The
Epsom Al-Anon Family Group invites you to the 5th Anniversary Open
House. Join us on Friday, January 25, 2013 from 6:00 until 8:00 pm
at the Epsom Public Library meeting room. There will be light
refreshments, reading materials will be available, and speakers from
Al-Anon and AA will share their stories.
The
Epsom Al-Anon Family Group meetings is held on Thursdays at 7:15 pm
at the Epsom Public Library.
For
more information about Al-Anon and Alateen, visit the NH web site at
www.nhal-anon.org.
Fat
Tuesday Pancake Supper and Church Service
Celebrate the end of Epiphany and prepare for the Lenten season with
a Pancake Supper at the Northwood Congregational Church on Tuesday,
February 12 at 6:00 pm. A delicious supper of pancakes and sausages
will be provided. Donations will be accepted to help defray costs.
Following the supper will be a church service to help prepare for
the Lenten season. The service will be at 7:00. People are welcome
to come only for the service. Northwood Congregational Church is
located on Route 4 just east of Coe-Brown Academy.
Danielle Colpritt a senior at Coe Brown Academy is pictured with the
representative of the Northwood Food Bank. Through donations Danielle
was able to raise over $200 and 250 food items, which she delivered
to the Northwood and Nottingham Food banks in time for the holidays.
Thank you to everyone who helped support this cause!
Letter
To The Editor
Elections have consequences. It does not matter whether I approve of
the recent elections or not, I know that as a School Board member
they really complicated my life. Every aspect of managing the
financial well being of Northwood School and paying for our students
to go to Coe-Brown is going to go up. It has already started.
Healthcare and retirement for the school are up $107,000. Coe-Brown
tuition has been raised almost $600 per student. We have 270 HS
students, you do the math. Everything from pencils to fuel to books
will all go up significantly in the very near future. Elections have
consequences.
There
are going to be many budget battles. I can only hope that we play
fair. A case in point happened at the public hearing on the school’s
budget. A gentleman that I respect immensely stated that Nottingham
School has over 50 more K-8 students than Northwood School and yet a
smaller budget. That is true. But, he does not mention that we have
about 50 more high schoolers than Nottingham, a large part of the
budget. Nor does he tell you that half of their students go to Dover
High School at $1,800 or so less per student. In addition he did not
mention that the other half go to Coe-Brown and that the parents
have to pay the $1,800 difference. That’s a half million $.
Nottingham is a vibrant and growing community. Their income is much
higher, homes more valuable and taxes less than ours. We are
stagnant at best. Whether the School Board, the Budget Committee or
the Selectmen, there is room for improvement in all quarters.
Frankly, if we did our jobs better and worked better together we
would all be better off. I hope that is one of the election
consequences.
Tim
Jandebeur
Northwood
Interfaith Community Kitchen
For
those in need of a free cooked meal or an evening of fellowship, the
Interfaith Community Kitchen, located at St. Joseph’s Church, on
Route 4 in Northwood, is open each Monday evening from 5:00- 6:30.
In addition to Monday’s meal, the Kitchen has now added “Soup and
Salad Night” on Thursdays from 5- 6:30. Join us for food and
friendship. No reservations required and take outs are available.
For additional information contact Our Lady of Lourdes/St. Joseph’s
Parish at 435-6242 or Jeannie Garcia at 269-4143.
The
grand opening of the Clothes Closet located at St. Joseph’s Church
offers clean, gently used clothing for men, women and children.
Starting February 4th, we will be opened Mondays 4-5 pm and
Thursdays 11-noon. All clothing is free.
Letter
Thank
you Selectmen
I want
to thank Selectmen Scott Bryer and Bob Holden for appointing me as a
selectman last September to fill Alden Dill’s position when he moved
to Deerfield. If my work schedule was less demanding, I would have
easily signed-up for the upcoming 3-year selectman position.
As of
today (1/23) registered voters can begin to sign-up for open local
positions (including selectman). Since I am not running for the
selectman position, I wanted to give potential candidates the
opportunity to sign-up from now until Friday, February 1st from 3:00
to 5:00 at the Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s office.
Although the selectman position is very demanding, it is at the same
time a very rewarding experience. It is one of just three people who
are responsible for the ‘prudential affairs’ of a community (RSA
41:8).
This
past year we saw the tax rate go down for the first time in many
years. Selectmen submitted a 2013 level-funded budget with the
exception of unfunded mandates handed down from the state. The
largest spending mandate was the percentage increases to municipal
pension costs.
There
will be no special warrant articles to be voted on that will add to
the tax rate. Rather, if voters approve, surplus will be used to
fund several items. The selectmen are looking to implement a road
improvement program and have the state pay for these improvements
with the funds we receive annually from the state highway block
grant.
Under
municipal financing, the best option is for selectmen to take out a
low interest bond for a ten-year period and to have the state pay
for it (100%). Over 60 other municipalities have cost-effectively
bonded to complete their road improvement programs.
Rather
than simply managing budgets, selectmen realize there is a
heightened focus on managing costs.
Thank
you again selectmen.
Sincerely,
Jim
Hadley
Northwood Selectman
Letter
One of
the more problematic warrant articles to come before the Budget
Committee was an article presented by the Selectmen to raise
$750,000 for road repair through a 10-year bond. (Originally
presented to the Budget Committee as a $2.25 million bond over 15
years, but the Selectmen decided voters would reject this
out-of-hand and scaled it back.)
The
warrant article is problematic, in my opinion and that of several,
if not all, members of the Highway Advisory Committee (HAC), because
it uses a fancy financing “fix” when a simple increase in the road
repair budget would suffice.
It is
important to note this began last summer when the HAC received a
sophisticated and expert “Road Surface Assessment and Seven Year
Maintenance Plan” which they had contracted for. It revealed that at
the current rate of road-repair funding – approximately
$250,000/year – the average condition of Northwood-maintained (vs.
state-maintained) roads would slowly deteriorate from a 73 to a 62
(on a scale where 100 = wonderful and 0 = cow path). It also
projected that if spending were increased to approximately
$350,000/year, the average could be maintained, if not slightly
improved.
This
expert analysis and their own extensive knowledge and experience
prompted the HAC to request that the Selectmen increase this line
item in the 2013 budget by $100,000. Unfortunately, for reasons
that are unclear to me, Mr. Hadley seems to have sold his fellows
Selectmen on borrowing the money instead, while incurring the
additional cost of interest over the term of the bond.
Having
sat through all of these discussions on the Budget Committee and
having spoken at length with members of the HAC and their Road
Expert, it seems to me the best – and least expensive – thing to do
is to defeat the bond idea and vote to spend a little more each year
to maintain our roads.
Tom
Chase, member
Northwood Budget
Committee
Letter
Save
The Date!
Deliberative Session, Thursday, February 7th, 2013, 7:00 pm at the
Northwood Elementary School Gymnasium.
This
Deliberative Session is the only time Northwood residents will be
able to discuss, debate and amend any of the proposed Warrant
Articles for the 2013-2014 school year.
The
Warrant Articles that will be presented and discussed include the
proposed operating budget, the purchase of new equipment to update
Northwood School’s security system, the upgrade and purchase of new
technology equipment, the proposed Teachers Contract and the
proposed Paraprofessionals Contract.
Only a
very small percentage of the school’s operating budget is
discretionary. Most operating costs are fixed or contractual meaning
they are not negotiable and must be paid. These include expenses
such as salaries, benefits, retirement, bus transportation, special
education and Coe Brown tuition.
The
Budget Committee’s proposed budget for the 2013-2014 school year is
$11,948,333 (an increase of only $69,249 to this year’s current
budget). The School Board will do a brief presentation on the
proposed budget, what it means for the school and where we
anticipate we will need to make some cuts should the Budget
Committee’s proposed budget be passed.
Please
save the date, February 7th, and plan to attend this very important
community meeting. It is the duty of every responsible parent to
learn more about the School Budget and what it means for your
children and the students of Northwood.
More
information on this meeting, the proposed budget, the warrant
articles, the default budget and the proposed teachers and
paraprofessionals contracts can be found on the school’s website
under the School Board section at
www.northwood.k12.nh.us.
If you
have any questions about the Deliberative Session or need more
information, please contact any School Board member either by phone
or email.
Thank
you and we look forward to seeing you on February 7th!
The
Northwood School Board
Local
Students Named To KSC Dean’s List
Keene
State College has released the Dean’s List for the fall semester
2012. Among the 1,441 students named to the Dean’s List are:
Northwood
Samuel
Thomas Bassett, Summer Elizabeth Gerry, Alissa M Toscano
Chichester
Meghan
Elizabeth Jenks
Epsom
Kayla
Danielle Magan
The
Dean’s List designation is bestowed to those Keene State College
undergraduates enrolled in a degree program who have completed a
minimum of six credit hours in the semester, receiving no failing or
incomplete grades. A 3.5 or higher grade point average on a 4.0
scale is required to earn the Dean’s List honor.
So You
Think You Can Dance Competition At Coe-Brown
On
February 2, 2013, at 4 pm in the Gerrish Gymnasium, the CBNA girl’s
basketball team is hosting a So You Think You Can Dance Competition.
Dancers from their Freshmen class, Sophomore class, Junior Class and
Senior Class will be competing against each other. The Coe-Brown
staff also will be competing in this same competition and forming
their own dance team! They will compete against the teachers at
Barrington Middle School and Strafford School.
The
admission is $3 for students/senior citizens and $5 for adults.
Tickets are sold at the door.
There
will be entertainment during intermission and during voting. The
audience determines the winner.
There
will be a concession stand and 50/50 raffle during the show.
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy
Quarter
2 Honor Roll
2012 -
2013
Headmaster David S. Smith is pleased to announce the honor roll for
the second quarter.
Grade
12
Highest
Honors
Katherine Forsythe, Anna Kofer, Kayla Roberts
Grade
12
High
Honors
Madeleine Adams, Abbey Archambault, Annie Baker, Allison Barnes,
Casey Breen, Joseph Cabral, Jesse Carlson, Stevie-Ray Coletti, Ryan
Cunningham, Jacob Dowe, Jessica Felber, Lucas Gerry, Alicia
Giannelli, Anna Goscinski, Chelsea Hodges, Mikayla Smith, Brianna
Hogue, Andrew Langdon, Christopher Laurion, Ethan Moreno, Ellinore
Porter, Sean Simoneau, Cassidy Small, Olivia Sparrow, Morgan
Stroberg, Noelle Struthers, Lindsey Terry, Nicole Victoria, Henry
Warburton, Michael Wolfendale, Shawn Woodbury, Andrew Yonchak,
Justin Zampa, Alec Zollman
Grade
12
Honors
Marianna Barnhart, Courtney Brown, John DeButts, Mary Victoria
DeVeau, Maddison Diaz, Tucker Docko, Amy Duderewicz, Coty Gagne,
Kylie Gagnon, William Hampl, Kyle Hanson, Ashley Hardy, Catherine
Jarvis, Ashley Jones, Jeremiah Jorgensen, Michael LeDuc, Noah Macri,
James Morrow, Stephen Munroe, Beau Pingree, Lily Poland, Katelyn
Terry, Anthony Toscano, Mason Twombly, Jakob Zylak
Grade
11
Highest
Honors
Jessie
Carney, Emilee Gancarz, Erik Gunderson
Grade
11
High
Honors
Leanne
Baratier, Connor Bell, Emily Blad, James Bowden, Jr., Kristopher
Bowers, Alexandria Buiel, Benjamin Butcher, Breanna Cole, Courtney
Corson, Katharina Cozine, Matthew Cunningham, Emily Davis, Domenica
DeLuca, Justin Demers, Alesha Donovan, Lucas Fisher, Mary Fowler,
Cassidy Gagne, Katlyn Hanson, Trevor Harcourt, Hannah Heselton,
Hannah Heyliger, Gwyneth Horne, Hannah Hughes, Brittany Lachance,
Alexis LaChapelle, Abigail MacCallum, Hailey Mann, Jacob Mele, Amy
Mercedes, Shannon Mommsen, Jessica Moreshead, Travis Newton, Emily
Reiff, Erik Rolser, Megan Rouillard, Alexandra Savioli, Samantha
Shada, Jon Shorten, Elena Smith, Daniel Somers, Sadie Steffen, Kyle
Stevens, Victoria Sullivan, Kyle Turcotte, Alexander Wimsatt
Grade
11
Honors
Joseph
Anatone, Kelsey Batchelder, Caleb Bernier, Devon Berry, Ashley
Calef, Sean Clifford, Kasey Cole, Mickayla Damon, Thomas Esdale,
Benjamin Flood, Samuel Fortier, Kendra Gagnon, Derik Landry, Reno
LaPanne, Tyler Lebel, Dana Lee, Ashley Lewis, Brittany Linscott,
Zachary May, Virginia Scarponi, Hailey Serino, Haleigh Simmons,
Peter Slowik, Mikayla Smith, Michael West, Andrew Woodward
Grade
10
Highest
Honors
Sarah
Curtin, Aurora Goodwin, Aisilyn Guivens, Hannah Herter, Katheryn
Huckins, Garrett Kunz, Elizabeth MacEachern, Cassandra Rogers, Sadie
Sabina, Kate Tomaszewski
Grade
10
High
Honors
Kerry
Baratier, Alexa Barnes, Samantha Beaupre, Ariel Clachar, Douglas
Clifford, Joshua Conrad, Liam Corless, Rachel Dallaire, Claire
Decker, Cierra Demers, Emma Easler, Logan Eighmey, Bryan Ekstrom,
Brianna Ferreira, Cailtin Foley, Molly Gibson, Allison Jones, Bianca
Ketenci, Andrew Lambert, Lacey Locke, Lauren Montgomery, Kyle
Nelson, Gaelyn O’Dwyer, Jessica Ohrenberger, Benjamin Porter, Alec
Schleich, Carrigan Smith, Jenifer Stickney, Nicole Torosian, Hannah
Wiley, Alexander Yonchak, Luke Zollman
Grade
10
Honors
Abigail
Ahern, Jordyn Anderson, Ronald Berry III, Jillian Burrows, Natasha
Canty, Sophia Chartier, Hjalmer DeVarney, Olivia Drew, Nicole
Durell, Jeremy Fenerty, Audrey Getman, Hannah Grady, Brianna Hanson,
Faith Hayes, Crystal Janvrin, Anthony Jones, Quinn Kelley, Alicia
Lee, Hannah Parker, Deborah Peabody, Ashley Perron, Jamie Pratt,
Amanda Riley, Haley Ruth, Katelynn Scannell, Amy Searing, Kassandra
Southwick, Jacquelyn Stevens, Joseph Stevens, Alexis Ure, Zachary
Wood
Grade 9
Highest
Honors
Chloe
Bettencourt, Molly Boodey, Elisabeth Danis, Erin Docko, Ryu Kondrup,
Cameron Lamarre, Kayla Patten, Zachary Rheaume, Holly Roman, Abigail
Turcotte
Grade 9
High
Honors
Hannah
Arroyo, Parker Aube, Alexa Beaulieu, Nicole Beaupre, Kayleigh
Bounds, Jared Carlson, Nathaniel Chagnon, Laura Cozine, Casey
Davies, Caleb Dowe, Jacob Dunkerley, Hayley Dunn, Megan Elwell,
Sydney Fisher, Christen Gallant, Tayla George, Lavender Goodwin,
Rosemary Goodwin, Emily Greene, Brittany Guillemette, Arianna
Gunderson, Michael Haddock, Sara Harris, Nicole Hodgdon, Lily Hunt,
Daphne Jordan, Samuel Koskela, Emily Kreps, Brooke Laskowsky, Fergus
Leclere, Bethany Levenson, Jolene Levesque, Damian May, Bryce
Mazzochi, Thomas Mellor, Ambar Mercedes, Jessica Miles, Brianna
O’Connor, Ryan Oliver, Blake Peterson, Jacob Pogorek, Bailey Poland,
Mackenzi Prina, Max Ravenelle, Carter Rollins, Meredith Roman,
Kaitlyn Ross, Megan Scannell, Tyler Schroeder, Kayleigh Sherman,
Andrew Shultz, Micah Sims, Megan Spainhower, Phaleap Taing, Emily
Therrien, Henry Turcotte, Hannah Woodward
Grade 9
Honors
Jacob
Bailey, Ryan Bailey, Hanna Bolduc, Hannah Carlson, Christie Clause,
David Coe, Julia Cormier, Devin Correia, Seanna DeMeritt, Bailey
Docko, Taylor Dow, Taylor Goodwin, Matthew Guckert, Claire Hammond,
Julia Harcourt, Cara LaPlante, Cortney Lewis, Jordan Lippmeier,
Grace Mele, Ian Melewski, Jared Neal, Hayley Pierce, Billie Pingree,
Ashley Reiff, Jake Scarponi, Liam Taylor, Drew Tessier, Andrew
Therrien, Mariah Valerio
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