TOWN of DUMMER NH Notice of Budget Hearings
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Class breakdowns CALENDAR . .A11 NURSE announced A5 CLASSIFIED . .A16-A17 RETIRES EDITORIAL . .A4 Linda Losier leaves BARTLETT HAPPENINGS . .A11 OBITUARIES & SERVICES . .A6-A7 AVHCS after 34 years, A3 CLOSING PORTS UPDATE S . .A9-A10 Mailing Label Volume 115. No. 4 © Wednesday,January 29, 2009 50 cents Bald Eagles are booming in New Hampshire By Sally Manikian oration with the New Hampshire Bald eagles have reestablished Fish and Game Nongame and En- a presence in New Hampshire, with dangered Wildlife Program. a population of 74 and a classifica- The winter Bald Eagle count in- tion of “threatened.” One third of cludes a “survey day”, within the the eagle population resides in the more inclusive two- week period. Androscoggin Valley. On that day, Jan. 10, the day burned In 1982, there were two mating cold and clear, and volunteers bald eagles in New Hampshire. That headed out to their routes to search number has now swelled to a the skies for eagles. One longtime record high total of 74 eagles, rein- volunteer is Berlin resident Kathy forcing the recent reclassification Dube. of Bald Eagles as “threatened” “I went all the way from my rather than endangered by New house near the hospital, past the Er- Hampshire Fish and Game. rol Dam, and surveyed up and The annual Winter Bald Eagle down,” she said. The spot she Count, coordinated by New Hamp- found them was at the “meat pile” in shire Audubon, found 74 eagles Dummer. “There was one adult, and across the state. The count con- the other three were various ages.” sists of a single survey day within a Ms. Dube is familiar with the longer two-week survey period: 61 “meat pile,” often heading up there eagles were found on the single sur- to spot eagles. “One time I counted vey day, with another 13 eagles dur- 12,” she said. “I’ve always watched ing the two week count period. birds.” Eight of the 74 eagles were found The winter count, now in its ATOP THE SUMMIT in the Androscoggin Valley, with an- 29th year, has seen a steady im- The Sherman Adams building on a rare clear morning atop Mt Washington. The Northern Presidential Range is in the back- other 13 in the Connecticut River provement in the number of bald ground. Summit crews have recorded a low of -27F with a peak wind gust of 132mph this January. area. eagles in the state. The winter count, involving 88 This improvement is reflected observers (nearly all volunteers), is Solving Berlin’s stray cat coordinated by Audubon in collab- Eagles, Page A8 overpopulation, one at a time By Sally Manikian care of stray cats,” said Resta Gray, the cat overpopulation declined to BERLIN—A small group, the President of NWAR. Starting with a single cat. North Woods Animal Rescue three kittens found on the railroad “There were cats all over the (NWAR), has dedicated itself to tracks, NWAR began slowly ad- place,” she said. “And now there is chipping away at Berlin’s stray cat dressing Berlin’s stray cat problem. just one.” population through home place- Ms. Grey brings with her 12-14 NWAR’s approach in Berlin fo- ments, spay and neuter trips, and years of experience in dealing with cuses on spaying and neutering, working with the Berlin Police De- a stray cat population, cutting her supporting the Police Department partment to handle abused and teeth working for Feline Rescue in in handling cases of animal abuse abandoned animals. Salisbury, Mass. Salisbury is a long- and abandonment, and working on The organization’s roots are in a term success story. Through the the placement of cats. genuine concern for the better- Lively young “Moustache”, a “catch and release” program (set- Almost every week, NWAR vol- ment of the city and the cat popula- rescue kitten, is looking for a ting up feeding centers, catching unteer Doris “Tootsie” Belanger tion. home. the cats one by one for “There is a huge need for taking (Photo by Sally Manikian) neutering/spaying or adoption), Cats, Page A11 Bill York hired as new Chamber of Commerce Director By Sally Manikian his experience within Berlin, as term president of the Board of Di- as the director of marketing and BERLIN — The search for the well as in Plymouth where he rectors) and working for a family- sales of the Furniture Company. new (full time) face of the An- worked recently. In Berlin, he run business, the Plymouth Furni- “It’s a family-run business that droscoggin Valley Chamber of spent six years working for “The ture Company, from 2004 to pres- is suffering,” he said, notably from Commerce has ended with the hir- Berlin Reporter” as a general man- ent. His ideas there using “the per- competition from box stores such Bald eagles have reestablished a presence in New Hampshire, with ing of Bill York, formerly of ager, and two at WMOU. During sonal touch,” notably through the as the Home Depot and Lowe’s. a population of 74 and a classification of “threatened.” Gorham and currently from He- this period, he forged ties and con- “brown bag lunches,” were a great The way to meet the box stores, he (Photo by Judy Lombardi, courtesy of NH Audubon) bron. nections with the business com- success in building strong ties said, is to meet them head-on Mr. York, a Gorham High munity, many of which he plans to among the business community rather than “closing down”; in the School graduate returning to his use in his position as Chamber Di- and creating a Chamber respon- case of the Furniture Company, Come in, sit down, and eat with your hands: home region, was chosen out of 10 rector. sive to their needs. they found a niche offering service competitive applicants whittled to Recently, Mr. York has been Mr. York presents himself as for everything. GHS’s hunger banquet three finalists. “It was a long working and living in the Plymouth “empathetic” and “sympathetic” The Androscoggin Valley By Sally Manikian Rousseau, remarking on income process,” said Chamber board area, involved in the Plymouth to the needs of the small business GORHAM — More than half of disparity. member Rob Munce, that benefit- Chamber of Commerce (as a two- owner, referring to his time spent Director, Page A8 the guests at Gorham High Approximately 60 percent of ed from the assistance of the De- School’s Hunger Banquet were the guests are assigned to “low in- partment of Employment Security. welcomed warmly, and then come”, 25 percent to “middle in- Mr. Munce said that the hiring shown the place on the floor come,” and 15 percent as “high in- committee was impressed with where they would be eating com- come.” Each guest also receives a Mr. York’s relationship with Cham- munally with nearly 30 other peo- character card appropriate to the ber businesses and members, as ple. On the other hand, a handful group: one low-income character well as his wider experience out- of guests were shown to tables was a mother living in a cave in side of the Androscoggin Valley. adorned with cloths and silver- Afghanistan, and a high-income “It’s always a good story when ware, and waited on by waitstaff. character was an Indian woman someone can come back,” said Mr. The message of the Hunger doctor. Munce. Banquet, organized by the stu- The roles are reinforced Building a Chamber that is re- dents of the Humanitarian Society, through segregation of the diners. sponsive to the needs of the mem- is to display the sheer scope of in- The low-income group sits on bers is a prime goal of Mr. York’s, equality, as guests are randomly newspapers on the floor, eating a and he intends to carry this goal assigned to a particular category, diet of rice communally out of out by making personal connec- divided to show the distribution bowls with their hands. The mid- tions. Members and businesses of wealth globally. “It’s incredible dle-income group are given chairs, should expect to see him coming to see how much less some people door to door, and also arranging have,” said student Christa Hunger, Page A8 informal “brown bag” lunch semi- nars (on topics such as competing with “box stores”) where con- ENJOYING THE INAUGURATION cerns can be voiced, discussed, An exuberant Randolphian, Tasha Graff, a Gorham High School Class of 2003 graduate and listened to. and Class of 2007 graduate of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me., was photographed at “I am not going to talk, I am go- 12:37 p.m. by her dad, Walter Graff, also of Randolph, as the crowds began to disperse, fol- ing to listen,” he said, and he also lowing President Barack Obama’s Inauguration on Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C. In an e- intends on asking, “What can the mail exchange she said that she and her father had stood for the momentous event under Chamber do for you?” the Washington Monument, “surrounded by people from all over the country and world.” Mr. York plans on drawing on The father-and-daughter duo also enjoyed other festivities, including the Grits and Gran- ite Ball at the Officers Club at Fort Myer, Va., a celebration of two primary states — New Hampshire and South Carolina. The previous day they attended a reception at which Gov. John Lynch and Bishop Gene Robinson were on hand in the Crystal Ballroom at the Willard Hotel. Ms. Graff teaches English at Morse High School in Bath, Me. “I took my first two days off from school to go to what I assume will be the most historic day of my life,” she wrote.