The Pittsfield Old Home Day Community Fair 9:00am to 3:00pm, Car
Show 9:00am to noon, and Parade (1:00pm) will be held on July 11th .
Do you belong to a community organization that would like to have a
FREE space in Dustin Park for the community fair? Crafters or
businesses can also reserve space in the park for $10.00.
Interested? Call Leslie Vogt at 435-7993.
The Old Home Day Theme is “Summer of Suess, Dr. Seuss That Is” If
you are planning to create a float for the parade please call Louie
Houle at 435-6938. Parade floats are a fun way to promote your
business or community organization!
REMINDER
Pittsfield Area Senior Center
On Tuesday, June 16, at 10:30 AM at the Pittsfield Area Senior
Center there will be a Live Performance by the Pontine Theatre Group
called, “New England Utopia: Transcendental Communities.” The play
is exploring the legacy of the nineteenth century New England
Transcendentalists, with a focus on three influential Massachusetts
communities.
If planning to stay for lunch please RSVP at 435-8482 so the meal
can be planned accordingly. We are located at 74 Main St. in
Pittsfield, NH.
Free Family Portrait Day
St. Stephen’s Church, 50 Main St., Pittsfield is offering a free
family portrait on Father’s Day, June 21.
Services are at 9:30 and the photography begins at 10:45.
All are welcome!
TOPS News I
Submitted By Terrie Azotea
Well, it has been a few busy weeks at TOPS starting with our KOPS
best loser of the week, Peggy and our TOPS best loser, Jon.
Kudos to those who were runners up! An award was handed out to April
for being the best loser for a month.We talked about our upcoming
yard sale.
Miss Angels are Suzie and Joyce, you ladies are so close to your
goal!
We have an inspiration workshop coming up that will help inspire us!
One of our members had some inspiring quotes for us to read and
bring home to think about, “Thoughts for each day.” Twenty food for
thoughts quotes. Thanks, Pat, for sharing them with us.
As we all know, swimsuit season is here, and so is that thought of
getting into that teenie weeny polka-dot bikini, or just feeling
healthy.
Come on out. We meet on Tuesday nights at the Berakah on Fairview
Road in Pittsfield at 5:30 for weigh-in and at 6:30 for our meeting.
We always welcome new faces, any questions please call Janis White
at 603-491-5532 or Claire Coll at 435-7372. They would be glad to
help you! Hope everyone has a good week and we’ll see you all
lighter next week!
Pittsfield High School Students
Participate In “Day Of Action”
On Tuesday, May 26th 200 Pittsfield middle and high school students
participated in the school’s first “Day of Action”. The PMHS Student
Council was looking for ways to offer students a greater variety of
community service projects beyond their annual Earth Day
celebration. They decided to re-brand it a “Day of Action”. This
allowed for the students to participate on a day not specific to
Earth Day. The council reached out to community organizations, town
government, committees and business owners to identify any need(s)
they might have that they could help out with. A list was then
compiled and the students were given a choice of different
locations/projects. Each student wrote down their top three choices
and why they were interested in those projects. Each student was
able to participate in one of the three projects their requested.
The middle school students stayed on the PMHS campus working outside
raking and picking up trash. Some worked inside with Mr. Dawson and
the maintenance crew.
The participating high school students worked at the following
locations:
Blueberry Express Daycare (yard work & cleaning playground
equipment)
River Road and Water Street (trash pick-up)
Drake Field (landscaping)
High Street and Barnstead Road (trash pick-up)
Pittsfield Food Pantry (cleaning and organizing)
Lyman Park (yard work and clean-up)
Berakah (yard work and clean-up)
Pittsfield Community Center (yard work)
Pittsfield Police Department (landscaping)
Thyng Memorial (yard work)
Vintage Hill (yard work and clean-up)
Each group of students had a PMHS staff and a student council member
to help keep the work projects organized while they were being done.
Every organization, department, business and individual that
benefited from the student’s work is extremely grateful. Pittsfield
should be proud to have such involved and caring students at PMHS.
The Pittsfield Middle High School continues to need your support and
participation in making it second to none in educating our children.
PYW Summer Programming Updates
Submitted By Paula Martel, PYW Program Director
The Pittsfield Youth Workshop has finalized the 2015 summer
schedule! A few of the fun and exciting trips we are planning
include: Hilltop Fun Center, a Red Sox game, Water Country, Museum
of Science, Seacoast Science Ctr, hiking Mt. Major, Lost River &
Boulder Caves, Six Flags N.E., kayaking and eight weeks of outdoor
rock climbing. The Pittsfield Fire Department will be coming in to
do a couple programs with the youth and Mr. Sherwood will have some
woodworking projects for us to work on.
PYW’s drop-in center will be open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
from 2-6 PM, unless otherwise noted, during the summer. On some
Friday afternoons PYW will holding special activities. Check out the
summer calendar or our website!
On Monday, June 15th, PYW will be holding an Open House from 4:00 to
6:00 PM for new youth and parents to check out the Drop-In Center,
and for everyone to sign up for summer trips and/or activities
(current PYW members will have the first opportunity to sign up for
the summer trips). Although this will not be the only
time to sign up, we are suggesting that everyone who is interested
in the summer programs stop by. Some trips fill up fast! PYW trips
and activities are open to youth in grades six and up (that means
youth who just finished 5th grade), from Pittsfield and the
surrounding towns. There are a lot of great opportunities this
summer and we can’t wait to get started.
Yearly membership dues are $25 per child (maximum of $50 per family
- no matter how many children participate) and runs each year from
July to June. If you would like information on scholarships or need
financial assistance, please stop by PYW and speak with Zach or
Paula.
VA Begins Summer Of Service To Bolster Volunteer Assistance
For Veterans
Calls Upon Individuals, Organizations and Communities to Serve
Veterans in Nationwide Effort
Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan,Chaplain
American Legion Peterson-Cram Post 75 Pittsfield
WASHINGTON, DC—The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today
announced a new nationwide initiative designed to build upon its
existing partnerships to grow the number of individuals and
organizations serving Veterans in their communities. The Department
is renewing its commitment to Veterans and embarking upon a “Summer
of Service” that seeks the help of citizens across the country to
honor that commitment.
“We have made progress over the past year addressing the challenges
we face in delivering care and benefits to millions of Veterans and
their families,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A.
McDonald. “While there is more work to do to honor our sacred
commitment to Veterans, we also recognize that VA cannot do it
alone. We are asking Americans everywhere to join the Summer of
Service and help us give back to those who have given so much to our
nation.”
In the coming weeks, VA will be working closely with Congressional
partners, Veterans Service Organizations, Mayors and local
communities, private sector and non-profit organizations, and VA
employees to identify new and innovative ways to support VA’s
commitment to care for those who “have borne the battle” and their
families.
As part of VA’s Summer of Service, the Department has committed to
holding an open house in VA facilities the week of June 28 to spur
increased local engagement and welcome members of the community
interested in supporting the needs of Veterans. VA has also
established the following goals to achieve by Labor Day:
Increasing Volunteers: Committed to engaging with 100,000 volunteers
to support care and benefits programs and local events.
Increasing Community Partners: Committed to expanding current
agreements to provide services and support reaching more than 15,000
Veterans and family.
Recruiting Medical Professionals: Hiring clinicians and clinical
support staff to further expand access to care and homelessness.
Congress: Host Congressional Members and Staffs at VA facilities
across the country.
The Department has an outstanding volunteer program, which will be
highlighted throughout the country this summer. VA will build upon
the ongoing work of its more than 350,000 employees and 76,000
volunteers around the nation. While the central focus of the
campaign will be increasing volunteerism and partnerships, it will
also provide individuals and communities an opportunity to support
other important priorities. Despite a hiring effort that brought
more than 11,000 net new employees onboard over the past year, VA
still needs more health care providers, claims specialists, medical
support assistants, and cemetery directors to continue to expand
needed services. VA’s partners can help by getting the word out this
summer.
In the last year, VA has completed more than 46 million
appointments, an increase of more than two million from the previous
year. Nearly 3 million Veterans received care in the private
sector, an increase of more than 44 percent from the previous year.
The number of Veterans and Survivors receiving monthly compensation
and pension benefits has increased to nearly 5 million. In an
effort to improve the Veteran’s customer service experience, VA has
begun the most comprehensive re-organization in its history. The
initiative, called MyVA, has been guided by ideas and
recommendations from Veterans, employees, and stakeholders.
“There is no mission more noble than serving Veterans and their
families. At VA, we constantly strive to improve the way we do our
job,” said McDonald. “State by state, community by community,
person by person, there are a number of ways we can all come
together to serve Veterans. From expanded partnerships with the
private sector and non-profit organizations, to accelerating hiring,
to celebrating the commitment of VA employees and volunteers – we
need the help of communities everywhere to succeed.”
Volunteers can help to serve Veterans by visiting
http://www.volunteer.va.gov/ to find out
the needs of your local VA facility. Follow #VASummerOfService on
Vantage Point, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and join VA in
caring for America’s Veterans.
TOPS News II
Submitted By Terrie Azotea
Well, this past week at TOPS our KOPS best loser was Pat and our
TOPS best loser was Claire. Kudos to those who also had a weight
loss! We still have our Miss Angels, Suzie and Joyce, your so close
ladies. We had Royality for the month and some awards were handed
out to our best loser of the month: Joyce, Suzie, Peggy, and some
blue flowers to those who also had weight loss.
Some of the tips for their weight loss were portion-control, fruit,
taking the stairs, and the good old exercise.
We started a new contest that will be running for the month. We had
fun doing a vocabulary crossword that Pat shared with us. This time
of the year it helps to have the nice weather to get outside and
walk and soon enough the veggies will be ready in our gardens.
Another way to get exercise is working out in our yards. I don’t
know about anyone else, but I sure have plenty to do and that is a
lot of bending and moving around and it’s also enjoyable!
Thought for the day: “Enjoy what you have.” If anyone would like to
join us, we meet on Tuesday nights at the Berakah on Fairview Rd. in
Pittsfield at 5:30 for weigh-in and 6:30 for our meeting. Any
questions please call Janis White at 603-491-5532 or Clair Coll at
603-435-7571. Well, I hope everyone has a good week and see you all
lighter next week!
Congratulations to Pittsfield Middle High School senior Matt Elsker
who finished second in the Division 3 State Meets the weekend of May
30 where he competed in the pole vault competition. He had a score
of 11’6. He competed the weekend of June 6 in the “Meet of
Champions” for a chance to qualify for the New England’s.
On Wednesday, May 27th, 3rd graders from Pittsfield Elementary
School traveled to the Concord Pine Barrens to participate in the
final part of the Kids for Karners program with New Hampshire Fish
and Game personnel. Students walked around the Pine Barrens to learn
more about the ecosystem and its inhabitants. They then had an
opportunity to plant the wild blue lupines that have been growing
from seed in the classrooms for the past 2 months. There was even a
chance to spot a few Karner Blue Butterflies enjoying the existing
lupine plants!
In 1968 You Can’t Take it With You was performed by the Pittsfield
Players, a theatrical group founded by the late Roland Charron.
Charron produced that show directed by Bob McCarthy, and starring
Bob Feeney, Helen Charron and Maureen Van Horn. The Players are
still going strong today and two of its board members will be
special guests of the Pittsfield Historical Society on Wednesday,
June 10, 7 PM at the Scenic Theatre. Maye Hart and Meggin Dail will
talk of the Players history, the restoration projects at the
theatre, changes made throughout the group’s 40-plus years, and
perhaps spill the beans on some of the behind-the-scenes secrets.
You won’t want to miss this one!
Josiah Carpenter Library News
2015 Summer Reading Program
Readers of all ages are invited to join the Josiah Carpenter Library
at the Scenic Theater on June 16th at 3:30 pm for the Hampstead
Stage Company’s presentation of Robin Hood. Admission is free with a
ticket and tickets are available at the library. The program
commences the kick-off of the 2015 Summer Reading Program theme:
“Every Hero has a Story.” This summer the library will be offering
six fun filled weeks of Summer Reading Activities for children of
all ages. The following schedule gives parents an idea of what to
expect:
Week One: July 9th Heroes Inside of
Me~ Finding the Hero inside of you!
Week Two: July 16th Heroes in My Community~
Firefighters, Policemen, Teachers, Selectmen
Week Three: July 23rd Heroes in My Family~ Who is a hero in your
family? Week Four: July 30th Folk Heroes through History~ Robin Hood, Pocahontas, Paul Bunyan
Week Five: August 6th Superheroes to the Rescue~ Famous Superheroes
– Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Nemo Larry Frates, guest
presenter-Cartoonist & Storyteller
Week Six: August13th Heroes Save the World ~ Finale Famous heroes,
environmental heroes,
All programs run on Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 and 11:00- 12:00. The
locations may vary, so if you are interested in having your child
participate, please register them first and pick up a more detailed
schedule at the library. Information about these programs will also
be sent home from school. Children can participate on many different
levels, so come when you can. The most important part of this
program is to keep your child engaged in social and literary
activities throughout the summer so they will be better prepared to
return to school in the fall and to have some fun while doing so!
Robin Hood will be presented by the Hampstead Stage Company, a local
theater group from Barnstead. This presentation was made possible
through a Kids Books and the Arts grant, funding provided by the
Jack and Dorothy Bryne Foundation, CHILIS, Cogswell Benevolent
Trust, and is supported in part by a grant from the NH State Council
on the Arts & National Endowment for the Arts, LISTA, and the
Friends of the Josiah Carpenter Library.
The Friends of the Josiah Carpenter library will be presenting a
raffle at the Old Home Day celebration for a beautifully designed
quilt made by president of the Friends, Paula Belliveau. The raffle
of this quilt will help to provide books and supplies for our
programs.
From The Desk Of The Pittsfield Town Administrator
Submitted By Michael Williams, Town Administrator
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our
inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the
state of facts and evidence.” – John Adams; Boston Massacre Trials
(4 December 1770).
Over the past few weeks we’ve heard tales of treachery, tyranny, and
dictators who, from out of nowhere, plotted and schemed for dominion
and control of the Town’s website. In response, I simply offer you
the following and ask that you compare these facts with the stories
you’ve been hearing. Every fact cited in this letter can be
supported by documentation that I will gladly provide upon request.
On May 28, 2014, I sent an email to the Chairman of the Website
Committee asking to change the domain registration to our then,
newly acquired pittsfieldnh.gov domain address. To this day, that
request has been unfulfilled.
On August 25, 2014, the Chairman of the Website Committee and I
engaged in an email conversation about trying to implement an email
subscription service so the Town can send email alerts to interested
residents, and about implementing an upgraded website. Mr. Wood
said that the subscription service was not possible. Clayton further
stated, in an email, that website upgrades are not the jurisdiction
of the Select Board.
On November 14, 2014, I sent an email to the Chairman of the Website
Committee asking again about using the new pittsfieldnh.gov domain
name.
On January 21, 2015, I sent an email to a member of the Website
Committee who owns the servers on which the Town website is hosted
asking for a third time about using the new pittsfieldnh.gov domain
name.
On March 12, 2015, I sent an email to the same member asking about
any plan to redesign and upgrade the website to which he answered
that “work will begin at some point in the coming year but still too
early to say.”
At the April 21, 2015 Board of Selectmen meeting, the Chairman of
the Website Committee stated that the committee could produce
anything the Select Board wanted, however, when given the
opportunity the Committee chose to question the Board’s motives
rather than presenting a product.
Additionally, since August 2014 there have been approximately
half-dozen face-to-face conversations between the Chairman of the
Website Committee and myself to discuss the website which are not
memorialized by emails or other writings.
What I do not know is whether any of the communication I had with
the Chairman of the Website Committee was actually known to and
discussed by the other members of the Committee. The
Website Committee is a Public Body under RSA 91-A, and as such is
required to conduct its business according to the law. The law
requires that any action or decision by the committee be done only
at properly noticed public meetings. Records show that the Website
Committee met only 4 times in the last two and a half years.
The old Town website has worked very well for 8 years and is a
valuable resource, and we are very grateful for the hard work and
effort provided by the volunteers. But the truth is that the Board
of Selectmen and I have attempted for over a year to work with the
Website Committee but we were not successful.
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