Those Celebrating Birthdays are: October 16, Donna Ward.
A Very Happy Birthday To One and All!
Pittsfield Food Pantry Serves Spaghetti Dinner
The Pittsfield Food Pantry is holding a spaghetti and meatball
dinner and bake sale to benefit its outreach to the community. All
ages will enjoy the tasty meal of spaghetti and meatballs, salad,
dessert (including homemade pies), and beverages, which will be
served at the First Congregational Church, 24 Main Street,
Pittsfield, Saturday, October 26, 5-7 p.m. A monetary donation is
requested. Baked goods will also be offered for sale. Parking and
wheelchair accessible entry located at back of church. For more
information, contact the Food Pantry at 435-6773.
Caregiver’s Support Group
A caregiver’s support group meets the 2nd and 4th Mondays of every
month at the Loudon Center Freewill Baptist Church located at 433
Clough Hill Road in Loudon. For more information please call Rev.
Linda Overall at 603.875.5822
Potluck Supper
& Hymn Sing
Join us the Loudon Center Freewill Baptist Church on Saturday,
October 19, 2013 for our monthly potluck supper and music. Bring
your favorite dish or dessert to share with everyone. Supper begins
at 6 pm and the music starts at 7 pm. Please feel free to bring a
donation for the Loudon Food Pantry. For more information call Rev.
Linda Overall at 603-875-5822.
Remember the good old days when you used to walk up to Green’s Drug
Store and get your tickets to the Pittsfield Players’ shows?
Well those days are back - you can purchase Thoroughly Modern Millie
tickets on Sat., Nov. 2 from 10-2 and Sunday, Nov. 3 from 11-1 at
the Scenic Theatre on Depot Street in Pittsfield.
Tickets are $17/each; $15 for seniors. The show is Friday and Sat.,
Nov. 8 & 9 at 7:30 PM, Sunday, Nov. 10 at 2PM and Friday and Sat.,
Nov. 15 & 16 at 7:30PM.
From The Desk Of The Board Of Selectmen
Our purpose of this edition of From the Desk of the Selectmen is to
inform the public of what has been going on and what the Selectmen
have been working on.
We would like to thank all of the candidates who ran for office in
the March 2013 election. Serving a community in an elected position
is no easy task, but is one that can be very rewarding.
Congratulations to Al Douglas as a newly elected Selectman and Eric
Nilsson for filling a vacant Selectboard position and then being
elected to another term as a Selectman.
In 2012, the Board of Selectmen had the difficult task of cutting
$125,000 from the budget due to a move on the town meeting floor.
We evaluated the services that the town provides and had to make
some difficult decisions. Some of the decisions worked out and
saved money and some of them didn’t save what we had hoped.
The most significant decisions were to not allow police details and
to reduce some full time positions to part time. While the switch
from full to part time did save the Town money, the decision
regarding the police details was determined by the New Hampshire
Labor Standards Board to be in violation of the collective
bargaining agreements. From this determination the town was ordered
to comply with the collective bargaining agreements and had to pay
for the detail shifts missed. After negotiating with the two
collective bargaining units an agreement was settled to pay half of
what was actually owed. We agreed to work more closely with the
unions. As of the writing of this letter, we have not received any
more grievances against the Town.
The Town continues to strive to attract new businesses and also work
with our existing businesses to retain them in our town. Recently,
we worked with Kentek Corporation to relocate them into a bigger
building and stay in Pittsfield. This was our first tax relief
program under RSA 179E, which is geared towards helping businesses
and communities. It allows for relief from taxes for a specified
period of time and, in this case, while the company completes
renovations and is re-established. By using this method we should
be able to grow our assessment base to retain and hopefully attract
new businesses. We would like to thank the Economic Development
Committee for all the hard work that they are doing to help our
businesses and community.
Coming out of Town Meeting 2013 a lot of questions were asked
concerning the Fire Chief’s position, if it was voted as a full time
or part time. The way the warrant article was written it could be
interpreted either way. In order to clarify and get a clear
direction a Special Town Meeting was held to clear up the confusion.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the vote was to stay with a full
time Fire Chief and that is what the Board is doing. We have
appointed a committee who is reviewing the applications and doing
the interview process. When the process is complete we will
hopefully have a new Fire Chief.
This has been an expensive year for litigation due to the
unanticipated developments in regard to planning and zoning, as well
as the need for personnel consulting. Because the legal costs have
created an overage in the legal expenditure account, it has prompted
the Board to evaluate the legal consultants used. We have now hired
Barton L. Mayer from Upton and Hatfield for town affairs and Beth A.
Deragon, Esq. from Gallagher, Callahan, and Gartrell for union and
personnel matters. We are hoping that we will not need their
services very often.
The Library project is moving forward to come into compliance with
State law. We are in the bidding stage for the engineering to
develop a solution to the basement problem.
The Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s office now offers a
few new options to their services. Customers now have the ability
to pay for their registrations and taxes with debit and credit cards
at the town office, which had been a frequently requested service.
Also recently implemented is the option of registering vehicles,
licensing your dogs, and ordering vital records online through the
town website,
www.pittsfield-nh.com.
Customers pay online and the clerk’s office will process and mail
out the necessary paperwork. Tax information is also now
available on the website, too, and payments can be made online on
property taxes and sewer user fees.
For the first time in many years the Police Department is at full
staff with all of the full and part time positions being filled.
The bike patrol has been implemented again and can be seen when
available in the downtown area.
Finally, we have been having discussions with other communities
through the Suncook Valley Regional Town Association to find areas
where we can consolidate services and hopefully save money and
provide better services for our dollar.
As your Board of Selectmen, we will remain committed to being a
strong Board and to continue to evaluate our community to see where
improvements can be made.
Behind the Scenes at The Pittsfield Players’
Thoroughly Modern Millie: Set Design
The Scenic Theatre is alive again as The Pittsfield
Players begin rehearsals and other preparations for their fall
musical presentation of Thoroughly Modern Millie. The show will run
at the Scenic on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 8, 9 and 10,
and again the following week on Friday and Saturday, November 15 and
16. This season marks The Players’ 45th anniversary, and their
entire season is dedicated to Elsie Morse. Tickets are $17 per
person, and can be reserved by visiting the Players’ website
www.pittsfieldplayers.com
and clicking on the TicketLeap button, or by calling 435-8852. For
the matinee show on Sunday, November 10, a $2 discount will be
available for seniors.
The Pittsfield Players are blessed in that they own their own
performance facility, but the Scenic Theatre presents many
challenges when designing and building a set. Set Designer Jim Hart
is continually confronted by the lack of space that the Players deal
with on their stage. With no fly space and very little space in the
wings, Jim has managed over the years to introduce many innovations
that afford The Players much more flexibility when staging a major
musical such as Thoroughly Modern Millie. Jim designed and built a
system of tracks that can be used to move both curtains and flats,
and each set that he designs continually improves The Players’ stage
infrastructure to make set building and movement as easy as
possible, given the tiny space they have to work with.
This year, Jim has designed a star curtain, made from black fire
retardant material donated to the Players by Globe Manufacturing
several years ago. The Players have been using the material for
screening on the walls and in other places where fire retardant
material is mandatory, but this is the first time that they’ve sewn
it together to make a curtain that is 12’ high and 18’ wide. It took
four members to sew the panels together, three to feed the cloth
through the machine, and one to sew it. Without a commercial sewing
machine, the curtain crew faced many starts and stops and challenges
to put the panels together. The curtain will then be fitted with
grommets and then the crew will begin attaching the lights that will
form the starry sky.
Jim also is welding additional metal hangers for the track system
designed specifically to accommodate heavier 12’ X 4’ flats. The
further challenge on the Scenic stage is to find a place to put
props and other moveable objects, such as an “elevator”, a laundry,
and a hotel main desk, when they are not being used. To accomplish
this task, Jim has become adept at creating multi-purpose props,
such as a kitchen counter that turned into a picnic bench, and in
finding places to hide these items when not in use. Thoroughly
Modern Millie will have several of these multi-purpose pieces on
stage.
Don’t miss the wonderful set design, as well as the gorgeous
costumes and very talented cast. Mark your calendars now and get
ready for another great musical comedy from The Pittsfield Players.
Next week in Behind The Scenes: A Bodacious Babe Returns.
Holiday Poinsettia Sale
Once again, The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library are
sponsoring a plant sale of locally grown poinsettias from Ledgeview
Greenhouses of Loudon.
Order forms can be found on the library web site or stop by the
Carpenter Library during regular business hours to place your order.
Orders will be taken through Nov. 1st. The order is not complete
until payment is received. Checks should be made out to the Friends
of the Josiah Carpenter Library and either mailed to the library or
dropped off. Plants will be available for pick-up at the library
early Dec.
Plants are available in red, white, & marble 6 ½” pot - 1 plant -
$10.00; 8 ½” pot - 3 plants - $19.50; 7 ½” pot - 2 plants- $
16.50; 10” pot - 4 plants - $24.00.
Thank you for Your continued Support of our library!
From The Desk Of Juvenile Officer John Webber
“October is National Bullying Prevention Month”
In light of recent complaints regarding cyber-bullying, i.e.
bullying over social media and/or facebook among juveniles and
school children the police department would like to make both
students and parents aware of Cyber bullying, the effects and
consequences. It’s important that everyone is aware of the problem
and therefore everyone can recognize the signs and understand the
behaviors associated with what bullying means today.
From the Safe in Your Space website:
Types of Cyberbullying
Cyber Stalking: Repeatedly sending messages that are threatening or
intimidating. Engaging in other online activities that make the
victim afraid for his or her safety. Cyber Threats: The use of a
computer, cell phone or other electronic device to threaten a
person’s physical safety and well-being (Hinduja & Patchin 2009).
Defamation: “Dissing” someone online. Sending or posting cruel
gossip or rumors about a person to damage his or her reputation or
friendships. Exclusion: Intentionally excluding someone from an
online group, like a buddy list. Flaming or Trolling: Online
fighting using electronic messages with angry and crude language.
Happy Slapping: A phenomenon that links traditional bullying with
cyberbullying where an unsuspected person is recorded being harassed
or bullied in a way that usually includes some type of physical
abuse. The digital photo or video is uploaded to the web (Hinduja &
Patchin 2009). Harassment: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude and
insulting messages. Impersonation: Pretending to be someone else and
sending or posting material online that makes the victim look bad,
gets the victim in trouble or danger, or damages the victim’s
reputation or friendships. Outing and Trickery: Sharing someone’s
secret or embarrassing information online. Tricking someone into
revealing secrets or embarrassing information that is then shared
online. Photoshopping: The modification or alteration of a photo or
image. This becomes cyberbullying if the image is altered in a
humiliating or obscene way and uploaded to the Web (Hinduja &
Patchin 2009).
What you may think is funny or a simple prank may not be funny to
the victim. The victim may respond very differently than you expect.
If you are not sure how the victim of your prank or joke may
respond, or if you wouldn’t do it to that person’s face, then don’t
do it online. What if you send an embarrassing picture of your
girlfriend or boyfriend to a friend, thinking it won’t go further
than that? The fact is, you have no idea what a friend might do with
something you send. Once you have sent it, you have lost control of
where it might end up and any harm it might cause. You can get into
serious trouble for cyberbullying. A cyberbully might be charged
with: a Criminal Offense: depending on the specific circumstances of
a case, cyberbullying could lead to criminal charges.Both libel and
slander could result in the victim filing a lawsuit against you. So
think, before you post.
Josiah Carpenter Library News
The trustees, director, staff and patrons of the Josiah Carpenter
Library sent a letter of thanks to the NH Division of Historical
Resources for funding 2 grants (years 2010 and 2012) to renovate the
library’s windows.
The work was done by Andrew Roeper of Winn Mountain Restorations.
The renovations are excellent with beautiful windows fully restored
and able to be opened easily, thus fitting in perfectly with our
100+ year old building’s design. The Historical Resources Division
made that possible.
We invite the citizens to come in, see the windows and meet our new
director, Beverly Pietlicki, and also become library card holders.
The library offers many services, first and foremost, being free
access to wonderful books for all to read.
Pittsfield Community Crime Watch
The Pittsfield Community Crime Watch group had another great turn
out at their 2nd meeting on September 17th. The initial goal for
the evening was to break out into smaller groups to “get to know our
neighbors”. However, there was so much large group discussion and
brain storming that we will focus on the small group work at our
October meeting. Please join us on Monday, October 28th, 6:30 pm at
Jitters Cafe. We urge you to invite all of your neighbors to support
this community effort.
At the meeting, we asked all participants to continue
brainstorming ideas on what they would like to get out of the crime
watch as a community member and possible guest speakers for future
meetings. Please feel free to share any thoughts or ideas you might
have via e-mail
[email protected].
During the meeting, Chief Wharem offered to work with residents to
find ways to keep their homes and property more safe. To schedule a
personal meeting with an officer, contact the police station at 435-
7298 or
[email protected]
Please join us for our next meeting on Monday, October 28th at 6:30
pm at Jitter’s Café. Attendees do not have to be residents of
Pittsfield. This problem is not limited to Pittsfield! We would like
members of the neighboring communities to attend as well so they can
speak with their law enforcement officials to get something like
this started in each community. During this meeting, we will break
out into smaller groups based on areas of residence.
A special THANK YOU to Paul Rogers for supporting the Community
Crime Watch program and for donating the use of his café for this
event.
This crime problem in the Greater Pittsfield Community can be solved
but it is going to take the help of EVERYONE to get it done. We
hope to see many of you on the 28th.
TOPS News
Submitted By Terrie Azotea
Well, it has been a very busy fall so far and hopefully everyone is
getting settled in with the kids back at school. We have a few
things going on at TOPS. First, our TOPS best loser of the week was
Mickey and our KOPS was Pat S and Kudos to those who came in second.
Keep up the good work.
We would like to say Congratulations to Mickey for reaching her KOPS
goal and all the hard work that goes with reaching your goal. KOPS
stands for Keep Off Pounds Sensibly. It’s an honor to reach your
goal and a much deserved thing.
Our Miss Angel is Suzie. Come on, we know that you can get there.
You have done really good, so keep it up.
A few awards were handed out to the members that lost weight during
the month. We talked about some old business and what will be coming
up for the holidays.
There was a good program on “Is Weight loss stressing you out?” and
we all had a quiz and we all have some sort of stress in our lives.
A little bit of an eye opening on things we might be doing wrong and
things we need to change to help us get to our goal.
If anyone is interested in joining us and wants to lose weight or
keep off weight, come on out to St. Stephens Church on Main Street
in Pittsfield on Tuesday nights @ 5:30 for a weigh in and 6:30 for
our meeting. We always welcome new faces.
Any questions, please call Stuart Pike @ 857-4842 or Pat Smith @
435-5333.
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away” (author unknown). Hope everyone
has a great week and see you all lighter next week!
Pittsfield Fire Department Service News
September 2013
During the month of September 67 calls for emergency service were
received. Fire and EMS personnel responded to: 43 Medical
emergencies, 1 Structure fire, 1 chimney fire, 1 outside fire, 4
Motor Vehicle collisions, 6 Fire Alarm activations, 4 Service calls,
5 Good intent calls, 2 Hazardous conditions. 5 of the calls were
overlapping calls. 5 Mutual aid responses were provided to other
communities and 3 were received from other communities. 17 Permits
to Kindle a Fire were written.
Training topics for the month of September were: Firefighter
survival and ground Ladder Operations and Safety. Lieutenant
Pszonowsky, EMS Captain Girard and Firefighter Lyle Deane recently
completed Fire Officer I at the New Hampshire Fire Academy.
We would like to welcome the new per-diem employees: Robyn Cushing,
Andrew Perkins, Michael Dow and Eliott Brown.
Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the Fire
Department or to learn more about the Department, please stop by the
station or call 435-6807.
SAFETY REMINDER: Remember to have your furnace serviced and chimney
cleaned professionally before winter.
Thoroughly Modern Millie Hosts “Modern” Family Night
The Pittsfield Players are proud to announce ticket sales for
Wednesday, Nov. 6, Millie’s Dress Rehearsal, as Modern Family Night.
Bring your gym buddies, your book club, your bridge club, the ladies
who lunch, your roommates and more – just because you’re not
technically related, doesn’t mean you’re not family to us! Groups or
“families” of 5 or more will be treated to a special dress rehearsal
price of $14/ticket; that’s $3 off regular ticket price. Of course
if you want to bring the actual family, you can do that too. Singles
are allowed at the discount of $1 off the $17 ticket price. Senior
discount does not apply to this offer.
Jay and Dorothy Hardy of Pittsfield are pleased to announce the
engagement of their daughter, Katherine Elise Hardy, to Oluwatoyin
Oyeride, son of the late Titilayo Ojo and Yinka Oyeride. Kate
attended Pittsfield Middle High School and was graduated from
Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma. She is employed as a
teacher in Oklahoma City at the Crutcho Public School where in 2012
she was named teacher of the year. Oluwatoyin (Ty), grew up in
Lagos, Nigeria, and was graduated from Ado Ekiti University in Undo
State. He served in the US Army under Project Iraqi Freedom. Ty is a
health care professional at Baptist Village in Oklahoma City, OK. A
2013 wedding is planned.
Obituaries
Hope (Cristofori) Finnegan
Hope (Cristofori) Finnegan of Pittsfield, passed away on October 4,
2013 at the Concord Hospital. She was 90 years old having been born
in Buzzard’s Bay, MA on April 27, 1923 to Augusto and Pia (Morrici)
Cristofori..
Hope helped her husband establish the C. E. Finnegan Jewelry Store
in Pittsfield in 1948 and retired from there in 1987. She was
employed as a stitcher for the Globe Manufacturing Company from 1966
to 1984.
Hope believed strongly in the importance and love of family. They
include her daughters Paula Dickinson and husband David of Gilford;
Dotty Leavitt and husband Jerry of So. Berwick, ME; and Linda Freese
and husband Tim of Gilmanton I.W. She leaves grand-daughters Erin
Capron and husband Eric of So. Berwick, ME; Katie Marshall and
husband Chris of Dover; and Lindsay Hirschmann and husband Tom of
Winter Park, FL. Her grand-sons include Elliott Freese of Steamboat
Springs, CO and Justin Leavitt of So. Berwick, ME. Makenna and
Addyson Capron always called her G-G…short for Great Grammy.
Hope was predeceased by her husband of 65 years, Clayton E.
Finnegan.
The family of Hope Finnegan wishes to invite friends to celebrate
her life at a graveside burial at the Mt. Calvary Cemetery in
Pittsfield, on Saturday, October 19 at 11 AM. Following the service,
all are invited to a luncheon.
Family and friends may sign an on-line guestbook by visiting
stilloaks.com
George W. Douglas
George W. Douglas, 65, of 2 Main St. Hinsdale, died October 2nd at
UMASS Medical Center in Worcester, MA. following a long illness. He
was born in Derby, CT. the son of George A. and Jessie (Pierce)
Douglas. His musical pursuits led him to Greenwich Village and later
to Los Angeles. An accomplished guitarist and studio musician, he
performed with Playboy After Dark, his friend KEB’MO’ and others.
He is survived by a son, Mark Douglas of New Haven, CT. and a
granddaughter Ashley. Two Siblings, Albert Douglas of Pittsfield
and Angel Douglas of Epsom. Also his Companion, Janet Lutkus of
Bennington. Aunts, Uncles and cousins.
A Memorial Visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 16th, from
5 – 7 PM at the Perkins & Pollard Memorial Home, 60 Main St.
Pittsfield, NH. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the
Pittsfield Players, PO Box 177, Pittsfield, NH 03263
To sign an on line guest book, log on to
perkinsandpollard.com
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