Letter to the Editor
Contradictions
When I
was a kid, I had a Ripley’s Believe It or Not book, a collection of
the improbable and remarkable. You remember: the man with
10-foot-long fingernails; the woman who survived 3 lightning strikes
– all on the same date! But one of my favorites was a collection of
contradictory proverbs.
Look
before you leap.
He who
hesitates is lost.
Birds
of a feather flock together.
Opposites attract.
I
especially enjoyed Paul’s admonishment to the Galatians 6:5: For
every man shall bear his own burden. This, having just said: Bear
ye one another’s burden and so fulfill the law of Christ. Having
been taught that the Bible is 100% correct and unerring, I saw this
as evidence to the contrary. How could both be true? But they are.
Many
hands make light work.
Too
many cooks spoil the broth.
Which
works depends upon the task at hand, and the thoughtful person seeks
to discern what’s appropriate. Similarly, the United States of
America must reconcile two contradictory values:
All for
one; one for all.
Every
man (and woman) for him/herself.
Early
on, we realized that we must all hang together or we would hang
separately – literally. But our heritage is of rugged
individualism. Even today, the tension between the rights of the
individual and the common/collective/community good are evident.
Whether
it’s texting-while-driving, wearing seatbelts or motorcycle helmets,
we see one person’s exercise of freedom as a potential threat to the
greater good. What shall we do in the face of these dilemmas?
As your
representative in the legislature, I would begin by recognizing the
inherent contradictions that underlie our legislative decisions and
use my intelligence to seek to accommodate, if not reconcile them.
No promises. No slogans. No pledges. Just thoughtful and
open-minded consideration. E pluribus unum.
Tom
Chase
Northwood
Candidate for NH House of Representative, Rockingham District 1
Five Named Bentley Cross Country Captains
WALTHAM, Mass. – Seniors Tara Dooley (Lee/Lee HS) and Alix
Pettinella (Wingdale, N.Y./ Arlington HS) will serve as captains of
the 2014 Bentley University women’s cross country team while junior
Sean Nee (West Yarmouth/Dennis-Yarmouth Reg. HS) and seniors
Christian Connolly (Kingston/Silver Lake Regional HS) and Mac
Segura-Cook (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood Acad.) will fill
that role for the men’s team, head coach Kevin Curtin announced.
Dooley
has been one of the region’s premier cross country runners since her
arrival at Bentley in 2012 and was one of the best in Division II
nationally last fall when she earned All-America honors with a
fourth-place finish in the NCAA Division II Championships. She
earned Capital One NCAA Division II Academic All-America honors and
was the USTFCCCA Division II East Runner of the Year.
Pettinella, who owns a share of Bentley’s indoor record in the
4x800, has improved steadily during her time at Bentley. Last year,
she had the team’s tenth best time in the Northeast-10
Championships, placing 105th overall.
“Simply
put, Tara and Alix are the co-captains of this year’s women team
because they are the two hardest workers on the team,” said Curtin.
“They’ve continued to improve athletically each year while excelling
in the classroom, which is something that we pride ourselves in
doing as a team. They’ve also done a great job in mentoring the
freshmen and helping them make the transition to collegiate
athletics.”
Nee was
one of Bentley’s top five last year and placed 67th in the
conference championships, an improvement of 39 places over his
sophomore year. Connolly, after not running in any cross country
meets during his first two years at Bentley, was 105th in the
NE-10’s last fall. Segura-Cook has been limited to four cross
country meets over the last two years after placing 99th in the
NE-10’s as a freshman.
“Mac
has been dealing with injuries the last couple of years but still
helped immensely with last’s year’s team which had a lot of freshmen
and that should pay dividends this year. Christian has earned
everyone’s respect over the last three years as he has transitioned
himself from someone who walked on here his second week as a
freshman into the fastest leg on our school record 4x800 last year.
Sean was also on that 4x800 and he’s probably the captain mostly
likely to get the new people on board with our training and
expectations.
“Like
with the women’s captains, our men’s captains also excel in the
classroom. I’m proud to say the all 5 of this year’s XC captains
were 2013-2014 recipients of the D2 ADA Academic Achievement
Awards,” said Curtin.
Veteran’s Corner
Submitted By Richard Doucet
Just A
Quick Reminder
The VFW
sponsors two programs for students to win cash for college.
These
two programs are The Patriot’s Pen for students in grades 6 through
8, and Voices of Freedom for grades 9 through 12. Both programs are
on the List of Contests and Activities for 2013-2014 of the
National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Participants can win cash prizes that start at the local VFW level
and extends through several stages to the national level where as
much as $30,000.00 can be awarded at various functions where the
students’ efforts are publicly recognized.
The
closing date for entries at the school for both programs is November
1, 2014
Anyone
who has ever had to write anything at all is very aware of two
things: 1) That first sentence is a nightmare to come up with and
2) Re-writing is a never ending effort until the very minute you
submit your piece. The best way to do it is to write it and leave
it, then re-write and leave it, and re-write it etc. So start now!
You can leave the piece alone for a week or two and look at it again
with new eyes and maybe better ideas. It is amazing how something
may look just right after the first draft can look a like a disaster
when you revisit it two weeks later! This process can put you eons
ahead of those who started in October.
As part
of its core mission the VFW is deeply involved in educating the
younger generations about our history and good citizenship. These
two programs are a part of accomplishing that mission and that is
reflected in the subjects for this year. For the Patriot’s Pen it
is “Why I Appreciate America’s Veterans”, and for the Voice of
Democracy it is “Why Veterans are Important to America’s History and
Future”.
The
VFW, through local posts, is always available to assist teachers in
any school who want to adopt this program.
You can
find all the information you need about the VFW and these two
programs on line, or visit your local VFW on a meeting night to get
the information and then make your wishes known to your school board
through your PTO. If there is no VFW in your town the Northwood Post
will be glad to help you out.
There
are several other benefits to your child participating in these
programs. Even as far back as the 1970s the term “self-esteem” was
bantered about by some faculty and administrators as very important
to a child’s development, and so it is. What better way to lift
that self-esteem, then, than for that child to win such a contest at
any level? And for those who would say that loosing would damage
that child; (as former teacher) I say that is not true. It may hurt
their feelings but contrary to damaging them it teaches them they do
not always get what they want. That is just a truism of life,
period.
Those
who are taught that if they fall short to get up and start again are
those who have real self-esteem and much better chance for success.
So even
if your child does not win…as certainly most will not… they still
have gained skills in perseverance, researching, and communicating
both verbally and in writing. What do they really have to lose?
Nothing. On the other hand by not participating your child loses
valuable experience that can only help them in the real world after
school.
It’s
your child, your school and your choice. An opportunity for your
child is waiting. If not now, when?
Letter To The Editor
To the
Editor,
Finding
enough volunteers has become very problematic in many towns such as
ours. Northwood had a large group of volunteers who are leaving
primarily because of age and as we all know families are very busy
in today’s world. We need to nurture, encourage and return their
service by showing respect and recognition for the time they give.
Last month a group of your fellow citizens, for you, spent from 6:30
pm until 12:20 am at a Planning Board meeting doing the town’s
business. Just this one board meets twice a month. For free! They
and many others in our school system and town administration give
incredible personal time.
I am
not going to belabor the point because I know that they all get
personal satisfaction from giving their time. But I have to tell you
about one reaction from my last letter about this subject. One, as
we say “with all due respect” gentleman was “insulted”. I keep a
file of emails in which he likes to call me an assortment of names.
He has cleaned it up a little. In this one I’m a narcissist,
cowardly (that word was in the unsigned letter I recently told you
about), whinning (his spelling) from the rooftops, and that I don’t
respect your rights to the First Amendment. I guess?? (I’m shrugging
my shoulders). If you’d like to get a copy of his diatribe let me
know, I’ll forward it to you. What I am is noisy. He doesn’t like
it. Tough!!
“For
the record” the Selectmen did on 6/25/13 invite volunteers to come
in and wait until after their meeting to receive a thank you. There
was a platter of veggies and bottles of water. It was the thought
that counts.
Thank
you, all of you volunteers,
Tim
Jandebeur
Northwood
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