FALL SOCCER
SIGN UPS!
Registration forms are available at
https://www.facebook.com/suncookvalleysoccer/ or at Bell
Brothers.
Form and payment must be mailed to:
SVSC 93 Winant Rd. Pittsfield or dropped
off at Bell Brothers by August 1st.
The South Pittsfield Friends Church will be open on Sunday, August
7th with Rev. Henry Frost as the speaker. Services begin at
1:00 pm and all are welcome.
The church will also hold services on
August 14th with Rev. Nancy Talbott as the speaker and on August
28th with Rev. Harold Muzzey as the speaker. All services begin at
1:00 pm unless otherwise noted. All are welcome to attend.
Letter To The Editor
I am writing to echo the sentiments published about Joe Darrah and
his acknowledgement as Pittsfield Citizen of the Year for
2016. It is about time (He has been living in Pittsfield for almost
6 years now). Barely a week goes by when don’t you see Joe out in
the communinity or read about Joe volunteering his energies for the
betterment of Pittsfield.
Kudos to Joe, and thanks.
Jacob Zoeller
Pittsfield
VA Announces New Partnerships And
Collaboration
Commitment is Part of the VA’s Expanded Strategic
Partnership Efforts
Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan
WASHINGTON – The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced partnerships and
collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, IBM and Bombas.
The three, distinct, relationships are a part of the MyVA Strategic
Partnership Initiative, which aims to work together with external
organizations to improve the delivery and access of care for
Veterans. The announcement of the three new partnerships came on the
heels of the MyVA Advisory Committee meeting held last week in
Boston. MyVA is the largest transformation in the history of VA.
“The strength of MyVA is enhanced by the
public-private partnerships we are forming,” said VA Secretary
Robert A. McDonald. “Over the past two years, we have engaged in
dozens of new and important partnerships. We are pleased to work
with these companies and organizations who have committed their
resources to serve the Veterans who served our nation.”
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation will partner with VA to identify
synergies and facilitate linkages between our respective programs.
To date, BMSF has awarded 30 grants totaling over $15 million to
veterans service organizations and academic teaching hospital
partners to develop, implement and evaluate innovative models of
community-based care and support that improve the mental health and
community reintegration outcomes of Veterans and their families.
Together, through this new partnership, the two organizations are
committed to serving more Veterans throughout the continuum of care
from community to clinical settings.
On June 29, Vice President Biden hosted a Moonshot Cancer
Summit in Washington DC to bring together private and public
partners to encourage collaboration in treatment and cures for
cancer. As a part of that initiative, VA teamed up with IBM Watson
Health to increase access to precision medicine for 10,000 VA cancer
patients over the next two years. VA provides care to 3.5 percent of
the nation’s cancer patients – the largest group of cancer patients
in the country. Watson is expected to help VA clinicians give
Veterans rapid access to precision medicine options, particularly
for patients with advanced cancer.
VA also announced a collaboration with Bombas. Bombas was founded
two years ago as a give-back sock company, after learning that socks
are the #1 most-requested clothing item at homeless shelters. For
every pair of socks purchased from the company, it donates a pair of
socks, and to date has donated nearly 1 million pairs. To
reach homeless Veterans in New York, Bombas worked with with VA
medical centers donating 700 pairs of socks to the NY Harbor and
Bronx VA Medical Centers. Bombas and VA plan to continue their work
together throughout the rest of the year and in the future, to
expand the reach of the program to other cities and states across
the country.
Each of these relationships align with the
strategic priorities of mental health, research and homelessness and
reflect VA’s commitment to teaming with external organizations and
companies to better serve Veterans.
Since the launch of MyVA, the Department
has entered into new relationships with a number of external
organizations to combat issues of homelessness, suicide and Veteran
unemployment.
More information about MyVA may be found at
www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/21806/myva-a-message-from-sec-bob-mcdonald.
Information about the three new VA partners may be found at
www.bms.com/foundation/Pages/home.aspx;
www.03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/50061.wss; and
www.bombas.com.
The Friday Night Kayak Group met Friday July 7, 2016 with
seven kayaks paddling Lucas Pond in far east Northwood. The group is
open to everyone and meets at different local kayaking sites every
Friday at 6 PM during June, July and August. The paddling trips last
just over an hour and are always in the Northwood to Barnstead area.
Simply show up at this week’s Friday night’s location. Visit our web
site at huffnpuff.info for information and location of the next trip
and put yourself on our email list. You can also call Paul Oman at
435 -7199 for more information.
Letter
A Letter to All
Typical liberal tactics! Scare the populace to get them to behave
“properly.”
As if John Reagan doesn’t want the usual
amenities we use to function - roads, schools, police, fire dept.,
hospitals, etc. What the writer of these critical letters fails to
recognize is the difference between proper governing and the waste ,
fraud and abuse type of governing.
Those are debatable issues taken up by representatives we elect. In
this day of cradle to grave care by our nanny state we need
watchdogs to move us out of this destructive ideology. Hardly
something to worry about, on the contrary, something to be thankful
for.
God bless America, land that I love! An
exceptional nation.
Sincerely,
Sharon Matras
Selectman’s Overview
Submitted By Carl Anderson
7/19/2016 Select Board meeting
Back after a week off, we had a 2 hr
meeting to attend to business at hand, then a 1½ hr public forum for
the purpose of gathering taxpayers’ thoughts about saving the town
money.
We agreed to extend our mandated auditing
duties to Plodzik & Sanderson who have been doing a good job at a
competitive price for many years.
We accepted Avitar’s reasonable offer to
settle a utility assessment error in the interest of not risking
litigation costs.
The Old Home Day Committee’s request to
use the Franklin St. parking lot during the celebration was
approved.
Jim Allard was appointed to attend NH
Municipal Ass’n Legislative Process in order to give us an up-close
look at this important resource for towns and how their policies
come about.
We agreed that the audio recordings and
draft minutes of BOS meetings will be available at the Town Hall and
that only approved minutes will be posted on the Town website.
An increase in the inspection fee for
Housing Standards licenses was denied.
Pittsfield Youth Voice in it Together, an
organization of young people which are part of Pittsfield Listens,
came to the meeting to talk briefly about their interests and
concerns, and to get a taste of how town government functions. We
were glad to have them there.
It looks like we will have a meeting every
week now for the rest of the summer, with the exception of maybe the
last week of August, budget season is close at hand and there seems
like too much new every week to skip many.
The Pittsfield Aqueduct Purchase Committee
Chairman Fred Okrent came to the Board with an update on their
progress and a request for $10,000 for additional considerations.
The Board is not unanimous in supporting this concept and public
input will be solicited before any expenditures are considered for
this proposal.
From 7 to 8:30 we went to a public forum
with input from many taxpayers with regard to where we might save on
the budget going forward. Among the ideas put out there: going to
all LED lighting, extending vehicle service beyond the generally
advised life in the case of good equipment, continuing efforts to
share services with other towns, doing our own ambulance billing,
trying to hire part-time or temporary employees rather than
employing full timers with the benefits required, concerns about
union contract requirements and their negotiations in the future,
privatizing EMS, and a number of other possibilities that showed us
taxpayers are prepared to think outside the box in order to try to
help keep taxes down. We thank every member of the public who took
the time to show up and assure you every suggestion will be explored
as we start considering how we can save in the upcoming years.
Next meeting is July 26th and at the Aug
2nd meeting there will be a public hearing regarding selling 33 & 37
Main St.
Youth Leaders with Pittsfield Youth Voice of Pittsfield Listens.
Leaders joined at the Town Hall for the Board of Selectmen’s meeting
on Tues. July 19 to introduce themselves, learn a bit about how the
Board of Selectmen work by seeing a meeting in action, and to share
that they are here to be a resource for the Board of Selectmen and
community. Pittsfield Youth Voice encourages the power of
youth voice on issues and policies that directly affect their
education and their life in the town of Pittsfield, NH. FMI,
visit
pittsfieldlistens.org. Pictured left to right:
Emily Fisher, r, Jessica Rainville, Director of Pittsfield Listens-
Molly Messenger, Christopher Marcotte, Fred Pantis, Amber
Ricci, and Rebecca Smith. Not pictured: Colby Wolfe.
Secretary Takes Action To Ensure Project
ARCH Veterans Continue To Receive Care Closer To Home
Coverage Continues Through Exemption in
Choice Program
Submitted Via Merrill Vaughan
Augusta, Maine – As the Project ARCH pilot
program comes to an end next month, Department of Veterans Affairs
Secretary Robert A. McDonald today announced that Veterans enrolled
in the program will be able to continue receiving care closer to
home. Taking advantage of options available under the Veterans
Choice Program, such as the “unusual or excessive burden provision”
and Provider Agreements, Veterans receiving care under Project ARCH
will continue care without interruption when the pilot program ends
August 7.
“There is nothing more important to us
than serving the Veterans who served our country,” said Secretary
McDonald. “My commitment to those Veterans under Project ARCH is
that we will do everything within our control to make sure they
maintain continuity of care in their communities with the providers
they know.”
Project ARCH operates in Maine, Virginia, Kansas, Montana and
Arizona. In anticipation of the program’s end, Project ARCH
providers have been contacted and invited to continue to provide
health care to Veterans under the Veterans Choice Program.
“VA appreciates the Veterans and community providers who
participated in the program,” said Dr. Baligh Yehia, Assistant
Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Community Care. “VA is
employing lessons learned and best practices from the program as we
work to build one consolidated program for community care – a
program that delivers the best of both VA and the community.”
Veterans transitioning to the Veterans
Choice Program are being contacted regarding their individual care.
Pittsfield Campus Of Grace Capital Church
Celebrates “Funday Fest”
Submitted By Kathy Kelley
Sausage, peppers and onions for breakfast? Baptisms in a dunk
tank? Bouncing beach balls as if it were a beach boys concert?
Absolutely! Sunday, 7/17, was “Funday Fest” at Grace Capital
Church at 55 Barnstead Road in Pittsfield. About 145 people
gathered to enjoy music, a message about laying down our burdens, 4
baptisms, and a lot of fun!
Greeters were at the doors handing out leis as people arrived.
Attendees had been encouraged to dress for a luau theme.
The grill was hot for those that were hungry, and the
(non-alcoholic) mimosas were flowing early. Games were planned. The
air was filled with laughter and the smells of the fall fairs.
Although worship and the message had to be moved inside due to the
early rain, the sun came out in time for four baptisms to be
performed in the dunk tank that had been set up for this purpose, as
well as some fun dunking of the church leaders later.
Congratulations go to the Epstein’s, who won the contest for best
luau-themed outfits. Every child went home with a prize
whether they participated in the hula-hoop contest, the sack races,
or tug-of-war. Many a parent went home with wet clothes after
the kids got into the water balloons.
HUGE thanks are sent out to the volunteers that worked hard to
organize this event. The ultimate goal was to bring people of
the Greater Pittsfield Area together for fellowship and
old-fashioned celebration. In the light of so many
difficulties happening in our nation, it was nice to see this
display of fellowship, fun, and family in the center of our town.
Grace Capital meets each Sunday morning at 9:30 and would love to
have you stop in and meet your neighbors. In August, a new
sermon series will start about, “The Love of God”. All are
welcome.
GCC started meeting at the First Congregational Church on Main
Street on Saturday nights in September of 2015. In December,
they were able to start utilizing the large warehouse behind
Atlantic Safety Products. It’s a very different church, but
they feel that the church isn’t made by the building, but by the
people gathered inside.
Welcome to Main Street Grill and Bar
Fresh Food and Family Friendly Atmosphere
By Meggin Dail
Owner Scott Partridge with Chef John
Tuttle.
Where can you go for a great lunch or
dinner without fighting the lines in Concord or Manchester? Right on
Main Street in Pittsfield is that “new restaurant” everyone’s been
talking about. Haven’t tried them out yet? Here’s a little of what
you’re missing; live acoustic entertainment, community-oriented
owners and great food using local New England ingredients.
Owners of Main Street Grill and Bar, Scott
and Diane Partridge, are no strangers to the restaurant industry.
Scott’s been in the business his “whole life,” ever since the age of
14. He and his wife, Diane have owned The English Muffin, a
breakfast restaurant, in Hampstead, NH for the past six years. Diane
has been running the Muffin while Scott, with the help of Chef John
Tuttle, has been running Main Street Grill.
You may recognize Chef John’s name, as
he’s a bit famous in these parts, having been on WMUR’s “Chef’s
Corner” twice now. Originally from Chicago, Tuttle has been
Executive Chef in places like Morton’s Steak House and the historic
Carlton Hotel before The Common Man recruited him to come work in
New Hampshire. He has over 27 years experience as a chef and has
even cooked for a few celebrities.
How did Pittsfield get so lucky to have him, you may ask? John was a
chef in search of creativity. He knows his skill and has a taste for
flavors and combinations. He wanted to be able to showcase this
talent. After meeting with Scott, the two couldn’t have found a
better fit.”We’re like brothers,” John says, “we’re both dedicated
family men and we just hit it off right away.” Besides both wanting
to make The Main Street Grill and Bar a destination restaurant, they
both like doing prep work to classic heavy metal. Of course, it’s
more than that, “I touch every plate that goes out of the kitchen,”
John tells me, “I make sure everything tastes great AND looks
great. We’re serving up delicious, wholesome food here.”
What are John and Scott serving up at the
Grill? “You won’t see any pre-packaged food here, everything is made
on the premises.” Some of Scott’s particular favorites are the
Shrimp Scampi, Pan-fried Chicken Parm and Chicken Marsala. “We serve
fresh, quality food at affordable prices.” Serving both lunch and
dinner, The Main Street Grill offers special burger nights and in
house specials catering to youth and seniors and everyone in
between. “And, yes, we have a bar, but that’s not our focus, we want
you to come in and eat.” Scott says with a smile.
Most Friday or Saturday nights Main Street
Grill and Bar offers local, live, acoustic entertainment, offering
patrons the choice of sitting in the spacious dining room or closer
to the music in the bar area. You are able to enjoy talent in either
room as the open concept gives you that convenience. The bar offers
local draft beers as well as all your favorites and the quick,
friendly service will let you relax and enjoy or, if you need to get
out the door, they can handle that too.
Scott and Diane have over 30 years
restaurant experience between them and live in Deerfield with their
two sons. When asked if there was anything else he wanted to add,
Scott replied, “We’re about great American homestyle food and
family-friendly atmosphere.”
Obituaries
Thomas Alexander
Adamson
6/19/36-7/22/16
Survived by wife Nanette Adamson,
daughters Jean MacDonald and Audrey Bellen.
“When you find eternity, you will have time for everything.
When you find infinity you will have no place to stand.” ~Buddha
Codex
Donald L. Price
Pittsfield – Donald L. Price, 75, died,
surrounded by loving family, on Thursday, July 14, 2016, at his home
on Leavitt Road.
Born in Westminster, VT on April 3, 1941, Don was the son of John
and Rose Mae (Come) Price. Originally from Nottingham, he had
been a Pittsfield resident since his marriage in 1963.
He worked for many years as an inspector for Textron-Davison Rubber
in Farmington. After the company moved to Mexico, he worked
for GI Plastek until his retirement.
He loved outdoor sports, including
hunting, four-wheeling, snowmobiling and fishing in both summer and
winter.
Don is survived by his wife of 53 years,
Beverly (Joy) Price of Pittsfield; 4 children, Rose Marie Miller of
Pittsfield, Donald Price Jr. of Laconia, Mark Price and Michael
Price, both of Pittsfield; 14 grandchildren; and 10 great
grandchildren. He also leaves several siblings, Frank Cowdrey of
Florida, John Cowdrey of Barnstead, Robert Price of Michigan, Kenny
Price of Concord, Dot Lagor of Allenstown, and Mary Hill of Glen;
and a special nephew, David Price and special niece and caregiver,
Linda Bedell.
A time of sharing was held Tuesday, July
19th at Floral Park Cemetery in Pittsfield, followed by a reception.
Tom Petit of the Still Oaks Funeral Home
is assisting with arrangements and offers an on-line guestbook at
stilloaks.com
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