On
Friday, March 20, 2015 the Northwood Congregational Church, UCC will
be hosting a GAME NIGHT beginning at 6:30 p.m. Come and celebrate
the First Day of Spring with fun board/card games and warm
fellowship. Bring a snack to share -- punch will be provided. The
church is located next to Coe-Brown Northwood Academy, 881 First NH
Turnpike/Route 4. All ages are welcome!
Higher
Ground Baptist Church is hosting a special fund raising concert and
would like to extend the opportunity to you and your parishioners.
Have a blessed day.
APRIL
1st. All are welcome to come and enjoy a night of food, fun and
fellowship while supporting Josselyn’s Journey to health. The night
will start with Josh Jackman of InPursuit, and then lead into music
by JOHN WALLER whose music appeared in the movie Fireproof. A love
offering is welcomed for entrance. There will also be food for sale.
Read Josselyn’s story at
www.gofundme.com/josselynsjourney
Doors
open at 6:00PM & the concert begins at 7:00PM
Pet Tails Rescue Partnership With Northwood School
The
Culture and Climate Committee at Northwood School was honored to
partner with a local 501 (c) 3 non-profit business Pet Tails Rescue
for its school-wide community service initiative. During the month
of January, the committee honored one of Northwood School’s staff
members, Sandra Hassett of Northwood as a Community Hero. Her family
founded and operates Pet Tails Rescue, a foster-based rescue, which
has rehomed more than 800 abused and abandoned pets along with the
support of many volunteers.
The
Culture and Climate Committee has been organizing monthly Team Time
events for the school since September. Teams are made up of
approximately 20 students, K-8. Seventh and eighth graders
volunteered as Team Captains to facilitate the monthly activities
with the guidance and support of the staff at Northwood School.
Alliterative team names were selected by the students using positive
character attributes and animals, such as The Motivated Monkeys, The
Loyal Labs, The Diligent Deer, and The Persistent Pumas. With the
theme of animals, the committee felt it was a wonderful opportunity
to partner with an organization that helps animals in need.
During
the month of February, teams brought in donations for Pet Tails
Rescue. Northwood families donated blankets, leashes, pet foods, pet
toys, and pet grooming supplies. As a part of Winter Carnival
festivities on Friday, February 20, students colored pictures of
dogs and wrote thank you letters to pet adopting families. These
will be distributed to future adopting families through Pet Tails
Rescue.
Saving
one dog might not change the world, but for that one dog the world
has changed. For information about how you can adopt a pet in need,
foster or contribute to the cause of Pet Tails Rescue, please visit
www.pettailsrescue.org, on
Facebook or through [email protected].
Letter
To The Editor
Social
planners (experts) make it their business to mind your business.
Unfortunately they fail to see the broader picture of humanity and
our amazing differences are not appreciated or optimized.
Funnel
them all into All-Day K for the promised results of some narrow
data. Thinking they know why some people don’t send their children
and are at the ready with a plan for you.
Joe
McCaffrey takes a different lesson from the Gladys Gardener story
and is called a “ misguided soul”. If you don’t agree with these
self-appointed social planners- watch out! To pressure other
misguided souls further they will throw in the tired old scary
tactics of “going back” to archaic times. Lions and tiger and bears
oh my!
I say
if you are so concerned about other peoples’s children open your
home as Gladys Gardener did and do something about it yourself.
Sad we
can’t speak about our differences and remain civil as we hope they
are learning in kindergarten, but run the risk of being called
names, “a misguided soul”. If you don’t agree you will be shamed
into it. Poor, poor attitude!
Sharon
Matras
Pittsfield
Letter
To The Editor
Violations of the Law
The
elections are over. The campaigns are done--for the moment. Why were
these political battles taking place? Why do so many people take so
much time and put so much energy into these fights?
A
century and a half ago, a Frenchman named Frederic Bastiat provided
the answer in his little but momentous book The Law.
Political controversy, which “agitates, excites, and overthrows
nations, would lose nearly all of its importance if the law had
always been what it ought to be. In fact,” he says, there would be
no reason to spend time on politics “if law were restricted to
protecting all persons, all liberties, and all properties”
When
Bastiat talks of liberty he is using the term the same way the
Founding Fathers used it--liberty as a fundamental pre-existing
right, something that doesn’t depend upon anyone else’s efforts.
It’s the right to worship freely, to defend onself, to speak one’s
mind, and so on.
Liberty
is not a right to get free things from govenment; that is, it is not
a “right” to force other people to work and pay taxes so that
government can give us our favorite programs. Government does indeed
have legitimate functions, according to the Founders, but they
should be strictly limited. As Thomas Jefferson reputedly said,
“That government is best which governs least.”
So some
engage in politics to get benefits from government, while others do
so to try to to keep government from abridging our basic freedoms.
None of these efforts would be necessary, according to Bastiat, if
government were limted to its only proper role: to protect our
property, our person, and our liberty.
Michael
Faiella
Northwood
Water
Testing Week
Too
many people in our area wait until the time that they have an active
buyer on their home to test their water. Have you been wondering if
arsenic, radon, or lead are present at unhealthy levels in your well
water?
Aqua
Specialties, LLC of Northwood has teamed up with Eastern Analytical,
Inc. of Concord to offer a week of discounted, convenient water
testing. Simply swing by Aqua Specialties on Monday, Tuesday, or
Wednesday, March 23-25 to pick up a water testing kit. Bring the kit
home, fill the sample bottles, and return the kit to Aqua
Specialties later that day.
For
this week only, the drinking water analysis packages will be
discounted by 15%, with the convenience of easy pick-up and drop-off
right here at Aqua Specialties at 561 First NH Turnpike. Call
942-5671 or visit www.H20guy.com for more
details.
Northwood Election Results
Voters
went to the polls on Tuesday, March 10 to elect local officials and
determine the outcome of town and school warrant articles. In
contested races, Rick Wolf won the three year selectmen seat over
incumbent Robert Holden; Robert Strobel retained his seat on the
planning board and Betty Smith was elected as a new member of the
board; incumbent Richard Cummings was re-elected police commissioner
over challenger Ken Rick; Ron MacElman will serve as road agent
taking the higher vote count over Mike Lockard; and incumbent Tim
Jandebeur and newcomer Barbie Hartford were elected to the two open
seats on the school board.
Both
town and school budgets passed as did the majority of warrant
articles including new contracts for teachers and paraprofessionals.
The articles that were defeated included: upgrading the heating
system at the town hall, adding to the vested benefit fund, changing
the road agent from elected to appointed, and creating a fund for a
safety complex study. On the school warrant, all warrant articles
passed except for the hiring of two new positions and changing from
a half to a full day kindergarten.
Letter
Thank
You Voters
You do
not know how much I truly appreciate the voters who supported me by
writing my name in for the two year School Board position. I was
encouraged to run by concerned citizens, who really wanted another
representative for both the taxpayer and for education on the
Northwood School Board. Even though I did not win, I will continue
be an active citizen and follow the School Board’s proceedings.
Thank
you also for voting to send a message to Concord to rid our State of
Common Core. I will be writing more about this in future articles.
Sincerely,
Marie
L. Correa
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Alumni Association Scholarship
The
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy Alumni Association is currently
accepting scholarship applications for 2015. Scholarships are
available at http://www.coebrown.org/alumni
or by emailing [email protected].
Qualified applications will be graduates of Coe-Brown (including the
graduating class of 2015). Please mail completed applications to:
Coe-Brown
Northwood Academy
Attention: Rebecca Paine
907
First New Hampshire Turnpike
Northwood, NH 03261
The
submission deadline is April 1, 2015 at 12pm.
Any
questions can be directed to Rebecca at
[email protected].
Please do not contact Coe-Brown Northwood Academy for scholarship
inquiries.
Letter
To The Editor
Win
Some, Lose Some
All-Day
K went down to defeat by a large margin, 541-309, on Election Day,
and as I stood at the polls all day, it was easy to see why. There
were far more people using canes, walkers and wheelchairs than there
were using strollers.
Northwood, and NH more generally, is getting older. And as the Baby
Boomers have boomed into retirement and fixed incomes, their
willingness to spend money has diminished accordingly. And in a
state that relies so heavily on property taxes, especially for
schools at the local level, big houses (like mine) and small incomes
(like mine) spell trouble for new spending.
Two
other initiatives also failed: adding a math specialist and another
7/8-grade teacher. So it wasn’t All-Day K that was rejected. Just
the cost.
You can
see this most clearly in the item that passed by the largest margin
– 731 for, 108 against – the payment for defibrillators! Us old
folks want those defibrillators!
The
good news is that most other spending was approved. The town and
school budgets passed, as did the contracts for teachers and aides.
Another $50K will be spent to finish the recreation fields, and
$100K was approved for road construction. Let’s hope that the newly
elected Road Agent Ron MacElman will see that this money is wisely
and well spent. Lots of people have been unhappy with how roadwork
was being done, and they will be watching.
These
two items are important. If the roads are lousy, who will want to
buy these big, old houses when us seniors try to down-size? And if
there is nothing for the kids of younger folks to do, why would they
want to move here? Coe-Brown is not enough.
And
thanks to Scott Bulger and Bob Holden for their service. And to the
voters for re-electing me to the Budget Committee.
Tom
Chase
Northwood
Letter
To The Editor
To the
Editor:
With
big spenders like Governor Hassan in the State House, we need
fiscally conservative leaders who will fight against taxes and
reckless spending in Concord. This past February Governor Maggie
Hassan publicized her new budget that has proved to be an insult to
Granite Staters across the board.
The
most glaring factor of the Governor’s budget is by far the 1 billion
dollars in increased spending she has proposed for this upcoming
year. This 1 billion dollars in increased spending comes alongside
previously proposed cuts of over 7 million dollars to our local
nursing homes.
The
Governor has also asked New Hampshire taxpayers to fund a Chief
Operating Officer to help manage the state. The job we elected her
to do. Where are Governor Hassan’s priorities? Governor Hassan’s
budget also includes a 35% increase in vehicle registration fees, a
costly 4 million dollar railroad study (for a project the state
cannot afford), and an increased tax on tobacco.
Once
again Governor Hassan has proven that New Hampshire does not have a
revenue problem, but a spending problem. We need passionate and
prudent leaders in Concord to reign in our spending and ensure that
our tax dollars are going to good use. Please support me in the
State Representative Special Election GOP Primary on March 31st and
help bring a strong, fiscally responsible voice to Concord that will
not raise your taxes.
Yvonne
M. Dean-Bailey
Northwood
Letter
To The Editor
Comments from the Results of Northwood Voting
Based
upon the results on the town-side voters approved warrant articles
having a tax impact of .68 cents per thousand. With a 2014 municipal
tax rate of $4.29 this will result in a hefty 16% increase in our
rate to $4.97 before any adjustments are made by selectmen to our
undesignated-unreserved surplus account. Hopefully when the
selectmen set the tax rate in November they will decide to buy down
enough of this projected rate increase to absorb much of the
$326,559 in additional spending that voters approved this week for
2015.
On the
school-side it was not surprising that voters rejected hiring a new
grade 7/8 teacher; a math specialist; and full-day kindergarten.
Given that the K-8 enrollments in Northwood (415) are at their
lowest level in years, the school board should not be looking to
expand staffing levels. Rather they should be looking to consolidate
and to achieve savings.
As a
member of the last school building committee that recommended adding
several classrooms to the footprint at the school, enrollments were
projected to be in the mid 500’s at this time according to
projections done by the office of state planning. According to Kurt
Lauer, the architect hired by the school board at the time, with the
build-out the school would be able to accommodate up to 600
students. There should never be a need for additional space during
our lifetime.
Before
I first became certified by the state department of education as a
school business administrator I had to complete several graduate
classes. One analysis I do annually is to compare the school
finances in Northwood to Nottingham. Their proposed budget of
$11,153,687 is $861,301 less than Northwood’s ($12,014,988).
However, Nottingham has 57 more students than Northwood (708 versus
651).
Jim
Hadley
Northwood
Northwood Recreation Update
Easter
Egg Hunt - Join Northwood Recreation on Saturday, April 4th for the
Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Be on the look out for the Easter Bunny
around 9:45am. Where there is an egg hunt there is bound to be a
bunny near by. The Easter Egg Hunt will begin at 10:00 AM SHARP at
the Northwood Elementary School. There will be 3 golden eggs hidden
in each of the 3 age groups; 4 & under; 5 – 7; and 8 – 10 years old.
Find a golden egg and receive a special prize!
Are you
older than 10? Don’t miss the Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt this year
for kids 11 and older; Friday, April 3rd at the Northwood Elementary
School. The hunt will begin at about 8:15 (just after dusk). There
will be 3 golden with a prize awarded to the finder. Both of these
events are FREE to Northwood Residents. Don’t forget to bring your
own basket and cameras.
For
additional information contact the Recreation Department at
[email protected] or
942-5586 x209.
THANK
YOU NORTHWOOD!
I would
like to express my sincere thanks to many citizens of Northwood for
the opportunity to have served them as Town Administrator for the
last four years.
Last
Tuesday, the townspeople indicated that they would like to town to
go in a different direction. I respect that and wish the Board of
Selectmen all the best in this endeavor. I have decided to retire
this week so as to accommodate the transition.
I need
to offer gratitude to all who have supported me in my tenure as your
Town Administrator. Scott Bryer, Bob Holden and Alden Dill brought
me on board in 2010 as “interim” to get us to town meeting. That
interim lasted 4 years. I can’t thank the three of them enough for
their support, professionalism and love of Northwood. They are the
true definition of public service and the residents of Northwood are
fortunate to have or have had these gentlemen in this position.
The
town hall staff, department heads and employees... they are the
backbone of the organization. They are truly a group of dedicated
public servants whose prime interest is serving you… the residents
of Northwood. Please continue to support them. Without their
guidance, professionalism and dedication, I could not have
succeeded. I will miss all of them.
To the
various boards, commissions and residents that I have forged
friendships and working relationships with… thank you! It has truly
been a wonderful experience.
As I
enter another chapter of my life, I will always be thrilled to have
had the occasion to meet all of you and serve you. I am truly
grateful… best wishes to everyone and thank you so much again.
Brent
T. Lemire
Town
Administrator
Northwood School 2nd Quarter Honor Roll
5th Gr.
High Honors
Megan
Brieger, Skye Loto, Alexander Quaglia, Eva Roy, Anne Thoms
5th Gr.
Honors
Kylie
Bocash, Burke Bulger, Thomas Cirillo, Elizabeth Cromer, Mallory
Farrar, Nicole Gaedtke, Seth Ireland, Denzel Martinez, Kailynn
Nicoll, Emma Pollak, Myranda St. Onge, Parker Tatem, Elizabeth White
6th Gr.
High Honors
Jennifer Bettencourt, Amelia Brackett, Addison Cox, Porter Heigis,
Liam Jozokos, Christian Kiernan, Emma Pinard, Andrew Quaglia, Brenna
Roy, Raina Skora
6th Gr.
Honors
Jillian
Bearden, Kaden Beliveau, Adrianna Bingham, Joshua Bowers, Gabrielle
Critchett, Tyler Hartford, Piper Leduke, Shelby Lefoley, Logan
Mihellich, William Moehlmann, Darin Sweet, Luke Tkaczyk, Caitlyn van
Gerena, Ty Votour
7th Gr.
High Honors
Katherine Blake, Benjamin Brieger, Evan Lentz, Ryan Nester, Kelsey
Pease, Mary Thoms, Samantha Troy
7th Gr.
Honors
Hunter
Adams, Jaden Boulanger, Brianna Burke, Stone Compton, Matthew Davis,
Makayla DeButts, Hailie Holland, Ryan Hughes, Brianna Jackson,
Victoria Johnston, Sophie Laird, Michael MacEachern, Brynna Meeker,
Ethan Meeker, Kendall Nester, Eli Pinard, Morgan Tatem, Elijah
Tomlinson-Burrell, Samantha Welch
8th
Grade High Honors
Alivia
DiPrizio, Olivia Farrar, Emma Tobbe, Megan Wimsat
8th Gr.
Honors
Summer
Brown, Clayton Canfield, Alivia DiPrizio, Alyssa Hill, Lillian
Marie, Lucas McCusker, Caleb Mihelich, Jonathan Moehlmann, Jacob
Nesmith, Carly Ramsey, Jacob Rich, Zachery Sheehan
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