Letter To The Editor
The
next meeting of the Northwood Democrats will be Wednesday, Dec.
20, at 7pm at the Community Hall in Northwood Narrows.
Given the recent and on-going events of sexual harassment, etc.,
we have invited Grace Mattern to lead a discussion. Recently
retired, Grace, a poet and writer who lives in Northwood, was
the long-serving Executive Director of the N.H. Coalition
Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.
She
recently published an opinion piece in the Concord Monitor,
“Cutting the roots of sexual abuse.”
www.concordmonitor.com/Cutting-the-roots-of-sexual-assault-14055063
Please join us for this discussion.
Tom
Chase, Vice Chair
Northwood Democrats
The
Northwood CrankPullers Snowmobile Club would like to
congratulate all those young adults who completed this year’s
Safety program and a special thank you to the parents for taking
the time to bring them. And, as a reminder our Club is
always looking for new members and we appreciate our many
landowners. Let’s hope for a very snowy season.
Letter To The Editor
The
Northwood School Strategic Planning Committee held a community
feedback session on November 29th and invited anyone interested
to attend and provide feedback to be directly used to develop a
strategic plan.
The
planning committee hung a piece of paper on the wall at the
beginning of the meeting and wrote: “The Northwood School will
engage and inspire lifelong learners to become globally aware
and prepared to take their next step.” This was presented while
Jim Vaillancourt read a comprehensive list of potential careers
and opportunities that our kids will have, some of which might
not even exist yet. It was refreshing to hear this level of
thought going in to the strategic planning process.
We
were then presented with a series of questions and asked to sit
at the table representing the question we were most interested
in addressing with a later opportunity to provide input on all
other questions. I had the pleasure of sitting with Principal
Young and Dr. Gadomski, along with other members of the
community. We talked about creating an environment where
people would want to come to work along with developing culture
that drives positive growth.
This is clearly a school on the rise and we have a motivated
group of administrators, teachers, and school board members
interested in making this school even better and truly care
about kids on both a short-term and long-term time scale.
Bringing the community in on the strategic planning process is a
great idea and I am excited to see this process continue to come
together.
As
we move into the holiday season I am thankful to have so many
motivated people helping our children to become lifelong
learners who truly will be prepared to take their next step.
Sincerely,
Ryan P. Hanavan
This Weekend’s LRPA After Dark Feature: 1980’s “A Christmas
Without Snow”
Join Lakes Region Public Access Television at 10:30 p.m. this
Friday and Saturday night (December 15 & 16) for our “LRPA After
Dark” presentation of 1980’s made-for TV Christmas movie “A
Christmas Without Snow,” starring Michael Learned and John
Houseman.
Zoe
Jensen (Learned) moves to San Francisco to restart her life
after her divorce. She joins a local church choir in hopes
of connecting with new people, but runs into personality
conflicts with the gruff, demanding choirmaster Ephraim Adams
(Houseman), who has been hired to whip the choir into shape to
perform Handel’s Messiah for a Christmas concert. Zoe struggles
to find a job, a home, and her way in this new life. In
the meantime, the viewer meets many members of the choir who are
working through their own issues, including racism, ageism,
single parenthood, and change. Will the choir overcome these
obstacles to perform at the Christmas concert? “A Christmas
Without Snow” is very rarely seen tele-movie that celebrates the
season – and life—with warmth, heart and humor. So grab your
popcorn and meet us after dark for this wonderful holiday treat.
Join LRPA After Dark as we celebrate the holidays all month
long:
December 22 & 23: 1935’s “Scrooge” followed by Christmas
cartoons
December 29 & 30: 1941’s “Meet John Doe”
And
on Monday December 25: a day of family-friendly holiday movies,
shows and cartoons!
Letter To Editor
The
new swap shop building will be delivered March 5, Eversource
will be putting a pole in for electricity and an outside light
for the area. We are getting a truck body for storing
fluorescent bulbs, electronics and batteries. The storage unit
will be placed at the refrigerator area. This will keep all of
the things in one area so it is more accessible to the
attendants and the public.
Even after the building is delivered there will be much work to
do. There is a signup sheet at the swap shop for anyone who
would like to lend a hand. The building will have to be wired,
insulation has to be installed, walls and ceilings need to be
done and many more projects but it will worth it. The more we do
ourselves the less it will cost and if we work on this together
it will be a source of pride for all of us.
AMI
Graphics in Strafford has generously donated three signs to the
project. One for the swap shop, one for bulbs and one for
batteries. My husband Ron will be making frames for them and
I’ll be painting them. May as well make them look pretty!
John Towers has also generously donated one of his great docks
to be used at the entrance to the swap shop. This will be placed
at the door directly on the ground so it’s just one step up and
secured to the building. The generosity of others deserves a
very large thank you.
One
more thing, if you get the chance to stop at the town hall,
check out the main hall. Our Recreation Director Sharon DeLuca
decorated it for Christmas and she did a great job. It looks
wonderful.
Till Next Time,
Viena Dow
Letter To Editor
To
the Editor,
I
want to bring up the firing of our wonderful Town Administrator
and the leaving of our School Superintendent. I am sad to
say no lessons were learned. On Monday night the Joint Board of
SAU met. Stupidity, I was in the hospital recovering from a
chain saw accident. The meeting which included only 1 from
Northwood and 7 others (8 of 15, barely a legal quorum) elected
to offer someone the job. They were supposed to talk about a
search for our next superintendent, how far to cast our loop
(most are coming from out of state), instead they panicked and
took the easiest way out for themselves. History repeated.
I
am so sorry that Joe Gunter was fired. He is a good and
honorable man who has done a lot to bring back “community” to
Northwood. The two selectmen who did this have floated many
ridiculous reasons for their action. Not so. You have one
selectman, that going back years has made it a practice to
become friends with our town administrators. All but one that
is. Those friendships have heavily interfered with the
management of our town. Feelings of being left out of the loop
have now cost by my count four town administrators and partially
one selectman their jobs. History repeated.
Dr.
Gadomski, in his interview process, said that he
would treat board members equally, that the answers and
questions from individual members outside of meetings would go
out to all board members. If he had put that practice in play, I
believe he would have retired years from now after a wonderful
career with us.
It’s not my job, but my advice to these two, treat all of your
future board members equally and don’t let one or two draw you
in.
Tim
Jandebeur
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
I
wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Northwood School
Board, administrators, Joe Miller, and others involved with
hosting the strategic planning forum. In particular, School
Board member Bree Gunter did an excellent job welcoming the
community into the conversation, and Jim Vallancourt expertly
explained the complex layers of thinking behind the school’s
newly adopted and simply stated mission statement. This is
exactly the kind of outreach that makes the school a public
good, and was a great step for the community to take.
I
was fortunate to sit among thoughtful community members with
numerous great ideas for continuing to improve the Northwood
School. We were deeply impressed by the school’s principal,
Jocelyn Young, and the district superintendent, Robert Godomski.
After listening to contributions from the community, Mr.
Godomski went on to add one good idea after another after
another, many of which would be free and easy to implement. It
was clear to me that Mr. Godomski cares very much about the
school community, that he’s practically bursting at the seams
with good ideas, and that the school is absolutely going in the
right direction. It’s a shame that we are losing such an
impressive superintendent, and that a marginal minority, which
has brought nothing positive to the school or the community,
have successfully harassed the man into leaving. Any reader of
The Sun knows that they’ve been making up a story about how
terrible of a school we have and they’re working hard to make it
a reality. I’m not so naïve as to say that the school is
perfect, but let’s work with what is going well and bring
contributions to the conversation, not just irrational
complaints. It’s too late for Mr. Godomski, let’s not push other
talents away.
Brian Winslow
Letter To The Editor
Below is a letter I read at the Selectmen’s meeting at the
Northwood Town Hall. A group of about thirty people were at the
meeting to protest the recent abrupt firing, without stated
cause, of Town Manager, Joe Gunter. I was just one of several
who spoke requesting a reconsideration of their action.
My
name is Joann Bailey. I have been a voting citizen of Northwood
since 1951.
I’m
here tonight to urge you, selectmen of Northwood, to reconsider
your vote to fire Joe Gunter.
I
am not alone in believing you’ve thrown away a good man. He
deserves a second chance.
Joe
is young, energetic, and smart. He’s a doer. He came to town
believing he could be a good town manager. He bought a house
here in town. He’s here, participating in our community.
Of
course he’s made mistakes. There’s not a person in this room who
has not.
As
selectmen, you were elected to act in the best interests of this
town, to work with, not against, all members of the various
boards and departments. You are employers and should be
following regularly accepted standards of employer/employee
relationships.
Come on, be good small town officials. Give Joe Gunter a second
chance. After all, ‘tis the season of good will to all men.
Joan Bailey
Northwood
Nicholas Shutt Memorial Fund
Nicholas Shutt, 18 of Northwood passed away suddenly following
complications from an asthma emergency. Nick was a 2017 graduate
of Coe-Brown Northwood Academy.
A
fund has been established at TD Bank Northwood branch to assist
the family during this difficult time. All donations are
appreciated and may be given to the fund at the branch office;
checks may be mailed to Shutt Fund, PO Box 37, Northwood, NH
03261
Christmas At The Northwood Congregational Church
All
are welcome to join the Northwood Congregational Church this
Christmas season. At 4:00 pm on December 17 we will gather
at the church at 881 First NH Turnpike (next to Coe Brown
Academy) for Christmas Caroling. Together we will visit
home-bound friends with the gift of Christmas music.
On
Christmas Eve, December 24 we will be having three separate
services.
Worship and Children’s Pageant ~ 9 am
We
will be having worship at our usual time with readings and
carols. The children will help us remember the story of
the first Christmas as they perform a Christmas pageant.
Candlelight Service ~ 7 pm
At
our evening service we will worship with candlelight and song.
The choir will sing and we will wonder at the spread of light
from person to person as we sing familiar carols.
Christmas Communion ~ 11 pm
During these last moments of Christmas Eve we will hear the
solemn words, sing joyous carols and share the sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper. The candlelight will shine through
the night as we greet the coming of Christmas together.
