Come congratulate Donna Bunker and celebrate her 25th anniversary as Director of the Chesley Memorial Library. The Library Trustees will hold an Open House at the library on Wednesday, June 6, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

The Northwood Democrats are pleased to announce that a representative from Obama for America will attend our monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 29th at 6:30 pm at the Northwood Community Center, 135 Main Street, in Northwood Narrows. All local Democrats and other residents interested in learning more about the Obama/Biden re-election campaign and getting involved for the upcoming election are welcome. For more information, contact Lucy Edwards at 603-312-6049 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Daniel Foley of Northwood has graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics. Daniel graduated with honors and was named a University Scholar where he specialized in Materials Science. He will return to UNH in the fall as a research and teaching assistant while pursuing his Masters Degree. Daniel is the son of Steven and Laura Foley of Northwood.

Letter

I attended both sessions of the Master Plan Visioning that the Northwood Planning Board held recently, and I want to thank the Board and all the Northwood residents who took time to come to one or the other, or both.

Taking a look at where we might be headed as a town, what we would like to see, where we see problems, is not only a very worthy and important endeavor, it’s also a community builder as well. For a town that stretches along a busy state highway with no one center, that’s always an important goal.

I hope we’re not done with the process yet. We all can learn a lot about how our town works, and think about what the future holds for us. I was part of the 2004 Master Plan Update, and even before that I remember being challenged by a fellow member of our economic development committee to look ahead 50 years! Fifty years seemed a long time when we were in the year 1998, and somehow it seems even longer in 2012.

Besides short-term concerns, we would be wise to look at issues that are on the horizon and will need to be dealt with sooner than we may imagine. One of those would be the aging of our population:

http://www.nhpolicy.org/reports/aging_and_the_healthcare_system_final.pdf.

Another will be the "elephant in the room," climate change, which will bring more and more unpredictable weather, changes in our landscape and flora and fauna, and economic stresses and opportunities. While this is still a matter of question for a few, the extreme weather of the last several years is making the problem clearer and clearer to a majority of Americans, according to recent surveys:

http://environment.yale.edu/climate/files/Extreme-Weather-Climate-Preparedness.pdf

Lucy Edwards

Northwood

Watershed Welcomes Joyce Lothian

The Northwood Lake Watershed announces Joyce Lothian is the new Point Person for Northwood Lake. Doug Chamberlin, retiring Point Person, has held the position since the inception of the NH Lake Host program in 2002. Doug worked with Joyce over the winter preparing her to take over the program. Joyce also attended formal Point Person and Lake Host training sessions in Concord.

A retired Medical Librarian at the Leahy Clinic in Burlington, MA, Joyce is new to New Hampshire. Last November she married Tom Lothian, Ranger at Camp Wah-Tut-Ca Boy Scout Camp. They find living on Northwood Lake full of surprises - like a fox who enjoys their campfires!

Joyce was introduced to the Northwood Lake Watershed Association and immediately wanted to be a part of preserving the lake. As Point Person, Joyce oversees the Lake Hosts at the town boat launch on weekends. The Lake Host program was developed by the NH Lakes Association and the NH Department of Environmental Sciences to educate and prevent boaters from spreading exotic aquatic plants to lakes and ponds in New Hampshire. More Lake Host volunteers are needed. Volunteer and help preserve your lake with our new high energy Lake Host Point Person. She can be reached at www.northwoodlake.com

To quote Joyce, "I am excited about this year and have been lucky to have Doug Chamberlain as my ‘mentor’. We owe him a big thanks for the 10 years of making this a successful program. We need your help to fill in the rest of the summer schedule."

Letter To The Editor

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. According to tradition, the custom of placing flowers on soldiers’ graves was begun in the south by kind-hearted women tending the last resting places of northern men who had died far from home. Those long ago kindnesses have evolved into our national holiday featuring parades, speeches, picnics and ball games and the occasional visit to a cemetery to remember lost loved ones.

This year our country is observing the onset of the Civil War, one hundred and fifty years ago.

During the years 1862-1865, more than one hundred fifty men from Northwood, or for Northwood, left this small rural town to fight for the northern cause, to preserve the Union and to abolish slavery.

Although the great majority of the men who left Northwood were able to return, to resume lives set aside for a time, there were some who did not.

In our cemeteries there are nineteen graves bearing the names of those who did not survive the war years. Some died from wounds, many from disease. This Memorial Day those nineteen graves have been identified by small decorations. Look for them. Take time to consider that long ago conflict and to appreciate the sacrifices those men made for us, that we may live in a united country where freedom from slavery is taken for granted.

With thanks for the records of Sherman Elliott and Doug Reckard.

Joan W. Bailey

Northwood Town Historian