Great news! The Town of Nelson has received an award of $3,500 from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. This money will be used in 2012 to fund half the cost of an assessment and a plan for the use and preservation of the Town Buildings in the Village Center. The grant must be matched by $3,500 from the town before the award can be used — we will vote on this at Town Meeting in March.
The Buildings Committee has selected Rick Monahon to lead town residents through this planning process. Rick is a local architect who has worked on Nelson buildings in the past, and who has a wealth of experience working with old buildings. His work will take advantage of the dollars already spent by the town in 2010, through use of the property survey, wetlands delineation, digitized base drawings of the buildings, and the initial engineering assessment of the Town Hall.
INTERESTED CANDIDATES MAY FILE AT THE TOWN OFFICE ON THE FOLLOWING DATES:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012 FROM 9AM TO NOON
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012 FROM 9AM TO NOON
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012 FROM 5PM TO 8PM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 FROM 9AM TO NOON
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3,2012 FROM 4PM TO 5PM
Editor’s Note: Rollstone Mountain was also the inspiration for a contra dance tune written by Ralph Page. It was recorded in 1975 by Rodney Miller (fiddle), Randy Miller (piano) and Peter O’Brien (harmonica), on one of the first local recordings of dance tunes: “Castles in the Air“. It was arranged for the Nelson Town Band to play in the town’s musical history, The Hotel Nelson, in 1997, and the band continues to include it in their repertoire. You can hear the original recording by clicking on the link below.
Three inches of fresh snow greeted us Nelsonites that morning, two days before Christmas. Our weekly Monday hike was on Friday this week, and we looked forward to exploring the extreme northeast corner of town. We hoped to check out some rumored trails around Rollstone Mountain, an intriguing area on USGS maps and Google-Earth satellite views. Rollstone Mountain and Holt Hill make up the uplands in the extreme northeast of Nelson. Strangely, the hill is higher than the mountain. Years ago Sue and I had followed a bobcat here, along logs and across walls, round feline tracks in powder.
Four of us carpooled from the village, skidding up slippery Old Stoddard Rd, barely squeezing by the Hayes wrecker parked mid-street on the straight uphill stretch of road past the town barns. The car on the flatbed was an indication of the driving conditions. So was the greasy road itself.
Two sections of Nelson’s town lines cross Rye Pond: a north-south section of the border abuts Antrim to the east. North of the east-west line sits Stoddard. It’s a wild area—most who drive NH 123 between Hancock village and South Stoddard spend less than a minute in Nelson, but a disproportionate percentage of the town’s moose collisions likely happen in those few rods. We parked on the shoulder and heading into the woods of Antrim. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ A Hike Up Rollstone Mountain
Nelson and Harrisville Trails Committees and friends at the David Marshal home site.
The Nelson Trails Committee is exploring Cobb Hill on the line between Nelson and Harrisville with the hope of laying out a network of trails. Several ancient roads and a Harris Center trail provide a good starting point. There are a number of early cellar holes in what was originally the southeast corner of Nelson. There should be circular walking routes available from both towns. The Harrisville and Nelson Trails Committees are working jointly on the project.
The committees have walked the territory on two separate hikes covering about five miles in the process. Sunday, December 4th saw thirteen committee members and friends from both towns assemble at the end of Nelson’s Nubanusit Road for an afternoon’s exploration of Cobb Hill. The temperatures were in the forties; there was a brisk, cold wind on the high ridge and a skim of ice on some of the puddles in the road. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Nelson Trails Explores Cobb Hill
Sophia Newell (or possibly an imposter) in front of the Gad Newell home, on Cemetery Road.
Editors note: This is the third and final article in a series relating the founding of the first ministry in Packersfield. The first detailed the many efforts to acquire a minister for a small, remote community. Several ministers came for trial periods and several offers of employment were made before Jacob Foster accepted the call. The second discussed Foster’s contentious dismissal for reasons the records do not make clear. What is clear is that the parting was difficult. This final article deals with the start of Packersfield/Nelsons longest ministry, that of Gad Newell. Sensitive to the situation in the aftermath of the Foster mess, the young Newell took a healing approach.
In the aftermath of the Reverend Jacob Foster’s dismissal, Packersfield moved on.
A much more established community now, the town seemed to have little trouble finding a replacement. The process took two years, but there is no record of repeated trials of new ministers and rejected offers of employment. The town provided a settlement of 170 pounds (a sort of signing bonus) and offered the new preacher a salary of 70 pounds per year. The new minister was a twenty-nine-year-old Yale graduate named Gad Newell. The Reverend Newell was installed on June 11, 1794 and retired 43 years later. His letter to the people of Packersfield bespoke his faith in God and of the healing needed in the aftermath of Jacob Foster’s dismissal reproduced here in its full late eighteenth century eloquence: CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ A New Minister
. . . Though they don’t seem to know about our town.
October 20, 2011: The Oxford English Dictionary “Word of the Day:
Nelson, n.1
Etymology: < the name of Horatio, Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte
I. Compounds.
1. Nelson touch n. an approach to a situation or problem typical of Nelson, esp. in being characterized by bold action or self-confident leadership; also (in later, humorous, use) the turning of a blind eye to something
1805 Ld. Nelson Let. 25 Sept. in C. Oman Nelson (1947) xix. 607, I am anxious to join the fleet, for it would add to my grief if any other man was to give them the Nelson touch, which we say is warranted never to fail.
Mike Blaudschun who has served for several years as selectmen has resigned, due to a job change which has created a schedule conflict. Thank you Mike for your excellent service to the town.
His position will be filled for the remainder of the year (until Town Meeting, 2012) by Bud French. Thank Bud for stepping in!
The Trails Committee of Moving in Step and the Conservation Commission invite the people of Nelson to an event to celebrate the opening of our first walking trail.
The event features a talk by Jeanette Baker on her Appalachian Trail Hike last year. The following afternoon there will be on a walk on the Old Road to Dublin, oldest documented road in Nelson. Mrs. Baker’s talk is at the Town Hall at 7PM, Friday October 21st. The walk will take place Saturday the 22nd at 1:45PM.
The Trails Committee has been working to layout and mark trails for the people in Nelson to be able to walk and appreciate the natural and cultural richness of our town. Detailed trail guides and maps will be available for these walks. The Old Road to Dublin is the first trail to be completed by the committee. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Nelson Celebrates It’s First Official Walking Trail
Hello, neighbors! Although it’s been some months since the School Forum, the Nelson School Board has been thinking and planning about ways to continue the discussion. Whether or not you were present at the forums, we would like invite you to meet with us to discuss some of the ideas generated by the forum, and seeing if there are other thoughts about the best ways to plan for the future of the students of Nelson.
Please reply to me, or call me at 209-3304, or let Kelly French or Mike Cornog know of your interest and availability. The School Board is meeting for a retreat next week and will then propose a time and place for this discussion.
Thanks to all for your continued support of the Nelson school!
“Express the heart too full to speak in one exultant hymn.”
Sometimes, words are wholly inadequate to describe the experience or the feelings of a day. Such was the case with our adventure on the Great Meadow which flows over the border between Nelson and Harrisville.
Al Stoops and I set out in the morning from the outlet of Nubanusit Lake behind Dave Birchenough’s house. We explored the upstream channels before going with the downstream flow. In the shallows, we found numerous cone-shaped “nets,” made apparently from some gelatinous material and coated with silt. These seemed to be some means of catching small aquatic creatures, but we could not look closely at the structures as they flattened out into silty slime when we attempted to take them out of the water. Our first mystery of the day: what creatures create these “nets” and what is their intended prey? CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Off the Beaten Path
Check out an eBook for Your Kindle From
The Olivia Rodham Memorial Library
Most of the eBooks found in the New Hampshire Downloadable Books service are compatible with Kindles.
Find available Kindle titles with the Advanced Search.
Nelson residents may go to the library to sign up for downloadable books.
Frank Upton’s gone now, along with his kitchen. But, it wasn’t long ago that Barry often went down the road to Frank’s farmhouse to sit around his kitchen table. As Frank got older, Barry said that he was just checking up on the old man who then lived alone, but there was clearly something more. Something that not only enticed Barry, but enticed a host of friends and neighbors to gather around Frank’s scruffy old drop-leaf table.
And, it certainly wasn’t the smell of the kerosene pot burner or yesterday’s fried liver (Frank liked it well done). Nor was it the stale and overflowing ashtray hand-crafted by his good friend Boo Doore from Harrisville, or the spare floatplane propeller propped up in the corner, or even the Remington pump-action deer rifle that hung in the spider webs over the kitchen window, under which a toaster fire had once charred its butt end. And it probably wasn’t the wind that howled off the lake through the north end of the house, often accompanied by mini-drifts of snow blowing into the kitchen. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Frank’s Kitchen
Many hands helped to make this year’s library book sale a huge success. Thanks to the help of many Nelson residents the sale on Old Home Day made $1343.75 to enable the Friends of the Olivia Rodham Library to donate $1000.00 for new books, pay for the Summer Reading Certificates for the children and provide money toward children’s programming. Books are donated year round so that there is always a good selection for sale. The Friends also encourage everyone to become members of the Friends knowing that the money goes back to benefit the library. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ A Successful Book Sale
The Town of Nelson Archives has recently received notice from the State Librarian, Michael York that a FY 2012 Conservation License Plate Grant in the amount of $5,322 has been awarded to the town for its proposed project “Nelson Town Records.” This grant will conserve, microfilm and digitize five books containing town records from 1802 to 1885. These books are in the original bindings, some pages are loose and the paper is discolored and crumbling. The contents include tax records and receipts, agreements and expense records for maintaining the town poor and a list of articles furnished by the committee for the poor farm. There is a list of jurors (1845-1875) and records of School District No. 5 (1820-1856), data that can be found nowhere else. The digitized copies will be on the town website, available to all. CLCK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE→ Town Archives to be Preserved
Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I knew if someone in the town had a tractor I could borrow.”? Or, have you wondered who might do sewing alterations? If you have, then you’ll be very happy to know this!
Thanks to the efforts of the Nelson Media Group, we are pleased to announce that our online Classifieds / Marketplace is now open and ready at http://movinginstep.org/classifieds/. Here’s the online avenue you’ve been waiting for where our local skills, talents, products, and services can be bought, sold, or bartered. Think of it as a Nelson and Munsonville Freecycle or Craigslist, helping facilitate connections between neighbors with a centralized locus of information.
Now, Rich has a local place to sell his music CDs. Judi has somewhere to let everyone know that she’s got a veggie stand. And Sienna can announce her art instruction classes. Start connecting right now by registering and placing your Listing at http://movinginstep.org/classifieds/.
Hey Nelson Folks: If you’ve spent time in the Town Hall you might have noticed a nice collection of pictures from Old Home Day of many years ago. This is a treasure, and wouldn’t it be nice to create an updated version (to supplement, not replace)? So, here’s what we’ll do – on Old Home Day (or other times during Old Home Week), take pictures. Then, pick out up to five that you consider your best photos and send them to webmaster@townofnelson.com. An impromptu committee will meet and pick out the best of the best, and make a new photo display (we’ll also create an online gallery on this web site). Please keep your images in their original size so that they will retain their integrity when printed. Please either zip them or send them separately – so that no one attachment is over 10MB. You may provide captions if you want, and be sure to include your name for proper credit.
Items are available for sale during regular Town office hours. Nothing will be reserved, sold on a first come, first served basis. All sold “as is”.
Wood Display Frame with glass (41″wide X 13″deepX 23.5″long $10.00
Macramé hanger $.50
8”x10” black frame $.25
Letter board and letters $3.00
Wood frames 23.5”X27” $5.00 each
Water cooler $10.00, as is
Rival file letter boxes and files $5.00 each
2 coffee mugs $.25 each
2 green and 2 red upholstered chairs $10 ea.
1 wooden chair, broken $3.00, as is
The Town Buildings Committee (TBC) invites everyone to join a “walk-thru” of the Village buildings: the Old School House, the Town Hall, and the Library.
There will be at least two tour dates:
Friday, August 19 at 5:30 PM
Saturday, August 20 at 10 AM
Each tour will follow the same route so please choose only one date. More dates will be scheduled as needed. Please contact Lisa Sieverts at lsievert@yahoo.com or 603-762-0235 to reserve your spot. In addition, sign-up sheets will be available at Old Home Day and the Town Office in August.
The Committee wants to share both the challenges and the opportunities facing us as a town, so that there can be as much fruitful discussion as possible before the 2012 Town Meeting. During the tour, the TBC will point out the specific problems that need to be solved:
wet ground and deteriorating supports under the Town Hall
the 2nd floor of the School House and the Library Basement — unusable by the public because of ADA compliance
the various furnace and insulation issues
and many more fascinating items
The goal is to share information and collect questions and ideas so that the TBC can best serve you, the residents of Nelson.
Town Buildings Committee 2011-2012
Warren Hammack
Bud French
Rob Germeroth
Tom Buttrick
Lisa Sieverts
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Great news! The Town of Nelson has received an award of $3,500 from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. This money will be used in 2012 to fund half the cost of an assessment and a plan for the use and preservation of the Town Buildings in the Village Center. The grant must be matched by $3,500 from the town before the award can be used — we will vote on this at Town Meeting in March.
Hello, neighbors! Although it’s been some months since the School Forum, the Nelson School Board has been thinking and planning about ways to continue the discussion. Whether or not you were present at the forums, we would like invite you to meet with us to discuss some of the ideas generated by the forum, and seeing if there are other thoughts about the best ways to plan for the future of the students of Nelson.
