Christmas By Design Fair
Come join us for Northwood Congregational Church’s annual
Christmas by Design fair on Saturday, November 3rd from 9-2 pm
in Fellowship Hall and adjacent rooms, at Northwood
Congregational Church 881 First NH Turnpike (next to
Coe-Brown).
We
will be serving popovers, homemade donuts and soup while
offering a variety of crafts, vendors, and Christmas decor to
help you get a start on your Christmas decorating and shopping.
There will also be homemade baked goods for sale and a gift
basket raffle.
Enjoy a free coffee or hot chocolate while you browse the
Christmas By Design fair!
4th Annual Soup’s On! - Now With Pie!
November 2nd, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Please join the Friends of the Chesley Memorial Library on
Friday, November 2nd, for our Soup’s On fundraising event that
offers a selection of hot, homemade soups, rolls, and beverages.
This year we are adding homemade pies, by the slice or as a
whole pie! Soup is served in to-go packaging so you can
enjoy it in the cozy Chesley Memorial Library or take it home
for later. Stop by for a tasty hot meal, some delightful
pie and help support the services our community relies upon!
The
Chesley Memorial Library is on the corner of Route 43 and the
1st NH Turnpike. All proceeds go to the Friends of the
Chesley Memorial Library for the support of Library services.
Letter To The Editor
As
a gun owner and hunter, I write to endorse David Coursin as a
candidate for the General Court especially for his sensible
approach to gun regulation.
Strengthened gun regulations don’t necessarily equate to taking
people’s guns away or breaching basic Second Amendment rights.
There’s plenty of room for reaching constructive solutions as
long as folks are willing to talk respectively and listen well.
For example, ensuring that all states fully contribute data to
the national data base used for background checks on gun
purchases just makes common and good sense. Let’s make the
existing mechanisms we’ve already got in place work better and
the way they were intended!
Some who oppose David have gone to extremes, such as creating a
fraudulent Facebook page designed to look as if David made it
and filling it with misrepresentations not at all reflecting
David’s views. The creator cowardly chose to remain
anonymous. What happened to basic fairness and decency in
the way we engage? The strength of our society and
democracy depends on our ability to have civil discourse.
Such tactics are contrary to the core principles of our
democracy and un-American.
David has a strong background for advancing other issues as
well. He’s courteous, smart, diplomatic, and a hard
worker. He listens carefully to others, and he talks
respectfully based on well researched fact. This is not a
guy who shoots first and aims later.
Although I happen to live in another nearby town, Gilmanton, I
nonetheless hope Northwood voters will elect David to our
legislature, so that his good common sense and decency can
benefit all New Hampshire residents.
Tom
Howe
Gilmanton Iron Works
Letter
Dear New Hampshire voters,
My
name is Christine and I’m writing in response to a letter to the
editor from Ted Wilkinson on 10/24/18. I am the woman that
the City of Gardner attempted to use to fire Terry Roy in 1997.
They used claims made by a jealous ex-boyfriend of mine,
attributed to me, to try and get me to sign a statement or get a
restraining order against Terry so they could fire him. It was
made known to me that he had made some powerful enemies when he
arrested a city councilman for drunken driving. I actually had
to hire a lawyer to get them to leave me alone. I will say now
as I said then, I never made those statements and Terry was
never threatening or abusive to me. To the contrary, he was
always a kind and gentlemanly guy. He was the kind of man who
held doors and pulled out chairs for me. The only mistake he
made was assuming the law applied equally to everyone whether
they were a city counselor or not.
Terry and I have remained distant friends over the years and I
am actually following his campaign, which is how I am aware of
this horrible attempt to ruin his campaign and reputation. Terry
is a good and honest man and will make a great representative.
He is not afraid to stand up to people like those that tried to
do this then and whoever is trying to do this to him now. I am
going to send a notarized statement of these comments to him in
case he needs them. The people doing this should be ashamed.
Don’t you even care that he has children and grandchildren that
were not even alive when all this happened? Do you really need
to win that badly? Do all his accomplishments mean nothing? He
is volunteering for no pay to represent you for God’s sake. I
hope this helps voters see that he really is a good person.
Christine Schweighauser
Formerly,
Christine Parmenter
Apple Season At Northwood School Kindergarten
Northwood kindergarteners making cider with Mr Tom Chase.
Last month Mrs Magnusson’s Kindergarteners learned all about
apples. During our lessons we discovered that each apple has a
star inside when it’s cut in half, Johnny Appleseed planted
seeds all across America, and it takes about 40 apples to make
one gallon of cider.
To
end our Apple unit, we were pleased to have a special visitor
join us! Tom Chase made his yearly visit to Northwood School to
make apple cider with the kindergarteners. “It doesn’t
just come in jugs from Hannaford,” he said.
The
children had a wonderful time placing apples into the hopper,
while Mr Chase turned the crank!
We
especially want to thank Appleview Farm in Pittsfield for
donating the apples. The children had a great time making and
sipping their cider!
This Weekend’s LRPA After Dark Feature:
1937’s “A Star Is Born”
Join Lakes Region Public Access Television at 10:30 p.m. this
Friday and Saturday night (November 2 & 3) for our “LRPA After
Dark” feature, 1937’s timeless melodrama “A Star Is Born,”
starring Janet Gaynor and Frederic March.
“A
Star Is Born” is the classic Hollywood film about the human toll
of celebrity, fame and fortune. The film’s storyline is so
enduring that it’s been made four times: our 1937 version;
1954’s adaptation, starring Judy Garland and James Mason; again
in 1976, with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson; and
2018’s critical and box office smash, starring Lady Gaga and
Bradley Cooper. Names and details change from one version to the
next, but the story of “A Star Is Born” essentially remains the
same – a young, gifted female performer meets and falls in love
with an older, male star, his career fading due to substance
abuse. He recognizes her talent and helps her achieve her goals,
only to see his own career fall as hers rises to the top. Soon,
self-destruction, jealousy and humiliation interfere with their
relationship. In this version, we meet Esther Blodgett (Gaynor),
a small-town girl from North Dakota who loves movies and movie
stars, particularly her matinee idol Norman Maine (March).
Esther reams about becoming a star herself one day. She takes
the train to Hollywood, where she finds that many other hopefuls
before her have their dreams dashed by the industry’s harsh
reality. By chance, she meets Norman Maine at a party, drunk and
misbehaving, but charming and persistent. He is smitten with
her, and finds a way to see her again. Norman helps Esther to
get a screen test, where her sincerity and wholesomeness shine,
and she’s offered a contract. After the studio’s publicity
department gets through with her, Esther is transformed into
“Vicki Lester” – and a star is born. For Vicki, the sky’s the
limit, but what will become of Norman and his fading career?
Every adaptation of this film has something to offer the movie
lover, and each film era has its own unique charms, but for many
fans and critics, the original 1937 version of “A Star Is Born”
is still the best. Filmed in wonderful early Technicolor and
directed by the legendary William Wellman, it was nominated for
six Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Story. March and
Gaynor, both of whom were nominated for the Oscar, give splendid
performances. About 1937’s “A Star Is Born,” critic Leonard
Matlin wrote, “Remakes haven’t dimmed the glow of this drama …
March and Gaynor are at their best.” If you’ve seen the latest
version with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, you owe it to
yourself to see the one that inspired it (and the ones that came
in between). So grab your popcorn and join LRPA after dark for
this classic Hollywood morality tale.
Tomb tours were at Northwood School again! Ms. Bechtold’s
6th grade students did such an amazing job on this project.
Tours of the Egyptian Tomb were given to students and families.
Everyone enjoyed going through the tomb and marveled at the
creativity of the handmade artifacts.
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy High School Information Nights
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy will be holding Information Nights
for parents who are interested in learning more about the
school. Although these nights are focused on Strafford,
Northwood, Nottingham, and Barrington, anyone is welcome to
attend either night. This is an opportunity to learn more about
the curriculum and what programs are available at Coe-Brown as
parents make their decisions about where to send their children
to high school. The night will include an information session
presented by the Administration and Guidance, opportunity to ask
questions, as well as a tour of the campus. The
Northwood/Strafford Night will be Thursday, November 1 at 6:30
and the Nottingham/Barrington Night will be Thursday, November 8
at 6:30 in the Gerrish Gym (main building).
Letter To The Editor
It’s unfortunate I need to write this. I’ve campaigned through
hundreds of open-minded discussions about serious issues facing
our town. I expected political disagreements about managing
those challenges. Instead, the political strategy to stop me has
been to repeat falsehoods of my ideas about gun ownership
The
loudest falsehood is my alleged plan to take away everyone’s
guns because of twelve items listed in my 3/4/2018 article. I
clearly stated the list is for those who want to actively lobby
for changes in gun policies. I urged readers to pick one that
motivates them. It’s not my personal list of anything.
Contrary to recent attacks by Ms. Dean, I never said it was. In
fact, she was upset that I didn’t think all were equally
helpful. She couldn’t hear that I included them anyhow because
they interested gun owners and non-owners.
Now
my attackers are calling me a liar. It’s a louder noise
meant to distract voters from stark realities. I favor accurate
background checks. My attackers say NH has all the gun safety
information we need.
NH
has never reported mental health records for background checks.
I’ve yet to meet a voter who isn’t disturbed to learn this. My
attackers insist gun violence is a mental health issue, yet they
oppose mental health reporting. They ignore restoring ownership
rights to patients who’ve recovered.
The
year 2016 saw 22,000 suicides by gun, including over 4,000
veterans. Isn’t it time to consider measures that could lower
these numbers? My attackers undermine these discussions.
They also want to distract from the fact that they have not
meaningfully addressed the opioid crisis, unequal school
funding, rising property taxes, FMLA, or affordable healthcare.
It’s hard to believe they don’t care at all, but they don’t care
enough.
David Coursin, MD
Democratic candidate for State Representative, Rockingham
County, District #1, Northwood.
Letter To The Editor
Next Tuesday we have an opportunity to choose representatives
that we send to Concord. This decision could have a big impact
on what we end up paying in property tax. Though the State of
New Hampshire has a constitutional obligation to fund and
“cherish” public schools (which has been reaffirmed many times
in court cases), it continues to inadequately fund education,
leaving town property tax payers to pick up the slack. The
average cost per student in New Hampshire runs north of $15,000
a year, yet the State only provides about $3,600. The rest
of the cost is borne by property owners via property tax.
For towns like Northwood with a low total property value, this
means a high tax rate for education -- even though we spend less
per student than the state average.
If
the State legislature would commit to providing a higher amount
of “adequacy” funding, we in Northwood (and other property-poor
communities) would see a significant drop in our tax bills.
It’s counterintuitive, but when we send “tax fighters” and
conservatives to Concord, they reduce the state budget, and the
costs for services fall back on the towns. It’s called
“downshifting” and it hits taxpayers in property-poor towns like
ours pretty hard.
This is why I support candidates David Coursin and Tom Chase.
They understand downshifting and will fight it at the state
level. Increasing the State’s aid for education would
quickly provide property-tax relief. It does seem
counterintuitive that electing someone with a ‘D’ next to their
name would reduce our taxes, but it will certainly help
Northwood. Not only that, but they are super-nice,
intelligent guys that listen to their constituents, and would do
a great job in Concord. Please join me in voting for
Coursin and Chase on November 6th.
Keith McGuigan
Letter To The Editor
I’m
responding to a letter from Ted Wilkinson in which he attempted
to raise the specter of a two-decade-old, third party allegation
of domestic violence against me, in apparent hopes that the mere
appearance of impropriety would turn voters against me. He
posted the same article in several places. He clearly didn’t
want answers, he wanted to smear. If he really wanted answers,
he could have asked me directly in person at the candidate’s
night (vs a vague question). If he didn’t like my response he
could have then informed the public.
Mr.
Wilkinson, it turns out, is the treasurer of the Northwood
Democratic Committee. It was recently revealed to me that a
member of the Deerfield Democrats, Maureen Mann, actually
referenced the same thing in a Facebook post several days
earlier. Coincidence?
What Mr. Wilkinson failed to mention is that the allegation was
made by a former boyfriend of a former girlfriend and was
quickly investigated by the Massachusetts State Police assigned
to the District Attorney’s Office and disproved. The alleged
victim denied all of it. The Democrat Mayor tried to fire me for
it anyway after I had recently arrested his friend, a city
councilman for DUI several months earlier. I fought it and
ultimately prevailed and my name and employment record were
cleared. I went on to have a successful career in both public
and private law enforcement.
The
bottom line is, I was never accused by a woman of domestic
violence in my life. One cannot however, help but notice a
recent pattern with the left. Smear your opponent and win power
at all costs. They have no message except higher taxes and open
borders. NH does deserve better, better than the politics of
personal destruction.
Terry Roy
Candidate for State Representative
Letter
To
my neighbors in Northwood,
In
2007, my wife Jen and I made the decision to purchase our first
home, and we began the daunting process of choosing where we
would raise our future family. In the end, we bought the house
we could afford, and it happened to be in Northwood. We gave
little thought to the town that surrounded our little oasis
then, but as we raised our two boys, and got involved in various
organizations, boards, and committees, we found ourselves paying
real attention to what was happening around us.
Eventually, we outgrew that first home and were faced with the
choice of staying in Northwood or leaving. One of the things
that cemented our decision to stay was the result of last
winter’s election. Our town showed a willingness to move away
from the status quo and elected individuals with progressive
thoughts on school funding, town governance, and exchanging “the
way we’ve always done it” for the way it should be done to best
serve the town and its residents.
David Coursin embodies that spirit of independent thought and
service as well as anyone I’ve ever met. I appreciate his
application of scientific methods to tackle the problems we are
facing in the Granite State. We must have frank conversations
about opioids, healthcare, and gun violence, and Dr. Coursin is
unafraid to tackle these tough topics. His opponent has been
largely quiet on many topics, and seems content to let a few
vocal supporters spread questionable information, personal
attacks, and outright lies online. However, that same faith in
the voters of Northwood that made us stay last spring, makes me
certain that out town will do its research and make an informed
decision before casting our votes for Representative on November
6th.
Matt Frye
Northwood
Letter To The Editor
Second Impressions
“How would we explain all this to a dispassionate,
extraterrestrial observer? What account would we give of our
stewardship of the planet earth?”
Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980
This question has stayed with me since I heard Carl Sagan ask it
38 years ago. While the probability of the nuclear war he feared
has diminished, the damage we are doing to our planet has
continued mostly unabated.
Writing in the New York Times (10/24), Dr. Gavin Schmidt,
Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says,
“Human activity has deforested, replanted and irrigated large
areas of land, added pollution to the skies, depleted the ozone
layer and, yes, changed the concentrations of key greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide levels are up 40
percent, methane has more than doubled, and we’ve introduced
some purely synthetic compounds that are many times more potent
than either of those but are – fortunately - present in lower,
but growing, concentrations.”
In
Science (10/12/18), I read that the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change warned this week that allowing the planet to
warm another .5ºC “could result in greater sea level rise; loss
of biodiversity; and increasingly severe storms, flooding and
drought.”
Duke atmospheric scientist Drew Shindell warns: “We have to
alter course immediately; no longer can we say the window for
action will close soon – we are here now.”
At
Northwood’s recent Candidates’ Night, Joe McCaffrey “came out”
as a climate change skeptic. With our ski and snowmobile
industries, leaf-peeking tourism and maple syrup production in
the balance, we do not need him in Concord weighing in against
science.
Vote for Dr. David Coursin.
Tom
Chase
not
speaking for, but member of
Northwood Conservation Commission
Candidate for Rockingham Co.
House District 32
Genealogy Databases/One-On-One Sessions
Discover your ancestors with Ancestry Library Edition and
HeritageQuest Online! Ancestry Library Edition is available at
the Chesley Memorial Library; HeritageQuest Online can be used
at the library and at home. Visit the library’s web site (chesleylib.com)
for instructions on how to access HeritageQuest Online from
home.
If
you need help navigating the genealogy databases, join local
amateur genealogist Nancy Borman for FREE one-on-one genealogy
sessions (beginning-level instruction) using Ancestry Library
Edition, HeritageQuest, and other sources. Please email Nancy at
[email protected]
to schedule your one-hour session at a mutually convenient time.
Sessions will be held at the Chesley Memorial Library.
If
you do not have email, call the library at 942-5472 and we will
forward your contact information to Nancy. Ancestry
Library Edition and Heritage Quest are both sponsored by the
Friends of the Northwood Libraries.
Letter To The Editor
Let’s bring back honesty and civility in political rhetoric. The
spreading of disinformation (intentionally false or inaccurate
information that is spread deliberately, an act of deception and
false statements to convince someone of untruth) has arrived in
Northwood - in the form of fake candidate signs displayed on
Route 4 and altered to accuse the candidate of something he is
NOT. If you claim something is true over and over, people might
begin to think it is true. That’s a tactic some “leaders” use to
spread lies. Is that what’s going on in Northwood? If someone
disagrees with a candidate’s ideas about supporting public
education, will we see fake signs with “Hates Children” above a
candidate’s name? I, for one, hope not. Words, truth and
civility matter.
I
encourage you to vote for David Coursin for Northwood’s State
Rep. He will represent us well with civility and thoughtful
ideas about important issues such as the opioid crisis, school
funding, and how to keep property taxes from rising out of
control.
Dana Hochgraf
Northwood