Enjoying another aspect of the wrap-up of the

Summer Reading Program at the Epsom Library is

Carson Dail scooping up helpings of the make-your-own

sundae table.

Epsom Summer Reading participants enjoy

helping musician Steve Blunt with the motions

to the alligator song.

Are We Looking For You?

We are if you were in the Class of 1959 at Pittsfield High School! It has been 50 years since some of us have seen each other.

A group is forming to plan for our big 50th Class reunion. If you would like to join this group, come to the Pittsfield Community Center on Main Street (the old Town Hall) on September 24th at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see you there.
 

Ivy Green Rebekah Lodge #36 is hosting a Family Game Night for all ages at the Odd Fellows Hall on Short Falls Road, Saturday, September 13th from 6:30-9:30 pm. There will be a mystery auction, and baked goods for sale. Snacks and drinks will be available. Plan to come and join the fun and bring your favorite game! For info call Vickie at 736-4707.
 

Jessica Farley, daughter of Pembroke resident Robert Farley, was named to the Dean’s List at Ithaca College’s, Ithaca, N.Y., School of Health Sciences and Human Performance for the spring 2008 term. To qualify for this academic honor, students must attain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 and complete a minimum of 15 credit hours, of which at least 12 are graded. A grade of D or F or an incomplete in a course automatically disqualifies a student from the dean’s list, regardless of the overall GPA  attained that semester.
 

Letter

Some Just Don’t Get  It! 

I can’t imagine what made me think of this experience which occurred in September of 1967 while walking south on North Main St. from my office intending to take a coffee break at what was the old J.C. Penny store. As I neared the entrance, I observed two middle age people walking north. One, a female, was carrying a rather large note book. The other, a male, was supporting a very large video camera on his right shoulder. For some reason I observed the two increase their walking speed to almost double time. At a point when the distance between us was 5-6 feet, the female asked if I would take a minute to answer a few questions. I agreed. The first question was: -Are you a Democrat or Republican? The camera zoomed in a bit closer. My response was that I was a Christian which prompted the female to notify me that I misunderstood the question. I responded, with a smile, informing her that she without question, had misunderstood the answer.
Jim Breagy
Epsom, NH

Concord/Epsom Elks Lodge 1210
Country Jamboree & Chicken Barbeque to Help Tornado Victims

The Concord Epsom Elks Lodge 1210 is sponsoring a Country Jamboree & Chicken Barbeque to benefit our neighbors in the towns of Barnstead, Deerfield, Epsom, Northwood and Pittsfield.

The event will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2008, from 3 p.m. until midnight at The Concord/Epsom Elks Lodge, 1210 Old Mill Rd., Epsom, NH 03234 (Formally the Old Mill Restaurant on Route 28).

This is a 21+ event with a cash bar. Tickets are $10.00. There will be raffles, door prizes and surprises.

If you or your business would like to volunteer, make a donation for prizes, make a monetary donation or help in any way, please contact Kenneth Rudolph at the Concord/Epsom Elks Lodge 1210 at 603-736-8941.

Concord/Epsom Elks Lodge 1210, a nonprofit organization that will serve the people and communities through benevolent programs, demonstrating that Elks Care and Elks Share.
 

Epsom Police Notes

The following is a summary of calls made by the Epsom Police Department for August 18-31, 2008. It is compiled from information provided by the Department.
Complaints Included: Civil, 10; Juvenile, 2; Suspicious Activity, 5; Animal, 6;  Motor Vehicle, 10; Phone Harassment, 2; Noise, 1.

Assists Included: Agency With Service Of Paperwork, 2; Fire Department, 2; Subject With Well Being Checks, 2; Suspicious Vehicle, 1; Rescue Squad, 6; Agency With Investigation, 8; Agency With Arrest, 3; Other PDs, 2; Disabled Motorists, 5.

Responses Included: Alarm Activations, 7; Suspicious Activity, 1; Missing Person, 1; Accidents, 2; Domestic, 1.

Reports Included: Burglary, 1; Theft Of Vehicle Parts, 1.

Checks Included: Abandoned 911 Calls, 3; Suspicious Vehicles, 3; Suspicious Activities, 4; Suspicious Subjects, 5; Abandoned Vehicles, 2; Road Hazards, 2; Noise, 2.

There were 3 Arrests.

Epsom Historical Society

Each year the Epsom Historical Association offers special events free to the public. On Sunday, Sept.21, 2008, join the Historical Association in a salute to the “Live Free or Die” American Hero, General John Stark. Richard Wright, a member of the NH Society of the Sons of the American Revolution who has received accolades for his presentations of NH’s legendary John Stark, will be entertaining us with his impersonation of General John Stark. The special event will be held at the historic Old Epsom Town Hall located on Rte 4 in Epsom. The presentation will begin at 2 p.m. and will offer everyone the opportunity to become more familiar with the man whose words were adopted as our State Motto. For further information, please contact the Epsom Historical Association at 736-4571 or email [email protected]. Also check out our fabulous web site, www.epsomhistory.com and consider becoming a member of the Historical Association. The Epsom Historical Association Museum is located at the old Epsom Public Library and is open Wednesdays 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays from 9-noon.

Are You A Bear Or A Bobcat? What’s Your Carbon Paw Print?

Submitted By
Eric Orff, Epsom
I have been a life-long hunter, fisherman and conservationist. As a conservationist I believe in treading lightly on this earth as I believe most hunters and anglers believe. And this is nothing new, as sportsmen, like me, have been in the forefront to protect and conserve fish and wildlife for a century. Just as importantly we have protected the habitats that supports these species. The shores along our rivers and lakes help keep the waters clean and the forests that serve as wildlife habitat also help keep our air clean and remove tons of carbon from the air and replenish our oxygen supply.

We sportsmen, by nature, are constantly concerned with our environment and have been for decades. Thanks to our efforts and funding through license fees and federal taxes, which we called for, fish and wildlife numbers in New Hampshire are at levels not seen in over 100 years. Deer numbers at 80,000 are twice what they were 40 years ago. Moose numbers are up ten times from fewer than 500 fifty years ago to over 5,000 today. And bear numbers are up four times from 1,200 bears in the mid 1980’s to 5,000 today. And turkeys went from zero to over 35,000! And we have helped to permanently protect tens of thousands of acres across the state not only at the state level but more importantly at town levels by pushing for and supporting local conservation issues.

As sportsmen we know how important it is not to squander these resources and how important it is for us to pass this wonderful heritage on to our children and grandchildren. After-all it was this nation’s hunters and anglers who first pushed for laws and regulations that helped to protect and restore this natural heritage. We disdain those within our ranks who may be game hogs, or worse yet poachers. And it is our license fees that support the law enforcement efforts needed to curb such activities.

But what about your carbon foot print? Are you a bear whose gluttonist behavior would drain every bit of energy it can from the environment? Bears feed ravenously just before going into their winter dens eating over 10,000 calories a day if they can find it. Of course bears then use up zero calories from the environment when denned. But I see plenty of people who gobble up the energy around me year round. To me they are just squandering our natural resources as did the market hunters with game a hundred years ago. We need a conservation shift with energy similar to the awakening brought on by the sportsmen conservationists like me a hundred years ago.

I think of myself as more like a bobcat when it comes to using energy. I use only what is needed to go about my daily life conserving energy constantly. This is something I have naturally done for decades; it is not some new fad for me. For instance when I bought my house in 1979 I chose a house under construction that had six inches of insulation in the walls and a foot in the attic. Even then I added storm windows and doors all around the house to further conserve energy.

But here are some of the steps I have taken over the last five or six years to further reduce my carbon foot print. While my house was well insulated by today’s standards with a foot in my attic, I spent a few cool evenings and a couple hundred dollars doubling the insulation in my attic. Plus I insulated the floor joists in my cellar, the cellar walls and even the duct work carrying the hot air from my furnace. Since I started this process I have cut the amount of fuel I use by over half. Oh yes my hot water tank has a nice added blanket of insulation as well and is kept at just the right temperature for our household.

I have recycled for decades. While I see many of my neighbors who have a private company pick up three and four barrels of trash per week, I separate all my trash and take it to the local recycling center every couple of weeks. I know I am recycling upwards of 90 percent by weight of my trash. Not only that but I personally collect and recycle over a ton and a half of aluminum cans each year for the Friends of the Suncook River supporting this organization with over $1,500 a year from this program.

All my outside lights as well as my garage lights are on automatic sensors. These lights only come on when needed and shut off a few minutes later when activity has stopped. I drive light too, driving a four cylinder pickup. And I converted nearly all my lights to compact fluorescent or regular florescent ones several years ago. And most of the year you will see our family’s laundry hanging out in back of the house to dry.

Within the past three year I replaced my original worn and drafty outside doors with thicker much tighter fitting ones. And this summer I began to replace my thirty year old windows with high efficiency ones. And three years ago I installed a gas stove in my living room. Now my furnace thermostat is set much lower and I heat only the rooms we are currently using each winter’s evening. The unused rooms, such as the spare bedroom, have been shut off and are heated only when used.

As a sportsmen and conservationist I am constantly searching for ways to curb my energy use. After all it was this nation’s hunters and anglers who drove the culture shift that brought about the abundant fish and wildlife and pristine habitats common today. I believe through our conservation ethics we can lead this nation into a better energy future. We can lead by example in reducing our energy needs. We can continue to protect pristine environments, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, by curbing our energy uses. We can leave our children a better place to raise their children and pass on the heritage of hunting, fishing and conservation. We need to be bobcats.
 

Alternative Therapy Services Provided to Epsom Health Care Staff

Last week, staff members at Epsom Health Care Center were given the opportunity to participate in free alternative therapy services in order to experience for themselves the benefit of such services, particularly for patients at the end of life.

Services were provided by the Concord Regional Visiting Nurse Association Hospice Program. Concord Regional VNA provides hospice nurses and licensed nursing assistants to many area nursing homes to assist them in caring for patients as they near the end of life.

Alternative therapies add comfort at the end of life, particularly when provided in a peaceful, spa-like room. By providing these services to caregivers, they are able to experience for themselves the physical and spiritual benefits a patient might feel from such therapies.

Last week, 14 staff members received free massage therapy by Licensed Massage Therapists Shannon Nickerson, LMT and Kaitlyn Messier, LMT  from Chichester Massage.