REMINDER
Citizen
of the Year
It is
time to make nominations for Pittsfield’s 2018 Citizen of the Year.
Please let us know who you feel deserves this honor for their
actions and activities benefiting our town. A panel of former
Citizens of the Year will decide from the nominations submitted who
will get this honor. Please send your nomination as to who and why
your nominee should be honored to:
Citizen
of the Year
PO Box
173
Pittsfield, NH 03263
Nominations must be received by June 13, 2018. Thank
you.
The
Suncook Valley Area Lions Club (serving Pittsfield and Barnstead) is
collecting gently used items for the Town Wide Yard Sale.
Spots are available (for $10) for other groups or individuals to set
up with the Lions Club at Northeast Earth Mechanics on Barnstead Rd.
If you have any items you’d like to donate or for more information,
please contact Laurie Vien at 435-5052.
2018 Yard Sale
The
21st Annual Multi-Town Yard Sale is June 1rst, 2nd and 3rd!!
How do
I get a map? This is our most frequently asked question and
you’re not alone.
Beginning May 30th at 11pm, the map will be available online at
www.PittsfieldChamber.org. The map will be posted in the
form of a link to a Google Map. Additionally, there will be a
printable address list by town.
While
we understand that several people miss the old paper map of
Pittsfield locations, it just isn’t feasible for this larger event.
Some communities have their own maps available however, so keep your
eyes peeled!
If your
organization is interested in printing and selling maps for the 2018
Yard Sale please get in touch with us.
Drive
safely, and have a great time at the Annual Multi Town Yard Sale!
Josiah
Carpenter Library June News
The
Teen Book Worms will gather on Monday June 4th at 5:00pm; they will
enjoy a light supper and discuss Simon versus the Homo Sapiens
Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The Pittsfield Writer’s Circle
will meet at the library on Monday the 18th at 5:00pm. The
adult book club will meet to discuss Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
at 10:30 am on Tuesday June 26th at the Pittsfield Senior Center.
Everyone is welcome to join our ongoing activities at any time.
The
preschool story hour that meets at 10:00am on Thursday will continue
learning about farm animals. The afterschool Adventure Club
meets at 3:30pm on Tuesdays and is continuing to explore papier
Mache, canvas and frame art.
On
Monday June 11th at the Chichester-Epsom-Pittsfield Libraries Memory
Café will enjoy a trip to Bear Brook State Park. Everyone will
meet at the Epsom Public Library at 1:30pm and then travel to Bear
Brook. Local caregivers and folks living with memory loss are
invited to come and enjoy socialization in a comfortable setting.
Refreshments will be served.
Libraries Rock! the summer reading program for children, will begin
on June 26th. Throughout the summer we’ll offer a fun-filled
introduction to music, instruments and countries from around the
world. Activities for preschool aged children will be held on
Thursday mornings, older children will gather on Tuesday afternoons.
Where will music take you?!
Letter
To The Editor
Pittsfield friends and community members,
There
seems to be much scuttlebutt taking place with regard to the police
department, and I would caution folks not to react impulsively or be
quick to judge the Board of Selectmen but rather, may we be “quick
to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath” (James 1:19).
During
my seven-year tenure on the Pittsfield Board, one of my greatest
challenges was being an impartial employer for "you the people." I
came to an understanding early on that leading staff in good
stewardship of your tax dollars and making decisions in the best
interest of the overall community oftentimes came with much
resistance, kind of like we're witnessing on a national level.
As a
small business owner, I can tell you that being an employer is not
always easy. Sometimes unpopular changes are warranted; less
overtime, utilizing more part-timers, minimizing excessive
absenteeism (to name a few) in order to be more fiscally efficient
and responsible.
Understanding that we are currently in a potentially vulnerable
position, my prayer is that good come from this drastic situation.
One such saving grace is that a new police chief will not be part of
the union, another one of those "warranted" yet necessary changes
that it took years to negotiate! Supervisors/department heads should
not be in the union due to conflict of interest.
Perhaps
this chain of events is a blessing in disguise.
Still
Serving the Almighty God,
Linda
Small
Summer
Food Service Program
The
Community Action Program of Belknap-Merrimack Counties, Inc. in
cooperation with local school districts and community organizations
is pleased to announce the sponsorship of the Summer Food Service
Program. Children, 18 years of age and younger, enrolled in
the program listed below is eligible to receive free breakfast and
lunch.
Drake’s
Field, Route 107, Barnstead Road, Pittsfield, NH 03263. June 26 –
August 1; Monday - Thursday, 8:10-8:30, 11:40-12:00.
Pittsfield AlumnusTo Give Keynote Address at DLSI!
Four
years ago, if you had asked Ryan Marquis what he planned to study in
college he probably would have told you engineering. That was until
he developed an Extended Learning Opportunity at Pittsfield Middle
High School that altered the trajectory of his life. Ryan will give
the keynote address at the upcoming 2018 Deeper Learning Summer
Institute. His powerful story is exemplary of the kind of change
that can happen when schools value deeper learning driven by student
agency. We expect Ryan's story of starting with student voice to be
a powerful driver for later conversations about transformative
school redesign.
Pittsfield is nationally-recognized for the work they have done to
transform a traditional comprehensive middle high school program
into a student-centered, competency-based learning environment.
Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) are one of the most telling
examplars of the way Pittsfield has put students in the driver's
seat of their own education. ELOs are typically internships,
volunteer work, or some other type of individualized study that is
student-driven. Students earn academic credit by designing an ELO
that includes assessment in the form of demonstrating mastery of
measurable course level competencies.
As a
high school senior Ryan developed Engineer It an ELO to teach a
basic engineering course to his peers during Learning Studio.
Learning Studios take place once/week during late-start Wednesdays.
Teachers and/or students offer courses on topics they care about
that are not necessarily connected to a discipline. Each semester
the school develops a course catalogue and students choose the class
they will take - for which they earn a 1/2 credit elective or core
credit. Through the process of planning for and teaching the course,
including leaving lesson plans for substitutes when he was absent,
Ryan discovered a true passion - education!
Ryan
just finished his junior year at Keene State College where he is
studying education, and planning for a career as a secondary
chemistry teacher. He credits PMHS for the self-advocacy and
other 21st century skills with which he entered college. He believes
that the educators at PMHS who acted more as facilitators of
learning, rather than the "sage on the stage", well-prepared him for
working with college professors. He also believes that the flexible
learning environment at PMHS that gave him room to explore his
interests, and choices about how to demonstrate his learning, better
reflected the teaching and learning style in college. Ryan has
already begun working as a substitute teacher during breaks from
college, and will begin student teaching in the fall at a NH high
school that is just beginning the transition to competency-based
learning.
Ryan's
keynote address will highlight the critically important opportunity
that our high schools have to allow students to drive their own
education, and lay the foundation for a trajectory of planning and
learning that sets students up for success in college and careers.
Ryan will talk about his experience as a student at PMHS during the
time the school transitioned from a traditional to competency-based
program, as well as his experience as a member of the school's Site
Council governing body, his ELO experience, and more when he gives
the keynote address at the upcoming Deeper Learning Summer
Institute.
Letter
To The Editor
Select
Board Meeting 5/22/18
A
public hearing requested by the library to take input regarding the
disposition of the barn donated by Bill Miskoe was held with limited
comment. A couple think the building should be destroyed, another
feels it would be a good site to fix up with donations and use for
public purposes such as a farmer's market.
Jim
Gamble, who has a P&S on 33 Main St. said he's interested in buying
it to renovate, with the proceeds going to the library.
The
resignations of Police Chief Jeff Cain and Sargent Joe McCormack
were accepted. Joe Collins, presently of Nashville, will be coming
back to his home state of NH in June to serve Pittsfield as
temporary interim Chief for 90 days while the position is advertised
and interviews conducted.
Mr.
Collins is a well respected retiree who served as Chief in
Barnstead, Gilmanton and Effingham. We have every confidence that he
is capable of steering the department through this unsettled
period.
Recent
full time PD hiree Stevens has been qualified on firearms and will
attend the police academy in August. Full time Officer Wood will
return soon from family medical leave and bolster much needed
manpower. Part time officer Jason Darrah was reappointed as well. I
believe we have cause for optimism.
We were
introduced to this year's swimming pool attendants and lifeguards by
Minnie Plante. It's a small but experienced crew, capable of
assuring safety at one of Pittsfield's most popular summer
recreational areas.
We will
try sealed bids on three trucks that are no longer fit for service,
and if there are no viable bids, we will sell them for scrap.
F.L.
Merrill Construction was awarded the Safe Routes to School Project
bid, a local company that will do a great job.
A long
list of book-keeping items filled out a long meeting.
Carl
Anderson
School
Funding Workshop – 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 13, PMHS
Reminder to Pittsfield taxpayers that the school district will be
hosting a workshop on New Hampshire’s school funding system at 6:00
p.m. on Wednesday, June 13, at PMHS. All are invited.
The
workshop will be presented by Attorney Andru Volinsky, a current
Executive Council member and former lead attorney in the most recent
challenges to the state’s funding system, which became known as the
Claremont Cases.
In an
opinion written for the New Hampshire Bar News and published in
April, Attorney John Tobin, also a member of the Claremont legal
team, recognized that the “inequities in NH school funding” have not
only not been addressed by the state, but are indeed worsening.
In his
article, Attorney Tobin reaches two conclusions: “first, by not
paying anything close to the true cost of a constitutionally
adequate education as the State itself has defined it, the State is
violating its constitutional duty to provide an adequate education…”
(The
state’s base per student allocation for the current school year is
$3636.06, while the state average cost per pupil in 2016-2017, the
latest year available, was $15,310.67.)
He
further concludes that “by requiring school districts with greatly
varying levels of property wealth per student to raise a large
portion of the funds needed to meet the State’s duty, with the
resulting disproportionate tax rates, the State funding system
violates the holding” in the second Claremont ruling.
(For
example, Moultonborough’s local education tax rate for 2017 is
$2.12/thousand, while Pittsfield’s is $18.60.)
To
learn more about the state’s inequitable system and what might be
done to correct it, plan to join the workshop at 6:00 p.m.,
Wednesday, June 13, at PMHS.
Teaching Farming As A Way Of Life And A Business
Submitted By Carole Soule
Derek
Ladd, Jordyn Pinto, Bridget Kiley-Hubbard, Craig Meriwether with
Sarah (cow) and her day-old calf.
They
clipped cattle, fed piglets, shoveled manure, weaned calves and
hunted for eggs. They also figured out how to make a living wage
doing what they love; farming. This Spring, I encouraged as well as
tested and learned from four NH Technical Institute students who met
twice weekly for eight weeks at my farm as part NHTI’s newly-offered
Sustainable Agriculture degree and certificate program.
The
course I led met at the farm on Wednesday and Friday mornings. After
an hour or two of reading, testing and discussion in our farmhouse
classroom we moved outside to wean calves, feed pigs, shovel manure
and brush horses-regular farm chores. We visited the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), Merrimack County Farm Bureau, NH
Dept of Agriculture, Grappone Center Kitchen, and UNH Merrimack
County Extension Office to learn about the multitude of resources
available to farmers. The students also wrote a grant and applied
for scholarships.
Farming
is so much more than feeding livestock; it also is about earning a
living. For their final project, each student compiled and delivered
a presentation on how they could make a profit raising goats, laying
hens or dairy cows to a panel audience of educators and farmers.
Often we farmers forget to pay ourselves. To make the point that
farmers have mortgages and car payments, each student was required
show how they could pay themselves $18/hour for work related to
their projects. Fair wages are apparently a foreign concept to most
farmers. Students who would not hesitate to scoop manure, wrangle a
calf or castrate a pig, objected to setting money aside for their
pay. To be fair, these four students did their research, and each of
them showed how they could make a profit… even if they didn't pay
themselves wages. The presentations were professional, thorough, and
made me proud of these future farmers.
We are
now in the middle of the next 8-week course; Summer Practicum, which
is more detailed than the first term. At the end of this section, on
June 29, these students will present a full-blown business plan to a
live audience. You are all invited to see how these student farmers
will raise livestock, create products for sale, market those
projects and find funding to help them reach their goals. It is
terrific that NHTI recognized the need for a degree-granting
Sustainable Agriculture program. These students are learning how to
do what they love; farming… and make a living doing it.
As I am
the instructor of this class, you can call me “Professor.”
Even though I'm the teacher, these students have taught me new
skills as well. I guess that is what farming is all about; sharing
and learning skills both old and new.
Carole
Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, NH. She can be
reached at [email protected].
SNHU
Announces Winter 2018 President's List
It is
with great pleasure that Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU)
congratulates the following local students on being named to the
winter 2018 President's List.
Eligibility for the President's List requires that a student
accumulate an academic grade point average (GPA) of 3.7-4.0 and earn
12 credits for the semester.
Michael
Andres of Center Barnstead
Chelsea
Carlson of Epsom
Randall
Dowling of Northwood
Amelia
Duane of Barnstead
Reese
Henderson of Gilmanton Iron Works
Julianna Hromis of Chichester
Conner
Martin of Chichester
Lindsey
Massey of Epsom
William
Ohrenberger of Northwood
Eric
Ryan of Center Barnstead
John
Sanborn of Chichester
Samuel
Schreier of Chichester
Quinn
Steeves of Pittsfield
Jason
Wynne of Pittsfield
Patriotic Concert Planned
“Salute
to America!,” the First Congregational Church’s annual patriotic
concert, is set for Friday, June 15, 7 p.m. at the church, 24 Main
Street, Pittsfield. It will feature the Chancel Choir, JuBellation
Handbell Choir and other musicians. Light refreshments will be
served.
Be sure
to mark your calendar for this exciting event for all ages. Bring a
friend! Parking and wheelchair accessible entrance are available at
the Chestnut Street entrance. More information at 435-7471.
Obituaries
Richard
“Dick” P. Boyd
Dick
Boyd, 81, of Port St. Lucie, FL, passed away on May 11, 2018
peacefully in his home after a brief fight with cancer.
A
celebration of life will be held in Port St. Lucie on August 18,
2018.
Dick
was born in Pittsfield, NH on March 2, 1937. He graduated from
Pittsfield High School and served four years in the US Navy. He
lived in Pittsfield until 1982. He moved to Essex Center, VT with
his family in 1982 where he worked as the Regional Manager for John
Hancock Mutual Life Insurance. He retired at the age of 55 and moved
with his wife to Port St. Lucie, FL in 1992.
Dick
was married to the love of his life, Elinor N. Boyd (Lank), and they
were married 57 years. He enjoyed golf – (playing it and watching
it), wood carving, reading, sports as he was an avid Boston fan and
followed the Florida State Seminoles. He was a fun-loving guy with
an amazing sense of humor and wit, generous smile, a warm and
fun-loving spirit and a calm demeanor, all of which were cherished
by his family and friends.
Dick is
survived by his four children, Kathy Fagnant and her husband James
(and daughters Paige LaLonde (and son Julian) and Megan LaLonde (and
her husband Scott); Jeff Boyd his wife Valerie (and daughters:
Kierra, Mikaela & Ainsley); Michael Boyd and his husband
Massimiliano Rezza; Patricia “Patty” Walkonen and her husband David
(and daughter Hannah); his brother William “Bill” Boyd of NH; his
nieces and nephews; and the rest of his relatives and friends.
Dick is
preceded in death by his parents, Clyde “Cuddy” Boyd and Anne Boyd.
In lieu
of flowers memorial donations may be given to: Unity of Port St.
Lucie - https://www.unityofportstlucie.org or Treasure Coast Hospice
Foundation -
https://treasurehealth.org/ways-to-give/donate/
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