Letter
Dear Fellow
Barnstead Voters;
Once again
it is time to get the Town’s business done for the upcoming year. This
year we have been able to keep the number of ballot questions to one
from the Planning Board. This question is important and deserves your
full understanding and consideration before you vote. With that thought
in mind, we have placed an ad in this paper showing the question as it
will appear on the ballot.
Please note
that this year there will be two ballots: a white ballot and a yellow
ballot. The white ballot is for the election of Town Officials, and the
questions from the Planning Board proposing changes to the Zoning
Ordinance. The yellow ballot is for School District elections.
Remember to
vote on Tuesday, March 10, between the hours of 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM at
Town Hall. Town Meeting starts at 9:00 AM sharp on Saturday March 14,
at Barnstead Elementary School where we will continue to discuss town
business and vote on Warrant Articles.
The School
District meeting will be on Saturday, March 21, at 9:00 AM sharp at the
Barnstead Elementary School where we will discuss the school district
budget for the coming year.
The
Planning Board is holding a meeting on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00 PM at
the Town Hall to provide an opportunity to discuss the question proposed
by the Planning Board, so feel free to come and express your opinion or
ask questions.
Barnstead
Planning Board
Nancy Ann
Carr, Chairman
Call To
Restore The Old Grange Hall
Submitted
By Paul Stohlberg
When I was
growing up in a small community in Worcester, Massachusetts known to
locals as “the village”, I felt that there was really no need to ever go
anywhere else. There was everything anyone ever needed within walking
distance of my house. Almost anyway. But that’s the way it seemed.
My mother and I would occasionally hop on a bus to go to up town but
not very often.
There were
all kinds of stores when you needed something to fix, build with or eat,
places to play, places to explore, and places just to hang out with
friends. My uncle used to hang out at a corner lunch cafe that I can
still visualize its back wall covered with built in wooden door
refrigerated compartments full of all kinds of food stuff. Other guys
would hang out at one of the many barber shops. The old guy next door
with the black marble counter top soda shop who made his own ice cream
wouldn’t let anyone hang around there as he only had two booths. You
had to make room for other paying customers.
Even in
this small community there were a lot of meeting halls. Every church
had a hall, then there was this group hall, and that group hall, all
kinds of different community organizations that would meet together and
do whatever they did in their own hall or maybe share one. It seemed
that there was always something going on somewhere and lots of places to
do it in.
Well as
city folk move out to the country and country kids move into the city in
a constant flow of soul searching, I now live in the community of North
Barnstead. I’ve made acquaintance with lots of wonderful people since I
moved here almost 25 years ago, but that’s still only a small fraction
of the many others who reside here and around me. In this day and age
it’s all to easy to just stay home and go to work, to buy everything you
need somewhere between the two and never really interact in any way
with your neighbors. I know, I’m as guilty as anyone. But people are
people, and even out here in the country, there have always been places
for people to congregate if they wanted to. To get together to talk,
play games, music, share food and knowledge and foster that neighbor
helping neighbor camaraderie know as community.
I know that
there is plenty of community spirit around here as I’ve seen it over and
over again. In times of emergency and need, you always come together.
It’s fantastic! Then it sort of fades back into the shadows. Does
anyone feel the desire to rekindle this community atmosphere? We don’t
need to wait for a disaster to get together. Do we?
There is an
old grange hall around the corner and down the hill from my house that
used to be one of those such meeting houses I spoke of earlier. They
had bazaars, classes, dinners, dances and all kinds of social functions
there for the greater North Barnstead community. I had driven past this
building hundreds of times not ever knowing what it was. It still looks
pretty much the same as I remember it did 25 years ago. The trees have
gotten a lot bigger. It was built in 1850 as a Grange Hall, then it
became a function hall for the church down the road. They sold the
building to a woman who used it for her antique business. This lady
passed away a few years ago.
Presently,
the old building is in need of some serious maintenance to avert it from
returning to the ground from which it came. The old hard wood dance
floor is still in fine shape though, and the stage too. So I started
thinking, I wonder what it would take to revive this old back woods
meeting place. It would be a larger project than I could ever take on
myself, so I started asking around.
Since then
I’ve been to a number of meetings with different local groups and I have
found some other folks who share my interest in this project. There are
always lots of ideas as to how to use the place, everybody seems to have
another new suggestion. So maybe I’m onto something? It’s obvious that
there is a want for some kind of a local community center, so I figured
that I’d spread the question around a bit farther to see if it might
spark any more interest. One never knows until he tries.
So if you
are in any way interested in restoring an old local community activity
center, or building a greater sense of community here in North
Barnstead, please call me at 269-3282 or email to
[email protected] and
together we all might get something happening here.
Local
Students Named To The Dean’s List At MCPHS University
MCPHS
University is pleased to announce the students who have been named to
the Dean’s List for the Fall 2014 semester:
* Kristin
Prime is a native of Center Barnstead and is pursuing a Bachelor of
Science in Nursing. Kristin will graduate in 2015 from the Manchester,
New Hampshire campus.
* William
Coyne is a native of Epsom and is pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy.
William will graduate in 2016 from the Manchester, New Hampshire
campus.
* Michael
McAlister is a native of Loudon and is pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy.
Michael will graduate in 2017 from the Worcester, Massachusetts campus.
* Lindsay
Young is a native of Suncook and is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in
Nursing. Lindsay will graduate in 2017 from the Boston, Massachusetts
campus.
The Dean’s
List recognizes those students with a full-time course load who have
achieved outstanding scholarship with a 3.5 GPA or higher for the
academic term.
BARC’G To
Meet On Tuesday, March 10
The
Barnstead-Alton-Gilmanton Republican Committee (BARC’G) has announced
that their next monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 10 at
6:30 pm at J.J. Goodwin’s Restaurant (upstairs dining room), 769 Suncook
Valley Highway (Rt 28), in Center Barnstead.
The
Committee will provide details of the upcoming grass-roots training that
will be held in Concord in mid-March which includes a visit by Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker.
Announcement of the BARC’G guest speaker for the March 10 meeting is
pending; it’ll be posted on the Committee’s website,
www.barc-newhampshire.com.
BARC’G
meetings are open to Republicans and like-minded Independents from
Alton, Barnstead, and Gilmanton, and any other towns in New Hampshire.
Per their
usual meeting format, if you’re interested in having dinner (at your
option) or wish to socialize before the meeting, plan to arrive as early
as 5:30pm.
The
Committee reminds you to bring a non-perishable food item (cans of soup,
tuna fish, etc, etc) to the meeting for distribution to local food
pantries.
For more
information, please send an email to
[email protected]
or [email protected].
Belknap
County Republicans To Meet Wednesday, March 11
The Belknap
County Republican Committee has announced that their next monthly
meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 at 6:30 pm at the Top
of the Town Restaurant, 88 Ladd Hill Rd in Belmont.
Now that
New Hampshire is seeing many potential presidential candidates, the
Committee will be discussing the need and the opportunity for its
members to vet the candidates to determine which one(s) meet their
requirements, and then work with those candidates in their quest to win
the NH Presidential Primary scheduled for Feb 9, 2016.
Announcement of the guest speaker for the March 11 meeting is pending;
it’ll be posted on the Committee’s website,
www.BelknapCountyGOP.org.
Belknap
County GOP meetings are open to ALL Republicans and like-minded
Independents. Per their usual meeting format, if you’re interested in
having dinner (at your option) and/or wish to socialize before the
meeting, plan to arrive as early as 5:00 pm.
The
Committee once again reminds everyone planning to attend to please bring
a non-perishable food item to the meeting for distribution to local food
pantries.
For more
information, please check their website at
www.BelknapCountyGOP.org, or send
an email to [email protected].
Center
Barnstead Christian Church News
Dublin
Christian Academy from Dublin, NH will be sending one of their ministry
teams to the Center Barnstead Christian Church on Sunday March 15 for
their 10 AM service. The team consisting of 18 young men and women will
be putting on a multimedia drama entitled “What’s the church anyway?”
Everyone is welcome to come. If you have any questions please contact
the church at 603-269-8831.
Obituaries
Russell
Sargent, Sr.
Center
Barnstead – Mr. Russell R. Sargent, Sr., 79, of North Road, died
Thursday, February 19, 2015, at the Lakes Region General Hospital in
Laconia after a lengthy illness.
Born in
Pittsfield on October 6, 1935, Russell was the son of the late Charles
and Selma (Moody) Sargent. He was raised in Pittsfield and spent more
than 60 years in that community before moving to Center Barnstead 10
years ago.
He was
self-employed as a logger, sawyer, and equipment operator. He also
worked for Yeaton Sawmill, logging with horses, and for Royce Auto as a
mechanic and gas station attendant.
Mr. Sargent
was an avid hunter and a talented carpenter and woodworker. He ranged
from building houses and furniture to detailed finish work.
He was the
widower of Jo-Anne (Mayotte) Sargent, who died in 2012 and to whom he
had been married 55 years. He was also predeceased by 6 siblings, his
twin Roy Sargent, Leon Sargent, Charles Sargent, Madeleine Foss,
Caroline Robinson, and Maxine Grant.
He is
survived by 6 children, Debra Morin of Northfield, Dolores Batchelder of
Meredith, Russell Sargent, Jr. of Holderness, Donna Sargent of
Allenstown, and Jay Sargent and Samuel Sargent, both of Center
Barnstead; 13 grandchildren and many great grandchildren; a sister,
Esther Rhuland of SC; a brother, Lonnie Sargent of FL; and many nieces
and nephews.