim Pritchard, for your letter in the November 29 Sun. Jim,
you misunderstood me. What I meant to say was the Building Inspector
is a building contractor in town. He bids against his competitors.
If he loses the bid, he gets to inspect his competition’s work. This
is our town’s biggest problem. In my opinion, it is hurting my town.
I am
not the only one who feels this way, as evident by the cross section
of the petitioners who want the selectmen to recognize the problem.
And maybe if they agree, do something about it.
You
mentioned we might get someone stricter. I don’t care how strict the
Building Inspector is, as I am all done with any type of permit. But
I care about my town. I am an American from German and Italian
descent. Maybe because these two countries’ histories, I feel the
need to speak up when maybe the contractor can’t. When you have a
conflict of interest in your work, the quality of your work suffers.
Dan the
Stoneman
Letter
To The Editor
Thank
you to everyone who attended and served at this year’s 6th Annual
Thanksgiving Day Dinner at Park Street Baptist Church. Once again
this year we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and giving
thanks celebrating God’s many blessings. “Give Thanks to the
Lord for He is good. His Love endures forever.” Psalm 118:1.
Traditionally, on Thanksgiving, many gather with family and friends,
and take the time to think about what we are thankful for. This
year’s 6th Annual Thanksgiving Dinner is dedicated to those in our
community. Such a wonderful way to build relationships with our
neighbors. It was a privilege to serve a full Thanksgiving
meal with all the trimmings, and many more meals were delivered to
those home bound community members of Pittsfield and Barnstead,
Of
course the efforts of this gathering could not have been
accomplished without the support of the many who contributed.
A special thank you to Associated Grocers of Pembroke, Ruth
Strickhart of Pittsfield, Linda Small and the Residents of Vintage
Hill Pittsfield, Sophie DeFrancesco of Concord, Tom Arnold of
Arnie’s Concord, Franz Andlinger of Bread and Chocolate Concord,
Robin O’Malley of Barnstead, Debbie Gaspar of Pittsfield, Fred and
Laura Okrent of Pittsfield, Elizabeth Hitchcock of Pittsfield, Park
Street Baptist Church, and to The Suncook Sun.
Respectfully,
Thomas
Hitchcock
Obituaries
Veronica (Nicky) Mary Rose Raymond Bilodeau
Veronica (Nicky) Mary Rose Raymond Bilodeau, 85, died Tuesday,
November 21, 2017 after a period of declining health.
Veronica was born July 10th, 1932 in Allenstown, New Hampshire, the
daughter of Ernest and Leonida (Doucette) Raymond.
Veronica was predeceased by her husband of 53 years, Ronald
Bilodeau, in 2010.
Veronica was a homemaker and was the owner and operator of Nicky’s
Jewelry for many years. She loved spending time with her
grandchildren, great grandchildren and her cat, Holly. She
enjoyed watching movies, reading, gardening, knitting, and making
puzzles. She was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in
Pittsfield.
Survivors include two daughters, Catherine Roberts and partner
Daniel McNamara of Westford, Massachusetts and Michele Moulton and
her husband Robert of Milford, New Hampshire; her sister-in-law
Annette Bilodeau and friend Cliff Baillargeon of Pittsfield, New
Hampshire; her former son in law Philip Roberts and wife Deb of
Laconia, New Hampshire; her brother Ronald Raymond of Epsom,
New Hampshire; three grandchildren, Patrick Roberts and his wife
Elizaveta of Concord, New Hampshire, Hailey Paige and her husband
Travis of Concord, New Hampshire and Kelsea Moulton of Burlington,
Vermont; three great grandchildren, Zoe Roberts and Moxie and Cooper
Paige; 5 nephews Gordon Bilodeau of Barnstead, New Hampshire,
Michael, Mark, Paul and Arthur Raymond of Epsom, New Hampshire and 3
nieces Janice Lakowicz of Wells, Maine, Joyce Bilodeau of York,
Maine and Terry Lee Raymond of Bow, New Hampshire.
In lieu
of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St Jude’s Research
Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or the Pope Memorial
SPCA of Concord, 94 Silk Farm Road, Concord, NH 03301.
A
Celebration of Life will be held at a later date and a Spring burial
will take place at Floral Park Cemetery where she will be laid to
rest beside her husband. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy
may be shared at https://www.BennettFuneral.com
for the Bilodeau family.
Leonard
E. Deane
Leonard
E. Deane of Loudon, N.H. passed away November 21, 2017 at home
surrounded by his family after a sudden illness. He was 79 years
old, born February 26, 1938 in North Hampton Mass.
He
leaves his wife of 59 yrs. Lois (French) Deane of Loudon, three sons
and one daughter, Lenny Deane II of Pittsfield N.H., Lawrence Deane
and companion Roxanne Danforth of Andover N.H., Lonnie Deane and
wife Tracy of Allenstown N.H., and Laurie and Ed Vien of Pittsfield
N.H., a brother Carlton Deane of Florida, ten grand children and
several great grand children. Also, his dog Jo-Jo.
He was
brought up in Wilmington Mass. and later moved to N.H.
Some of
his hobbies were fishing, making gemstone jewelry and clocks,
and printing on tee shirts. He also liked to garden and working with
his tractor.
He
worked for N.H. DOT and later at Pittsfield Elementary as a
custodian. He also served four years in the Army Reserves.
Donations may be made in his memory to the Hospice House of Concord.
A
memorial service will be held at the First Congregational Church
main street Pittsfield December 15, 2017 at 5 p.m. with a collation
after in the vestry.
Ruth M.
(Heinstrom) Parelius
November 4th, Ruth died at home on hospice with family by her
bedside, holding her hand. Ruth was born in Weymouth, MA, 84 years
ago.
In
1954, Ruth married Walter N. Parelius, Sr. On their wedding night,
Ruth became an instant mother of three: Evelyn Parkhurst of Epsom,
NH; Rose Fitzgibbon of The Village, FL, and Walter N. Parelius, Jr.
of Ocala, FL. A few years later, Ruth and Walter welcomed Irene
Nelsen of Ctr. Barnstead, NH, then last born, Carol Parelius of
Barnstead, NH. Ruth loved all five of her children very much.
Ruth
leaves her children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Ruth
worked in a bakery, hospital, theater, sewed braided rugs, and sold
Studio Girl. After coming to New Hampshire, she worked at Globe
manufacturing, Beadee Shoe, Laconia Shoe, Pittsfield Weaving,
American Electra Pak, as we as taking care of handicapped adults and
children.
She
kept active, going to as many meetings, assemblies, and out in
service as she could. She loved sharing her knowledge and helping
others.
Ruth is
missed very much, but will never be out of our hearts and minds.
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