The
Pittsfield Food Pantry will be closed the first week of September.
Dan and
Ruth Emerson with their children Kristopher, Taylor and Jasmine
National Miss Amazing Pre-Teen
Jasmine Emerson, daughter of Dan
and Ruth Emerson of Alton, was this year’s pre-teen winner of
a national pageant sponsored by the Miss Amazing Organization held
in Chicago this summer. Inspired by Special Olympics, the
organization was created specifically for girls and young women with
disabilities to promote self worth, creativity and potential.
More than a pageant, Miss Amazing is a fast-growing and
publically recognized program acknowledging and revealing the
inner beauty and value of all people.
Earlier this year
Jasmine, who has cerebral palsy, won Miss Amazing Pre-teen of New
Hampshire which entitled her to join the national convention in
Chicago in August. Various organizations and fund-raisers
supported the family effort to participate , the highlight of which
was a well-earned trophy to bring home and share with family and
friends. Jasmine’s contribution in the talent division was her
proud singing of the Star Spangled Banner in its entirety.
Congratulations “Jazzy!”
Letter
Hello, my name is Linda Coffey, local coordinator for “pax “ program
of academic exchange. There are two students still in need of host
families for the 2017-2018 school year, a 17 year old girl from
Kyrgyatan, interests: hiking/backpacking, skiing; enjoys younger
siblings. Another wonderful student, 15 year old male from Pakistan,
enjoys soccer, volunteering, and computers.
Students come with
good English skills/own spending money. Families with children of
all ages are welcome to host along with the empty nesters. School is
starting soon and we would love to have families for these students.
More information on the students/program contact
[email protected]
Thank you. Linda Coffey PAC-LC
Saving
Some Piglets Submitted By Carole Soule
Lucky’s first litter
started with nine live piglets but now she has just seven. The two
missing piglets aren’t dead or missing, they are living on my porch
with Tazzy our Yucatan mini pig. I had to remove these two from
their mom to save their lives.
At 6 AM on Friday three weeks ago
Lucky, a black Hampshire sow, was in labor. By 9 AM she had given
birth to nine piglets and two more that were born dead. From the
beginning, Lucky was a good mom. She didn’t squish any of her tiny
babies and all of them were nursing and healthy. A week later I
noticed two of the babies were smaller than the others. At two weeks
they were half the size of their bigger, porkier siblings. One of
the little pigs, named Napoleon by our AirBNB guests, had scabs on
the sides of his face from bites by his siblings when he tried to
nurse. Then I found Napoleon wandering as if he were blind looking
for his mother’s teat. By now Napoleon and his sister, named
Snowball, were a third of the size of the others in the litter. The
other bigger pigs where hogging their mom’s teats and getting bigger
each day while Napoleon and Snowball lost the battle for food and
didn’t thrive. Lucky had enough teats but didn’t have enough milk
for all nine piglets so it was time to take action.
I brought
both piglets into the house to bottle feed and care for them.
Napoleon grabbed onto the bottle nipple and let go, only briefly, to
let air into the bottle. Snowball took longer to train but when she
got hungry she followed her brother’s lead and latched on to the
bottle emptying it in minutes. Now they both follow me around the
house nibbling on my shoes for food. They even moved into Tazzy’s
crate. Tazzy is a three-year-old, forty pound mini pig, who shares
the house with us. Tazzy wasn’t happy with sharing her bed and let
me know by messing on the floor rather than using her “pig door” to
do her business outside. I gave Tazzy her crate back and set up a
new crate and pen for Napoleon and Snowball, still inside the house,
but more contained and easier to clean up after.
Tazzy is happy,
back to her regular routine, Napoleon and Snowball are healing and
thriving on their four daily feedings and I’m busy keeping their pen
clean. If any of you have read, “Animal Farm” by George Orwell you
will remember that Napoleon and Snowball were the two pigs that took
over the farm. It remains to be seen if these two take over Miles
Smith Farm but I do know that right now, Napoleon and Snowball are
hogs for attention.
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].
The
Friday Night Kayaking Group met Friday August, 11 2017
with 12 kayaks to enjoy nearby Jenness Pond. The group is open to
everyone and meets at different local kayaking sites every Friday at
6 PM during June, July and August. The paddling trips last just over
an hour and are always in the Northwood to Barnstead area. Simply
show up at this week’s Friday night’s location. Visit our web site
at huffnpuff.info for information and location of the next trip and
put yourself on our email list. You can also call Paul Oman at 435
-7199 for more information.
Drive
Out Homelessness
Rise Again Outreach, a Loudon-based nonprofit
charitable organization serving central New Hampshire, will hold its
annual “Drive Out Homelessness” golf scramble event starting at 8:30
a.m. on Saturday, September 9, at the Loudon Country Club on Rt. 106
in Loudon. Proceeds go to Rise Again Outreach’s efforts to assist
homeless and low-income families in Concord, Manchester, Laconia and
surrounding towns. Rise Again Outreach is seeking sponsors and
participants for this important fundraiser.
Golfer registration
is $85 per individual or $340 per foursome and includes 18-holes in
scramble format, golf cart, registration goodies bag, full chicken
barbecue and a ticket for door prizes.
Sponsorships start at
just $150 for Tee Sponsors for the event. Other sponsorship
opportunities include: Closest to the Line Sponsor ($500 – includes
two fairway signs, program recognition, prize presentation); Closest
to the Pin Sponsor ($500 – includes signs at tee and green, program
recognition, prize presentation); Level 2 Corporate Sponsor ($700 –
includes media, program, signage at BBQ, banner placements, and two
golfer fees); or Level 1 Corporate Sponsor ($1500 – includes Level 2
items plus logo on all marketing materials and a golf foursome). Any
donations will also gladly be accepted.
For more information and
to sign up as a sponsor or participant, please contact Bob Pease at
603-731-9423 or [email protected] . Come
out for an awesome afternoon in support of a great local cause!
School
Meeting – Deliberative Session
Submitted By The Pittsfield School Board
Mike
Wolfe, Chair; Bea Douglas, Vice-Chair; Linda Freese, Ted Mitchell,
Ralph Odell
Thank
you to the many Pittsfield citizens who participated in last week’s
Deliberative Session, which was convened to discuss the proposed new
collective bargaining agreement between the Education Association of
Pittsfield (the teachers) and the Pittsfield School Board.
Many
opinions were expressed, representing a wide range of ideas; topics
included the property tax rate, health insurance plans offered to
employees, school funding, and teacher salaries, among others. We
appreciated the opportunity to hear from so many engaged citizens.
Rest
assured that the message regarding health insurance and cost
containment has been heard loud and clear. As was stated during the
meeting, the Board has met with insurance pool representatives and
is considering several options that will provide our full-time
employees with adequate health insurance while saving money for
Pittsfield taxpayers.
The
proposed contract provides for continuation of the most recent
contract, which recently expired. Because of increase cost of
health insurance contributions and retirement system contributions,
returning teachers will be receiving smaller take-home checks unless
the new contract is approved by voters.
The
cost of the new contract is estimated to be $66,486, which
represents a $.25/thousand tax rate increase or $25.00 in new taxes
for a property valued at $100,000.
We urge
you to vote YES on the one warrant article to be considered at our
upcoming vote: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 19, at
Town Hall. New voters are encouraged to register to vote to have
your voice heard on this critical issue; absentee ballots are also
available.
Finally, we thank Moderator Gerard LeDuc for conducting a civil,
well-organized meeting during which all speakers and all sides were
respected.
|