REMINDER
NOW
EFFECTIVE BCEP WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING BRUSH OR LEAF AND YARD WASTE
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Per
Vote Of The District Committee
Come
apply for a Passport at the Pittsfield Post Office, 2 Elm St.,
Pittsfield, NH! Our Passport Acceptance Hours are 8AM-11AM/1PM-3PM.
Monday to Friday, No appointment required. Saturday, 8-12,
appt. required.
You
must present: evidence of US Citizenship, photocopy of Citizenship
evidence, photo ID, and photocopy of photo ID.
We have
a Saturday Passport Event scheduled for YOU! Saturday, April 21st,
8AM-2PM.
We can
take your photo, too!
The
Pittsfield Historical Society is looking for someone interested in
helping to design a new headquarters and museum. It would be
wonderful if an architect would step forward, or someone with some
experience in designing buildings. If interested, please contact
Larry Berkson at 798-3984.
Pianist
Matthew Odell In Concert
7:00 pm
April 21st, First Congregational Church of Pittsfield
Enjoy a
wonderful evening of music including the New Hampshire premier of
Fantasy by David Conte. The concert is free, with donations
collected to benefit both the Pittsfield Food Pantry and Josiah
Carpenter Library.
During the month
of April, every Fight Hunger Bag sold at the Hannaford store located
at: 174 First NH Turnpike, Northwood NH, will generate a $1 donation
to support PES FOOD4KIDS! The Fight Hunger Bags can be found on the
reusable bag rack and at various registers. Visit the Hannaford
Helps Reusable Bag Program website
hannaford.bags4mycause.com.
The
Pittsfield Players Present Neil Simon’s First Play
“Come
Blow Your Horn”
One
Weekend ONLY - May 4, 5 And 6
Carole
Neveaux directs a stellar cast in Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your
Horn,” the first play he ever wrote. If you listen carefully to the
dialogue you’ll hear the name of a character that didn’t appear in
another of his plays until five years later!
The
setting is 1960s New York City and budding playwright, Buddy Baker,
(presumedly Neil Simon) has flown the coop. Literally. He’s tired of
his father, Harry Baker, not taking him seriously and being crowed
at like a rooster whenever he comes home late (or early in the
morning!), after all he just turned 25!
Buddy
runs to his big brother’s bachelor pad where brother, Alan, takes
Buddy under his wing and teaches him how to be a real ladies man.
Alan’s reputation of parties, bars, late nights, ski weekends, golf
outings, and many women finally catches up with him though when main
squeeze, Connie, pops the question.
In the
meantime, Alan has set up little brother with wild Peggy who will do
almost anything for a part in one of Oscar Manheim’s films. The
problem is Manheim doesn’t exist. He’s an MGM executive that Alan
made up to spend more time with good time, air-headed Peggy while
Connie is on the road pursuing her own career in the entertainment
industry.
The
brothers’ good time hits the fan when mom shows up and is determined
to join their bachelors’ den because she’s no longer feeling the
love from husband, Harry, after 37 years of marriage. Hilarity
ensues when mother is left alone with Alan’s phone that seems to
ring non-stop and Mrs. Baker figures out there must be some
“carrying on” going on.
Ernie
Bass plays Alan Baker, Jordan Gagan assumes the role of brother,
Buddy, Mrs. Baker is played by Meggin Dail while husband Harry is
performed by Marty Williams. Cathy Williams is featured as Connie
and Alex Keyes as Peggy.
You’d
be remiss if you didn’t meet the Bakers and Connie and Peggy on May
4, 5 or 6 at the Scenic Theatre, home of The Pittsfield Players,
7:30 PM sharp! Please come early as we can only hold reserved seats
until 7:15pm. Tickets, $15 can be purchased at the door or online
through TicketLeap via www.pittsfieldplayers.com.
For more information on the show, including “dinner and a show”
tickets in conjunction with Main Street Grill, please call (603)
435-8852.
The Pittsfield
Players are planning their second venture of having an evening
dinner/theatre night for their patrons. This will be in
conjunction with the comedy by Neil Simon's play "Come Blow Your
Horn" directed by Carole Neveux, on May 4th & 5th. Pictured above:
Scott Partridge, chef/owner of the Main St. Grille in Pittsfield,
and Carole , director of the show. They are selecting three
entre choices for the evenings. Picked were Chicken Marsella, Baked
Haddock, Steak Tips. Included with the dinner will be salad
and dessert. Last year over 40 people took advantage of this
price saving combo. Reservations can be made by calling the theatre:
435-8852
Central
VNA & Hospice Employs Arts, Music, Nature & Healing In A New Grief
Workshop Series
Local
professional painter and sculptor, Kathryn Field, supports
participants like Ginny Caple as they craft hand-made books,
calendars and more at the first of four hands-on grief workshops
hosted this spring by Central VNA & Hospice. This Arts, Music,
Nature, Hope Workshop is free and open to the public; upcoming
activities on April 14, May 12, and Jun 16 include forming clay
luminaries, creating harp melodies, starting seeds, poetry,
fly-tying, and jewelry-making.
Each
person finds their own path through the heartbreak of grief.
This spring, neighbors of all ages across the Lakes Region are
invited to explore how art, music, and nature can be a part of a
path of healing through loss and finding wells of creativity and
solace as they remember loved ones.
On
Saturday, March 10, neighbors ranging in age from 8 to 80 and every
decade in between participated in the first of a series of four
expressive arts workshops hosted by Central New Hampshire VNA &
Hospice. Each workshop offers several options guided by
artists from the local community with support from grief care staff
and volunteers.
Participants that first morning worked with local artists to form
clay luminaries, imprinting names and the textures of jewelry or
favorite flowers of loved ones in the clay to let candle light show
through. They drew, cut, and braided vibrant paper into
calendars and books of remembrance and created melodies on the harp
and keyboard using the tones and chords of loved ones names.
Some even started seeds with the enduring hope that our winter may
yet end.
Some
participants came as a family. Others brought a friend or came
on their own. Some were remembering children. Others
held parents, spouses, or friends in their hearts. Some losses
were years ago, some quite recent. Some participants spent the
entire two hours in one activity. Others got their hands messy
in many. There was quietness, experimentation, laughter, and
tears
“Sometimes art, music, and nature can help us honor our connection
to a loved one in ways that take us out of the torment of our heads
. . . letting our bodies and hearts remember and heal,” shares Dan
Kusch who provides bereavement and spiritual care at Central New
Hampshire VNA & Hospice. “Often friends or members of the same
family grieve differently and it can be lonely. Another gift
of these workshops is safe space to have a shared experience and
also offer each person their own ways to express their loss and
love.”
Upcoming workshops are Saturdays 10am-Noon on April 14, May 12, and
June 16 in Laconia. Upcoming activities shared by local
artists include harp and keyboard, pottery, wire jewelry, poetry and
writing, hand-made books, fly-tying (for fly-fishing), wind chimes,
paper boat luminaries, and more. The last two workshops are
close to Mother’s and Father’s Days and may be especially good
openings to honor mother, father, and parent figures in our lives.
These workshops are free and open to the public. All ages are
welcome. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Other
upcoming Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice events supporting those
who have experienced a loss include 7-week “Living with Grief
Support Groups” offered in Laconia (Thursdays, starts April 12) and
Wolfeboro (Tuesdays, starts April 17) and an “Interfaith Service of
Remembrance” open to all members of the community on Sunday, April
15 at 4pm at Wolfeboro First Congregational Church.
For
more information and to register for any of these grief support
offerings, please call Dan at 524-8444 or
[email protected].
From
The Farm - Babies Are Due
Submitted By Carole Soule
Missy
(foreground) and Kelsie, Highlander Cows, are expecting a calves at
Miles Smith Farm.
No
newborns yet. Eleven calves and myriad piglets are due, but
expectant mothers are …still expecting. I know how many calves are
coming as each cow typically gives birth to a single baby.
Occasionally, the birth of twins has occurred at Miles Smith Farm
without incident. However, given a choice, I hope our cows don’t
deliver twins.
Giving
birth to one calf is stressful for the cow. Giving birth to two is
dangerous. The calves need to take turns arriving and could get
stuck. Even if both make it to the world alive, mother cow can get
confused and tend to only one calf while ignoring the other. Another
concern is that when a male and a female are a set of twins, the
girl will most likely be sterile. This condition is known as
“freemartinism.”
Usually, the cows on our farm give birth in the field where I check
them twice a day. Spotting a cow in labor indicates a birth
soon, and calls for closer vigilance. If no calf appears soon, we'll
put the mother-to-be in the holding pen where I’ll examine her and
call the vet, if necessary.
It is
best to wait for the calf to show up without help, but even then a
farmer’s job isn’t done. Once born, mom and baby need to stay in the
holding pen so they can bond and we verify the calf is nursing. A
few years ago a mother's teats were too large for her weak bull
calf. He couldn’t nurse so we had to tube feed him until he was
strong enough to suckle on his own. Even then, the baby needed a
helping hand for a few days. We named that one ‘Flash’ because he
could have left us …in a flash.
Each
cow is either a natural or not at giving birth. One cow named
‘Cream’ always needs assistance. For the past two years we’ve
helped, but because she is easy to handle and produces superior
calves, it's not a problem. During birthing season, I keep all the
cows close to home because both the mother and calf can die if they
don’t receive assistance when needed.
While
each cow usually produces one calf, a pig’s litter-size varies. Last
year, a sow named ‘Sarah’ had sixteen piglets and in 2016 Charlotte,
our eight-hundred-pound pet pig, gave birth to seven. It’s hard to
tell how many will be born but is critical to select sows with
twelve to fourteen ‘feeding stations.’ A ‘feeding station’ is a
nipple and each baby needs a ‘station’ to survive. The currently
pregnant sow, ‘Lucky,’ has fourteen nipples, so she's ready for a
large litter. I thought ‘Lucky’ was due two weeks ago, but instead
of ‘squiglets,’ she keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Several
times a day I check for new arrivals but I’m almost glad they've all
waited. The weather is warmer, the holding pen is ready… and so are
we. Do you think eleven calves and perhaps sixteen piglets will come
in a single day? Oh, my! Anyone out there willing to help? We might
need it.
Carole
Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm (www.milessmithfarm.com), 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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