Happy Birthday to Tyler Beaudet on October 23.
The Northwood CrankPullers Snowmobile Club will be
hosting a Snowmobile Safety Course for ages 12-15 at Lake Shore Farm
(275 Jenness Pond Rd, Northwood, NH) on Saturday, November 12, 2011 from
8 am to 2 pm. Lunch will be provided.
To register, contact club President, Jeremy DeTrude at
603-942-8478 (H) or 603-425-8791 (C) between the hours of 8:00 am and
7:00 pm. And as always, we really appreciate our landowners and are
always looking for new members. See
www.northwoodcrankpullers.com
Belknap County Democrats 5th Annual Doris "Granny D" Haddock Evening
The Belknap County Democrats will hold the 5th Annual
Doris "Granny D" Haddock Evening, Thursday, Oct. 27th, starting at 6:00
pm, at The Belknap Mill at Mill Plaza in downtown Laconia.
This event honors Laconia native Doris "Granny D"
Haddock, who in her 90s capped off a life of activism by being a
crusader for campaign finance reform and the need to eliminate the
controlling power of money in elections and politics. Her warnings have
all turned out to be more prescient than most people could have
believed.
This year’s event will include hors d’ouevre provided by
the Hospitality Club of the Culinary Arts program at Lakes Region
Community College, remarks from our candidates and featured speakers,
and we will hear from the Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) and the
Coalition for Open Democracy. There will also be a wine tasting event
showcasing wines from the Hermit Woods Winery in Sanbornton.
2012 will be a critical year for our state. The results
of local, county, state and national elections will decisively affect
the future of our state and the prospects for the next generation.
Belknap County is a swing county in this state.
Tickets are $25 each and should be reserved and
purchased in advance. They can be held at the door with previous
notification and payment. Contact Liz Merry ([email protected])
or Ed Allard ([email protected]).
Join us October 27th as we enjoy good food, socializing
and remarks from our featured speakers. Granny D said that "Democracy is
not something you have, it’s something you do." Come be part of our
people-powered grassroots organization in Belknap County. For more
information, contact Liz Merry or Ed Allard at the email addresses
listed above.
My Home Town
Submitted By
Gunnar Stohlberg
About twenty two years ago when I moved to Barnstead, I
met a guy from town who was also building himself a dream home, out in
the woods. He had a nice location with spectacular views. He had built
it completely by hand, all by himself, and was looking forward to
retiring there.
While we worked on our house, he continued to work on
his. I’d go visit him now and then to check on his progress. He had
built a large stone fireplace all the way up through the three floors.
Next to it he built a spiral staircase made around a twisted maple tree
where the stairs twisted along with the tree. This place was truly a
work of art. He poured his heart and soul into it. This was his dream
house.
Back then, his biggest problem were the bears. He
fortified his bee hives with steel cages but the bears just picked up
the hives, cage and all, and threw them off the ledge, smashing them to
bits to get what was inside. Then they even managed to break the chains
that anchored everything to the rocks. Those bears are powerful
creatures. He constantly needed to create new inventions to outdo them.
His bird feeders are suspended from cables up about twenty feet to keep
them from being bothered by the bears.
Speaking of suspensions, he had even built a suspension
bridge across a rock crevice on his property. My kids really liked that.
Once the house was fairly completed outside, he started upgrading the
landscaping with exotic trees and plants and added a frog pond. To keep
the bears out, he built a fence all around the whole property with a
large gate. That seemed to do the trick. Finally.
Being in the building trade, he had lots of equipment at
his disposal. He had cut all the wood to build his house off his land
and milled it on his log mill; made his own oak shingles from the wood
and sided and roofed the house with them. Bull dozer, back hoe, dump
truck, you name it, he had it. He truly amazed me. I likened the place
to Cinderella Castle at Disney world. It was that special.
Then the vandalism began. Small things at first. Then I
learned of the glass breaking, smash everything you could see, party
that some group of somebodies had. Every window in the house as well as
most of his vehicles were smashed. His transit and other surveying tools
amongst other things were thrown out the third story window to smash on
the rocks below. They guessed it was kids. The cops thought they might
know who, but there was never anyone prosecuted.
Time went on, he remained positive. He boarded up all
the windows and sliders and kept moving forward. He’d replace them
someday. Then one day someone came and cut all the catalytic converters
off all the vehicles he had there. Somewhere along the way they had cut
through the four or five inch rope that held up the suspension bridge.
That must have been fun.
He put in a surveillance system. They shot out all the
cameras with guns.
In the last few years he has had some medical issues
that have kept him away from the property more than he’d like. He’d get
up there when he could, even against his doctors orders. His heart and
soul were still up on that Barnstead hill.
A while back they cleaned out all the copper wire that
he had hidden in the cellar to finish up the electrical and broke into
one of his trucks and took more items. He kept positive and forging
toward his dream.
The other day I saw his truck in the driveway so I
stopped to chat. It appears that this time they got in and ripped out
all the copper that he had installed into his walls, have taken all of
his tools and anything else that they could throw over the fence and
take down the hill in a wheelbarrow.
He’s not the vibrant man he used to be. He still has the
sparkle in his eyes and the big friendly smile, but he’s finally showing
signs of losing his hope of ever getting to retire up on the hill. There
is just too much work for him to be able to accomplish on his own to get
the thing back on track, and he’s not the type to ever ask for any help
from anyone else.
This is my home town. I wasn’t born here, but this is
where I’ve lived for close to a quarter of a century and like him, plan
to retire here. Unfortunately, there are kids here who are so bored that
they find fun in vandalizing and destroying other people’s property.
Where older, not really kids any more, think it’s just fine to go rip
off and destroy a kind and gentle man’s property and dreams. Just
because they think that nobody’s watching them? God is watching.
The police can’t do anything but random drive patrols.
Will the Sheriffs Dept. be able to do any better? I don’t know, it just
breaks my heart to see all this happen in my home town.
Obituaries
Donald F. Fletcher
Donald F. Fletcher, 82, passed away on Friday, October
7, 2011 at his favorite place, his summer home on lower Suncook Lake.
Donald was born on January 1, 1929 in White River
Junction, Vermont, to Maurice and Florence (Gibbs) Fletcher. He
graduated from Hartford High School in 1947 and Stonier Graduate School
of Banking. Don had a career in banking for over 30 years and then
established a successful real estate appraisal and financial consulting
business.
Don was very active in both the community and the
church. He served on the Hartford Vermont School Board, was a member of
the Masons for 60 years, and he served as the secretary-treasurer for
the Vermont Lions. He was a trustee on the Woodstock Vermont Foundation
and was on the governing board for Mertens House. Don was a very
involved and committed member of the United Methodist Church of Sun
City, Florida and Center Barnstead Christian Church, New Hampshire. As a
lay leader, he served in numerous churches and performed pastoral duties
in both New Hampshire and Vermont.
Donald is survived by his wife, of 60 years, Joan
(Barnard) Fletcher, his children; Wayne (wife, Emilia Veltri) of Thunder
Bay, Ontario, Karen Williams (husband, Craig Williams) of Tunbridge,
Vermont, Wesley of Clearwater, Florida, Brian (wife, Kim Slezak) of
South Riding, Virginia and Alan (wife, Lynne Tackaberry) of Milton,
Vermont and his brother Carlton. He will be missed by his seven
grandchildren: Carmen and Carl Fletcher, Dr. Jenna (Williams) Watson
(husband, Dr. Nicholas Watson) and Dale Williams, Victoria Fletcher,
Kristin and Caleb Fletcher, and also his beloved granddog Zeus.
A celebration of his life was held at Center Barnstead
Christian Church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Donald’s
memory to Center Barnstead Christian Church, PO Box 190, Center
Barnstead, NH 03225
The Bennett Funeral Home of Concord, NH is in charge of
the arrangements.
