REMINDER
BCEP
Change of Hours
Effective January 1, 2018 B.C.E.P. Solid Waste will have new hours
of operation:
Tuesday
– Saturday 8:00AM – 4:00PM
Scales
close at 3:45PM
Closed
Sundays and Mondays
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Include the wonderful Christmas Eve candlelight service
this coming Sunday night, Christmas Eve, 7 p.m., at the First
Congregational Church, 24 Main St., Pittsfield, in your holiday
celebrations. The service includes beautiful music by the Chancel
Choir and the JuBellation Handbell Choir, scripture lessons, the
story of the first Christmas, the sanctuary sparkling in gleaming
candlelight and the singing of “Silent Night.” Make this lovely
evening service a tradition with family and friends. Parking and
wheelchair accessible entry are available at rear of church at
Chestnut Street. For more information, call the church office at
435-7471.
Thank You
The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library would like to
thank all the people who purchased poinsettias to support our work
with the library. The monies earned from the sale of the
poinsettias from the Ledgeview Gardens in Loudon will enable
us to continue our support of the Children’s programs at
the Pittsfield Library.
The
Friends will finish out the year with a book wrapping meeting as we
prepare the gift books for the new babies that will be born to
Pittsfield residents in 2018. This special gift book is a joint
project of the Rotary Club and the Friends. We look forward to
welcoming new members to the Friends when we reconvene in early
spring. Please call the library (435-8406) if you want more
information about The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library.
Pittsfield School Board
December
7, 2017
Submitted By Ralph Odell
The
meeting began with Colby Wolfe, student representative to the School
Board, describing recent communication with a High School in North
Carolina. They are duplicating programs in use in Pittsfield. They
had done their research, asked detailed questions, and wanted to
know how to produce a successful Site Council.
Derek
Hamilton, Dean of Operations, presented a letter sent to parents
concerning the issue of bullying. He described recent work with
faculty to address the issue and indicated the number of reported
incidents. He also mentioned how schools are having their records
and information being held ransom and he described efforts to secure
the Pittsfield School Internet System.
Derek
introduced Paulette Wolfe who will be co-leading a program “Girls on
the Run” in the spring. The program was approved. He also described
a ski program at Gunstock Ski Area that will be available later in
the winter.
Danielle Harvey, Dean of Instruction, reported on efforts to locate
substitute teachers. It is a struggle in Pittsfield and other
communities.
Melissa
Brown, Dean of College and Career Readiness reported on the recent “
I Am College Bound- I Applied,” event. Students apply to a variety
of Colleges many that have waived application costs. Students
submitted 74 applications with a savings of $2930 .
Tobi
Chassie, Director of Student Services, indicated that a student in
out of district placement would be returning to Pittsfield. Efforts
are also underway to adapt existing facilities to address the needs
of students allowing additional students to return to Pittsfield,
reducing the School Budget.
Dr.
Freeman presented a request for a faculty member to be released from
their contract, it was approved. Additional issues concerning
contract negotiations, the 2018-19 budget, and the default budget
were discussed.
Jesus’ Birth
By Dee
Truscott
What
have I done to remember Jesus’ Birth
What
have I done to show the world His worth
Am I
like others, Christmas tree and presents in place,
caught
up in the desperate, frantic race
What
deception have we received,
what
twist of truth have we embraced
How
should we celebrate our Savior’s Birth
In quiet
reverence, in shouts of Glory to the King,
In
humble adoration with bended knee,
With
Santa Claus and decorations,
and with
Christmas tree and presents in their place
Yes, all
of these and more!
With
consecrated hearts and dedicated lives,
and lips
that speak the truth,
with
feet that run to the side of the lost
with the
words of life
Holy,
Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
the
earth is filled with His Glory,
Hosanna
in the Highest to the King
Happy
Birthday Jesus!
And
Merry Christmas to all!
Letter To The Editor
To the
Pittsfield townspeople and to the building contractors who work in
or would like to work in Pittsfield:
Dan
Schroth is petitioning “to advise and beg the selectmen to remove
the position of building inspector” (as stated in his petition), and
so far I have said nothing about Dan’s petition because Dan has a
right to his petition. However, in the December 6 Sun, Dan said
something about me that was untrue and harmful to Pittsfield, so I
can no longer stay quiet.
Dan
said, “The Building Inspector is a building contractor in town. He
bids against his competitors. If he loses the bid, he gets to
inspect his competition’s work. This is our town’s biggest problem.”
This accusation is untrue. The truth is that I have worked in
Pittsfield but not in competition with other builders on projects
that require a building permit or a building inspection. I do not
get to inspect a competitor’s work, and I challenge Dan to cite a
single example of a job where I lost a bid and then got to inspect
the competitor’s work. He should either cite such an example or
write a letter of apology in The Sun.
Dan
said that my inspecting my competition’s work is the town’s biggest
problem. The false perception that Dan’s accusation could create
certainly is a big problem, which is why I am writing to assure the
people and the contractors that I do not work in competition with
other builders on projects that require a building permit or a
building inspection. I do not get to inspect a competitor’s work. I
try to enforce the building code fairly and the same for everyone.
Trying to remove the building department is not in the best interest
of our town.
Jesse
Pacheco
Scraps Into Ham
Submitted By Carole Soule
Santa, Rudolph the Red-Nose
Rein-Steer, Tazzy the micro-pig and two helpers, Braden age 7 and
Baylee age 6 from Loudon, get ready for Christmas at Miles Smith
Farm.
Photo by Carole Soule Miles Smith Farm
What
can you do with kitchen vegetable scraps? It might take six months
but there is a way to convert leftover cabbage, carrots, pumpkins
and other veggie scraps (lettuce, asparagus stems, celery stalks)
into ham. Here’s how.
Collect
refrigerated kitchen scraps from a restaurant or commercial kitchen,
we get most of our kitchen scraps from Grappone Conference Center.
Make sure there is no meat in the mix and that the scraps have never
been served to humans. If they have been on a plate, toss them. Be
sure the veggie scraps have been refrigerated and mix the scraps
with pig pellets to provide protein that veggies are lacking. Then
feed them to a pig or two.
Do this
for six or eight months and your pig will be ready to become ham for
Christmas or Easter or maybe just ham and cheese sandwiches. This is
one way to reduce landfill in a tasty and sometimes fun way. I say
“sometimes fun” because baby piggies are cute until they get bigger
and pushy, and create more manure to manage, and eat like pigs.
Then they are not so much fun.
Besides
kitchen scraps, another overlooked food for pigs is acorns. A recent
Concord Monitor article about Snow Brook Farm in Eaton, gave details
about a farmer who swears that finishing pigs on acorns makes the
meat tastier. Always looking for new ideas I decided to try this and
recently a friend gave me several boxes of acorns which the pigs
devoured within a day. They devoured the acorns, not the boxes. I’m
now looking for more acorns and if you can find some in your yard,
under the snow, please bring them to the farm. The pigs will love
you for the treat and you will be happy knowing what might have been
waste is now food.
To
bring the food cycle full circle, this Christmas we are providing
ham, raised partially on Grappone Conference Center leftovers, for
the annual Holiday meal that Grappone serves free to the less
fortunate. Miles Smith Farm donated ham and turkey will be on the
menu and I’ll be in the Grappone kitchen helping prepare the food
while husband Bruce washes dishes. It’s wonderful that Grappone
provides this meal to the community and we are happy to give to the
community this Christmas.
And
don’t give up on those kitchen scraps. Everything has a purpose and
if done correctly you too can help convert kitchen waste or acorns
into ham. Hope you all have a squealing good Christmas!
Carole
Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, NH, where she
raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products.
She can be reached at [email protected].
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