Equinox Celebration
Berakah is hosting an Equinox Celebration on Friday, March 21, 6:30
- 8 p.m. This is an opportunity for all to greet the coming of
Spring in a meaningful and creative manner.
Participants will observe the glow of the sunset, learn about the
lives of woods frogs, salamanders and woodcocks, enjoy the warmth of
a fire and tea or hot chocolate.
Led by Denise Turcotte, csc Free will offering. Call
435-7271 or email [email protected] to register.
The Suncook Valley Rotary Club, aka Pittsfield Rotary Club is
pleased to announce that Rob Freese, Senior Vice President of Globe
Manufacturing, will be the club’s guest speaker at their March 19th
meeting.
Mr. Freese will talk about the history of Globe Manufacturing and
weave in other business related topics of interest.
The Rotarians welcome members of the public to this event being held
on March 19th at the Pittsfield Community Center - 6:50 pm doors
open, speaker begins promptly at 7pm.
For more information, contact Donna Keeley at
[email protected]
Play Ball!
It’s not too late.
Pittsfield Youth Sports would like to announce softball and baseball
tryouts for girls and boys aged 4-12. Tryouts will be held in the
Pittsfield High School on Saturday March 15th from 10-4. Times:
10-11 T-Ball (Age 4-6), 11-12 Rookie Girls (Age 7-8), 12-1 Minor
and Major Girls (Age 9-12), 1-2 Rookie Boys (Age 7-8), 2-4 Minor and
Major Boys (Age 9-12). If your child is new to the program, please
bring a copy of his/her birth certificate to signups. If you have
questions, please contact Jesse MacGlashing at 724-7528
Wacky Songs That Made Us Laugh
10:30 am Tuesday March, 25, 2014
Pittsfield Area Senior Center
Laughter has always been used to reduce tension, help forget
troubles, and vent frustrations. The advent of the phonograph,
followed soon by radio broadcasting, allowed songwriters to pen
humorous songs in hopes of nationwide exposure. Since then, many
novelty songs have become hits. This program includes excerpts from
about 30 side-splitting original recordings from the 1920s to the
1980s and relates them to the categories from which their humor was
drawn. Songs include: My Wife Is on a Diet (1929) – Billy Murray
and Walter Scanlon, The Old Gray Mare Is Back Where She Used To Be
(1943) – Carson Robison, I’m My Own Grandpa (1948) – Tony Pastor,
How Much Is That Hound Dog in the Window (1953) – Homer and Jethro,
Dropkick Me, Jesus (Through the Goalposts of Life) (1976) - Bobby
Bare, and Viagra Honeymoon – Smokey Greene.
Independent scholar Calvin Knickerbocker will present this engaging
program, which is funded by the NH Humanities Council. The program
is free and open to the public. A luncheon will follow the
performance, if you plan to stay for lunch please call 435-8482 to
make a reservation.
Meet Our Members - EMT-Intermediate Jim Girard
Next up
in Pittsfield Fire Department’s “Meet Our Members” series is
EMT-Intermediate Jim Girard. Capt. Girard has been a
full-time staff member for 10 years and was appointed to the
position of EMS Captain one year ago.
Q: How long have you been a firefighter/EMT? How did you get into
this career and what is your background?
A: It’s kind of hard to say exactly how long I have been a
firefighter/EMT since I was born into the fire service 31 years ago.
My father was a career firefighter in St. Albans VT at the time and
my parents tell stories of me always hanging out at the fire station
with my father and going on calls. My father was also a member of
the Swanton Village Fire Department in VT and he currently is the
Fire Chief. This is the department where I got my start and I
learned how strong of a brotherhood the fire service truly is. I was
involved in many community groups, but being an Explorer on the fire
department was where I devoted much of my time. I took my
Firefighter 1 during my senior year of high school and was not
allowed by my parents to respond on calls until I officially
graduated in June even though I was appointed to full member status
of the fire department when I turned 18 in April.
When I graduated high school I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to
do. I had three different career choices in mind and had been
accepted into three different colleges. I finally made my mind up
once I had been accepted to be a live-in student with the Gilmanton
Fire Department while I attended the NH Community Technical College
at the time, now the school is known as Lakes Region Community
College. I lived in the fire house with four roommates for two years
while I attended college. This experience was amazing and I would do
it all over again. We worked with the full-time staff and call
members of the department on calls and trainings. This helped me
gain a great amount of experience and knowledge. I graduated with an
Associate’s Degree in Applied Fire Science. Just recently I have
started to look into bachelor degree programs to further my
education.
Eventually I met my wife Lyndi who I have been happily married to
for 10 years. Lyndi has been a strong supporter of my career and
goals. We bought a home in Belmont, and started a family 5 years ago
when we had our twin boys Benjamin and Ethan. They keep me on the go
and already are addicted to the fire department like their father
and grandfather.
In the 10 years of working here in Pittsfield I have been a part of
many different projects. I was the head Explorer Post advisor for
seven years; I have been the chairman of two replacement ambulance
committees, and was also part of the new forestry truck committee. I
am the CPR instructor for the department and I am always teaching
CPR to different groups within the community. The town of Pittsfield
and its residents is what makes me want to come to work every day.
Not many people can be proud of what they do and be proud of where
they work.
Q: You are a member of other departments. What is your role with
them?
A: I am a member of a couple of fire departments; I am a call
lieutenant with the Belmont Fire Department and have been there for
10 years. I work directly under one of the full-time lieutenants and
supervise six call members. Belmont is a very busy department and if
I am on a day off from Pittsfield I am probably running calls in
Belmont. Eight years ago I started working as a per-diem
firefighter/EMT in the town of Farmington to make some extra money.
Well, I am now one of the senior members of the department and work
a 24-hour shift there every week. I was involved in helping them
design and purchase their newest ambulance due to my back ground
with doing this here in Pittsfield.
Q: Do you have a department related goal?
A: As a goal, I would like to see the Pittsfield Fire Department
members provide the best customer service possible to the residents
of Pittsfield and surrounding communities. The members of the
department are proud of what we do and we take this job very
serious. To meet this goal it involves members attending
trainings/courses to stay up to date with skills and techniques,
actively participate in community education programs and community
events. I feel it is very important that we take pride and ownership
in what we do and I want the community to see this as well.
Letter To The Editor
Dear Editor,
Since everyone reads the Sun, I would like to use this method to
publicly thank the New Hampshire Astronomical Society and the Josiah
Carpenter Library for the interesting evening my husband and I had
with our family using a telescope.
The NH Astronomical Society has donated a tabletop reflector
telescope to the library that can be checked out by patrons of the
Josiah Carpenter Library. I made reservations at the library to
check out the telescope for the week end when we were going to have
dinner with our children and grandchildren. Before and after dinner
various family members examined both the telescope and the sky.
Though the wintery sky limited what were able to view, all of us
got a good look at the moon. The material that came with the
telescope helped us understand both the telescope and the things we
could possibly see in the sky.
Thank you to both the Astronomical Society and the Josiah Carpenter
Library. I plan to check the telescope out again in the late
spring. Perhaps the snowy sky will be cleared up by then.
Sincerely,
Judith G MacLellan
Letter To The Editor
I read in The Sun recently that the Select board were looking for
volunteers to serve on a panel to hire a new Town Administrator. I
believed that I had the qualifications and experience to be a
valuable part of this committee as I had during my thirty year
tenure as town clerk/tax collector seen (10) administrators move
through the town. I submitted my application hoping that I would at
least be considered. Well: guess what I didn’t get chosen. Ms.
Small made the motion to approve me, however, she voted no. The
minutes indicated that they wanted people familiar with the town, I
guess I didn’t qualify. I found this interesting especially when
some of the applicants had very little experience but were chosen
anyway. This is in no way meant to be negative to anyone as a few
of those chosen are deserving of the appointment.
I thank the two members of the board who felt I was worthy of
serving on the panel and to the others, personalities should not
have entered into my selection. Apparently knowledge, experence and
dedication didn’t matter at all. Should I be surprised?
No, especially after a few months prior my husband applied to serve
on the Fire Chief’s selection committee, he didn’t get chosen. What
a surprise. In his case fifty years of firefighting with seventeen
as chief didn’t matter either. I consider this a slap in the face
to us both.
I am sure that in the future there will be other committees or
boards that need volunteers. I will continue to apply and perhaps
sometime I will get chosen. In the mean time I can only conclude
that it must be the NAME.
Elizabeth A. Hast
“It’s A Tragedy”
The Pittsfield Players Present “Dearly Departed"
Megan Rohrbacher as Juanita, Kat
Abdelwahid as Lucille, Gerri Casey as Aunt Marguerite and Emily
Lawson as Suzanne pick apart Bernice Talbot at Daddy Bud’s wake.
Zach Shea as the Reverend Beverly Hooker
The only real tragedy will be if you don’t come see this show.
“Dearly Departed,” directed by Meggin Dail and Jay Sydow, is a
laugh-out-loud comedy that is sure to cure your winter blues. It’s
100 degrees in the shade and poor daddy Bud, (played by Dick Colman
and understudied by Mike Hobson) who has just ‘passed on’ is
“melting like a candle out here!” as Aunt Marguerite, played by
Gerri Casey, so delicately puts it.
The Turpin family has just lost one of their own and now must come
together “hell or high water” to stage the funeral. Broke, Junior,
played by Lend Me a Tenor’s Greg Parker, wants to “spare no expense”
because his big brother, Ray-Bud, played by Ross Morse is footing
the bill. Junior’s wife, Suzanne, played by Emily Lawson, has her
own issues with Junior when he spends their life savings on a
parking lot machine. Poor Lucille, played by Kat Abdelwahid, can’t
have any children and Nadine, played by newcomer Cyndi Dame, has
eight of them, all named after famous people. Clyde, played by Mike
Towle, has a brother in the demolition business and Royce, played by
Ernie Bass was in the sewerage division, until recently. When
Raynelle, the matriarch, played by Nella Hobson, discusses funereal
plans with the Reverend Hooker, played by Zach Shea, (graduate of
The Actor’s Studio, NYC) she doesn’t have a single good word for her
deceased partner. But no fear, her young daughter, Delightful,
played by Hallah Abdelwahid, will keep her company and in grocery
bills.
Enter Veda, played by Megan Rohrbacher and Norval, played by
Jonathan Babon, remind us that we’re lucky to have one another, even
when we forget that “other” is on the porch in his wheelchair and he
gets eaten alive by the mosquitoes. Last but not least, Juanita,
also played by Megan Rohrbacher, just sits back and lets “the Juicy
Fruit take it’s effect” and is a comfort to us all.
Dearly Departed is at The Scenic Theatre, home of The
Pittsfield Players on 6 Depot Street, Pittsfield, NH . Tickets, $12,
are available by calling (603) 435-8852, or via the Pittsfield
Players website
www.pittsfieldplayers.com or at the door
the nights of the shows, March 14, 15, 21, and 22 at 7:30 PM and
March 16 at 2PM. Visit us on facebook for last minute updates.
Pittsfield’s Greatest Estate: The Fairview Property
Submitted By Larry Berkson
Originally the Frank B. Berry House, this picture may have
been taken when it was called Grand View House and owned by Frank E.
Sanborn.
The new building erected by William H. White after the fire
of 1896. He called his estate Maplehurst.
The building as it looked when owned by Albert E. Wentworth
before the fire in 1896.
In recent months several people have expressed concern about the
long-term survival of White’s Pond. The State has deemed it a
private pond with property owners being responsible for the dike and
dam at the outlet. The State’s main concern is that it may not have
the discharge capacity to handle a 100 year storm event. The
situation was exacerbated in April 2007 when a massive flood
resulted in water overflowing the abutments. In April of 2012 the
Department of Environmental Services submitted a letter to the
Winsunvale Shores Homeowners Association noting seven deficiencies.
Five have been corrected.
Two phases remain. The first requires the Association (1) to update
the hydrology test of 2006, (2) perform a detailed inspection and
engineering assessment of the entire dam, and (3) provide an
engineering solution for the dam so that it can handle a 100 year
storm event. The Association has hired an engineering firm to
update the hydrology test and develop engineering plans to detail
what needs to be done to bring the dam into compliance with State
regulations. This phase of the project will begin this spring.
The next phase is to either implement the findings and reconstruct
or modify the dam or remove it so that it is brought into compliance
with State requirements by November 1, 2017.
Naturally, all of this work will cost a considerable amount of
money, much more than the Association can raise on its own.
Fundraising efforts are underway to help support the project and
insure that the pond will be here for generations to come. For
example, the Congregational Church is holding a benefit supper on
Saturday, March 15 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. At the supper there will be
a bake sale and silent auction with great prizes such as a lobster
dinner for two at the Weathervane and tickets to the Capitol Center
for the Arts. Other donations may be sent to Winsunvale Shores
Homeowners Association, PO Box 395, Pittsfield, New Hampshire 03263.
The pond has been an integral part of the town since 1899. Just how
integral is probably not known by most residents. In fact, for all
but the last couple of decades, it was part of the greatest estate
ever developed in Pittsfield. Its significance cannot be overstated.
The following series of articles places the pond in context and
illustrates the important role that it has played in Pittsfield’s
history.
Part I:
The Dwelling Houses And Owners Before 1930
Most people in Pittsfield are aware of the large set of buildings at
the end of Fairview Road near Catamount Road. Far fewer are likely
to know that in the days of yesteryear it was one of the largest and
most well-known estates in this part of New Hampshire. The property
known today as Berakah has a long and eventful history. The purpose
of this six-part series is to relate this much-under told story.
The Durgin House
The first house on the site was erected about 1793 by Revolutionary
War soldier Eliphalet Durgin. He was from Durham and served in
Colonel Enoch Poor’s Regiment under Captain Winborn Adams. Mr.
Durgin married Betsey Brock and had several children who attended
the village school which was at that time at the head of Blake
Street. Little is known of him except that he was not among the
prominent men of Pittsfield probably because of his lack of wealth.
In his later years he was cared for by the town and died a pauper
about 1819. After that, his house apparently went to rack and ruin.
The Berry House and Resort
About 1826 Deacon Edward “Ned” Berry, the son of one of Pittsfield’s
founders, Major William Berry, built a new house on the lot. Mr.
Berry was a very prominent citizen and was on the original board of
trustees for Pittsfield Academy.
Ned’s son Francis “Frank” B. Berry, who had attended the first class
held at the Academy and was later influential in building the
Episcopal Church, became owner in 1868. By 1870 he had converted the
large single-family home into the first class “Berry Resort” which
could accommodate 30 guests. That year 15 acres of corn and wheat
fields were planted as was an extensive vegetable garden, the
produce from which was used in the resort’s kitchen. In 1874 the
farm had 25 cows and 150 chickens, and the barn that contained 65
tons of hay. The views from the property were fantastic as there
were few trees in sight.
In 1880 the resort accommodated 43 summer guests and with family and
help over 60 people resided there. Three years later, now enlarged
to 35 rooms, the resort had 60 guests. It was described as having a
300-foot long piazza, out buildings of a barn, carriage house and
granary, and 100 acres of land with 30 acres of fields.
In 1884 the property was connected with Berry Pond water and the
rooms were refitted “in a sumptuous manner.” In the week prior to
July 31 the resort accommodated 28 guests. The following year it was
again reported that the resort was patronized by a large number of
“city people” who were catered to by the proprietors.
Grand View House
In 1886 the property was sold the property to Frank E. Sanborn and
it became known as Grand View House. Mr. Sanborn continued to
entertain guests and held regular dance parties for their enjoyment.
In 1889 he made extensive improvements so that his guests could
enjoy playing lawn tennis and croquet. He also made interior changes
and added another piazza and terraced lawns.
Wentworth Hotel
Mr. Sanborn ran the resort until 1891 and then it was sold to Albert
E. Wentworth who changed its name to “Wentworth Hotel.” He spent
$25,000 on extensive improvements, making it one of the finest
resorts in this part of the state.
In 1895 Mr. Wentworth sold the property to Dora W. Sawyer of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, who apparently had a close connection with
him. Then on May 1, 1896 tragedy struck. A huge fire demolished the
main house and ell. All that remained was the east annex and the
large barn.
The White Residence-Maplehurst
The property lay idle until William H. White purchased it for a
summer home and business investment in April of 1899. He was born
in Massachusetts, lived in Lowell and was one of the pioneer leather
manufacturers in the country. Undoubtedly, he came to Pittsfield
because his wife Maria Theresa Towle was from the community. Her
family arrived in 1839 when she was about five years old and her
father became very influential, serving four years as a selectman.
Within less than three months a new, magnificent house was
constructed and made ready for occupancy. The grounds were
refurbished and automatic sprinklers were installed to water the
lawns. Additionally, Mr. White expended thousands of dollars and
converted a large area of pasture and woodlands into one of the
largest and best apple orchards in New England. He also erected
White’s Pond which will be discussed in detail in Parts Three, Four
and Five of this series. He called his estate Maplehurst. In 1901 he
planted 40 acres of potatoes as well. His farm operation was run by
Pittsfield native Richard Bartlett, a man educated in fruit
culture.
After the purchase Mr. White he became extensively involved in the
community. He could often be seen riding around town with his family
in a beautiful carriage. He was especially active in church groups
and was a member of two Pittsfield companies, the Union Lumber
Company and Pittsfield Cottonwear. According to his obituary he was
“a man of great business integrity and sterling worth."
Mr. White died on December 12, 1903 at the home of his father-in-law
Joshua Towle on River Road. His body was sent to Lowell where
funeral services were held at his house. His sons inherited the
estate and in 1916 it was placed in a corporation, Maplehurst Fruit
Farms.
Letter
Dear Pittsfield Residents,
I feel that we should note our disappointment with the Board of
Selectmen negotiating team for the tone and tenor of negotiations
with the Pittsfield Town Employees.
We were unable to make progress so we used a federal mediator to
assist us. After 3 days no progress was made.
We offered to go to a less expensive medical package. This would
have saved the Town thousands of dollars.
We have not seen a raise or step increase since 2010. In the last
contract, the Union proposed and agreed that we receive 0% in any
wages. We proposed and agreed to pay an extra 5 % towards out health
benefits. It was the right thing to do then.
Do we truly want to have a person who works for this community have
a sick family member and not even be able to care for them without
worrying over losing their job?
Don’t we value and want to encourage a respectful negotiations
process with our employees?
I would also like to point out a major concession we made. We were
forced to go to the NH Public Employee Labor Relations Board to
enforce our contract after the Board of Selectmen made some bad
decisions. They lost the case before the NH PELRB. The Town could
have been required to pay approximately $80,000. The Union agreed to
settle this matter for half of the amount of the money to again save
the taxpayers money and hopefully move forward with a positive
relationship with the Selectmen.
We expected negotiations would be respectful. In our opinion, this
has not happened.
We all appreciate our job, love the work we do and are privileged to
serve the residents of Pittsfield.
Respectfully Submitted,
Richard C. Walter
President, Pittsfield Town Employees
Wolfe-Sargent Engagement
Cynthia Kern and Tim Foster of Pittsfield, and Steve and Deb Wolfe
of Temple, are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter,
Stephanie Wolfe, to Kyle Sargent, son of Fred and Lora Sargent of
Amherst. The bride-to-be graduated from Pittsfield High School in
2003; from the University of New Hampshire in 2009 with a bachelor’s
degree in nutritional sciences; and from the University of Maine in
2012 with a master’s degree in food science. She is employed by
Kraft Foods in Woburn, MA. Her fiancé graduated from Souhegan High
School in 2007 and from Nashua Community Technical College in 2012
with an associate’s degree in automotive technology. He works for
Firestone Complete Auto Care in Manchester. The couple resides in
North Chelmsford, MA. A 2015 wedding is planned.
Twins Trevor (8 lbs. 2 oz., 20 in.) and Evan 7 lbs. 4 oz., 20 in.)
St. Clair were born February 19, 2014 to Elizabeth McDonald and
Jacob St. Clair of Pittsfield. Sharing in the celebration are big
sister Elizabeth “Eliza” (8), grandparents Elizabeth Mansur of
Andover, NH; Ray and Tedie St. Pierre of Pittsfield; David and
Leslie St. Clair of Concord; and great grandmother, Edie Throughton,
of Pittsfield; great grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. St. Clair of
Strafford.
Pittsfield Fire Department Lt. Gary Mullen and Pittsfield
Firefighters Association Vice-President Chris Ward, along with the
other officers and members of these organizations want to remind you
smoke alarms save lives! The Pittsfield Fire Department and
Pittsfield Firefighters Association are working together to offer
smoke alarms to residents of Pittsfield. Residents are urged to
check their smoke alarms and replace those that were installed 10 or
more years ago and install new ones where needed. If you
are in need of a smoke alarm and/or assistance in installing one,
please contact the station at 435-6807. Detectors are available at
no cost.
Josiah Carpenter Library News
March 2014
Author program: The Josiah Carpenter Library, the Pittsfield
Historical Society and Library Board of Trustees would like to thank
the Pittsfield Middle High School for the use of their lecture hall
on February 20th for the presentation by NH resident and author,
Michele Albion. Michele gave a great talk and brought the
personality of Henry Ford to light with some interesting and
unexpected revelations about the man Woodrow Wilson thought should
run for senator in Michigan. We would like to thank Paula Belliveau,
President of the Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library for
providing refreshments and conducting the book raffles. The library
would also like to thank Larry Berkson for the insightful article
written about the connection Mr. Ford had with the town of
Pittsfield. We look forward to asking Michele back for a program on
Eleanor Roosevelt in the warmer months.
“Read, Meet and Talk” will be meeting on Tuesday, March 18th at
10:30 am at the Pittsfield Community Center. Our group is growing!
We will be discussing “Chasing Fireflies” by Charles Martin. Please
join us for a cup of coffee and some great discussions!
Josiah Teen Book Worms: Discussion of “Going Bovine” by Libba Bray
was postponed until March 6th due to the weather. Come and enjoy
lively discussions with the Fabulous Five.
Teen Writers: The writers’ group for teens will resume on Thursday
April 10th at 6:30 pm. April is National Poetry month, so what
better way to re-introduce ourselves than to some read poetry.
Please bring either a copy of your favorite poem or even better one
that you have written.
Monthly Movie Madness: Our movie madness is contagious- February’s
winner was “A Civil Action” starring John Travolta. This movie was
based on the true story written by Jonathan Harr in 1996 about a
corporation who gets sued for chemical waste dumping. Drop in and
vote for your March selection.
Preschool Story Hour: Spring ahead with Mrs. Grainger on Thursday
mornings from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. at Preschool Story hour; engaging
young readers with stories, crafts and snacks.
Please call the library for further details: 435-8406
Obituaries
William I. Miskoe
William I. Miskoe died in Cleveland Ohio on March 2nd, 2014 at the
age of 101. He died of old age.
Born in Titusville PA on 12 Sept 1912 to Isaac C. and Anna (Nagy)
Miskoe, he grew up in Palatka FL and Cleveland OH. After completing
high school in Cleveland he studied electrical engineering at the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville. It was while there that
he met his future wife Dorothy Lee Fitch.
After completing his education he married and moved to Illinois to
become a sales engineer for the Lincoln Electric Co. - a
manufacturer of arc welding equipment and supplies.
In 1940 he moved with his family to Sydney Australia to manage a
small factory that Lincoln owned there. He stayed in Australia for
28 years, growing the business from 20 employees to more than 150.
In 1968 he and Dorothy returned to Cleveland where he became
Lincoln’s VP for International Operations. He reluctantly retired in
1994, at the age of 82, after working at Lincoln for 61 years.
His retirement years were spent traveling, golfing, fishing and
making critical but accurate comments on the world around him.
He was pre-deceased by his wife and by brothers Vlad, Al and Ted.
His sister Camilla Rice of Euclid OH survives him.
Also surviving are his sons Bill Miskoe of Pittsfield, NH and
Kimball Miskoe of Rhinebeck, NY; two grandchildren Hilary DeAngelis
and Matt Miskoe and two great-grandsons Isaac and Garrett Miskoe,
all of Concord, NH.
He also leaves Louise Toloe of Euclid OH whose care and attention
allowed him to lead a full life until the day before his death.
Family and friends will gather for his burial in Charlottesville
later this month.
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