Former Post Master Makes Major Contribution To New Historical
Society Building
Henry Stapleton, long-time Pittsfield post master, has
made a major contribution to the Building Fund of the Pittsfield
Historical Society. He was born in Pittsfield in 1930 and graduated
from Pittsfield High School 18 years later, where he played
basketball and baseball and ran cross country.
After
graduation he worked for the railroad driving truck delivering
express and freight from the depot to its final destination. He also
drove school bus.
In
1951, he joined the Air Force and was sent to Korea. Discharged as a
staff sergeant in 1955, he returned home and took a job in the post
office to help handle the Christmas rush. He became post master in
January of 1956. The following year he married Marjorie Dustin. The
couple had three children, James, Sarah, and Julie.
Henry
retired in 1985 and subsequently drove a school bus for the H. A.
Marston. During his working life he was very active in town
government. He was appointed to serve a vacant position on the board
of selectmen, was both town and school moderator for over 25 years,
and was a member of the planning board and budget committee.
Mr.
Stapleton was a member of the Rotary Club, serving as its president
and being named a Paul Harris fellow. He has been a member of the
American Legion for over 60 years. Always interested in sports,
Henry was a baseball umpire for about 25 years. He played for a
Concord team in the Sunset League. He also played tennis into his
early 80s. Significantly, he was a state champion candle pin
bowler.
Henry
now summers in Gilmanton and winters in Florida. To him the Society
owes a huge debt of gratitude for his donation. Thank you so very
much, Henry.
Letter To The Editor
Governor
Sununu’s Leadership
The
State’s support for its approximately 110,000 Veterans has always
been well-intentioned. However, last year the legislature
proposed HB-636 to revamp the present Office of Veterans Services
(OVS).
This
proposed new entity would have cost the taxpayers approximately $1.6
million. Adding a Commissioner would grow the State’s bureaucracy
and do little to help our veterans.
What is
needed is to have more Veterans Service Officers in a
well-coordinated state leadership structure to provide first class
delivery of services to our veterans and their families. In
February 2018, Governor Sununu issued Executive Order 2018-01 to
have OVS and the veterans elements of DHHS come under the umbrella
of The Adjutant General’s Office (TAG).
Presently, eight states have their veterans’ services coordinated by
TAG. This approach puts more boots on the ground, with more
Veterans Service Officers to support our veterans and does so
without building a new bureaucracy.
This
courageous action by Governor Sununu to start the ball rolling
toward creating a central point of access to the States services for
veterans and the ability to do that largely with the existing State
services, now better coordinated, is long overdue.
The
fact is that Governor Sununu took action to address this issue that
was long overdue, and instructed TAG to work with the legislature to
make this structure permanent, once again speaks volumes about
Sununu’s leadership and ability to DO THE RIGHT THING, for New
Hampshire Veterans as well as the taxpayers.
Jim
Adams
Pittsfield
Vietnam
Veteran, Chairman of the State Veterans Council, and former Chairman
of Granite State Taxpayers
Ode To Shadow
Just
lost a friend and companion of 15 years. That's 82 years old in dog
years.
Everyone knew Shadow in Pittsfield, if not by name, by sight. He was
the one that was on his way to Drake Field. He loved that place, the
beautiful green grass in summer, the bushes and trees by the river,
the geese (whom he used to chase when he was younger), and all the
wildlife.
He had
great expressions with his eyes and would show his teeth when he
didn't like something. He loved people especially children; they
would always come up to him and ask if they could pat him.
When
you're at Drake Field if you walk the nature path around the river
you will feel Shadow's spirit there.
Letter
To the
good Citizens of Pittsfield,
I went
to another zoning board meeting the other night. I ought to have my
head examined. It's stuff like, to the majority of the board, forced
consent means consent, and recusing yourself without having the
decency to explain why, to the applicant, by one member.
These
meetings remind me of the military, where you are required to follow
the United States' Code of Military Justice. Our zoning ordinace is
getting stricter by the year. We keep voting in more restrictions.
I find,
if you repeat "repeal zoning" 100 times, it starts to become
appealing. If you say it 400 times, you're hooked.
I
believe, through state politics, we can fund our school adequacy
grant from $3,500 to $18,000 per student, thereby equalizing our
school tax rate with the entire state (I only said this ten times,
and I'm hooked).
I
believe, through politics, we can repeal zoning, get our land use
freedoms back, and get more "boomtown."
I'm
thinking there is hope.
Dan the
Stoneman
Pittsfield High School Class of 1979 Reunion
A
motivated group from Pittsfield High School's Class of 1979 are
creating plans for the 40th-year reunion. The event is planned
for the evening of August 3rd of next year in Concord, NH, and is
planned to include a buffet dinner, live music, and a cash bar.
The
reunion planners would like to ask members of the Class of 1979 to
(1)
save the date;
(2)
contact Randy Severance through e-mail at
[email protected] for
details;
(3)
request access to the "Pittsfield High School (NH) Class of 1979
40th Reunion" group page (if you have access to Facebook) where the
most current updates will be posted;
(4)
please help us locate class members for whom we currently do not
have contact information (there are about 20 in the "missing"
category).
Pork Barrel
Submitted By Carole Soule
A pig demonstrates how to eat from a barrel.
The missing pig is stuck in a barrel.
We used the tractor and a chain to tip the
barrel so the trapped pig could escape.
“Where
is the fourth pig?” I asked husband Bruce as we fed the goats,
sheep, and donkey. The three pigs were part of a litter born three
months previously. Sparkle, their mother, had given birth to five
piglets, but only four survived.
There
are two significant milestones in a piglet's life: birth and
weaning. Despite the still-born piglet, Sparkle seemed to handle
labor well and nurtured her remaining four surviving babies.
Typically a sow will give birth to 10 or more piglets, so four is a
substandard litter size, but they all were alive and healthy.
At
eight weeks it was time to wean the four piglets. This litter is not
to be confused with the previous five pigs born earlier in the year.
Those five lived in our house for a while, and you might have been
one of our visitors who bottle-fed them.
No this
was a different litter, born during a very busy August. So busy that
we did not fence off their part of the barnyard with a temporary
electric fence for training purposes. A young, impressionable pig
doesn't have to get zapped many times before he will learn to stay
away from the fence. After that, the fence doesn't even have to be
turned on; he'll assume it'll hurt him.
Not so
these four pigs. They would duck under the fence, sometimes getting
through between pulses and sometimes getting shocked. But they did
not have that deep-down fear of it that would keep them away from
it.
They
would stay in the pig pen at night with the other pigs, but in the
morning they'd run under the fence to freedom. Once out, they would
divide their time among disconcerting the cows, rooting in the cow
pasture for grubs and worms, and visiting us in the barnyard. One of
them even ventured into our farm store, apparently looking for food.
We called them “the Rebels.”
Although the group roamed the farm at will, they were inseparable.
Every morning all four would greet us as we fed the livestock --
until the day that only three showed up in the barnyard. So I was
concerned and asked Bruce to search for the missing Rebel.
Bruce
found the pig, alive and vigorous, but stuck inside a barrel. Each
week we get brewer's grain, a by-product of making beer, at Great
North Aleworks. The grain is stored in 35-gallon, plastic barrels
that formerly contained olives. One of the barrels still contained
some grain, and the missing pig had crawled inside after the
residual snack. Although he was trapped, the pig never lost focus.
He managed to eat all the remaining grain and, in his gyrations, he
and the barrel had rolled down the hill, still imprisoned. He was
unable to back out of the barrel and, with no room to turn around,
he needed rescuing.
With my
help, Bruce wrapped a chain around the barrel, which he lifted with
the tractor's front loader. The trapped pig slithered out backward
onto the ground, looked around, then booked it to join his buddies.
We have
since fortified their fence, and for three days the Rebels have
stayed put in their pen. But we don't kid ourselves. What keeps pigs
inside electric fences is early training, and we'd muffed it. Now we
are like negligent parents, wishing we'd been a little stricter with
our unruly brood.
Carole
Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon. She can be reached
at [email protected].
Dorcas Guild Christmas Fair
Lovable “Lambie Lamb” is ready and waiting for a new home.
Handmade by Kathy Bergeron, he can be found at the Silent Auction,
Dorcas Guild Christmas Fair, First Congregational Church, November
17, 9-2.
Ready,
set, go! The Dorcas Guild of the First Congregational Church, 24
Main Street, Pittsfield, is holding its annual Christmas Fair, bake
sale and luncheon Saturday, November 17, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There
are lots of handmade items available as well as gourmet products,
baked goods, “Unique Boutique” and the wonderful silent auction.
Plan to shop and stay for a low-cost corn chowder and sandwich lunch
with homemade pies.
The
final silent auction bids are due in by the close of the fair, 2
p.m., November 17. The successful bidders will be notified at that
time.
Plenty
of free parking is available in the rear of the church (enter on
Chestnut Street), and the church is wheelchair accessible at that
entrance. For more information, call the church office 435-7471.
Holly Fair At St. Stephen’s
The talented ‘elves’ at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
have been working overtime to offer our patrons the quality and
variety of handmade items that bring people back to shop here year
after year. Join us on Saturday, November 17th, 9 am to 2 pm at 50
Main St., Pittsfield for our annual Holly Fair.
The
Fair will include a crafts table featuring our popular birch
reindeer as well as a wide selection of wreaths for indoor or
outdoor use and lovely table arrangements. Our bake table always
sells out quickly so get there early, and be sure to join us for
lunch at our famous St. Stephen’s Café. This year’s menu will
include homemade soups (corn chowder, roasted tomato, and squash),
hearty sandwiches (meatball and our new addition “Manna-a taste of
heaven”), Canadian chop suey, homemade desserts (Indian pudding,
Grapenut custard, and chocolate cake) and a variety of beverages. We
have added extra tables and chairs this year so you are welcome to
either eat in or take out.
Funds
raised from our annual fair go toward the support of six food
pantries in Pittsfield and surrounding towns as well as the
Pittsfield Youth Workshop and their food closets at the center and
at PMHS. So don’t miss this fun-filled Fair - a great opportunity to
do some Christmas shopping and at the same time support our local
community.
Pittsfield Secret Santa
Although Christmas is still weeks away, here at the fire department
we are already hard at work preparing to meet the needs of
Pittsfield's residents. Starting November lst, we will be accepting
applications from those in need of assistance this holiday season.
Applications will only be accepted until December lst to allow time
to prepare gifts for everyone. Children must be 14 years of age or
younger to be eligible. The child's parent or legal guardian must be
the one to apply, and both they and the child must be residents of
Pittsfield. Please contact the Pittsfield
Fire
Dept at 435-6807 during regula1 business hours for more information
or to apply. This program is operated by volunteers, so if you leave
a message it will be returned as quickly as possible, but response
may not be immediate.
The
Secret Santa Fund relies on the generosity of residents and
local businesses eager to help those less fortunate. Those
interested in making donations may call 435-6807 to discuss
specifics with Santa's helpers. Financial donations may be sent
directly to: Pittsfield Secret Santa, PO Box 392, Pittsfield, NH
03263.
Veterans Day is on November 11 and is a time set aside to
honor all veterans. Two wreaths have been donated to honor our
veterans. Thank you to the Suncook Valley Rotary Club, Scott Brown
of The Paige Agency, The Clothes Closet, and Flowers For All Seasons
who are pleased to supply two wreaths to decorate the Veterans
Memorial in Dustin Park. Phyllis Conway from the Clothes Closet is
shown with one of the wreaths. Thanks to all service members and
their families who preserve our freedom.
Local Realtor Receives Sales Award
EXIT Reward Realty of Pittsfield is proud to announce that
Lyn Ward has earned the prestigious EXIT Realty Bronze Award.
This award was given based on Lyn’s Sales Volume over the past
twelve months. Lyn has been in the business of helping our
community buy and sell real estate since 2005.
“It
takes dedication, knowledge and hard work to reach this goal. We are
very proud of Lyn.” Stated Donna Ward, owner of EXIT Reward Realty.
EXIT
Reward Realty is a local Real Estate Brokerage located at 79 High
Street in Pittsfield. They have been representing Buyers and
Sellers in the Suncook Valley since 2005.
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