DIG INTO READING!
Wednesday, July 10th – Rock and Read
The library will be rocking out this week as we kick off our summer reading program! Come join the rock-related fun and hear about all the cool prizes and activities available at the library throughout the summer. Come join the rock-related fun and hear about all the cool prizes and activities available at the library throughout the summer.
Public Notice
The Nelson Police Department would like to give our citizens a quick reminder.
We all have busy lives and often find ourselves rushing when we leave home. We would like to caution everyone to take a few minutes to make sure your doors are locked and that keys are removed from your vehicles. The last couple of months we have seen numerous burglaries in Nelson as well as in other towns throughout Cheshire County. We are now asking for your help. If you see anything that doesn’t look right please just note any license plate or description of individuals. At no time should you make contact or stop anyone. Please give us a call at 355-2000. Your help is valuable and always appreciated.
Chief Richard Pratt, Nelson Police Department.
Well, it’s been about a month since my last report, and your Select Board hasn’t been short of things to do during that time. Our major activities have been related to collaborating with our Fire Chief to develop job descriptions for the Fire Chief and for two new positions that we call Deputy Chief of Operations and Deputy Chief of Administration. Also, we’ve been working with the Old Home Day Committee to define how the Select Board can sponsor the Old Home Day events that make use of Town property. And lastly, I’m writing to announce a one-time special program to help landowners, those with mowed lawns that merge directly with our dirt roads, with Spring clean-up of rocks and gravel left there by our snow plowing operations this past Winter.
As you may know, our Fire Chief, Rick Lothrop, will be retiring from his position as Chief on the 30th of this month. Before we could proceed with electing Rick’s successor, we agreed that we needed to have a job description, for the Fire Chief, that would allow both the Select Board and the candidates for the position to understand our performance expectations. Continue Reading »
We now have a Planet Aid bin at the Safety Building on Old Stoddard Road.
Planet Aid is a non-profit organization that collects clothing and shoes and distributes those items to countries all over the world. The proceeds selling these bundles is used to benefit children and adults who are in need in many countries.
The town will earn 2 cents for every pound of clothing collected from our bin. This is a great way of finding a home for all that unwanted, no longer used, but still in reasonable condition clothing you have cluttering up your house. It will benefit a lot of people and save space in the landfill (and benefit the Town of Nelson).
More info: The Planet Aid website.
The topic of my report today is Town Services and Projects for 2013.
Thanks to the actions taken at Town Meeting, we are well positioned to provide the services that we need in 2013. Our Administrative Office will be properly staffed so that we can effectively and efficiently continue to serve the people and to manage the work of our Town government. Our Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s Office will have the resources, time and materials, that it needs in order to accomplish all of its objectives and responsibilities, as will our Library, our Highway Department, our Fire Department and our Police Department.
The position of Administrative Assistant will continue as one that is full-time. By doing so, we can fairly compensate our present Administrative Assistant for her efforts and contributions to the success of our Town Office, while at the same time we will be able to establish a job description with pay and benefits that will allow the Town to continue to employ a capable and knowledgeable individual in this position. Having a full-time Administrative Assistant who is responsible for the operations of our Town Office not only makes good sense from a management standpoint but also provides the administrative continuity that Select Boards need as their memberships change. Continue Reading »
Please welcome the following individuals who have stepped up (or renewed) to serve our community.
Selectman – Susan Hansel, term expires 2016
Town Clerk/Tax collector – Julia Lennon, term expires 2016
Trustee of the Library – Linda Cates, term expires 2016
Susan Kingsbury, term expires 2016
Cemetery Board – D. Judi Lang, term expires 2016
Emergency Management Officer – Dennis Dellagreca, term expire 2014
Planning Board Member – Donna Kidd, term expires 2016
Planning Board Member – David Bower, term expires 2014
Road Equipment committee – Jason P. Walter, term expires 2016
Zoning Board of Adjustment – Jason P. Walter, term expires 2016
Treasurer – John Shea, term expires 2014
[Editors Note: Candyce Fulford has found (and transcribed) three articles from the New Hampshire Sentinel (now Keene Sentinel) published in March of 1891. The first and third are written by "Themistocles", and the middle article by "Recorder". While a variety of news is covered, the focal point seems to be about maple sugaring, and a rivalry between the two reporters becomes quite evident.]
Date: Wednesday, March 11, 1891 Volume: XCIII Issue: 10 Page: 5
The Presiding Elder of the Methodist church has appointed Rev. William Merrill to preach here each Sunday, and his first discourse was delivered in the hall last Sunday. An effort will be made to organize a Sabbath school, next Sunday. Hereafter, service will begin at 10:45 o’clock a.m., instead of at 1:30.
Already preparations are being made for the annual sugar-making, and perhaps it is with the view to obtaining the government bounty on maple sugar that a few are making improvements in their appliances. H. D. Taylor has contracted for one of Wheeler’s new process evaporators to be put in this Spring, which is expected to make a saving in labor and time, with less waste, and improvement in quality. The furnace is portable and made of iron. We haven’t room for extended description, but presume Mr. T will be pleased to show it in operation to all his friends and give them a taste of sugar.
If the destruction to sugar lots goes on as it has in this town for the past twenty years, it won’t be long before all the maple trees in town won’t make sugar enough to be entitled to a bounty.
Badly drifted roads affected the attendance of the regular meeting of Granite Lake Grange last Friday night, but nearly one-third of the members were present, and enough to make a good meeting. The report of the special committee on a children’s fair, in the Fall, was heard, and the proposed plan accepted. The committee was granted a sum of money with which to issue premiums, and it is hoped that enough enthusiasm will be developed to make the projected fair a success. The Lecturer’s programme consisted of music, readings and a talk upon the subject of maple sugar-making. Past Master Taylor read a paper upon maple sugar-making in the earlier times, and remarks were made upon the subject by several experienced sugar-makers. The evidence was all in favor of cleanliness as the first requisite for first quality. The theory was also advanced, based on tests and observation, that the flavor and lightness of color depended a good deal on the soil upon which the trees grew. The subject for the next meeting is How can we make our homes more attractive, in-side and out?”
Gideon Vigneau has sold his place at the centre to Mr. Simmons of Keene, head clerk for Wm. G. Hall, for a Summer residence. Mr. V. is moving to Keene.
THEMISTOCLES
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 1891 Volume: XCIII Issue: 11 Page: 5
Town meeting has come and gone, and perhaps it may interest the outside world to know, as in the days of the civil war “All is quiet on the Potomac;” so we make the announcement. Circumstances over which we had practically no control having rendered it inadvisable to attend that meeting, we are obliged to take reports concerning it, at second hand. We think we speak advisedly in the statement that the vote of the town transferring all future town meetings, and the transaction of all town business, to Munsonville, by a meager majority variously stated at from one to not over three, said vote being secured by the action of a good number, owning little or no real estate, as a flagrant disregard of the rights of a majority of real estate owners of the town which is unprecedented in the history of Cheshire county.
The young people connected with the Y. P.S. C. E. furnished refreshments on town meeting day, the proceeds to be appropriated to the payment for the new organ, recently purchased.
F. D. Taylor and George Bailey were chosen new members of the school board on March 18th.
Preaching at the Centre by Rev. Mr. Newhall, March 15th. It is announced that preaching services will now be held regularly till the middle of next month, by which time a stated supply is expected.
We think Brother Themistocles is very liberal in the free advertisement he gave H. D. Taylor in relation to the implied invitation to friends or the public calling to see the operation of his new sap evaporator, and to test the virtue of his maple sugar. If there should not happen to be enough of Mr. Taylor’s sugar to go around, we would suggest that Themistocles is himself a sugar maker, and we hope Mr. T. will be equally liberal and direct those wishing to test free sugar to give him a visit and try his sugar for themselves.
RECORDER
Date: Wednesday, March 25, 1891 Volume: XCIII Issue: 12 Page: 5
There was a quiet wedding at the home of the late Ezra Wilder, on the 15th inst., the contracting parties being Miss Lucy M. Wilder and William Wood, and the officiating clergyman, Rev. William Merrill of the Methodist society in this village. The future residence of the bride and groom will be Fitchburg, Mass.
At the chair shop the timber is being fast converted into stock and it is probable that all now in the yard will be sawed up much earlier than has usually been the case. The band saw, under the direction of Sawyer Gibson, seems to be doing excellent work and proving to accomplish what was claimed for it when put in, viz: – A time and labor saver, and an economizer of timber. In the finishing department, several new and very attractive styles of chairs are now being made. Samples recently shown your correspondent were considered of a taking style, and excellent in workmanship and finish.
Sumner P. Fisher expects to move into his new house about April 1st.
Perhaps we were somewhat liberal in our implied invitation to taste Mr. Taylor’s sugar, but we only referred to those persons interested in improved sugar apparatus and did not expect the whole community would accept it as an invitation to a feast. When Themistocles gets a new evaporator he will be pleased to do as he suggested Mr. Taylor would be glad to do.
Sugar makers in this vicinity have not tapped their orchards yet.
At the regular meeting of the Granite Lake Grange, last Friday evening, it was voted to have a public sugar party in the near future, the date to be determined by a committee. The lecturer’s hour was given to readings and a discussion of the question, “How can we make our homes more attractive inside and out?” In the opinion of the speakers it was not necessary to have unlimited means to make our homes more attractive, but the great essentials were neatness and order about the premises, and a cultivation of the homely virtues of good nature and forbearance about the household. Shade trees and flowers, a well kept lawn and vegetable garden are no small items in the attractiveness of a farm home. For the next five months the grange will meet but once a month, the third Friday. Subject for April 17th, “Temperance.”
Frank B. Hardy has been incapacitated from work for two weeks with erysipelas in his face, but is now nearly recovered.
THEMISTOCLES
The record of District Number Seven ends as it began. By 1851 that nice brick building, built only thirty years before, needed a major overhaul. Some in the district thought it needed to be replaced. In that year there was an article on the school district warrant to repair the building. It was passed over.
Up until 1876 Nelson paid tuition to send students to old Number Seven. On the other side of Nelson, School Number Two was accepting students from District Number Four in Stoddard where there was no school building at the time.
In 1854 James Derby, Darius Farwell and William Seaver petitioned for a special meeting to consider building a new school. The resulting warrant had two articles. One to build a new school and one to repair the old one. The meeting voted to have the Prudential Committee make repairs. They didn’t.
In March 1855, Joel Bancroft, the second generation of that family to be involved with the school, and Chauncey Barker petitioned for a special meeting to repair and enlarge the school. At the next meeting on April 5th, Chauncey Barker moved that the district buy 22 desks and seats and arrange them after the Woodcock Patent; take down the old seats and remove the partition between the school room and the entry. Voters said “no”
Abandoned the old building looked like this.
Undeterred, and only five days later, there was another petition for a special district meeting to see if the district would appoint a “Disinterested Committee” and delegate to them the power to decide whether to repair the school. Three weeks later, the district meeting voted to appoint a “Disinterested Committee.” The committee members were from Hancock.
The “Disinterested Committee” chosen:
Nelson had done this before. In 1838, when the brick schoolhouse in Nelson Village was built, a private group asked to build a second floor at their own expense.
School # 7 Today
When it was finished, there was a dispute about what each party’s share should be. A disinterested committee of Hancock people was appointed to sort it out. Wisely the committee held the upstairs group responsible for the front 5 feet of building that housed the stairway to the second floor, but held they were not to pay for the roof that the school would have had in any case.
In three weeks the Disinterested Committee recommended “covering the floor, furnishing lathing and plastering the walls, fixing the window frames to receive the lathing, affixing Woodcock Patented seats instead of the old ones…” The building really had deteriorated in the thirty-five years since its construction. Continue Reading »
I’m writing today to share with you the Warrant that we will be presenting at Town Caucus this coming Wednesday evening, February 13, beginning at 7 pm in the Town Hall. Our final draft of this document is provided (click to download pdf) . I’m also providing the answers to many of the questions that were asked at our Select Board meeting on Jan. 23 (click to download pdf). As a result of some of the questions that we heard on Jan. 23, we have made changes in the draft Warrant that we presented at that time. These changes relate specifically to the Town Building Projects and the changes that we are recommending for the Elderly Property Tax Exemption.
In consideration of the accumulating uncertainty in both the costs of and the funding options for our building projects, as well as the tragic death of our architect, Rick Monahon, we believe that it is best that we proceed this year by hiring an architect, developing detail drawings and bid packages, and acquiring bids from contractors that we can bring to the Town for action in 2014. In this way we can all be more confident in our knowledge of the work that is to be done and the impact of the costs of that work on our Town Budget.
The second change that we have made is an adjustment to our proposed improvements in the benefits provided by the Elderly Property Tax Exemption in Nelson. State law allows the Town to establish the amounts of reduction in the assessed value of property owned by residents who are at least 65 years of age. To qualify, taxpayers must have incomes and assets within limits that can also be established by the Town. This year we are recommending changes in the amounts of reduction in assessed value and the income and asset limits that have been in place in the towns surrounding Nelson during 2012. As a result of our discussions on Jan. 23, we have reduced the asset limit that we had originally proposed at $100,000 to $60,000 for single folks and $75,000 for married couples. Those wondering if they qualify for the Elderly Tax Exemption can either contact me via phone or email or Edie in the Town Office.
That’s all for now. I hope to see you at Town Caucus next Wednesday evening.
Dave
Game Night at the Nelson Library
On the First Tuesday of the Winter Months
Feb. 5th, March 5th, April 2nd
7 PM to 9 PM.
Everyone is invited. Refreshments will be served.
Even in bad weather, a good group always turns out for Game Night at the Library. We play Scrabble, Bananagrams, Dominoes, Mexican Train Dominoes, Trumpet, and assorted other games. A good time is had by all. We encourage you to join us. Please come and bring your favorite game if you like, or get your favorite card game going.
Let’s make use of the Library as a space for Nelsonites to gather during the dark of winter. We hope to see you there!
You’ve heard about it, now you can see it for yourself at Nelson Library! Thanks to a gift from a patron Nelson Library patrons may check out and take home an Amazon Kindle wireless reading device, preloaded with popular fiction and non-fiction titles. Kindles are compact, portable and have a sharp, easy to read screen that mimics paper. The purpose is to introduce patrons to this new technology by providing an opportunity to “play” with it.
The Kindle will be available to check out for one week. The library staff is looking forward to hearing what our patrons think about the new way to read a book while traveling, or while at work or at home.
1883 School #7: The shutters on the windows in this 1883 picture certainly weren’t installed to deflect arrows.
Early Nelson schools experienced vandalism. Numerous rules were adopted and published by the town that defined responsibility for damage and that give us a picture of the problems for schools almost two hundred years ago – problems not so different from today. An example is an 1838 set of bylaws adopted on the occasion of the opening of the two-storey brick schoolhouse in the village.
To preserve the schoolhouse from petty damages:
First: That from and after this day if any person or persons shall break a square of glass from the schoolhouse in this district, such person or persons shall replace the same within two days after it is broken or pay the sum of twenty-five cents to the agent of the district to be appropriated by said agent to the use of the district. Continue Reading »
In preparation for Town Meeting, where we choose our elected officials, candidates who are interested may file for candidacy at the Town Clerk’s office during the following times:
Thursday, January 24, 2013 - 9 a.m. to noon
Tuesday January29, 2013 - 9 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursday, January31, 2013 - 9 a.m. to noon
Friday, February 1, 2013 - 4 p.m. TO 5p.m.
Available offices:
| OFFICE | TERM | AVAILABLE SEATS |
| SELECTMAN | 3YRS | 1 |
| TRUSTEE OF TRUST FUNDS | 3YRS | 1 |
| CEMETERY BOARD | 3YRS | 1 |
| TRUSTEE OF THE LIBRARY | 3YRS | 2 |
| ZONING BOARD OF ADJUST. | 3YRS | 2 |
| PLANNING BOARD | 3YRS | 1 |
| PLANNING BOARD | 1YR | 1 |
| ROAD EQUIPMENT COMM | 3YRS | 1 |
| TOWN CLERK/TAX COLLECTOR | 3YRS | 1 |
| TREASURER | 1YR | 1 |
| AUDITOR | 1YR | 1 |
| EMERGENCY MGT OFFICER | 1YR | 1 |
The following positions are open for election in the Nelson School District:
| School Board Member | 3YRS | 1 |
| School Board Member | 1 YR | 1 |
| School District Moderator | 2YRS | 1 |
| School District Clerk | 2YRS | 1 |
| School District Treasurer | 2YRS | 1 |
The candidacy filing period begins on January 23, 2013, and ends on February 1, 2013. Interested parties may file for candidacy by contacting Katharine Schillemat, School District Clerk, at 847-9785, to set up an appointment.
Those wishing to file for candidacy must be registered voters in the Town of Nelson.
Editors Note: This is the fourth in a series of historical articles on the subject of schools in Nelson.
Nelson Schoolteacher Amanda Farwell
While school districts were largely self-governing, they were subject to town oversight and a growing body of state regulation on the qualifications of teachers. There were two bodies established during this period to oversee the operation of Nelson’s schools: The Prudential Committee and the Superintending Committee. These committees seem not to have existed simultaneously and made reports to the town suggesting that their functions were nearly the same. In their reports we learn what was being taught in the schools and read opinions about the quality of that teaching. These committees also presented rules of school conduct for consideration at town meeting.
Reproduced below is such a report for 1829:
1829 Report of the Nelson Superintending Committee
There was a report on the performance of each school. The comments for School Number Seven reads as follows: Continue Reading »
Hello everyone,
A couple of themes come to mind for inclusion in my report today. One is roads and the other is our activities related to our preparations for Town Meeting 2013.
Perhaps everyone has noticed by now that the paint stripes, both the center lines and the fog lines, are in place on the State highway between the Tolman Pond Road and Route 9. This project was completed thanks to the initiative of Police Chief Pratt. He communicated his intentions to have the road painted to the State Highway Department and contracted the services of MARKINGS Inc., of Pembroke, Mass, a contractor used by the State of NH, when it chooses to paint its highways. Both the Select Board and the Nelson Police Department had previously complained to the State Highway Dept., on three separate occasions, that we were extremely disappointed that it could not, or would not, meet its obligations to make our State highways as safe as possible.
The total cost of this painting work is $2745. To date, Chief Pratt and others have raised a total of $2350 in pledges and donations to privately pay for this work. The Select Board has voted to cover any deficiencies, in the amount raised privately, with funds from the Town budget. With only $395 remaining to be raised this is not a great deal to ask of the Town. However, I personally oppose using Town funds to pay for a State obligation. I would be much more comfortable if we could raise the remaining $395 through additional private contributions. If you believe, as I do, that we should not use Town funds for this project and would like to contribute so that we can fund all of the cost privately, please contact me by phone at 847-3449, or by email. Thanks. Continue Reading »
Editors Note: this article was written for the exhibit “Water Power Mills in the Monadnock Region” which opens Friday, November 30th, at the Historical Society of Cheshire County. The exhibit will run through June, 2013.
A view of the former boarding house overlooking the mill site.
The solid stone walls of the foundation of the large mill built in Munsonville are all that remain of this early industrial site at the outlet of Granite Lake. In 1814, Asa Beard built the Cotton Factory, as it was called, and a boardinghouse for mill workers in what was then a remote section of Nelson to take advantage of the waterpower provided by the dammed up Factory Lake.
The boardinghouse is still standing and is now serving as a private residence. These two structures are the heart of what was to become the village of Munsonville. Continue Reading »
The subject of heating the building consumed approximately one third of the written record of early school district meetings. In 1820 men bid to keep the fire at the school at $1.00 per week. Five different men supplied both wood and fire lighting for that 8-week winter school session. It is quite a modern idea: subcontract a whole function. In this case heat.
In 1823 the procurement method changed and the district started buying wood. Wood was bid off by individuals and often each cord supplied by a different bidder.
School Number Seven burned 4 cords in a winter school session lasting twelve weeks. Buying their heat this way dropped the cost to $4.99. Continue Reading »
