Rebecca
Ray, of Center Barnstead, has been named to the Dean’s List at
Western New England University for the Fall Semester of 2017. Ray is
working toward a degree in Marketing-Communication/Advertising.
Students are named to the Dean’s List for achieving a semester grade
point average of 3.30 or higher.
Congratulations, Rebeccca!
Barnstead Teachers’ Agreement
The BEA
and the Barnstead School Board have ratified a new proposed
agreement. Barnstead is the only district in the state that
does not use the traditional Step & Track form of compensation for
teachers. Instead, we utilize a Hiring Matrix for new hires
and a simple percent increase for existing staff. The current
Hiring Matrix has not been changed in four years. A comparison
to districts around us basically put us tied for the second lowest
starting salary in the region. Therefore, our initial efforts
were to make starting salaries more competitive and to keep the
salaries of our existing staff aligned with the new starting
salaries.
The
proposed agreement replaces the current health insurance plans with
two lower cost plans providing a savings to the district of $70,000
to $102,000 in the first year of the agreement. The actual
amount of savings will be determined once employees make their plan
selection during the open enrollment period. Using the higher
premiums to estimate the cost of the proposed contract, the net
increases to salaries and benefits over the first three years are
3.4%, 3.2%, and 3.3%. The goal of both parties was to keep
cost increases under 4.0%.
There
are additional, non-cost changes to the proposed agreement that
benefit the district. These will be discussed at the school
district meeting on March 24th. We urge you to attend this
meeting and support this proposed agreement.
Jamie Irving Appointed To Belknap County Conservation District Board
Jamie
Campbell Irving from Meredith was recently appointed to the Belknap
County Conservation District Board of Supervisors by the State
Conservation Commission. Donna Hepp, Conservation District
Chair said, “Jamie is a terrific addition to our Board. His
education and background in natural resource conservation and
passion for helping others match our mission well.”
Since
graduating high school in 1998, Jamie has lived and travelled
throughout the United States, Caribbean and Central America. After
briefly attending college in both Wyoming and Colorado, Jamie
returned to New Hampshire to finish an undergraduate degree in
environmental studies at Colby-Sawyer College. He continued on to
Antioch New England University for a Master of Science in
environmental resource management and administration. Jamie
has worked with and for a number of non-profit organizations focused
on conservation and/or environmental education and eco-literacy.
Most recently, Jamie worked with Hidden Resources, a San Diego
consulting company on composting initiatives on all scales, from
single user to municipal and city-wide programs. Jamie has
been on the Board of Directors for several other organizations
including the Merrimack Valley Assistance Program. Jamie currently
works with Watermark Marine Construction where he is responsible for
contracting construction projects in the Lakes Region and related
environmental permits. When Jamie isn’t working, he can be found
snorkeling or scuba diving most of the year in the lakes and rivers
of Central New Hampshire.
The
Belknap County Conservation District is led by a 5-person Board who
volunteer their time and expertise in natural resource science and
management, farming and forestry. BCCD has assisted landowners
and communities with conserving the County’s natural resources for
72 years. Projects coming up this year include stream
restoration work on Gunstock and Poorfarm Brooks, conservation
information programs for schools and communities including a March
14th Stream Restoration Workshop, a Spring Plant sale and gleaning
surplus produce from area farms and gardens for donation to local
food pantries. For more information about BCCD go to
www.belknapccd.org.
Local Farm To Train Farmers
And Grow Harvest For Families In Need
Willow
Brook Farm & Art Center Receives Grant to Launch New Program to
Connect Food Insecure Families with Locally Grown, Healthy Food
Willow
Brook Farm & Art Center (WBFAC) recently received a grant from the
New England Grassroots Environment Fund to bring sustainably grown
organic food to underserved local communities. The grant will
help support farmers in training to grow a range of fresh vegetables
this summer that will be distributed to over 50 food insecure
families.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) refers to a model that
connects farms more directly to communities by enabling consumers to
purchase shares of a farm’s harvest. During the growing
season, a farm CSA will typically distribute harvested vegetables
and other farm products each week to shareholders. “While the
CSA model has been a powerful way to encourage communities to
support their local farms, farm shares have traditionally have been
priced beyond the means of low income and food insecure families,”
said WBFAC Executive Director and farmer, Tim Gaudreau.
“Through this program, we aim to bridge that gap while also training
the next generation of young farmers.”
Price
is not the only barrier to having low income families access shares
of locally grown food. Knowing how to prepare new or unknown
vegetables can also be an obstacle. “We will overcome these
obstacles by offering shares to people in need and by inviting them
to get more engaged with the farm,” said Gaudreau. “Through
programs, events, and volunteer projects, we will provide uplifting
opportunities for food share recipient families to connect with the
farm and with each other, strengthening our community and fostering
healthy eating habits that will last well beyond the harvest.”
Founded
in 2014, WBFAC’s mission is to is to inspire environmental
responsibility and sustainability through permaculture, small-scale
organic farming and the arts. To date, WBFAC’s efforts have focused
on supporting its signature Beginning Farmer Fellowship.
During the two-year program, Fellows receive access to land,
housing, equipment, mentoring and training and a goal to gain
valuable hands on growing experience while they also incubate and
launch a viable farm business. The fellowship is designed to give
young farmers a leg up and help them prepare for successful careers
in sustainable farming.
“What
inspires me the most about this opportunity is that the Beginning
Farm Fellows, who have been supported by the community, will now
have an opportunity to return that goodwill by feeding people in
need,” said Gaudreau. “This program will be the Fellows way to
pay forward the experience they are receiving to benefit others.”
WBFAC
will partner with local food pantries in Barnstead and its
neighboring communities to identify families that can benefit from
the farm shares. While the New England Grassroots Environment
Fund Grant will fund the purchase seeds and supplies to grow this
year’s crops, WBFAC needs an additional $13,000 to realize its
vision to provide food to 50 families in need. To learn more about
the program and to offer your support, go here
http://willowbrookfarmnh.org/donation/2018_csa/.
About
Willow Brook Farm & Art Center
Willow
Brook Farm is a not-for-profit, organic farm and permaculture
homestead that seeks to educate the community in sustainable living
and engage people to learn and adopt alternative skills that lead to
healthier lifestyles and communities. We strive to use the power of
example, educational outreach and public arts to redefine the human
relationship to nature. We support beginning farmers through farming
residency fellowships and apprenticeships. We support
environmentally based artists with residency fellowships and
commissions. Our Mission is to inspire environmental responsibility
and sustainability through permaculture, small-scale organic farming
and the arts. For more information visit
www.willowbrookfarmnh.org or
call 603-957-1422.
About
the New England Grassroots Environment Fund
The New
England Grassroots Environment Fund energizes and nurtures long-term
civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain
healthy, just, safe and sustainable communities using stories, tools
and dollars to fuel local activism and social change. Since 1996,
the Grassroots Fund’s core grant making program continues to fund
nearly 150 grants annually, giving more than $4 million in 20 years
to more than 2,000 community groups and initiatives covering more
than 60 percent of New England’s cities and towns. For more
information, please visit www.grassrootsfund.org or
call 603-905-9915.
Congressional Candidate Lincoln Soldati To Speak In Barnstead
Local
Democrats and left-leaning Independents are invited to the March
meeting of the Tri-Town Democrats on Monday, 3/5 to hear
Congressional District 1 Lincoln Soldati speak.
Lincoln
Soldati is a New Hampshire native, veteran, husband, father of four,
and grandfather of two. Lincoln has spent over 20 years in public
office at the local and county level – most notably serving 9 terms
as Strafford County Attorney, as well as serving on the Somersworth
School Board, the Somersworth Charter Commission, and as the Mayor
of Somersworth. As Strafford County Attorney, Lincoln created the
Victim Assistance protocol which has become the state standard for
prosecutions and investigations into sexual assault and child abuse
cases.
The
guest speaker will be followed by action items and community
organizing as well as a caucus election for Vice-Chair and Treasurer
of the Barnstead Democrats. All registered Democrats in Barnstead
are eligible to vote in the caucus election.
This
meeting of the Tri-Town Democrats of Barnstead, Gilmanton, and Alton
will be held at the Barnstead Town Hall at 108 South Barnstead Road
in Barnstead. Come for socializing and potluck any time between 6:15
pm and 6:30 pm. The meeting runs from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm.
The
meeting is open to any and all residents of Barnstead, Alton, and
Gilmanton who consider themselves moderate, liberal, or progressive
Democrats or like-minded Independents. Potluck items to share are
encouraged but not required. For more information, email
[email protected] or
visit the “Barnstead, Gilmanton, and Alton Democrats” Facebook page.
Letter To The Editor
My name
is Lyla Adkins. I’d appreciate your vote for the two-year school
board seat. I’ve lived in Barnstead since 2000, and have two
daughters at BES who are in fourth and eighth grades. I’ve served on
the school board for the past three years. Additionally, I’ve
been a Girl Scout leader, a member of the Parks and Recreation
Commission, a PTO volunteer and former board member, and organized
the town’s summer concerts for the past five years.
The
children of our community are important to me. I want them to
receive a variety of educational opportunities in an environment
that is safe, supportive and progressive. I support our educators,
and want to be sure that we are doing everything possible to hire
and retain the best staff members. I want to be involved in
taking measures to ensure that our school facilities are adequate,
appropriate, safe and secure. I want to support our
administration in the development of curriculum guidelines. It has
been a pleasure working with our superintendent, Dr. Brian Cochrane.
I am encouraged and inspired by his professionalism, leadership,
insight, and initiative.
In my
three years, I served on both BES’s Space Needs and Strategic
Planning committees. At PMHS, I served on the Professional
Development Committee and the Policy Committee. If re-elected,
I intend to serve on the BES Budget Committee, and will be
continuing on the Space Needs Committee, so that we may find a
solution to our space issues that is both reasonable and forward
thinking. I bring to the board a positive, friendly, and
collaborative attitude, as well as an open mind to discussion on all
topics that come before us.
I look
forward to the opportunity to continue to serve our children and our
community. I thank you for your support.
PMHS Drama Club Presents This Business of Murder
Prospect Mountain High School (PMHS) Drama Club will stage This
Business of Murder, a murder/mystery dinner theater experience on
March 22, 23, and 24 at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15
for students and senior citizens and can be purchased by visiting
the PMHS Main Office 9:00 am-3:30 pm Monday-Friday, now - March 5,
or the PMHS Box Office 4:30-6:30 pm Monday-Thursday, now-March 1,
and March 5. Because of the dinner, all tickets must be purchased in
advance. There will be no tickets sold at the door. The deadline for
ticket sales is March 5th. Dinner selections made at the time of
ticket purchase.
A
murder/mystery play with audience interaction is a departure for the
PMHS Drama Club, whose members have participated in larger musical
productions in the recent past. Max DeRoche, a senior, says his time
with the club has had “ups and downs.” This production is his third
at PMHS. Two years ago DeRoche played Maurice in Beauty and the
Beast and last year he was General Genghis Khan Schmitz in
Seussical. He remarks on the range of these characters, “It’s been
challenging going from playing a frail man to a bombastic general.
Nick Brewer is somewhere in the middle. I have really enjoyed
working on stage productions much more than I thought I would. I am
really going to miss it.”
Senior
Brittany Rogers has been involved with the PMHS Acting Club for four
years, but didn’t audition for a play until this year. Last year she
was called upon to play a Wickersham in Seussical and found she
really liked the stage. She is looking forward to this year’s
production and enjoying playing Victoria, the less “loopy” one of
the Sweetener Sisters. “Interactive participation for the audience
makes it more of an experience. Everyone wants to have their say,”
(regarding who committed the murder). She is enjoying working with
the cast as well. “There are beautiful people here. We have really
good chemistry in this play in particular.” This Business of Murder
will be her last play at PMHS. “It’s bittersweet to part from PMHS,
if I could find one word for it. I’ve been in Alton all my life.
It’s weird thinking of going somewhere else.”
Another
senior in this year’s production is Garrett Sherwood, who is also
relatively new to the stage. His previous performance was also as a
Wickersham in Seussical last year. “I never thought about acting
until last year’s play. I absolutely love being on stage.” He is
playing Inspector John Sherlock in This Business of Murder. “I get
to play this stern, monotone Inspector this year. I have to sell it.
My role is to antagonize the characters by making these suggestions,
and keep the audience guessing about who could have done it,” (the
murder). Sherwood says he has accepted that he will be leaving PMHS
in a few months but he plans to continue to working on plays. “It’s
been a great opportunity - being the entertainment. It’s something I
want to feel and do the rest of my life. I definitely enjoyed PMHS.
It was time worth spending.”
Obituaries
Levi N.
Parry
Levi N.
Parry, 61 of Pembroke, passed away on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 at
his residence.
Born on
November 14, 1956 in Cavendish, VT he was the son of the late
Everett D. and Gladys A. (French) Parry.
Levi
was employed for a time with O’Reilly Auto Parts as a driver. He
enjoyed playing his guitar, playing online pool, going out on the
water in the Canoe and being a Papa to his grandson Julian.
Besides
his parents, he was predeceased by three sisters, Whanitta Sheetz,
Charlotte “Tootsie” Lynch and Charlene Chase-Murray.
He is
survived by his wife of 40 years, Dorothy “Dot” (Nault) Parry of
Pembroke; daughter, Amber Caron and her husband James of Center
Barnstead; son, Krystopher Parry of Columbia, SC; siblings, Theodore
“Rusty” and his wife Molly “Booth” Parry of Allenstown, Howard Parry
of Springfield, VT, Barbara Elliot of Deltona, FL, Wayne Parry of
Cornish, Lee Parry of Henniker and Richard Parry and his wife Terry
of Springfield, VT; one grandson Julian Caron, as well as numerous
nieces, nephews and cousins.
A
Celebration of Life will be held at the convenience of the family.
Assisting the family with arrangements is the Petit-Roan Funeral
Home in Pembroke. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please
visit www.petitroan.com
Charles
“Chip” Elliott
BARNSTEAD – Charles “Chip” Elliott, 63, of Barnstead, passed away
unexpectedly on Monday, February 19, 2018 at Concord Hospital.
Born on
March 22, 1954 in Concord, NH, he was the son of the late Earl and
Molly (Harper) Elliott.
Chip
was employed for the last 30 years by Eckman Construction in Bedford
as a Construction Superintendent. Unlike alot of people who went to
work because they had to Chip went to work because he loved to. Mark
Walsh and all the Eckman family meant a lot to him. He was often
called a work-a-holic. If he wasn’t working on one of his properties
he could be found at someone elses house always wanting to lend a
hand.
He is
survived by his wife of 35 years, Anita (Coughlan) Elliott of
Barnstead; children include: Kyle James Elliott, Steve Summa, Heidi
Elliott, Ashley Elliott, Joe Clement & Katie Wood. His siblings
include: Richard Elliott, Dana Elliott and wife Lorie, James Elliott
and wife Joan. There are many nieces & nephews, as well as 3 beloved
grandchildren.
Chip
loved to hike, travel, golf, camp; he was an all around outdoorsman.
Anita and Chip shared a special love for the ocean, and will always
cherish memories of Jamaica, a special place for Chip.
A
Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, March 3rd from 1 to 4
PM at the Alton American Legion, 164 Wolfeboro Highway, Alton. The
Still Oaks Funeral & Memorial Home of Epsom is assisting the family
with arrangements. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please
visit www.stilloaks.com.
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