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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Town
bids a fond farewell to Main Street's Robbie Grady
On the
sidelines at the Super Bowl
City
ZIP often means higher insurance rates
MVMS
students warm up to the Linus Project
Church's
growth creates a room for community
Goffstown
Town bids a
fond farewell to Main Street's Robbie Grady
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By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Through tears, Goffstown Main Street's
program director, Robbie Grady, accepted gifts and well-wishes
as local officials, business owners and volunteers toasted her
unwavering dedication to the program and the town.
"Can you all see her up here?" Selectman Robert Wheeler
asked of the crowd of more than 50 people. "It's amazing
you can, because here is the spirit of Goffstown."
His sentiments were echoed throughout the evening, punctuating
Grady's farewell party at the Village Trestle as an emotional
celebration of bittersweet goodbyes.
Grady's last day was Friday, Feb. 13. She
resigned from the organization after five years as Main Street's
first program director. She plans to take a break, do some consulting
work and spend more time with her husband.
And though she'll embark upon a much-needed break, it was clear
that Grady would be missed and that she would miss the
community she has become an integral part of.
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THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: Jim Beauchemin
and dozens of others turned out to say so long to Robbie Grady,
who is leaving as Goffstown Main Street's program director after
five years on the job.
(Kate Benway Photo)
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"At the heart of the Main Street program,
it's all about volunteers," she told the group. "You
hold my hand and pat me on the shoulder and tell me it's going
to be OK. You do all the heavy lifting and make me look good."
Police Chief Michael French praised Grady, calling her a true
friend.
"She's leaving a hole in a program she clearly energized,"
he said. "She knew I didn't like the "P" word,
and she successfully diverted the idea of a parade."
French gave Grady a variety of small parting gifts, including
a Goffstown Police Department pen and patch.
"Let's face it, we have the best damn police force I've
ever seen and that stems from the top," said Grady.
Meanwhile, a poignant gift from the board of directors of the
Main Street Program inspired another round of tears.
Grady unwrapped a granite slab that will be placed on the town
common, memorializing Grady with kind words and memories.
"The greatest thing she brought was her attitude,"
said Carl Quiram, director of the town's public works department.
"There is no "can't do" with Robbie. She is very
creative, and she knows everybody. It's that personal touch."
Jim Beauchemin, president of the Main Street board of directors,
said replacing Grady will be a difficult task. The board has
received a number of resumes and is working with the New Hampshire
Main Street Program to identify a handful of strong candidates.
"These are some big shoes to fill," he said. "We're
not rushing it right now. We're shooting to have someone by March
22. It's going to be hard. For Robbie, this was more than a job;
it was a commitment to her community."
Board vice president Gene Young gave a laugh when asked to describe
what the town would be losing in Grady.
"It's just so hard to describe. Robbie is everybody's source
of information, and she's doing the job of five people,"
he said.
Library director and board member Dianne Hathaway said it's difficult
to imagine Main Street without Grady.
"She is a spark," she said. "Robbie is the body
and soul of the program."
Goffstown
On the sidelines
at the Super Bowl
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By MARC THALER
Staff Writer
mthaler@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Two years ago, Goffstown's Lauren Pagliuca
watched the dramatic finish of Super Bowl XXXVI on television.
With her New England Patriots ahead by seven points, she saw
wide receiver Ricky Proehl of the St. Louis Rams tie the game
with a late touchdown catch. She then witnessed budding Pats
superstar Tom Brady march his team down field with little more
than a minute to go before place-kicker Adam Vinatieri booted
the ball 48 yards for the title.
Almost three weeks ago, while most of Patriots Nation watched
the exact same scenario play out on their TV screens against
the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, Pagliuca was front
and center inside Houston's Reliant Stadium as a Patriots cheerleader.
From the title-game tying TD by Ram-turned-Panther Proehl to
Brady's pressure-packed performance down the stretch to Vinatieri's
winning 41-yard field goal, it was quite a sight to see, she
said.
"It was unbelievable," said Pagliuca of the super ending
to New England's second Super Bowl in three years. "All
of (the cheerleaders) linked arms for the last nine seconds of
the game. You could see everything unfolding in slow motion.
We were freaking out. That's all I can say. But we knew Adam
Vinatieri would do it."
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When Patriots cheerleader
Lauren Pagliuca of Goffstown isn't busy cheering on the team,
she teaches dance at Dance Visions Networks in Manchester.
(Mac Bodiford Photo)
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Those final moments culminated a fantastic
trip to Texas for the 20-year-old Goffstown resident. Finishing
her second season as a Pats cheerleader, Pagliuca said the experience
was a whirlwind.
A dance teacher at Dance Visions Network, she said the excursion
was filled with "late nights and early mornings."
The 24-member cheer squad arrived at Gillette Stadium at 5:15
a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 29, to head out.
Upon touching down in Texas, the team briefly stopped at its
hotel before immediately setting out to make various promotional
appearances.
"It was very overwhelming," she admitted. "There
were so many people taking pictures and screaming for the Patriots.
It brought tears to my eyes. We had a lot of fans travel to Houston
to watch the game. I can't even explain it. It was so surreal."
A few thousand miles away from the team's home turf, it quickly
became clear to Pagliuca and her teammates that New England fans
gave the neutral site a local feel. Likewise, it didn't take
long to notice Panther fans were few and far between.
Still, nothing compares to cheering at Gillette, she said. Not
even the atmosphere at the Super Bowl.
"The fans go insane (at Gillette)," she said. "We
have the best fans in the NFL. Whether it was below zero or 100
degrees, the fans were there through everything. I personally
think they're the best. Having them scream is just great. Just
like it pumped up the players, it pumped us up. It made you cheer
ten times harder. It made you perform 10-times harder."
So what effect did the 15-game winning streak have on Pagliuca?
Well, superstition is certainly a part of sports and apparently
it spread to her position on the sideline. As the football team
began to roll, the cheer squad adopted the "If it ain't
broke, don't fix it," mentality.
"Whatever we'd do, we had to do it the same way for every
game," said Pagliuca. "We lined up in the same spots.
I always used one girls' lipstick and another girls' eye shadow."
And what of the championship parade in Boston two days after
the game?
Keeping with the theme of this fantasy week, the turnout
roughly 1.5 million fans was hardly fathomable to the Goffstown
AREA High School graduate.
"I don't think I've ever seen so many people in one place
in my whole life," she said. "It took some time to
soak it all in. Watching (the parade on television) and being
there are two totally different things. It didn't look the same
on TV."
One element of the City Hall celebration hardly surprising to
Pagliuca was the fans' adoration for Brady, now a two-time Super
Bowl MVP.
All things considered in her time with the Patriots cheerleaders,
Pagliuca holds two memories close to her heart. The first was
cheering on Opening Night at Gillette in 2002. The Pats began
their first title defense on Monday Night Football and raised
their first championship banner. The second was a trip to Fort
Hood in Texas back in March. The squad visited troops headed
for California to train for service in Afghanistan.
Little did Pagliuca know she'd be traveling back to the Lone
Star State 10 months later.
"Being a part of the team has been more than I ever imagined,"
she said. "I never thought I'd go to the Super Bowl. I never
even thought I'd make the team. Meeting new people and learning
about different people it's been a great experience."
Goffstown
City ZIP often
means higher insurance rates
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Felix Pelchat has lived in Pinardville
for every one of the 50 years of his life, and in that time he's
always had a Manchester ZIP code.
This has been a fact of life, even though Pinardville is part
of Goffstown.
For years, people have complained because mail and parcel packages
that were supposed to be going to their homes were being misdirected
to addresses in Manchester with the same street name.
Now, however, Pelchat and other Pinardville residents have a
new reason to complain higher car insurance rates.
Some Pinardville residents say because of the Manchester ZIP
code, their car insurance rates are the same as their city-dwelling
neighbors.
"All of us in Pinardville are paying way higher car insurance
rates," complained Goff-stown resident Daniel Hall
in an e-mail. "Help! We are being held hostage by the U.S.
Postal Service."
Ed Ibanez, an insurance agent with State Farm who frequently
sees customers from Pinardville, confirmed this was indeed a
problem.
"Even though someone is paying Goffstown taxes, they are
getting charged Manchester rates, which are the highest in the
state," he said.
Rates are based on the average number of claims being made in
a certain area, and according to several local insurance providers,
these are almost always higher in urban environments like Manchester.
Ibanez said the difference between what a Goffstown resident
and a Manchester resident are charged could be as much as 15
or 16 percent.
"Let's pick a 2003 Toyota Camry as an example," he
said. " I'm going to assume the driver is someone with a
clean record. In Manchester, with full coverage, we're looking
about $1,100 a year, where if it was the same person, same vehicle,
in Goffstown it could be $900 a year."
Ibanez points out that for a family with two or three cars, the
difference could quickly add up to big savings.
Several local agents who were contacted, including AllState and
State Farm, said Pinardville residents could correct the problem
by contacting a local office that would be able to confirm that
they live in Goffstown.
Pelchat estimates that approximately 1,050 Goffstown residents
are living in the Manchester ZIP code area. For the time being,
he said, there's not much anyone can do because the U.S. Postal
Service has said the issue is not a problem.
"When the Post Office did their survey in 2000, they had
more people who were against the change," Pelchat said.
"So the selectmen were sent a letter by the Postal Service
saying they would not address the problem for 10 years."
Pelchat and several other residents have formed a committee and
are circulating a petition for residents interested in changing
the ZIP code. Their goal is to collect 500 signatures right
now they have around 400.
Petition forms can be picked up at the Pinardville Fire Station.
For more information on the effort to change ZIP codes, Pelchat
can be reached at 669-2449.
"It's just a matter of trying to bring a community of Goffstown
to Goffstown, and it belongs there," Pelchat said.
"This is an issue because we feel people are getting shortchanged
here."
Goffstown
MVMS students
warm up to the Linus Project
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
At one point or another, just about everyone
has had a security blanket.
Maybe that's why after decades of appearing on the comics pages,
Linus can still be found tagging along with the other Peanuts
characters, doggedly defending his blanket from Snoopy.
It's an object that everyone can identify with.
Unfortunately, some children in need don't have blankets to clutch
when they are cold, scared or in need. A group of Goffstown students
would like to change that.
Seventeen Mountain View Middle School eighth-graders are
participating in Project Linus an international non-profit
organization that encourages people to make and donate blankets
and quilts to be given to children in need.
The program, started this past fall by eighth-grade language
arts teacher Karen St. Clair, donated four blankets before
Christmas. By June they expect to donate eight more. The blankets
produced at Mountain View will go to local area children
from infants to age 18 who are homeless, sick or
otherwise in need.
The students are working in groups of two or three, collaborating
on quilt creation projects whenever they can scrimp the time.
Twice-a-week St. Clair opens her classroom to the students, but
with only one sewing machine to use, it's tough. So, some come
in early, some stay late and one girl even brings her work home.
As hard as it is to find the time and resources, St. Clair
said she's excited that students are asking to spend extra time
on their creations.
She said that being able to create a physical item with the knowledge
it will help a person in need helps students get interested.
"Having the representative from Project Linus come and thank
them (for the four blankets) it was tangible for them," St. Clair
said. "So they got excited about it, and they know they're
doing something for someone else."
One of St. Clair's students, 13-year-old Austin Clark,
said he thinks there is a lot of a value in something as simple
as a blanket.
"It's sort of a reminder that life's tough but you can get
through it," he said.
Clark said he really enjoys the project.
"I like it very much because I like sewing and because I
know someone out there is going to appreciate what I did," he
said.
St. Clair said this type of reaction is something many people
might not expect from the middle school age group.
"I'm excited about because I think eighth-graders get a
bad reputation these days," St. Clair said. "And
it's a very good thing to see this happening."
The project is currently limited to only eighth-graders. St. Clair
said the whole school is aware of the project and while there
has been positive feedback she isn't sure if it will expand.
One problem, she said, is not all students have time in their
schedule. The limited number of sewing machines is also a limiting
factor.
"We only have so many machines available, so I don't know
how much further it could go," St. Clair said.
The sewing machine in her room is borrowed from the home economics
program.
St. Clair encourages anyone interested in the program to
contact Mountain View.
"Certainly anyone in the community who wanted to be part
can, or could donate," she said.
There are an estimated 322 chapters of Project Linus who have
donated more than 790,000 blankets since it was founded in 1995.
Weare
Church's growth
creates a room for community
By KATE BENWAY
Staff Writer
kbenway@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A towering crane jutted into the clear
blue sky, dwarfing the cross that stands atop the Holy Cross
Church in North Weare.
Construction workers hoisted enormous timber beams into place
as parishioners came and went, stopping by the Center Road church
to gaze and admire.
The new worship space will boast 2,500 square feet more than
the church's current 800 square-foot building. It's a project
that will transform the look and feel of the small Episcopal
church.
"It's quite a leap," said parishioner Donald Burke,
who is also serving as project director on the expansion project.
"But it's not just for us," he said. "It's for
the community."
And by community, Burke means the whole town.
Amidst their fundraising efforts, parishioners topped the $500,000
mark with their eyes on not only expanding their worship and
Sunday school space, but establishing a gathering place for town
functions, concerts and group meetings.
"We want the building to be equal parts our church and a
community center for all sorts of programs we want to host,"
said Father John McCausland, who has served at the parish for
six years.
"There will be a commercial kitchen so we can do meals for
the elderly and facilities so we can do emergency housing overnight
for homeless families," he said.
They also plan to welcome community groups, a parish nursing
program, financial and family counseling and music concerts.
"The problem with most churches is they're built for Sunday,
so you've got these God boxes that sit here during the week,"
said Burke. "We want to open our doors to the community."
Built in 1893, the tiny church was originally located in East
Weare. It was moved to Center Road in 1960 when East Weare was
condemned for the flood control project, said McCausland.
More than 40 years later, the congregation of 150 knew that keeping
up with the growth of the town and the parish was a top priority.
"The last couple of years we've been crowded. Not just in
our worship space, but in education space," said McCausland.
"We now have no space for a nursery school, so people with
kids in that 2-year-old range where they're not ready for Sunday
school but they can't sit in a baby carrier - it's tough for
them to come. And some people tells us they'll be back when there's
more room."
Creating more room is the plan.
"About three years ago, we decided to see if we could scrape
the money together to build," said McCausland.
And as the scraping turned into a successful $500,000 effort,
parishioners jumped on board, pledging nearly $100,000 worth
of free labor or discounted materials for the project.
No longer will Sunday school classrooms be separated by a thin
curtain and no longer will there be standing room only during
Sunday mass.
"Max Ferro, an architect in Weare, lead us through a series
of meetings and we came up with the general concept that would
look like a New England attached barn," said McCausland.
"That was our inspiration. We wanted something that would
fit with the traditions of the community."
As a result, the large addition will be covered in white clapboard,
like the church, when it opens this fall.
The former church will be converted to classroom space for Sunday
school.
And chairs, which can be bought in memory of someone or in a
family's name, are being sold for $125; they'll be used instead
of pews so they can be moved to make way for groups using the
new church for functions.
The effort, said parishioners, is important to not only retain
current churchgoers but to attract and welcome new members.
"We'll now have a facility that will be so much more adequate,"
said McCausland. "We'll be attracting people from our growing
community. If we build it, they will come."
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