THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013 SERVING TILTON, NORTHFIELD, BELMONT & SANBORNTON, N.H. FREE Shaker voters reject calls for volunteer budget committee BY DONNA RHODES School board Chairman [email protected] Pret Tuthill countered by saying his board has a simi- BELMONT — It took just larly good record. over two hours for a rela- “You can’t get much bet- tively small number of vot- ter than what we’re doing. ers from Belmont and Can- The process is very trans- terbury to tend to business parent,” he said. at this year’s Shaker Region- School Board member al School District meeting, Richy Bryant spoke as a res- where they amended and ap- ident in support of proved a $20,907,009 operat- Mitchell’s position, though. ing budget and said “No” to Bryant said he felt having a petitioned article seeking seven more people working to establish a budget com- on the budget would only be mittee for the district. an asset to the district, but Belmont Budget Commit- not all voters agreed. tee chairman Ron Mitchell “How would adding an- argued for the creation of a other layer on what we have volunteer budget committee, be useful? ” asked Belmont saying that after the school Middle School librarian Pa- board put together their an- tricia Piscetta. nual proposal, the budget She and others felt budget committee would then go committee members would through the figures, line by not be as familiar with spe- line, to see if there was any cific needs in the district’s room for changes. facilities, nor would they ful- Mitchell said that ly understand contractual through his experience as a obligations, which are nego- DONNA RHODES member of Belmont’s budg- tiated and handled by the Outgoing Shaker Regional School Board member Diane O’Hara presented retiring chairman Pret Tuthill with a thank you gift for his years on the et committee, he found vot- school board. board at the start of the district meeting last Friday night. O’Hare was also presented with a gift for her years of dedication, as were retiring teach- ers tend to feel assured in Canterbury Selectman ers Edibeth Farrington, Gerry Ryder and Claudia Leidinger. voting for articles recom- Robert Steenson also spoke mended by such a commit- group is you. No one knows the meeting moved on to oth- be transferred to a facilities ing budget. That increase against the article. the budget better than you.” er business. and grounds expendable was, in part, the result of tee, and they have a good “We have an accountable track record in getting nec- In the end, 106 of the 177 There were only three oth- trust in July. $56,000 loss in Special Edu- group of individuals,” he votes cast said a budget com- er minor “housekeeping” ar- Those passed readily and cation funding due to the essary articles to pass at told the school board. “That town meeting. mittee was not needed, and ticles on the warrant this only other real discussion government sequester, but year. One sought to author- centered on the board’s some budgetary increases ize the board to accept grants $20,874,009 budget proposal. were also offset by a recent Watch for election results next week and money gifted to the dis- Board member Sean Em- negotiation that lowered stu- trict indefinitely,and one ar- bree explained that the fig- dent transportation costs. Due to recent changes from Tuesday’s local town well as the final tally on all ticle asked for $50,000 of any ure was kept to just 1.65 per- in our production sched- and school district elec- Warrant articles put be- unreserved fund balance to cent over last year’s operat- SEE VOTERS, PAGE A11 ule, this week’s edition of tions. fore voters in Belmont the Winnisquam Echo A full re-cap of election Tuesday, will appear in went to press before we results from Belmont, next week’s edition of the WRMS students & staff were able to obtain results Northfield, and Tilton, as Echo. celebrate Read Across America Week BY DONNA RHODES [email protected] TILTON — Things went strictly by the book last week at Winnisquam Re- gional Middle School, as students and staff cele- brated Read Across Ameri- ca Week. Librarian Jackie Chap- ley coordinated a series of events, but said everyone pitched in to help in the na- tional celebration, held each year in honor of the birthday of author Theodor Giesel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. DONNA RHODES While Chapley held book “Team Cold Justice” of the State Attorney General’s Office was joined by WMUR’s Adam Sexton and represen- trivia contests in the li- tatives of the Gilford, Laconia, Merrimack and Nashua Police Departments, along with Team Woodstock and brary each day throughout representatives of Lakes Region Community College, as they plunged into the near freezing waters of Lake the week, the big challenge Winnipesaukee last Sunday. The teams were part of the annual Winni Dip, which raises money each year for DONNA RHODES New Hampshire Special Olympics. for everyone in the school The students of Patricia Blevens’ eighth grade class at Winnisquam was to decorate their class- Regional Middle School won in the Best Overall category for their grade room doors using their fa- level when they brought their Peter Pan door decorations to life over Lakes Region’s Finest take a vorite books as the theme. Read Across America week. English and Language They were lessons that judges as they arrived to Arts teacher Cenanne were obviously well- check out their entry last “dip” in support of Special Olympics Sanders was just as enthu- learned as their door won Friday afternoon. Court- siastic about the project as as the best overall in the ney, who is one of the stu- BY DONNA RHODES her students were. [email protected] Service Team category. dents in Blevens’ class, “I had a hard time con- Dorothy, Toto and their said they chose Peter Pan LACONIA — This year’s taining myself to just one friends were a popular because they felt it was a fifth annual Winni Dip to door, so I did three with my choice and Sanders’ Block very touching story, while benefit Special Olympics classes,” she said. B class won best overall for Dylan said they added live New Hampshire saw not on- Many of the doors along sixth grade entries with a characters to their display ly record participants and each wing of the building “Wizard of Oz” theme. because they really wanted spectators, but also raised were brightly decorated to Jane Kemmerer’s class al- the honor of winning. just over $60,000 for Special pay tribute to classics like so won for best overall in “The class wrote per- Olympians who participate Dr. Seuss’s “One Fish, Two Unified Arts, although they suasive papers on which in the Summer and Winter Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” chose the more modern Games, nearly double last the popular “Wizard of version of the story, “Oz.” SEE WRMS, PAGE A11 year’s totals from the event. Oz,” and even “Little Mer- A few classes preferred “It was pretty impressive maid.” Some used current “Peter Pan” though, and INDEX this year. We also had 110 books like “The Chronicles Maria Simoes’ class gar- people who dipped, which is of Narnia” and “Harry Pot- nered best overall entry by ■ Volume 6 • Number 11 almost twice as many as last ter” for their theme. a seventh grade class for 22 Pages in 2 Section year as well,” said SONH Speech Pathologist their creativity. Local News ...........................A2 Communications Manager, Cheryl Clark said the con- It was Patricia Blevens’ Anna Brennan-Curry. test gave fun and unique eighth graders who took Editorial Page .......................A4 Each year, the Winni Dip challenges to her students the challenge one step fur- is sponsored by SONH in who used the project to ther however, by dressing North Country Notebook .....A5 conjunction with the Law work on sentence struc- as characters from Peter Schools ..............................A6,7 Enforcement Torch Run or- ture, their word bank and Pan for a live presentation ganization. As a result, other skills for their pres- to go along with their art- Culture..................................A5 entation of the “Wizard of many who were involved in work on the door. Obituaries.............................A6 the event came from police Oz.” Captain Hook, Tinker- DONNA RHODES ©2013, Salmon Press, LLC. and other law enforcement Woodstock Police Chief Doug Moorehead made a big splash, not just in “This wasn’t just a dis- bell and others, as well as a Call us at (603) 279-4516 the lake, but with spectators as well, when he closed out the annual play for them. It was part of fake alligator, greeted SEE DIP, PAGE A11 Special Olympics Winni Dip in Laconia, with his traditional belly flop. their lessons,” Clark said. email: [email protected] A2 Thursday, March 14, 2013 LOCAL NEWS WINNISQUAM ECHO ■ HALL MEMORIAL LIBRARY March vegan cooking class, green dinner & ■ Tilton/Northfield and 11:30 a.m. drinks served Arts and Crafts, 3:30 p.m. nutrition DVD at Pines Community Center Monday, March 18 Marble Paintings New items NORTHFIELD — A veg- Chess Club, 4-7 p.m. “The Dinner” an cooking class and dinner Monday Bookies, 6:30-7:30 Thursday, March 21 by Herman Koch will be held at Pines Com- p.m. Card Class, 6 p.m. “Facing the Wave: a journey munity Center in Northfield “Tiny Beautiful Things” by Create your own cards with in the wake of the tsunami: on Thursday, April 21.