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INDEX●

SERVING TILTON, NORTHFIELD, BELMONT & SANBORNTON, N.H. FREETHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Winnisquam EchoM

ailing Label

Unplowed parking spots Pay rate disputeTilton Looks to revamp

winter parking ordinancesSee photos page A3

See story page A3

It’s fun to stay at the…Clearly Tilton Police Officer Merek Weisensee doesn’t suffer from stagefright. He leads his colleagues – who stay far to the back of the stage – in“YMCA.” The PD made a special appearance at “Winnisquam’s Got Talent”Saturday evening.

PHOTOS BY MEGHAN SIEGLER

Tilton officials back SB110

Big fish in Lake Winnisquambeckon anglers to the ice

Police building projectto be debated tonight

Most town clerks oppose measure to make position appointedBY MEGHAN [email protected]

CONCORD — At theprompting of the TiltonBoard of Selectmen and townadministrator, Sen. KathySgambati (D-Tilton) hassponsored a bill designed togive towns the ability to ap-point rather than elect theirtown clerk.

Senate Bill 110 was heardin the Senate last week, withtestimony from town clerksand administrators through-out the state, including TiltonTown Clerk/Tax CollectorCindy Reinartz and Tilton Se-lectman Katherine Dawson,as well as Gilford TC/TCDenise Morrissette.

After the hearing, whichshe attended with Town Ad-ministrator Joyce Fulweiler,Dawson said she and otherswho spoke in favor of the billwere in the minority. Sgam-bati said most town clerks op-posed the bill, and she herselfwasn’t sure which way shewould vote yet – she spon-sored the bill as a courtesy toFulweiler, because she is aconstituent and a town offi-cial. Fulweiler made the re-quest of Sgambati at the be-hest of the selectmen.

“It was a very healthy dis-cussion,” Sgambati said ofthe hearing, which lasted formore than two hours. “Therewere very legitimate argu-ments on both sides of the is-sue.”

Reinartz said she testifiedagainst the bill for severalreasons, but mainly becauseshe thinks an elected townclerk keeps a system of

Shaker residents questionuse of unencumbered fundsBY DONNA [email protected]

BELMONT — The ShakerRegional School Board pre-sented its budget proposal tothe public last Wednesday,and though the budget itselfwas met with little con-tention, the board’s use of un-encumbered funds had a cou-

BY DONNA [email protected]

WINNISQUAM — LakeWinnisquam anglers provedlast weekend that Lake Win-nipesaukee is not the onlygo-to place for big fish, as thetwo top prizes at MeredithRotary's Great Ice FishingDerby went to one Win-nisquam fisherman.

In Winnisquam largecrowds assembled on the ice,especially in the area of Mo-hawk Island and around theBelmont Town Beach. Icewas reported to be up to 15"deep and provided a greatopportunity to drop a lineand enjoy some outdoorrecreation. The 4,264 acrelake was dotted with bob-houses, snowmobiles andtrucks as everyone soughtthe "big one."

Winnisquam is nostranger to big fish. It is thethird deepest lake in thestate, formed thousands ofyears ago. A classic glaciallake, it runs from northwestto southeast, the direction inwhich the glaciers once

PHOTO BY DONNA RHODES

Seven-year old Devin Jacques (left) and 6-year-old Ayden Warren-Bennett went away empty handed but still smiling after their first icefishing trip on Lake Winnisquam.

BY MEGHAN [email protected]

TILTON — Plans for thenew police building were puton hold last week after resi-dents approached the Board ofSelectmen with a request tostop spending on construc-tion, questioning the processin which building needs werestudied and implemented,andwhether funds have been usedappropriately.

“If you move forward andspend a tremendous amountof money, it makes it difficultfor voters to have secondthoughts about this building,”resident Pat Clark said.

Clark and resident ScottDavis originated and circulat-ed a petitioned warrant arti-cle, gathering 127 certified sig-natures of residents whoagreed that they are in favor ofseeing if the town “vote toopen discussion and to getclarification on what was pre-sented and passed for Article6, (proposal to purchase prop-erty at 61 Business Park Driveand build-out cost and size fora new Police Station)” at the2008 Town Meeting.

At last week’s meeting,Clark also asked that the se-

checks and balances in place.“It’s keeping New Hamp-

shire government the way itshould be,” she said.

If a town clerk is appoint-ed, the town’s money comesin through either the board ofselectmen or the town man-ager – “and then they get tospend it too,” Reinartz said.

“(SB110) moves the powerfrom the people to a selectfew,” she added.

Dawson, on the otherhand, said she feels the billwill actually give power to thevoters, because it will ulti-mately be their decisionwhether they want to elect orappoint the position. She alsosaid that an appointed townclerk may be open for dis-

missal without just cause, butthe clerk could go to the peo-ple with a petitioned warrantarticle and reverse the deci-sion.

“I think anytime we givethe power to the legislativebody it’s the right democraticthing to do,” Dawson said.“You give the power to thepeople.”

Dawson also said townsrisk losing experienced townclerks every three years, ifvoters choose someone new.She pointed to Reinartz andher 10 years of experience asan example.

“Last year we could havelost all of that experience to

ple residents asking for moretransparency.

The $18,817,572 budget waskept to a minimal increase ofonly 0.91 percent above lastyear's budget. Salaries andbenefits make up a little over70 percent of the expendi-tures. Costs for energy, trans-portation food services andrepairs comprise another 17percent of costs necessary.

SAU SuperintendentMichael Cozort had statedearlier that they eliminateditems such as high school out-of-district special educationfunds (not currently in use),some proposed new pro-grams and other items theyfelt were unnecessary in thiseconomic environment tobring in a low budget for thetaxpayers.

The board explained at the

hearing that they were awareof the hard times voters wereenduring and tried to remainconservative while still beingresponsible to the students inthe district. Some staff addi-tions in special education forthe elementary and middleschools were included in theproposal with student needsin mind.The additions add upto $93,198 in salaries and ben-efits for five positions in spe-cial education and one part-time position in the gifted andtalented program.

A big point of contentionwith some residents con-cerned unencumbered fundsthat were spent on smallerprojects at the end of the lastyear. Former Selectman Don-na Cilley and Budget Com-

moved. As these enormousslabs of ice pushed their waysouth, they tore into theearth. Gouging trenches andholes along the way, the gla-ciers eventually began tomelt, creating many of thelakes seen today.

Winnisquam boastsmany species of fish. Smelt-ing in early spring is popu-lar along the inlets to the

lake. Bass, perch, salmon,rainbow trout, pickerel andmany other fish swim its wa-ters. The grand daddy of allfish in N.H. though is theLake Trout and Winniquamis home to some tremendousexamples of this species.

Region 2 Large Lake Fish-eries Biologist Don Miller is

SEE TILTON PAGE A10

SEE SHAKER PAGE A10

SEE DEBATE PAGE A6

SEE BIG FISH PAGE A10

A2 LOCAL NEWS■

February 12, 2009 WINNISQUAM ECHO

NOTICERESIDENTS OF

THE TOWN OF NORTHFIELDFOR THE PURPOSE OF VOTER REGISTRATION FOR THE

UPCOMING WATER DISTRICT MEETING

RSA 654:28

The Supervisors of the Checklist will be meetingon Friday, February 13, 2009

from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pmTown Hall, 21 Summer Street, Northfield

(Must be Water District users AND Registered Votersto participate in the meeting)

Purpose of this session:• Register voters for the Water District Meeting.• Make changes or corrections.

Meeting purpose: To elect officers, consider warrant questions andvote on bond issues and proposed 2009 budget.

Supervisors:Terry Steady, Elaine Lamanuzzi, Margaret Labrecque

NOTICERESIDENTS OF

THE TOWN OF TILTONFOR THE PURPOSE OF VOTER REGISTRATION FOR THE

UPCOMING WATER DISTRICT MEETING

RSA 654:28

The Supervisors of the Checklist will be meetingon Friday, February 13, 2009

from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pmTown Hall, 257 Main Street, Tilton

(Must be Water District users AND Registered Votersto participate in the meeting)

Purpose of this session:• Register voters for the Water District Meeting.• Make changes or corrections.

Meeting purpose: To elect officers, consider warrant questions andvote on bond issues and proposed 2009 budget.

Supervisors:Bernard Chapman, Sally Lawrence, Richard Montembeault New Beginnings

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with a personalized message onFriday, February 13th

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PUBLIC NOTICESHAKER REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

CHECKLIST REVISIONThe Supervisors of the Checklist for the Shaker Regional SchoolDistrict will be in session for revisions and additions to the schooldistrict checklist on Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

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Canterbury – Sam Lake House – 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm

You can also register at your town clerk’s office during regularbusiness hours.KNOW SOMEONE

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Fire Department: Moving to the right may save a lifeBY DONNA [email protected]

TILTON — The heavilytrafficked Route 3 area ofTilton, especially as it cross-es over I-93, has long been aconcern for the Tilton-North-field Fire Department – onethat could be at least partial-ly remedied if drivers fol-lowed the rules of the road.

Response times to fires,accidents and medical emer-gencies have been delayed,especially during the heavymorning and evening com-mute times, as fire apparatusand ambulances struggle tonegotiate the multiple lanesof vehicles.

Chief Stephen Carriersaid that there is so muchroom along that stretch ofthe road that cars pull off onboth sides of the highway,which is not only illegal butdangerous.

"The law states that vehi-cles should pull over to the

right and stop," Carrier said."We see people pulling off onboth sides along that sectionof road, or they pull to theright and keep driving."

Cars continuing to movecan hinder emergency vehi-cles from turning into busi-nesses or making turns at in-tersections. People need tostop, Carrier said, as the firemay be at a business or alonga road bisecting Route 3 thatthey are driving past.

"We had a fire alarm atBJ's once and had to wait toturn into the parking lot be-cause vehicles didn't stop,"he recounted "If we're ap-proaching a vehicle that ismoving and our intention isto turn right, we're also intheir blindspot."

N.H. RSA 2658, Section 6states, "A driver of a vehiclebeing driven on the ways ofthis state upon the approachfrom any direction of anemergency vehicle with the

siren or flashing light in op-eration shall turn immedi-ately as far as possible to-ward the right-hand side ofthe way and shall bring hisvehicle to a standstill untilsuch emergency vehicle haspassed."

With the introduction ofmultiple lane roadways, well-intentioned drivers may notrealize that pulling over tothe left actually creates aproblem. Safety codes statethat an emergency vehicleshould always pass motoristson the left. Passing on theright can cause a great dealof confusion, not just for afire engine or an ambulance,but also for other drivers asthe emergency vehicle mustthen thread through traffic.Each lane of cars, pulling tothe right as far as they canand coming to a stop, leavesthe left breakdown lane openfor emergency vehicles.

Improper driver responseslows emergency responsetimes in situations whereevery second counts. A fire

can double in size with everypassing minute. The com-mercial growth in EastTilton means more possibili-ties for incidents for T-NFD.

Carrier has been with thedepartment for six years andsaid they have a good safetyrecord, but there is addedpressure for them to negoti-ate the Route 3 corridor safe-ly. He is "amazed" that no ac-cidents have occurred.

Fire departments have a"pretty strong policy" statingthey do not have an assumedright of way at a light or stopsign and that they mustcheck to see it is clear. It is,however, up to drivers to beaware of their surroundingsand yield to the oncomingemergency traffic.

"We know that goingthrough those lights (at Exit20) we need to be cautious,"said Carrier. "People are sodistracted today. With BlueTooth, speed controlled vol-ume on radios, cell phonesand better insulated cars,they just aren't always aware

of us."T-NFD also handles calls

on the interstate. In July oflast year, their TyphoonPumper was attempting toturn into a crossover on thehighway for a medical call.The vehicle behind thepumper, despite the truck'slights and signals, did not no-tice it turning and ran intothe back of the truck.

"We have a policy not touse the crossovers unless itis an emergency," Carrier re-ported. "This person justwasn't paying attentionwhen we had to make thatturn."

The department has hadclose calls with vehicles fly-ing by an accident scene on I-93 also. Drivers, he said, needto give emergency respon-ders plenty of room and slowdown as much as possiblewhen passing them. In fact,the state recently enacted the"Move Over" law for all vehi-cles displaying red, blue oryellow safety lights. Carriersaid the department now hasa policy on parking their ve-hicles while on scene. "

We park everythingaround the scene as a shieldto protect us,” he said.

What astounds the chief

most of all is to see cars pass-ing their emergency vehiclesen route to an accident. Thedepartment drives as swiftlybut as cautiously as possiblein inclement weather andthat seems to irritate somedrivers.

"Heading for an accident,we drive appropriately forthe conditions yet we'll havecars go around us. It's amaz-ing. They don't even knowwhat's up ahead. They're justin a hurry I guess,” he said.

Carrier reminds driversof the importance in stop-ping in both directions whenan emergency vehicle is ap-proaching.

"There is a section ofMain Street in Tilton thatgets narrow. If an SUV or atruck is pulled over we mayhave to go into the oncominglane to get by so it is impor-tant for cars in both lanes topull over and come to a stop.We try not to do that butsometimes it can't be helped.If oncoming traffic pullsover and stops it makes it alot safer for everyone."

The department's re-sponse times were deemed"above average" in a recentstudy by Municipal Re-sources, Inc.

LOCAL NEWS A3■

February 12, 2009WINNISQUAM ECHO

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Tilton looks to revamp winter parking ordinances

Sanbornton police chief and budget chair at odds on pay rates

BY MEGHAN [email protected]

TILTON — While theTilton police and Main StreetProgram continue searchingfor solutions to improve park-ing turnover downtown, thetown is also looking to re-vamp its parking ordinancesto better prepare for weatheremergencies.

Two draft ordinances werethe subject of a public hear-ing last week and are aimedat giving the police depart-ment the authority to movecars so the highway depart-ment can clear the roads.

“We have to have some le-gal ability to (move cars),”Po-lice Chief Robert Cormiersaid. “We just don’t have any-thing on paper now.”

Currently there are win-ter maintenance rules andregulations, which include awinter parking ban from Nov.15 through April 1. MainStreet and West Main Street,among others, are exempt. Italso states that parkingspaces will be cleared “assoon as possible but no laterthan” 72 hours after a storm,if the storm produces 12 ormore inches of snow.

“So he (Public Works Di-rector Dennis Allen) doesn’teven have to clean up untilthere’s 12 inches of snow?”said Vincent Paratore, chairof the Main Street Program’sBoard of Directors.

A couple of Main Streetmerchants were at the hear-ing; those who spoke had alsoattended previous publichearings regarding first thepossibility of putting in me-ters on Main Street and thena revised plan to create moreparking spaces off of MainStreet. This time they usedthe public forum to discusstheir concerns with the plow-ing, or lack thereof, of theparking spots in front of theirbusinesses.

Valerie Russell, owner ofIsland Sun Tanning andAdding Definition, said sheworries about her elderlyclients having to climb overthe snow banks left behind bythe state Department ofTransportation, which plowsRoute 3 but not the street’sparking spaces.

“It’s not cleared for threedays, but people still want to

eat, they want to get their hairdone,” Russell said. “I’m up-set because I have literallygone out there and shoveled(the spaces in front of mybusiness).”

Russell also said she lostbusiness last week after astorm, because although sheis open until 7 p.m. and win-ter parking signs currentlysay there is no parking after 7p.m., officers were threaten-ing to ticket her clients’ carsbecause the town was readyto do snow removal – eventhough it wasn’t yet 7 p.m.Russell suggested that clean-up start later so all business-es have time to close and getout.

“From what I’m listeningto, we need to make somechanges,” Selectmen ChairKatherine Dawson said.

Dawson also pointed outthat the proposed ordinance

has flaws itself, because itcalls for a 24-hour ban on allstreets in a weather emer-gency and gives no alterna-tive parking places.

“There’s no place left foranyone to park,” Dawsonsaid, adding “I think it’s a lit-tle vague on what exactly anemergency is.”

Paratore said he thinks thebiggest issue is the “discon-nect” between Tilton and thestate.

“I think we really need toclarify what the state doesand what the town does,”Paratore said.

Dawson said she had “callDOT” at the top of her to-dolist so the state and the towncan figure out who exactly isresponsible for what.

“I think this is a work inprogress,” Dawson said.

Main Street merchants soundoff on unplowed parking spots


SANBORNTON — Despitereports that a Tasering inci-dent in Sanbornton mayprompt the Budget Commit-tee to not recommend officerraises, Chairman EarlLeighton denies that the rec-ommendation would haveanything to do with the inci-dent. "I have a lot of problemwith handing out money inthese economic times,” saidLeighton, who admitted toknowing the family of theTasering victim.

Chief Mark Barton report-ed that on Jan. 10, 25-year-oldDennis Huckins was Taseredafter attempts to speak withhim and later take him intocustody failed.

Huckins had been follow-ing a friend who was pulledover for a taillight, and hepulled over as well. Bartonsaid the officer had concernsabout Huckins, and when at-tempting to speak with him,Huckins failed to comply andattempted to leave the scene,prompting the officer to usehis Taser.

The officer followed all pro-cedures to use the weapon,Barton said. "People arewarned," Barton commented."First the officer will say he ispulling out the Taser. He willthen give a warning that if theperson doesn't comply theywill be Tasered. After a cou-ple of warnings he will thensay 'Taser, Taser, Taser' beforefiring. My officer did every-thing according to protocol."

Barton explained that aTaser will give an electricshock for five seconds beforeshutting off. The purpose of

this equipment is to assure anofficer's safety in making anarrest without further inci-dent. According to Barton,pepper spray has effects forup to one hour and causes sec-ondary side effects when thevictim showers. Nightstickscan cause bodily harm. Theonly side effects one may feelfrom a Tasering is if they falland become injured.

"We had the fire depart-ment check this individualout right after the event andhe signed off on medical treat-ment," Barton reported. "A

state trooper was on sceneand handcuffed him and hedidn't complain of any prob-lems at that time either."

Huckins later complainedthat he had broken his armwhen he fell after beingTasered. Because of this inci-dent, reports have circledaround town that the BudgetCommittee may not recom-mend a proposed pay rate in-crease for town police offi-cers. The proposal calls forthe removal of a seventh po-sition on the police depart-ment that is currently vacant.In return, a rate increase of$3,500 per officer would begranted, bringing them up tomore competitive pay withnearby towns.

"We are a training groundfor officers," Barton said."They work here for a shortwhile and then move on toother towns. This moneywould help to keep officers inSanbornton." According toLeighton, the selectmen haverecommended a 2 percentraise for the department al-ready and he thinks that isfair enough. Bigger townslike Nashua, he feels, havehigher risks for an officer andthereby warrant higher pay.Sanbornton is a small townand he doesn't feel the moneyis justified.

"If we did away with a po-sition at DPW I wouldn'tspread the money around tothe other workers either,"Leighton said in a recent

phone interview. "In theseeconomic times we need to re-think how we do things. Weshould try to do the samethings for less money."

While Leighton does notagree with the use of force inthis instance, he admits hehas not yet discussed it withthe police chief or viewed avideo of the night's eventscaptured on a store surveil-lance camera. His opinion onthe budget, however, is notbased on the Tasering, butmainly on the economy.

“Raises should be based onmerit, not because an alreadyvacant position has beendone away with,” he said.

Chief Barton would like tothink that one incident wouldnot result in a blanket sanc-tioning for the hard-workingmen and women of the policedepartment. Had the actionsof his officer been unjusti-fied, he said, he would havetaken disciplinary actionhimself. The selectmen agreewith his position on the nightin question and feel all ap-propriate steps were taken inmaking the arrest. Barton re-mains hopeful that the townwill see that to keep a good of-ficer on the department, San-bornton needs to becomemore competitive withsalaries and recognize thework these police officers doin serving Sanbornton.

A meeting on the policebudget is scheduled for thenear future.

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Opinion■

A4

Thursday,

February 12, 2009

Winnisquam Echo

EDITORIAL■

If SB110 makes it through the legislation, townswill be able to decide whether they want to elect orappoint their town clerk. Before we get to our stanceon that, we need to discuss the whys of this bill – asin, why this bill and why now?

Here are the facts: the Tilton Board of Selectmenasked Town Administrator Joyce Fulweiler to askSen. Kathy Sgambati to sponsor the bill. At lastweek’s hearing and after, Selectman Chair Kather-ine Dawson said she supports the bill because shefeels it’s important that towns retain town clerkswho have years of experience, as current TC/TCCindy Reinartz does.

Now let’s be honest – what the board really wantsis the power to get rid of someone they don’t workwell with. We know this because they started push-ing for this bill right after several disputes withReinartz. The two parties played nice at the hearing,which was the right thing to do, but we think it’s im-portant for people to know the true intention of thebill’s proponents.

That being said, we support the bill. We’ve longthought it strange that voters (often uninformed)have the right to choose a town clerk whom theyprobably know very little about. Town-level politicsdon’t give candidates much time to campaign and gettheir names out there, and in small towns, the elec-tion can be more of a popularity contest than a racethat focuses on qualifications. We agree that townsrisk losing highly experienced town clerks to the vot-ers’ whim.

Furthermore, how many highly-qualified candi-dates want a job that they run the risk of losing everythree years? These are full-time jobs, and town clerksshould be looking at the position as a career, not an“oh, maybe I’ll try this out for three years and seewhat happens” kind of job. Of course, the hope isthat townspeople recognize when they have a goodtown clerk and vote to keep that town clerk in office,but how comfortable would you feel putting your jobin the hands of your neighbors?

The town clerk’s role is a vital one; he or she han-dles a lot of money and has to work closely with thepublic and other town officials. It makes sense to letboards of selectmen – which are elected by towns-people – appoint the town clerk, just as they do theimportant position of town administrator or man-ager. The town clerk needs to be held accountable,and it would be easier for selectmen to oversee theposition than townspeople who often don’t knowwhat’s going on inside town hall.

Finally, just like SB2, this bill leaves it up to thevoters to do what’s best for their town. And what’swrong with giving voters that choice?

SB110 goodfor towns

LETTERS●

Come to tonight’s public meeting

For some, pets are family

Tilton’s ‘tax and facts’

To the Editor:

Last Thursday at theTilton Selectmen’s Meetingit was determined to hold apublic meeting in a week’stime to discuss the Police De-partment project. The pur-pose is to decide whether weshould hold up spending anymore money on it until thevoters could look it overagain at our upcoming townmeeting.

Lately, I have been work-ing with Scott Davis in Tiltonto determine if we shouldmove ahead with the build-ing of a new police depart-ment remotely located onBusiness Park Drive. Our po-sition after much digging isthat we should take a deepbreath and study the mattera while longer.

A year ago, I was one ofthe biggest supporters ofbuying the building we nowown. By the time that prop-erty became known it was lit-erally weeks before townmeeting and we rushed to

judgment to scoop it up. Itseemed a perfect fit to solveboth our police and fire de-partments needs, and it stillmay, but I am uncertain atthis time. At last year’s townmeeting we were sold on buy-ing the building for $1.5 mil-lion and building a PD in itfor a million which would bewithin approximately 10,000square feet.

Since last town meetingmuch has made me believethat we put the proverbialcart before the horse. Thecommittee assigned to devel-op plans came out with theirfirst set of dream plans thatwere 18,000 to 20,000 sq. ft.That was my first wake upcall; “We OK’d the fundingbefore screwing down exact-ly how it would be spent.” Itwas like giving kids the keysto the candy store.

Then came the fact thatthe town had already fundeda study in our 2006 townmeeting but the details fromthat study were not men-tioned at last year’s town

meeting. If they had been, wemay not have purchased thisbuilding. One of the thingsthe former committee didwas to look not only at PDneeds but Fire Departmentneeds in a potential Life Safe-ty Building. That made sensebecause there has been Fed-eral money for Life Safety butnot much for just PD or FDalone. One big factor in firedepartment placement is lo-cation because response timeis critical to public safety.

Anyone living in theTilton Northfield area is wellaware that we have been look-ing at “response times” andother significant FD con-cerns a lot this past year. Welive in the Tilton NorthfieldFire District and that mar-riage, as difficult as mostmarriages can be at times, isworth fostering. I waspleased by the joint meetingheld by the Tilton and North-field Selectmen along withthe Fire Commissioners re-cently where they agreed toseek public input to study

our joint needs. There is nodoubt in my mind that the re-sults of that effort will play arole in what we do with ourPD. It’s good that we work to-gether to solve these complexissues.

At last nights selectmen’smeeting Albert LaPlantewanted to know why we areonly coming forward now.The answer is that this $2-1/2million dollar project hasbeen a well kept secret; Feb.12 will be the first publicmeeting and that came aboutonly after a lot of exposure.Tom Cavanaugh claimed thathe’s helped to keep our taxesdown. What is clear is thatduring the time the Tom andAl have been in office our tax-es for the town’s portion haverisen 74 percent. That is theportion they control and willhave to defend in their bid forre-election this year.

Please attend the publicmeeting at the town halltonight, Feb. 12.

Pat ClarkTilton

Come see what Ozanam Place is all aboutTo the Editor:

When thinking about giv-ing to a non-profit, we feel asif the little we are able to giveisn’t going to make a differ-ence. We are bombarded ona daily basis with lost jobs,foreclosures, drops in thestock market and the prob-lems feel beyond the reach ofone person or family. Duringthis difficult time when weare all concerned for the fu-ture, we ask that you consid-er making a donation to helpOzanam Place assist ourclients and the large numberwho come to us each day indire need of help.

As a small non-profitagency, Ozanam Place worksusing small Case Manager toClient ratios. We take greatpride when one family fin-ishes the program in a muchbetter place than they werewhen they came to us;housed, with a job and nolonger living in fear of wheretheir children will be sleep-ing tonight. We fight backemotion when we are able to

make a child’s Holiday spe-cial because there are pres-ents to open.

The following is an ex-cerpt of a letter from a moth-er in our two-year, Transi-tional Supportive ServicesProgram:

“Getting a phone call thatyour husband was in a hor-rible motorcycle accidentwas the worse thing that everhappened in my life. He wasdiagnosed as brain dead andpassed away shortly afterfrom his other injuries. Atthe time, our children wereseven-years old and two-years old and I was a stay athome mother; a decision myhusband and I made insteadof paying the huge cost ofdaycare. I was lost, drowningin grief and, very quickly,looking at being evicted, carrepossession, and the utili-ties being shut off. I foundOzanam’s brochure whiletrying to get assistance… Ihave been on their programfor 18 months; I am not goingto say it is always easy, buthaving a Case Manager who

guides me through theprocess of becoming self-suf-ficient and who is there forme every week to celebratemy progress or comfort mewhen I am feeling down, hasgiven me the hope that I’ll beokay. Although only twoyears after my life exploded,with Ozanam Place’s help, Ihave a bright and cheeryapartment, food for my chil-dren, a job and, every once ina while, a thoughtful presentbrought to me by my CaseManager to make my day spe-cial… There are no words toexpress my gratitude.”

Ozanam does not takemoney for their services norare we federally or state fund-ed. We rely on the generosi-ty of our friends in the com-munity and beyond. In orderto create sustainability forour programs and to recog-nize our supporters, we cre-ated The Friends of OzanamPlace Membership in 2007.Our objective is to raise$100,000 through this pro-gram in the next five years tobetter serve our current

clients and to make our long-term programs available tomany more in Belknap Coun-ty. I ask for your help and con-sideration by making a five-year tax deductible commit-ment when you join TheFriends of Ozanam Place.However, any gift, either one-time or over a period ofyears, large or small will helpOzanam Place be a voice forhomeless families in ourcommunity.

If you’re interested inlearning more aboutOzanam Place, please join usat our Annual Meeting onMarch 12 at 3:30 at the LakesRegion Chamber of Com-merce in Laconia. Refresh-ments are served and wewould enjoy meeting thewonderful people in our com-munity who support OzanamPlace.

Please accept my most sin-cere thank you and best wish-es for a happy 2009.

Maria E. StreetExecutive Director

Ozanam PlaceLaconiaSend your

letters!Winnisquam Echo

5 Water StreetMeredith, NH, 03253

Our fax number is 279-3331. Or, you can e-mail usat [email protected].

Please include your name, address and phonenumber.

To the Editor:

Firstly, let me thank youfor the editorial that ap-peared in the Feb. 5 edition ofthe Echo. It got people talk-ing and that is a marvelousthing. In life, much like thereare people that will like youand people that won’t, I takeit a step further to say thatthere are people who will ac-tually make the effort to getto know you, before they de-cide what side of the fencethey stand on.

Secondly, I would like totake the opportunity to clearup a few things:

I would like the author ofthe editorial to know this;there are some people, who

struggle with infertility orhave medical issues that pre-vent them from having hu-man children. Since the costof adoption from the Hu-mane Society was brought upin the Echo’s editorial, I sim-ply pose this question: haveyou researched the cost ofadopting a human child?

I would also like to simplyask the author this: what isthe formula you use for thevalue of a life, be it human,feline or canine? I would likeyou to personally look in theface of a grieving pet parentand tell them “But you sim-ply cannot compare childrento pets.”

Who gets to qualify some-one’s grief over the loss of a

loved one? Third, I response to the

comment “While we certain-ly wouldn’t advocate for rais-es anytime soon, the select-men work incredibly hardand put in more hours thanClutters probably realizes.”Actually, I do know how hardthey work. I have never ques-tioned how hard the job of se-lectperson is, I have ques-tioned the decisions theyhave made including thechoice they made to acceptthe stipend, while the townhas made it public knowl-edge that Belmont is in abudget crunch. My great–grandfather was an alder-man and while I am in no waysaying that a family relation

qualifies me for the job, theexample was set of what itmeans to be a public servantand to put the service of yourcommunity above yourself.

Most importantly, I wantthe author of the letter toknow and any reader of thisletter who wishes to chat andform an educated opinion ofwho I am before the electionin March that I would wel-come him or her with openarms to talk over coffee. Ithink we would have a lot tolearn from each other, so callme 369-2101 or e-mail me:[email protected].

Lisa CluttersBelmont

To the Editor:

While at a Tilton select-men’s meeting on Feb. 5, astatement was read thatTilton’s tax rate has declined?Looking through the num-bers from 2005 to 2008, it is cor-rect on one level and that isdue to the new funding for-mula for Winnisquam Re-

gional School District. Thetax rate for the local educa-tion portion of our tax bill hasgone down 14.22 percent or -$1.31. However our town taxportion has risen 74.24 per-cent or +$2.68. Our fire dis-trict tax portion has risen17.36 percent or +$0.21. Belk-nap County tax portion hasrisen 23.48 percent or +$0.27.

These figures are per onethousand dollars of our as-sessed valuation.

The 74.24 percent or +$2.68increase is the most signifi-cant increase on our town taxbill, and the responsibility forthis large increase falls en-tirely on the shoulders of ourselectmen.

Keeping in mind the tough

economic times we face, it isvery possible that revenuescould decline significantlydue to foreclosures and loss ofstate and federal revenues.Would this mean another in-crease in the town tax rate?You tell me!

In the words of Joe Friday,“Just The Facts.”

Scott DavisTilton

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY A5■


––––––––– of Alton Bay, New Hampshire723 East Side Drive, Route 28A, Alton Bay, NH 03810

603-875-5700

www.irwinmarine.com

LETTERS●

Where is ourrepresentative?

Selectmen have yet to act on pollution

Check your bills – taxes are going down in Tilton

To the Editor:

For the past several yearsI would often see, especiallyaround election time, DennisFields dressed in his yellowattire just about everywherein Sanbornton.

Since Dennis was electedto the House of Representa-

tives, representing Sanborn-ton, I have not seen him orhave been able to contact himby email.

Dennis where are you?Your visibility as a represen-tative of the people of San-bornton is fading away....

Bill Whalen Sanbornton

To the Editor:

The Sanbornton Board ofSelectmen have yet to act ona Lake Winnisquam silt pol-lution remediation initiativerecommended by the NewHampshire Department ofEnvironmental Service lastDecember. Sanbornton’sBlack Brook continues to pol-lute Lake Winnisquam bytransporting silt into theLake. The problem is realand needs to be addressed. Asilt induced milfoil infesta-tion at the mouth of BlackBrook was discovered lastfall. Additional milfoil prob-lems are expected in the fu-ture.

DES suggested that San-bornton apply for a match-ing DES grant funded by theFederal Environmental Pro-tection Agency to address theproblem. Sanbornton’s 40percent share of the $30,000grant would require a com-mitment of $12,000. A re-quest to include this amountin the 2009-10 budget hasseemimgly fallen on deaf

ears. Although it has been in-formally reported that cer-tain BOS members have ver-bally endorsed the grant ap-proach, there is no evidenceof this funding in the BOSbudget forwarded to theTown Budget Committee. Al-so, there has been no re-sponse to several recent e-mails addressed to BOSChairman Livernois, whichattempted to learn what ac-tion, if any, the BOS propos-es to take. It should be clearthat without BOS leadershipand support there will be nogrant application.

Is asking for BOS leader-ship and support for this im-portant pollution abatementwork too much to expect? Wecertainly hope not. In the2008 Sanbornton Communi-ty Survey conducted by thePlanning Board for MasterPlan guidance, 421 respon-dents out of 436 (98 percent)marked “Protection of lakesand streams” as “ Very Im-portant” or “ Important” Ina subsequent question:“Which conservation AC-

TIONS do you favor the Townof Sanbornton taking?”, 378of 379 respondents “Fa-vored” or “Strongly Fa-vored” “protecting lakes andponds for recreational pur-poses.” This majority is over95 percent!

Can we count on San-bornton Selectmen to re-spond to the expressed needsof Sanbornton citizens forACTION when their leader-

ship is required? The path toaddress this need is clear andsimple: advise the BudgetCommittee to add it to the Se-lectmen’s 2009-10 budget re-quest so that preparation ofthe grant application can goforward. Will the BOS re-spond? Stay “tuned.”

Donald Foudriat.Sanbornton

Big and boisterous, the perfectlynamed Cannon certainly acts hisname. A Plotthound with energy tospare, he was lucky enough to betransported to New HampshireHumane Society by the WoodstockPolice Department having beenspotted running around, in sub zeroweather, for over a week. The indi-vidual who might have been his for-mer owner never came to claim thistruly handsome boy, so now answer-ing to Cannon, he is available foradoption. Cannon currently hasquite the happy, tail-wagging friend-ship going with Abby, another dogwaiting her forever home, whichproves he likes to hang out withother dogs. Strong and vigorous he’dbe a great addition to a child filled

home. Hide the bologna; he’ll sniffout the deli meats in record time.For more information aboutCannon, and the many other ani-mals needing caring homes call 524-3252 Tuesday-Saturday, or check outwww.nhhumane.org

Pet of the Week: Cannon

To the Editor:

This letter is in responseto Joe Friday’s (aka ScottDavis’) letter. Blaming thecurrent Select Board for a socalled “74.24-percent tax in-crease” in Tilton is irrespon-sible and grossly misleading,especially when the author isfully aware of the real facts.Mr. Davis is on a crusade tohalt the progress of the newpolice facility and using thistax increase propaganda tofurther his agenda.

The current Select Board,through frugal expense man-agement and tight fiscal re-straint, deserves credit forthe tax savings we are actu-ally enjoying today. The factis our taxes are going downin Tilton in a climate whenother towns face drastic taxincreases, cuts in municipalservices, and in some cases,

potential receivership. InTilton, however, we are pro-viding a decreasing tax bur-den to our residents while si-multaneously improvingmunicipal services! Thistype of financial successtakes great dedication andhundreds of hours of atten-tive service by the SelectBoard and our fantastic Bud-get Committee. We fiercelyfought for a reduced andmore fairly apportioned re-gional school expense. Wewere the force behind estab-lishing a School Budget Com-mittee. These are just someexamples of the many wayswe have trimmed expensefrom the town’s budget. Infact, the tax rate is anticipat-ed to continue to declineagain for Tilton residents in2010 – what a feat in this econ-omy!

Accordingly, I resent the

misleading letter to the edi-tor especially when the au-thor knows the truth behindthe numbers. In point of fact,prior to this Select Board thetax burden in Tilton wassteadily increasing from$5.28 in 2000, to $5.53 in 2001,to $5.75 in 2002, to $6.23 in 2003and then to $6.73 in 2004. Ourtown tax rate for 2008 is $6.29.This reduced rate wasachieved four years later, de-spite higher fuel costs, in-creased employee costs, theRiver Front Park payments,the Sewer District work andmore. Why would the authortry to conceal the true factsabout Tilton’s actual tax rateif not simply to further anagenda to stop the Police De-partment build out?

Joe Friday omitted ex-plaining that in 2005, the thenTown Administrator, who isno longer here, artificially

and unilaterally deflated thetax burden by reallocatingthe entire reserve fund bal-ance (rainy day fund) againstthe tax burden, a tactic theDRA took serious issue with.

In any case, the authorbased his entire analysis onthis bogus 2005 figure whenhe is fully aware of why thatfigure was unusually low. Ifresidents want “Just theFacts” they should rely ontrue numbers, which are thatthis Select Board has takenus from a high of $6.73 in 2004back down to $6.23 in 2007 and$6.29 in 2008. We are project-ing an even more dramaticdecrease in 2009 as a directresult of the savings we willrealize from the regionalschool reapportionment thisSelect Board successfullyfought for and achieved forour residents, bringing usdown to tax levels not seen

since 2002. Our savings wasachieved through legitimate,tough nosed fiscal conser-vatism and not simply artifi-cially “shown on paper” byplaying around with thenumbers as was the casewith the 2005 tax rate. Whatother town can tout this typeof consistent savings, fiscaldiscipline and decreasing taxburden – while simultane-ously providing a new policedepartment and improvingmunicipal services?

We, as Selectmen, put inan extraordinary amount oftime to remain successful atour day jobs along with be-ing responsible to the TiltonResidents and our own fami-lies. We miss time with ourfamilies and even compro-mise our day jobs to ensurewe put in the time needed toachieve the best results we

can for this community.There are plenty of nights Imiss my kids’ sportingevents or arrive home after aSelectmen’s Meeting long af-ter the kids are already inbed. I, along with the otherSelectmen, do this for the to-tal of $69.76 a week. Obvi-ously, we don’t do it for themoney. My goal has been andstill continues to be to bringbetter service, transparency,and honesty to our SelectBoard. It is my opinion thatthe author is being disingen-uous, just attempting to fur-ther an agenda by shockingthe residents into believingsomething that they shouldknow is untrue. Residents –your taxes are going down,not up – check your tax bill!

Tom CavanaughSelectman

Tilton

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In Northfield, incumbent and former selectman vie for seatBY DONNA [email protected]

Glen Brown hopes voterswill look for continuity

Glen Brown has 23 yearsof service to the town he wasraised in and isn't done yet,he says. Currently a select-man in Northfield, he has al-so served for five years on thebudget committee. As select-man he feels he has been anapproachable figure in towngovernment.

"People call all the timefor you to come look at theirsite or whatever- I like beingsomeone they feel they cancome to to help them out. Itis all part of the job," saidBrown. "I like being able toto work with people."

His time in office, espe-cially this last term, is onethat he is very proud of andhe hopes that voters will rec-ognize he has had their in-terests at heart. One way wasto help in the establishmentof the Economic Develop-ment Committee to seek suit-able businesses for North-field.

"I want to help create aninterest in Northfield,"Brown said. "Hopefully wecan establish some standardoperating procedures toreach out and say 'Come toNorthfield' to some goodbusinesses."

Perhaps one of Brown'sgreatest satisfactions hasbeen keeping a low tax ratedespite the smaller tax basethan in nearby communi-ties.

"We have a tax rate that isonly four cents higher thanTilton's," he explained, "andyet we have only 2/3 of thetax base that they do. Thismeans we have been watch-ing the bottom line and ourcash flow."

Watching the bottom line,Brown has started many ini-tiatives to keep spendingminimal. A restructuredCapitol Improvement Plan tolevel out expenses, an ener-gy committee to lower elec-

tric and fuel costs and rene-gotiating contracts for bettersavings in phone and copierservices are just some of theendeavors he is proud of.

"It all comes back to thetaxpayers and people need toremember that selectmenare taxpayers, too," Brownsaid in explaining why hehas made these efforts. "Wehave been able to cut thebudget by $118,000 with someof these items."

New contracts for audit-ing, trash collection and as-sessing services have result-ed in another $42,000 in sav-ings.

He is also concerned withschool district expenses andworking within the Tilton-Northfield Fire District.Brown would like to see a re-structured payment plan tothese important town servic-es that might ease the taxburden.

"If we can lower our bor-rowing towards paying forthe school, that is less mon-ey we have to ask for fromthe tax payers,” he said.

Brown feels this has beenan amazing year as a select-man, one he does not wish towalk away from. The conti-nuity of keeping him in of-fice to finish the work he hasdevoted himself to he akinsto writing a book.

"I don't want to walk awaybefore it is complete," hesaid. "I guess I would say'Vote for me and trust that I'lldo the best job I can.' I wantto finish what I started here."

Knowlton pledges to beproactive

After taking a break fromtown politics to tend to hisbusiness and young family,former selectman James"Jamie" Knowlton is readyto return to work for the res-idents and Town of North-field as selectman onceagain.

Knowlton, the formerowner of a large apartmentcomplex, said he knows a

he feels, is an important wayto attract business to North-field and thereby help withthe tax base. The district wasset up along Rte. 140, allow-ing incoming businesses anincremented tax break to es-tablish themselves in thetown.

"I haven't heard muchabout T.I.F. lately," he said. "Iwant to dive back in thoughand evaluate the situationthen come up with a plan tobring some businesses toNorthfield. "

Knowlton said that hiswould be a "proactive, not areactive" approach to thetown, the citizens and thebudget. He recognizes thatthe three issues facing tax-payers in Northfield are thefire district (he has no opin-ion on it at this time), thebudget, which he is very con-cerned about, and North-

field's contribution to theschool district. "

These are three majorthings," he stated. "I alsowant to make sure there areno overlaps in departmentsand no duplication of re-sources in town."

Knowlton said people mayrecall from his last term inoffice that he is a hands-onperson in all he does. If itmeans getting down in theditch and getting dirty to geta job done, he'll be in theditch, he said.

Knowlton further statedthat he is an independent andbrings no issues or agendaswith him in his bid for se-lectman. His concern for tax-payers and fiscal responsibalong with his business skillsand ability to get a job done,are why he asks voters to con-sider him at the polls inMarch.

thing or two about running abusiness and would like tobring these skills to the posi-tion.

"I enjoyed doing the rightthing for the town the lasttime, especially with thebudget," Knowton said."There are a lot of people do-ing without right now and I

think the town needs to op-erate as lean as possible inthe next couple of years toprotect the citizens as muchas possible."

During his past term in of-fice, Knowlton was involvedwith creating the T.I.F. dis-trict in Northfield. A Tax In-crement Financing District,

Glen Brown James Knowlton

lectmen halt further spendingon the project. Board Chair-man Katherine Dawson saidshe was reluctant to put spend-ing on hold.

“We would be disenfran-chising that vote (Article 6) ifwe completely ignored it,”Dawson said. “We’re a yearout from the article … I can’tsit here and tell you that, inmy mind, we’re not going tocontinue spending (the ap-proved funds).”

The town also has a con-tractual obligation with Turn-er Group, the building’s archi-tect, Dawson said.

“If we delay and we stop de-signing the building, they candrop out,” she said.

Rather than stop spendinguntil Town Meeting,the boardultimately agreed to Select-man Tom Cavanaugh’s mo-tion to hold a public meetingtonight, Feb. 12. All spending,aside from contractual obliga-tions with HL Turner Group,the building’s architect, wasput on hold until this meeting.

“The Board of Selectmenand I have operated in goodfaith under the direction andwith the will of the people atour last Town Meeting, con-ducting ourselves with trans-parency and thoroughness tosee to it that we have the bestbuilding for Tilton now andlong into the future,” Ca-vanaugh said, reading from a

prepared statement.“I am per-sonally and publicly invitingthose individuals who signedthe petition warrant article tocome and ask us or tell us whatyou like and dislike,look at theplans, and hear directly fromthose who have been involvedin the project from the startwhere we stand right now.”

Cavanaugh went on to saythat he wasn’t averting the dis-cussion from Town Meetingbut didn’t want to wait amonth to start the discussion.

Clark and Davis have spentthe last few weeks obtainingand researching meeting min-utes, warrant articles and fi-nancial documents that per-tain to the construction of thepolice building. In mid-Janu-ary, Clark presented a list ofnine questions to the PoliceBuilding Committee which helater said were not answeredto his satisfaction.

One of their biggest con-cerns, Clark said last week, isthat current architecturalplans call for 12,750 squarefeet, when at Town Meetinglast year residents “were soldon” a 10,000-square-foot build-ing.

“That’s a little bit differentfrom what we were told attown meeting – that alone isenough to hold things up,”Clark said.

Davis questioned the 1,000-square-foot lobby drawn intothe plans, wondering whythey would want to build out-

DebateFROM PAGE A1 side the building, which is ap-

proximately 20,000 squarefeet. He also wanted to knowwhy the public didn’t knowabout the plans until theywere already approved.

“No one ever saw the plansuntil they were laid on thistable on Jan. 8,” Davis said.

“Why weren’t you at themeetings during planning?”Selectman Al LaPlante asked.

Police Building Committeemeetings have been open tothe public.

Clark and the others whosigned the petitioned warrantarticle also want to know whathappened with the police de-partment study that was ap-proved at the 2006 Town Meet-ing. The town appropriated$50,000 to look at the depart-ment,with $35,000 set aside forarchitectural/engineeringplans.

“None of that informationwas brought forward last yearat Town Meeting,” Clark said.“I’ve heard all kinds of bitsand pieces of what camethrough that committee.”

Though she didn’t discussit at last week’s meeting, Daw-son had previously said dur-ing a phone interview that the2006 study results “weren’t ig-nored.” She had been on theoriginal committee and saidshe brought some of the ideasfrom that committee and itsarchitect, CMK, to the currentcommittee. She pointed outthat the ’06 study was for a lifesafety building, not just a po-lice building.

“You couldn’t take the floorplan from (that study) and putit in the building we have,”shesaid. “Ninety percent of it justdoesn’t work.”

The 2006 study showed thata life safety building would

need a minimum of six acres,Dawson said.

“When we went out andlooked for land, the cost wasjust prohibitive,” she said.

To continue that project,CMK would have had to sign acontract for construction. In-stead, “it kind of just ended,”Dawson said.

The current police buildingis big enough to house a firedepartment – something thatClark and Davis say should bediscussed before constructionon the building proceeds. Allparties seem to agree that cur-rent ongoing discussions be-tween the fire commissionersand the selectmen from Tiltonand Northfield are impera-tive.

The final sentence of thepetitioned warrant articlereads:“If the cost and size nowbeing built-out is not what waspresented and passed on arti-cle 6, and complete study com-mittee disclosure was not suf-ficient to inform the voter, tosee what action the townwould like to take includingpossibly rescinding any re-maining amount of the bondthat was passed in article 6,Town of Tilton, businessmeeting on March 15, 2008.”

The board asked Senior Ar-chitect James Spiegel whatthe consequences of puttingoff construction for any peri-od of time would be.

“We need to have discus-sion with the owner aboutstopping work,” Spiegel said.

The public meeting to dis-cuss the police building willbe held during the selectmen’smeeting tonight in Town Hall.The regular meeting begins at6 p.m.

CULTURE A7■


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Senior Sunday Dinner tradition carries onSANBORNTON — Senior

Sunday Dinners have been aSanbornton tradition for 27years. The program, which issponsored by all three townchurches, was begun at theCongregational Church onMeetinghouse Hill Road inJanuary 1982. The heartySunday Dinners provide agood home-cooked meal andthe opportunity to socializewith old friends and meet newones. Dinner at the First Bap-tist Church of Sanbornton,on Sunday, Feb. 8, featuredroast beef and mashed pota-toes with gravy, carrots,homemade rolls and butter,coffee or grape juice and

chocolate cake with mint icecream and whipped cream.From the beginning there hasbeen no charge, but guests areasked to make a small dona-tion to cover the cost of thefood.

Meals are served twice amonth, usually on the secondand fourth Sundays; a sched-ule of dates and locations isavailable. Call 279 -8848, andleave your name and addresswith a request for Senior Din-ner Schedule. The next Din-ner will be held on Sunday,Feb. 22, at 12:15 p.m., at theCongregational Church, 21Meetinghouse Hill Road, offRoute 132 in Sanbornton

Square. The membership ofthe three churches includesresidents of surroundingtowns, and seniors may inviteguests; attendance is not re-stricted to Sanbornton resi-dents, nor to church goers.

Attendance has rangedfrom a high of 40 to a low of19 and averages about 30.Each church can accommo-date up to 40 comfortably. Vol-unteers cook and serve theirbest recipes. These includechicken pot pie, barbecuedpork chops, beef stew madewith tenderloin tips, potroast, apricot chicken and sa-vory meat loaf. There are al-ways fresh vegetables or sal-

ads, rolls and butter and deli-cious desserts such as applecake, blueberry cobbler,rhubarb crisp and chiffonpie. Most of our guests feelthat all desserts taste betterwith whipped cream or icecream, and that is how theyare usually served. The foodis important, but the time tovisit with friends is cher-ished. Guests often linger af-ter the meal to continue theirconversations. For more in-formation or if you needtransportation, contact DollyElliot at 286-4574 or Rea Alke-ma or Diane Farrell at 279-8848.

The Tilton-Northfield Ro-tary Club's second annual PetPhoto Contest will be heldfrom Feb. 14 through March28. The photo contest was ini-tiated last year in place of theclub's annual radio auction,which ran for 28 consecutiveyears.

All proceeds from the PetPhoto Contest will benefit theclub's Scholarship fund. Lastyear, we were able to provide$5,000 in Book Awards to lo-cal graduating students. Weare asking for your supportin helping us make this eventa success that will continueto benefit our local commu-nity students. Please com-plete the registration formand submit a favorite pictureof your pet to be included inone of the five voting cate-gories, which are Dog, Cat,Other Pet, Cutest Couple,Funniest, and In Memory Of.

Voting starts on March 9,which can be done on ourclub's Web site, www.tnro-tary.org or by mail. Each votecosts $1 and you can vote asoften as you'd like. On March

Tilton- Northfield Rotary announces annual Pet Photo Contest

BRINGING UP BEN AND BABYBy Meghan Siegler/ [email protected] ■

Nothing can bring a grown-up to tears like a baby There’s nothing like rais-

ing children to make you feelincompetent. I didn’t realizethis until Eisley was born; Iactually felt like I was doinga pretty good job when it wasjust Ben. I patted myself onthe back when people talkedabout what a good boy hewas. Obviously I had some-thing to do with the fact thathe was a calm, easygoing kid,right? Apparently not.

No, my daughter helpedme throw that theory rightout the window. I haven’tchanged. If anything, youwould think my parenting

skills have improved over thepast three years. But Eisleyis testing everything Ithought I knew about being amom. Here are a few exam-ples of the myths I used to be-lieve that she’s single-hand-edly debunked:

Babies cry; mom’s don’tYes, Eisley cries. A lot. In

fact, she cries so much thatshe makes me cry. A lot. OK,not a lot, but enough that I’mconsidering buying stock inKleenex. With Ben, I couldhandle his outbursts, histantrums, those times when

he tested my last nerve. WithEisley, I have no patience. Tobe fair to her, it’s probably be-cause I have Ben hanging onme, trying to take my atten-tion from her, so her cries areamplified. But the other day,I broke down because noth-ing I did made her happyshort of holding her andmaking smiley faces, whichone cannot do for four hoursstraight. She was crying, Iwas crying, and Ben waslooking at us like we werecrazy.

Crawling is an excitingmilestone

It is exciting, but with Eis-ley, it is also slightly horrify-ing, and she’s not even on herhands and knees yet. I’mshocked at how quickly shecan slither across the roomwhen she wants to, say, chewon wires. Ben did not do this.He learned to crawl in hisusual non-hyper manner andwas content to sit. Eisley cansit up now, but she doesn’tlike it. She wants to move. Weput out safe, fun-looking toys,but she won’t go towardthem. She wants to eat Ben’splay paper money and dia-pers.

Learning to eat solids canbe good, clean fun

Feeding Ben was messy,but not so much that I need-ed to hose him down afterevery meal. Eisley spits outher food, grabs the spoonfrom my hand, and rubspureed peas through herhair. But she does lookadorable, doesn’t she?

Parents like their children, no matter what

This might not be a popu-lar statement, but I’ll say itanyway: I don’t like my kidssometimes. I love Ben morethan I ever thought possible,but occasionally he says ordoes something out of char-acter that makes me not likehim so much for a littlewhile. My love for Eisley con-tinues to grow as she does,but it’s taking me a while toget used to the fact that shehas my temperament. She isan intense, stubborn littlegirl, and although I’m excit-ed to see the amazing personshe’s going to be, right nowthose characteristics justmean she cries if she doesn’tget what she wants, whenshe wants it. And who canhonestly say that they like ascreaming baby?

I realize that all of these“myths” are actually normalbaby behaviors, which kindof makes me feel worse be-

PHOTO BY MEGHAN SIEGLER

Eisley gets messy with somepureed carrots.

cause it means I don’t knowhow to handle a normal ba-by. But I’m learning, and asnew parts of Eisley’s per-sonality emerge it’s becom-ing easier to appreciate (andcope with) some of those typ-ical baby behaviors that wenever experienced with Ben.

Now that I know that chil-dren aren’t solely the prod-ucts of their parents, I al-most feel bad for scoffing atother parents whose chil-dren run around restau-rants, throw tantrums at thegrocery store or otherwiseseem out of control. While Ivow never to stay in a publicplace when one of my kidswon’t stop yelling or crying,I now know that these thingsare bound to happen regard-less of how wonderful a par-ent is and that handling is al-ways going to seem easier toobservers than the parent in-volved.

21, a voting boothwill also be avail-able at the Win-nisquam RegionalSchool DistrictMeeting. First andsecond-place win-ners of each cate-gory will receive aprize for their sub-mitted entries."Best In Show"(most overall votes)receives an oil por-trait donated byAnn O'Leary.

We would like tothank our localbusiness sponsorsand donors. We re-alize that these arechallenging eco-nomic times formany and we trulyappreciate yourcontinued support.Please visit our website at www.tnro-tary.org for a com-plete listing of allsponsors, donors,and pictures of lastyear's pet winners.

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SANBORNTON — “NotAbout Heroes,” an Obie-Award winning play will beperformed at Sant BaniSchool in Sanbornton onMonday, Feb. 16, at 10 a.m.The performance will takeplace in the school’s StudioTheater. Admission is $5,and there is limited seating.Please call the school at 934-4240 for more information orto reserve a seat.

“Not About Heroes” is aplay in two acts by StephenMacDonald, directed by BobColonna and produced byCait Calvo. The lyrical playis about the friendship be-tween World War I poetsSiegfried Sassoon and Wil-fred Owen. According to a re-view of the production in theProvidence Journal, veteranactors Nigel Gore and RudySanda “conjure up the sense-less misery of war and theenduring power of the writ-ten word.”

The action takes place noton the battlefield but in thebook-lined library of the old-

er Sassoon some years afterthe war, and the story unfoldsthrough his memories. Thetwo poets met in a hospitalward where the shell-shocked Owen was sent to re-cover before going back tothe front, and where the cyn-ical Sassoon was sent to si-lence his anti-war senti-ments. Their subsequentfriendship, and Owen’s mete-oric rise to fame, is toldthrough poems, letters andthe playwright’s own liltingverse and dialogue.

The play is produced bythe Aurea Ensemble, a Prov-idence, Rhode Island-basedtheatre company whose pro-ductions are known for mix-ing live music with spokenword in innovative ways. Inthis play, the tale is givenadded poignancy by the mu-sic of early 20th century com-

posers Hindemith, Britten,Stravinsky, and RebeccaClarke as played by Rhode Is-land Philharmonic violistConsuelo Sherba, as well asharmonica pieces from theinnocent popular music ofthe pre-war period.

Performing Arts Depart-ment Head Craig Jaster said,“I saw this show two yearsago on a field trip with somestudents, and though it hasno bells and whistles–just adesk and a chair, a beautifulscript, and two great actors,it was the hands down fa-vorite of all the students. It’sa very powerful play. This isa first for Sant Bani—bring-ing in a professional produc-tion, but the intimacy of ourlittle studio theatre is perfectfor it, and musicians alwaysare amazed at the greatacoustics of the room.”

Grade 8 High Academic Honors Sinead Coyle,Gerald Craig,

Kristen Dupuis, Karina Hilde-brandt Gomez, CalebHutchins,Michael Matcheski,Melissa Mekula, Jack Par-sons, Shelby Reed, JenniferRobinson, Sylvia Romero,Abigael Sleeper, BraedonStacey, Nicole Weisman.

Academic Honors Brianna Anzalone, Keith

Bernier,Renee Boudreau,Kei-th Bowman, Evan Byers,Devin Caron, Taylor Ca-vanaugh, Taylor Chavanelle,Elyssa Clairmont, Sean Con-nor, Christina Crandall,Amanda Daneault, TylerDawson, Dylan Dion,Matthew Foster, Jacob Fuller,Emily Greenwood, CharlaineGrey, Amber Groz, KaleighGuyer, Austin Hunt, MorganJohnston, Alissa LaFond,Courtney Larabee, EmeryLawrence, Thomas Mahoney,Stephanie Mason, KatelynMastine, Shania McKinnon,

Troy Morrison, Parker Nor-mand, Felecia Pelletier, An-gelique Roy, Jemma Sassano,Cassandra Shults, KaitlinSlippy, Kaylee Trottier, Joan-na Walsh, Kimberly Wendel.

Grade 7 High Academic HonorsAvery Audet, Tristan

Beasley, Timothy Beaulieu,Kaitlin Charbono, BarronClogston, Jonah Crandall,Taylor Farrar, Hannah Liver-nois, Kyle Sawicki, PeytonVaillancourt, Rachel Willcutt.

Academic Honors Carissa Archibald, Dallis

Austin, Jared Beyor, AustinBlais, Jordan Bluhm, KaitlynBousquet, Patrick Boyle, Han-nah Chapin, Brianna Chau-vette, Jillian D’Abbraccio,Olivia Decormier, Megan De-scoteaux, Felicia Fields, Al-isha Flanders, Amy Goss,Megan Hammond, JordanHarris, Allissa Hill, KayleeHoward, Alexandria Keith,Hannah Kilcoyne, Brandon

COURTESY PHOTO

Nigel Gore is in the bathrobe, Rudy Sanda is in the WW1 garb, andConsuelo Sherba has the viola.

Award-winning play showing at Sant Bani

Winnisquam Quarter 2 Honor Roll

Belmont High School Honor Rolls Term 2

LeClair, Nyasia Lewis,Kendra Lonergan, EmilyLowrey, Clarissa Macdonald,Cody MacPherson, Scott Ma-goon, Michael Maier, IgorMarkelic, Kali McKenna,Kathryn McKenna, AmandaMorris, Tyler Nutter, MariahPatterson, Sierra Paulhus,Monica Raymond, JasonRobinson, Kirk Sandstrom,Nicole Swain, Daniel Szacik,Hannah Wellington, Ben-jamin Wentworth.

Grade 6 High Academic Honors Hayley deSousa, Dayna

Glynn, Kaylie Glynn, AshleyHanson, Olivia Martinson,Ashley Riley,Brittany Welkes,Megan Yandian.

Academic Honors Thomas Cavanaugh, Shel-

by Chapman, Cameron Chat-field, Bradley Dutton, Saman-tha Hall, Meagan Hinxman,Kaidee Keyser,Mark Magoon,Richard Mills, Luke Morri-son, Jordan Mosa, AshleighSierra Cremin Murray, HaleyPoirier, Cody Rubel, MarySantos, Richard Scacheri,Hayley Schultz, MackenzieSkeats, Hannah Smith,Cordell Summers.

Grade 12-High HonorsKatlyn Blanchette, Emily

Chase, Stephen Gregg,ShelbyHarriman, Jillian Snow, KyiaWeber, Benjamin Winchell

Grade 12-HonorsAdam Boehner, Mark

Brown Jr., Rebecca Caron,Christine Contois, MargaretDampier, Alysha Elliard,Megan Fecteau, JessicaGrant, John Hembree, Ben-jamin Kimball, KathrynKlem, Kelsey Loanes, DanielLoring, Samantha Lovett, Hi-lary Matte, Theresa Miner,Nicholas Moore, Tyson Mor-rill, Ryan Nitz, Erin Phillips,Michael Richard, SamanthaRolfe, Richard Russo, KurtisSawyer, Renee St. Germain,Anthony Tobine,Desirae Vail-lancourt, Katlyn Van Horn

Grade 12- Achievement RollMichael Allen, Tyler

Bryant, Marlaina Burke, Des-tiny Camire, Matthew Collins,

Andrew Gagnon, Graham

Hayslip, Amber Hubbard,Lindsay Kazlouskas, RebeccaLivingstone, Seth McLellan,Megan McWilliams, KatelynPatten, Abigail Romprey,Nicholas Ross, Matthew Zu-lauf

Grade 11-High HonorsAmanda Berger, Tia Des-

groseilliers, JenniferDonelan, Michael Farkas,Joanna Frangiudakis, Timo-thy Gurshin,Rachel Macpher-son, Brendan McCauley, SeanMcCauley, AndrewNorkiewicz, Carlyn Reep, An-nie Roberts

Grade 11-HonorsAshley Barnaby,Samantha

Bartlett, Michael Bills,Meghan Bragg, Mark Chap-man, Peter Cloutier, ChelseaCooper, Sarah Curran, DeliaDay, Kerstyn Flack, MeganFritzky, Christine Grimard,Natasha Guyotte, BryanHamilton, Lauren Harrison,Ashlea Haskell, Hannah Ju-lian, Tyler Lacoste, Micki

Lavin,Kasey Manning,JillianOtto, Jessica Palmer, JordanPatten, Nathan Powell, LucasRobichaud,Sarah Schott,Brit-tany Smith, ChristinaWinden, Winona Wixson

Achievement RollDavid Alberts, Christopher

Boudreau, Litteera Clark, Tal-iah Dumont, Kaitlin Gagnon,Alexandria Howe, Kira Jacob-sen, Lucas Knapp, KaitlinLevesque, Kelsey McGettigan,Andrew McKenney, ZacharyMellett, Hayden Moon,Alexandria Mouzon-Reynolds, Thomas Nelson,Reid Plimpton, Nicholas Rien-deau, Eduardo Ruiz, ErenSmith, Sherrey Smith, EmilyWhite,

Grade 10-High HonorsCourtney ClaryGrade 10-HonorsOshee Baugus, Danielle,

Bilodeau, Christopher Brace,Jacob Bryant, Michele Cante-lo, Peter Chynoweth, NicholasClements, Tyler Debonee,

Molly Dole, Olivia Doucette,Kendra Jalbert, Jordan La-coste, Robert Lowe, JenniferOrtakales,Daniel Powell,SaraProut, Ariel Wright

Grade 10-Achievement RollChristopher Anderson,

Jesse Berwick, Gregory Bick-ford, Ryan Blajda, Jarek Cald-well, Miranda Currier, HaroldDavis, Casey Degroot, JackEstes, Courtney Gilbert,Stephanie Guerin, ShaunGuertin, Callie Hampton,Bing Yi Liu, Lily Macey, Tay-lor Morrill, Christie Perry,Samantha Ranger, RayannaRobak, Joshua Romprey,Chelsea Smith

Grade 9-High HonorsRowan Harris, Holly Ju-

lian, Kathleen LipshultzGrade 9-HonorsKimberly Allen, Kaylyn

Bellomo, Chelsea Borden,Kaila Burrows, Emily Chase,Jonna Clark, Cawlin Clough,Danielle Culpon, AshleyDebonee, Kayleigh Decato,Cassondra Fox, Adlai Gordon,Rachel Guyer, Evan Haupt-man, Jamie Hunt, Olivia Ko-tusky, Frank Landry, ChelseaLima, Alexis Macpherson,Sarah Munn, Nicholas Patten,Matthew Perry, Lauren Price,Corey Schiavoni, Ian Shaw,Adrienne Siciliano, Desiree

Smith, Andrea Tuthill,Samantha White, AlisonWitschonke

Grade 9 Achievement RollTyler Brisson, Haley

Bryan, Ethan Coble, Alexan-der Conway, Bethany Coville,Christopher Despres, CalseyFontaine, Elizabeth Gagnon,Alexandra Heimlich, JoshuaHurst, Melissa Kiver, JessicaLorette, Alvin Nix, SamanthaPhelps, Kayla Robbins, Madi-son Romagnoli,Devin Russell,Alisha St.George,Amanda Ti-tus, Corrina Turcotte, TaunyaWilcott, Samantha Wilson

The buzz from local spelling beesWinnisquam Regional

Middle School, SanborntonCentral School, and South-wick School all held school-wide spelling bees last week.The Scripps NationalSpelling Bee’s purpose is tohelp students improve theirspelling, increase their vo-cabulary, learn concepts, anddevelop language skills thatwill help them throughouttheir lives. Congratulationsto the following students fromWinnisquam Regional SchoolDistrict who participated inspelling bees:

From Winnisquam Regional Middle School

Haley Poirier, Dalton De-Roche, Hayley Schultz, Chris-tian Duquette, Kaidee Keyser,Joe Judkins, Olivia Martin-son, Hailee LaBelle, Dan Grif-fin, Kaitlyn Bousquet,Kathryn McKenna, JasonRobinson,Avery AudetDako-ta FecteauDana Dolan, Shelby Reed,Felecia Pelletier, Trever Hoyt,

Tommy Mahoney, JoshuaDoubleday, Joe CarberryFrom Sanbornton Central

SchoolMacKenzie French, Eli

Lopez, Drew Parsons,Timo-thy Wright, Kerry Boyle , Lo-gan Morrison, Alec Latham,Karissa Fields, Ben Charpen-tier, Tyler Preston, EthanCray, Cameron Atherton,Joshua Lopez, JohnArchibald

From Southwick SchoolHannah Pearson

Katie Ruggles, DylanSinglton,ChandlerSchofield,Alex Rich,SarahJoseph, Conner Young, Bri-anna Romiglio, Marc RoyTyler Murdough, Tim Har-mon, Cameron Doyle

Avery special congradula-tions to Avery Audet,Cameron Doyle, and LoganMorrison who will representWinnisquam Regional SchoolDistrict at the regionalspelling bee in Epsom on Sat-urday, March 14.

Avery Audet

Cameron Doyle

Logan Morrison

SCHOOLS A9■


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Shaker School District and teachersagree to new two-year contract


BELMONT — The ShakerRegional School District andits teachers came to an 11th-hour agreement on a two-year contract following around of mediation talks.

On Feb. 3 the teacher's vot-ed to ratify the new contract,the same day the school budg-et was first presented to vot-ers in Canterbury. The nightbefore, the school board hadvoted 6-0 in favor of the agree-ment, with one member notpresent. Both sides hadhoped from the beginning toreach an agreement as swift-ly as possible in order to havea completed budget to pres-ent to voters in March. Sum-ner Dole, a negotiator for theschool district, said therewere a couple of differentthings on the table that hadinitially brought the twosides to mediation.

"We had 12 hours of medi-ation in all to addresssalaries and benefits and thelanguage of the contract,"Dole said. "It took awhile toschedule with a mediator, but

we took every opportunitywe had to get the contractdone."

Dole explained that for theteacher's side, union repre-sentative Brian McNabb hada diverse group with variedinterests for whom he wastrying to represent. It wasMcNabb's first time in nego-tiations and Dole commend-ed him on taking the time tomake sure the contract fit allteachers involved, from thesmaller Canterbury Elemen-tary School to the larger highschool in Belmont.

McNabb was also pleasedwith the outcome.

"The process went as wellas possible considering theeconomy,” he said. “Bothsides tried to be fair with allthe school district's stake-holders."

The new contract calls forthe district to continuehealth coverage and will addfull payment for dental in-surance coverage on A, B andC portions of the plan.Salaries will remain thesame in the 2009-2010 schoolyear with teachers receiving

scheduled step increases andteachers with ten years of ed-ucation experience will re-ceive a top of the scale ad-justment of $3,000. This willresult in pay raises for 70 per-cent of the staff of less than1.5 percent next year, and ap-proximately 75 percent of thestaff will receive an increaseof less than 1.76 percent thefollowing year. The increaseto the current salary and ben-efit package would thereforebe $370,434 more in the 2009-2010 school year and $283,763in the second year.

The teachers were mind-ful of the economy, McNabbstated, as was the schoolboard. "Like any negotia-tions, there were challenges,"McNabb said. "However, bothsides worked through them.Overall, teachers are okaywith the resolution. They un-derstand the times."

The contract will be pre-sented to the voters on March6 at the annual meeting of theShaker Regional School Dis-trict.

Rap it upJames Fisher took home the top prize at “Winnisquam’s Got Talent” Saturday evening after perform-ing an original rap called “Pride.”The song was a tribute to Winnisquam High School and was a hitwith the audience and judges Fred Caruso from Mix 94.1 FM, Principal Kimberly Saunders andElizabeth Wirtz.

PHOTO BY MEGHAN SIEGLER

A10 THE REST OF THE STORY■


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someone who had none,”Dawson said. “If you can ap-point them and protect thatposition, why not?”

Reinartz argues that the

TiltonFROM PAGE A1

mittee member David Morsequestioned why these fundswere spent on minor im-provements to schools whenthat money could have beenused on more urgent projectssuch as the installation ofsprinklers in Belmont Ele-mentary or improving thebus circle at Canterbury Ele-mentary.

Board member RoyRoberts explained that whilethere was enough money left-over to do one of those proj-

ects, it would have been ille-gal to do so.

"The proposals for thoseprojects were turned down bythe voters and it is against thelaw to do a project that was de-feated as a bond," Roberts in-formed them.

Cilley asked why, then, themoney wasn't simply re-turned to the town to buydown the tax burden. Morseagreed,saying that while theywere only over 1 percent intheir budget last year, theyshould have returned thatmoney.

"If you then need some-thing," Morse said, "you gothrough the budget process toget it."

One project the money wasspent on was to correct aflooded basement situation atCanterbury ElementarySchool, a necessary fix ac-cording to the board.

Tuthill took the floor to ex-plain that meetings on theseunencumbered funds wereheld. "We try to be as clear aswe can to advertise meetings,"he stated.

Roberts added that deci-

sions to make improvementswith leftover money was notmade "willy-nilly" and that aselected officials they shouldbe trusted to do what they feelis best.

"Maybe next spring,"Roberts said, "if we have un-encumbered funds we will dodifferently."

Other discussion was heldon money appropriated by thedistrict for a joint hockeyteam with Gilford and the useof Planet Fitness for a groupof high school students. Someresidents expressed concernthat they were open for a law-suit in transporting the stu-dents to the gym in private ve-hicles.

"They have all signed thepaperwork for this," BHSprincipal Russ Holden ex-plained to the audience. "Wedrive to the gym and back andtheir parents have all signedoff and are aware that we aregoing there."

The fitness center is usedfor a Physical Education IIclass and costs little money tothe town, paid for in part fromactivities funds and, in somecases, by the students whomay already have a member-ship. Because of lack ofschool gym availability andinclement weather outdoorsduring two of the quarters,the use of Planet Fitness forthe class has been a benefit tothe school and students, Hold-en said. All four participantsat this time are 18-year-oldmales.

Brian Fitts felt that spend-ing money on the hockeyteam was an unnecessary ex-pense in today's economy. Hewas against continued fund-ing of such a team. Expensesfor the joint venture are splitbetween taxpayers in Gilfordand Belmont equally,but Fittswould like to see the team dis-banded in these hard times.

Cilley also questioned why

the budget write-up was notavailable sooner for taxpay-ers to review. Tuthill ex-plained that an agreement onthe teachers contract had on-ly just been ratified the daybefore. Roberts pointed outthe operating budget hadbeen complete, available tothe public and was done inpublic sessions. He men-tioned that he had not seenany of the people present thatnight at those meetings.

"Participation is a largepart of the process," he said.

After the meeting, Cilleyattempted to present theboard with a warrant to es-tablish a budget committeewithin the school board. Thewarrant was rejected for le-gal reasons, however, as thedeadline for submitting war-rants had passed.

The budget will now pro-ceed to the voters at the An-nual Meeting on March 6 atBelmont High School.

quite familiar with Win-nisquam. He lives on theshores of the lake andspends a lot of time on its wa-ters. He said stories aboundof fishing in Winnisquam,like one man who pulled in alake trout and found a fullgrown mink inside as he cutopen the fish. Miller himselfrecalled a particular Laco-nia resident and the lore heonce perpetuated.

"A man named 'Pappy'Witham had a gas station in

Laconia with a wood stovewhere men would sit aroundand swap tales," he recount-ed. "They used to talk abouta saddleback fish being inthe lake, which is a big fish,kind of serpent like."

A "Lochmere Monster"tale of sorts? No official re-ports of the huge fish wereever made but Pappy keptthe story alive for manyyears, Miller said. Deep,dark waters have historical-ly brou

mailing label winnisquam echo ...2009/02/12 · stranger to big fish. it is the third deepest lake...

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