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This week's stories: (click on the headline
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Hooksett
No bypass study, Ray Robb wins
By GINGER KOZLOWSKI
Staff Writer
editor@hooksettbanner.com
Despite a large advertising campaign to
convince voters to stop Hooksett from spending money on a composting
operation and elect John Gagnon to the Hooksett Sewer Commission,
voters re-elected commissioner Raymond Robb and turned down petitioned
Warrant Article 32 on Tuesday, May 11.
Voters also said no to Article 14, which would have funded a
study and land acquisition for a Hooksett bypass road.
Hooksett will now also operate on a default budget, which lost
on a 499-300 vote.
Compost fight
It was a long day for those campaigning outside Cawley Middle
School. Robb, a composting supporter, was happy with the win.
"It was a nice one on a hot day," he said.
Composting opponent Joan Bailey of Hooksett was disappointed
by the 245-584 vote on Article 34.
"This byproduct (of composting) is definitely toxic waste,"
said Bailey. "I will work has hard as I can to have it closed
down. I can't live with the smell. My neighbors can't live with
the smell. The lawsuit will continue."
Before the result of the vote was even known, Bailey and supporters
gathered 172 signatures on a petition to recall sewer commissioner
Sid Baines from office.
"This mistake will cost the town millions," said Bailey.
Bypass fails
Traffic problems won't soon be alleviated by a Hooksett bypass,
with Article 14 losing 445-366.
While town planner Charles Watson supported the article, he held
out hope for alternative funding.
"We have a tentative plan for funding this roadway that
doesn't add to the tax burden and doesn't add to the state,"
he said the week before the vote.
Village School OK'd
Voters confirmed their vote at the School District Meeting by
once again approving the transfer of Hooksett Village School
from school district ownership to the town. The vote was 587-226,
affirming the town's desire to use the building and land for
a community center and possible town offices.
Other votes
Hooksett will have to look again at its budget and equipment
needs. The operating budget failed 390-422, forcing the town
to run on $12,239,217. That's $813,947 less than asked for.
Voters also turned down a vacuum/sweeper cleaner, a town repairs
fund, a fire department staff car, a part-time purchasing agent,
money to study a new town hall, aerial photography for town planning,
a highway department truck, money for 10 call firefighters, a
lease/purchase of a new fire truck, and funding for cable access
TV.
There was a six-way tie for trustee of the trust funds, with
each write-in getting two votes each. The winner should be determined
soon, said town clerk Leslie Nepvue.
Of the 6,638 registered voters, 819 voted, for a 12 percent turnout.
"Given the issues on this ballot, the turnout by voters
is pitiful, said town moderator Marlene Lein.
See the vote
results
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Opening
Day stance>
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| Following
the instruction of their coach, 7-year-old Marshall McKeiran
and 6-year-olds Joseph Evans and Tommy Bolduc get set moments
before their names are announced and they spring to center field
during Opening Day ceremonies at Donati Field in Hooksett May
8. Story on Page B-1. (Marc Thaler Photo) |
Hooksett
Old Home Day back on
By DAWN STANHOPE
Contributing Writer
One week after the official announcement
that Hooksett's Old Home Day would be canceled this year due
to the lack of adequate volunteers, the committee has regrouped
and is officially putting it back on the calendar.
Several members of the Community Economic Development Corporation
of Hooksett (CEDCOH) challenged their board to make personal
contacts in order to re-establish this long-time tradition for
the community.
"Part of CEDCOH's mission is to increase social interaction
in order to improve the quality of life for Hooksett residents,"
said Steve Korzyniowski, vice chairman of CEDCOH. "Old Home
Day is a shining example of bringing families together. This
event is such a part of who we are as a community. It allows
people to reconnect with one another and celebrate what makes
our town special. To see it go away is not acceptable so
the challenge is on!"
After a series of phone calls, e-mails, and personal visits,
CEDCOH members and others were able to establish a core group
of 20 volunteers in just four days. A new Old Home Day Committee
Chairman has also stepped up to the plate. Stephen Christou,
the co-proprietor of Robie's Country Store, eagerly volunteered
to head the organization of the event.
"With a great group of dedicated individuals in our town
making a commitment to share their time in planning activities,
we are sure to have a successful event," said Christou.
"Protecting our traditions and strengthening our relationships
with each other means so much. I am honored to serve in this
capacity."
Hooksett's Old Home Day is scheduled for the third Saturday in
August. Planned activities include a parade, classic cars, a
variety of live entertainment selections, and fireworks.
While the volunteer base is growing, it is not fully staffed
at this time. If you are interested in helping, contact Dawn
Stanhope at 485-5303 for more information. Assistance is needed
both for planning over the next couple of months, as well as
for coverage during the event weekend. A gathering of volunteers
will be held at Robie's Country Store at 6:30 p.m., Monday, May
17, to brainstorm on event ideas.
Pembroke
Pornographic mail worries Pembroke, Bow
residents
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Police from both Pembroke and Bow are investigating
a series of pornographic letters and phone calls to residents.
Pembroke Police Department Lt. Scott Lane said three residents,
ages 16, 18 and 22, had received a total of 10 letters and a
number of phone calls since early December.
"Some of it's commercial pornography, and they are often
accompanied by correspondence from the sender that's graphic
as well," Lane said.
Lane said the phone calls have also been graphic in nature and
have been from pay phones in the Manchester and Concord area.
Most of the letters, he said, had been sent from several local
post offices, including Suncook. Several other letters, Lane
said, had been hand-delivered to the homes of the victims.
Lane said none of the letters had been explicitly threatening,
but their content and method of delivery had a threatening implication.
"They're creepy and threatening in that if you're a 16-year-old
girl and you're getting unsolicited letters, it's scary,"
he said.
"Behavior like this is deviant, and it certainly could have
the flavor of a young adult (perpetrating it)," Lane said.
"Maybe a prank that's getting out of hand but it's
not a prank. This is something that people are very, very upset
about."
Lane said the Pembroke Police Department has been searching for
a connection between victims and had established they all worked
together at a local business and all had been Pembroke Academy
students.
"The letter writer has made references to what (one of the
victims) has worn during the day," Lane said. "So it's
someone who's obviously very close to these people."
Bow Police Department Sgt. Margaret Lougee confirmed that her
department is also investigating a similar spate of letters sent
to five Bow residents over the past three months.
"It's been going on for quite a few months," she said.
"We heard that Pembroke was getting similar letters and
so we came together on a couple of cases."
Lougee declined to give any further details of their incidents
in an effort to protect the investigation.
Auburn
Selectmen feel attacked
By JUDITH DIONNE
Staff Writer
jdionne@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Selectman Harland Eaton was on the defensive
at the Monday, May 10, Auburn selectmen's meeting, said resident
Paula Marzloff.
It was business as usual at the meeting, she said, but Eaton
said the board was under attack, implying selectmen had to be
careful how they conducted themselves because of a May 6 Hooksett
Banner article in which Marzloff and other residents raised
allegations regarding their business conduct.
Selectman admitted to doing town planning while not keeping minutes,
a direct violation of RSA 91-A, better known as the Right to
Know Law. Other concerns were raised in the article as well regarding
editing minutes of their meetings and not putting jobs out to
bid.
"He's edgy because he still doesn't understand that he's
doing anything wrong micro-managing the town," she said,
referring to the allegations.
Marzloff said selectmen have these problems because they don't
have an office manager.
Without an office manager they have no one to delegate the work
load to, she said, so they are forced to oversee the town's daily
business and run it like administrators, which they've admitted
to doing. Then she added, they have a full staff which has no
one to go to for direction except the selectmen, she said.
"Rather than behaving like CEOs of a corporation, which
essentially they are," said Marzloff, "they micro-manage,
trying to oversee every detail of town business."
Following the meeting, Marzloff and Selectman Dave Anderson spoke.
Anderson told Marzloff they prefer to come to a consensus on
issues outside of the regular meetings because they don't feel
the town needs to see them argue if they can't agree on a point.
Bruce Knox was asked if he agreed with Eaton that the town was
under attack. He said "yes," and had no further comment.
"It's apparent they still don't perceive that holding meetings
without minutes and conducting affairs without documentation
is wrong," said Marzloff.
They do a good job managing the town, but they need to conduct
business more openly and do it according to the law, she said.
Note
Last week's story on the Auburn selectmen had the wrong byline.
Judith Dionne was the writer.
Hooksett
Hooksett Heritage Commission comes to
rescue of Head's Chapel
By AMY FORTIER
Correspondent
After 25 years of sitting idle, Head's
Chapel on Pleasant Street in Hooksett reopened its doors to the
public on Saturday, May 8, when the Hooksett Heritage Commission
held an open house. Although the function of this building has
changed over the years, it has stood on Hooksett ground before
Hooksett existed as a town. The Hooksett Heritage Commission
adopted this building that was built in 1839 last year as a project
for renovation and restoration.
Head's Chapel was originally built as a school by the town of
Chester, which later became Hooksett in 1822. The original one-room
school that was attended by local children burned down in 1839,
and was replaced by the building now standing on the site which
became Hooksett's first school.
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The Head family, a prominent Hooksett family
who owned much of the acreage in the area, donated the land for
the school and provided the red bricks from the Head's brickyard.
At the time, construction of the building cost $500.
Yet by 1912, most of the children had moved to the larger village
school and the Head school closed because of insufficient enrollment.
The school remained empty and unused until 1922, when the town
voted to raise the $300 needed to convert the school into a small
chapel. In structure, the building remained the same during this
transition, but rows of wooden pew benches, an altar and an organ
replaced the old wooden desks where pupils from the 1800s sat
to learn their lessons.
The chapel was so small, however, it was
not used much. In 1965, The Hooksett Woman's Club undertook a
renovation project that brought the chapel a little bit more
up to date. Electricity was installed, drapes were hung and red
carpeting was placed over the rough pine wood floors.
The chapel's ornate pressed tin ceiling
is still in place, however, and is a mystery for members of the
Hooksett Heritage Commission because they are not sure when it
was put in place. It seems rather ornate for a one-room school
house.
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ORIGINAL SCHOOLHOUSE Members
of the public convene outside Head's Chapel on Pleasant Street
in Hooksett on Saturday, May 8. The Hooksett Heritage Commission
opened the building to the public for the first time in 25 years
to drum up support for their recent undertaking of restoring
what was once Hooksett's first one-room schoolhouse. (Amy Fortier
Photo)
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After the Woman's Club rededicated
the chapel in 1966, it remained open to the public. Kathie Northrup,
chairman of the Hooksett Heritage Commission, said, "This
chapel was a place where people could come in for a few quiet
minutes or to say a prayer for their family and friends buried
in the adjacent Head's Cemetery."
Doug Bailey, a lifelong resident of Hooksett, has very fond memories
of the chapel from his boyhood.
"We used to ride our horses down here and play in the chapel
and cemetery," said Bailey.
When Northrup was studying the guest book, she found the same
name written over and over again in a childish scrawl: Kathleen
Bailey, Doug Bailey's sister, who also used to play in the chapel
and dream of the day she would get married there. In 1979, she
realized this dream and had one of only three weddings to take
place in the chapel.
Not all visitors to the chapel were as innocent as the Bailey's,
however.
Head's Chapel was closed and locked to the public in 1979 because
it was being destroyed by vandalism. It remained shut until the
Hooksett Heritage Commission selected it as their next project.
The Hooksett Heritage Commission was very impressed with the
interest in the chapel and the turnout at their open house. One
member of the HHC said, "Curiosity about the building is
high, as people drive by it all the time and it has been closed
for so long.
Many people have lived here their whole lives and never been
inside."
The Hooksett Heritage Commission has received a few donations
and many offers of help, but is still looking for more to complete
the undertaking. Members are also searching for more history
of the building and photographs, and invite anyone with personal
accounts of the chapel or photographs to please send them to
the Hooksett Heritage Commission, 16 Main St., or e-mail to Heritagecom@aol.com.
Much work needs to be completed, but the commission is excited
about its undertaking and the support it has received from the
public thus far.
"Ultimately we want to see the chapel used for weddings,
funerals, interments, meetings, baptisms, renewals of vows, etc.
We are also interested in expanding its uses, possibly to include
meetings by town boards and local groups," said Northrup.
"We are all very excited about the possibilities for this
little Hooksett gem."
COLOR="#b32510"
Candia
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It was Crazy Hair Day at Candia Moore
School recently. From left are Emily Rich, Principal Michelle
Carvalho, Jake Hamel and Kayla Markham. These were some of the
most outstanding "do's" sported that day. (Judi Lindsey
Photo)
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