Pelham - Windham News 10 - December 10, 2010


Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?


Comments expressed in this column are the sole views of those callers and do not reflect the views of the Pelham~Windham News or its advertisers. Town and school officials encourage readers to seek out assistance directly to resolve any problems or issues. The Pelham~Windham News editorial staff holds the right to refuse any comment deemed inappropriate.


“Thumbs down to Representative Bates for


releasing the voting record on SB 500 taken on the October 13th veto session and releasing it after the November 2nd election.”


“Thumbs down to Marilinda Garcia for not


attending the session on SB 500. Did Bates wait till now to release the info because Tweedle-Dee Bates covered up for Tweedle-Dum Garcia?”


makes me sick to see that someone actually thinks they did a good thing by slaughtering this magnificent creature. Murdering our wildlife is nothing to be proud of.”


“Thumbs up to Father Anthony at St. Pat’s!


The ceremony for the lighting and blessing of the crèche was awesome. I’ve never seen so many young kids at the church. Glad to see that we’re keeping the meaning of Christmas alive!”


“Thumbs up to Lance 16 Route 111, Derry, NH 03038 • 603.890.1143


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“Thumbs up to the reps that voted on SB 500.” “Thumbs down to the person who walks their


dog on other people’s lawns on Applewood Road and doesn’t clean up after it. Two days in a row now, I have had to clean up your dog’s ‘nasty pile of stuff’ off my lawn so that I don’t step in it while walking my own dog on my own property. (By the way, I do clean up after my dog on my own lawn.) Walk your dog on your lawn and don’t bother to clean up if you don’t care. Be considerate of others.”


“Thumbs down. The Windham School Board


has really turned soft and it is not good news for the students in Windham. First the board comes up with the brilliant idea that a student can’t get a grade below 50%. Now the board has banned teachers from giving homework over school vacations. No wonder other countries are taking our jobs – it is because our education system is turning soft at exactly the wrong time. And Windham is leading the way!”


“Thumbs down to Pelham school board


chairman Hardy for wasting the high-schooler’s time who went to the meeting to answer your questions about their request to have a parking lot on the ballot because you told them you needed to hear what they had to say before you could make your decision. Then when they did, you, Mr. Ducharme and Mr. Ryan tell them that you were never going to support their request in the first place! These kids never ask for anything and when they finally did - school board members set them up and shot them down! Way to go! Oh yeah I almost forgot ‘You’re all for the kids.’”


“Thumbs down to all the fancy parents of


Pelham that have enabled their kids into believing they are sooooo much better than the kid next to them. Wow, will your kids have a hard time in the ‘adult world.’ Our kids pay the price now in town sports, but they will be so much better for it in their adult life! At least our kids have learned how to ‘EARN’ their play time & ability ... it wasn’t handed to them because their parents fit in the right group or they have the right last name! GOOD LUCK!”


“Thumbs down...will you please remove the


picture of the man and the dead bear in your paper we have to look at week after week? It


Ouellette and the A Handyman Company for donating so much of their time and effort for the good of Pelham. He’s a great citizen and a decent human being. Thanks Lance!”


“Thumbs up to Pelham


Baseball board for doing what’s best for the kids (not always the parents,) and ‘thumbs down’ to the person who wrote last week ‘if you want quality


coaching for sports for your children, stay away from Pelham Baseball.’ You’re telling me you really don’t want 300+ kids in town to have fun playing baseball? Seriously? My child had a tremendous experience playing in Little League Baseball last year as he received professional level instruction by his coach who played ‘AA’ baseball back in the mid-nineties under current Red Sox Manager, Terry Francona. Rumor has


“Thumbs down, a big ‘thumbs down’ to whomever was trashing the ‘Canadian Man’ at the transfer station. Evidently you must have been very jealous of him. He was the one of the most pleasant, helpful, kindest gentlemen that worked there. I miss seeing his smiling face when I go. Wish he was called back to duty!!! ‘Canadian Gentleman’ hope you and your family have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”


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“Thumbs up to the Pelham Library for all the new programs and activities and speakers that they are bringing in. There’s so much going on there now and my family and I love to go. Thank you Pelham Library staff!!”


“Thumbs up to the Pelham Good Neighbor Fund and all the people who volunteer there. It is so wonderful that we have this group in our community helping our neighbors through the tough times.”


“Thumbs down to PES for not letting students


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it someone nominated this same person to sit on the board this year, and he will be running clinics as frequently as possible next spring for all Pelham baseball participants. If anyone can tell me what’s bad about that...please go ahead and do so? Sounds like someone trying to step up and help, which is hard to find nowadays. The difference between complaining and helping is that helping takes ‘involvement, commitment, and hard work’, and not many people are willing to do the work. So, kudos to those who are willing to do the work and not sit on the sidelines with a megaphone complaining.”


“Thumbs up to the people that have Christmas


lights great spirits guys:)” “Thumbs up to the beautiful Christmas display


in Pelham center. It seems like this display gets better every year. It adds such a wonderful holiday feeling to our town. Thank you to all who make this possible.”


“Thumbs up to the friendly workers at the


Pelham Post Office. They are always helpful and courteous, even when the lines are long.”


Emergency - continued from page 6


Sullivan answered, “There is liability and there has been for the past 20 years [that the town’s been clearing these roads].” “Should we proceed with the status quo, then?” Selectman Roger Hohenberger asked. “There could be [town] liability if someone lodges a complaint,” Sullivan responded. Selectman Stearns said he feels that the town should not


plow any road until it is accepted. He said it is incumbent on the developer to get the plowing done, prior to acceptance by the town. Vice Chairman Breton said he was also opposed to continuing plowing unaccepted roads. “It could go on for another 20 years,” he said. He also said he feels the town needs “some leverage” to convince developers to finish these roads. He said that of the 26 existing unaccepted roads, there are currently 14 that are nearly finished, with only the final paving yet to be done. Community Development Director Laura Scott said she expects to see this number reduced by a small amount by year’s end, but that others will take longer to get the issues resolved. “If the projects aren’t finished,” Hohenberger said, “pull the bond and get it finished.” Scott explained that some of these roads don’t carry a high enough bond to pay for the work that has to be done. The amount of the bond might have been sufficient years ago, when the project was approved, but there’s not enough to get the job done today.


Scott said that the Planning Board is moving forward in


February with proposing certain new subdivision regulations. These regulations will stipulate that enough money must be collected up-front to pay for the town to plow any roads within the development, until they are accepted. “There shouldn’t be this problem ever again,” she said, referring to the town having to spend taxpayer money to plow unaccepted roads. Selectman McLeod was of a different opinion than Stearns


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or Breton, saying that it isn’t fair for the residents who live on unaccepted roads to not get the same services provided to those who live on town accepted roadways. “After all, they pay taxes, too,” McLeod said. Sullivan said that the level of services provided to individual residents is not determined by the level of taxes they pay.


Selectman Breton said he agrees that the unaccepted roads need to be plowed for the time being; he just doesn’t want to encourage any more delays in getting them all completed. “I don’t want to leave these homeowners stranded this winter,” Breton said, “I just want to move forward more quickly in getting these roads finished and accepted.” Breton said that by designating unaccepted roads as “emergency lanes,” it might give developers another excuse for not fulfilling their promises to finish these roads.


Selectman Stearns did not agree with Breton. “It’s not my intent to continue plowing at all,” Stearns said during the November 22 meeting. “It’s the developer who is responsible.” Stearns did not attend the November 29 meeting, and, therefore, had no say in the final decision. “It would become chaos,” Selectman McLeod said of Stearns’ comment about forcing the developers to plow these roads, beginning this winter season. “There’s no guarantee the plowing would be done in a timely manner [if it is left up to developers to do the job],” he said. “It would be flat out irresponsible to not plow these roads,” Selectman McMahon said. “Winter’s coming!” Selectmen are now planning to address the issue of getting these unaccepted roads into compliance when winter is over. “We’ll deal with this again during warm, summer days,” McMahon said.


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have friends go home with them on their buses, BUT YET we still transfer St. Patrick’s kids who have to be picked up by a bus brought to PES then dispersed among their buses. Yet, you don’t allow our own Memorial school children to take the bus from the Elementary. Get a clue!!! I know on my child’s bus if we no longer transferred St. Patrick’s children there would be an extra 10 slots!!! That’s enough for my child to be able to have a friend over!!!”


“Thumbs down to parents


who will not let their elementary or middle aged children walk to a bus stop. These people think that the buses are their own personal limos, BUT yet you will see these same children running around the neighborhood that


they cannot walk to the bus stop in. GROW UP PARENTS get in your over-expensive vehicles & drive them to the nearest bus stop or get out an umbrella & walk with them!!! It is good for our children to walk in the rain, snow, sleet, wind & what ever else, as long as you make sure they are dressed properly!!! Didn’t you hear if you walk it helps with Alzheimer’s and obesity & is good for your over all health!!!”


“Thumbs down to the parents who yelled at


my son at the basketball game because he was too slow. Do you think that’s mature behavior? It’s just a game and now he doesn’t want to play any more. My four-year-old daughter who was watching with me, was terrified by all the adults yelling at her brother. I hope you feel good about yourselves.”


“Thumbs down to the coaches who didn’t stop the parents from yelling at my son at the basketball game. I guess winning is more important to you than being a good sport.”


“Thumbs up to being able to register my car by


mail. It’s so much more convenient than going down to the Town Hall. Thank you to whomever


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in the Pelham Town Clerk’s office came up with that idea!”


“Thumbs down to frost on the car in the


morning. It takes so long to scrape it all off and get on the road.”


“Thumbs up. How may homeowners have


invested money in their home, maybe a boiler, new roof or new windows or an addition? These are all the ways that we, the homeowners, maintain and improve our investment. This is what our school board should be doing to our high school. A new boiler, new doors maybe even a new air exchanger or heat exchanger. If the school is overcrowded add on just like us homeowners do when we need space.”


“Thumbs down to hearing that Mr. Hardy’s


son’s classroom doesn’t have enough learning books, supplies, etc. Shame on the teachers, vice principals, principals and the school board for not making sure supplies are always met. But thank goodness Mr. Hardy will grant his son’s Christmas wish…..”


“Thumbs down three amigos! Once again, poor planning, no planning, or should I just say YOUR PLAN and nothing else. Once upon a time you would not hesitate to take adjoining homeowners properties. But when there is adjoining property for sale you three play dumb. Crazy like a fox. I hope the townspeople are paying attention.”


“Thumbs down to the Pelham school board members, Mr. Hardy, Mrs. Ducharme and Mr. Ryan. All three voted against putting warrant articles on the ballot proposed by Ms. Mahoney that would have solved several accreditation issues at our high school because you say we are in ‘tough economic times’ yet, you want to ask voter support for a FOUR MILLION DOLLAR new kindergarten building! What a bunch of hypocrites!”


“Thumbs down to Hardy, Ducharme and Ryan on the Pelham School Board. Voters have a right to say what they want or don’t’ want – it’s not up to you! Put the parking lot, HVAC and Sprinkler system for Pelham High on the ballot! These are safety and accreditation issues! Obstructionists!!!”


Tank you for your submissions. All comments, thumbs up or down, are anonymous and not written by the Pelham~Windham News staff. Tumbs comments can be sent via telephone, 880-1516 or emailed to us at thumbs@areanewsgroup.com. When submitting a Tumbs comment, please specify that you would like it printed in the Pelham~Windham News. No names are necessary. Please keep negative comments to the issue. Comments should be kept to 100 words or less.


Windham Woman’s Club Brings Cheer to Veterans


submitted by Windham Woman’s Club ‘Tis the season! Veterans at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in


Manchester were greeted Thursday, December 9, with “Merry Christmas,” along with pretty gift bags filled with goodies and Christmas cards from the Windham Woman’s Club! This has been held since 1985! Thank you to the following for generous gift certificates: Dunkin’ Donuts


of Windham for coffee, BJ’s in Salem for cocoa, Target of Salem to purchase items for Veterans’ Christmas, Walmart in Salem to purchase Christmas items, Dr. Richard Workman, DMD of Windham for dental toiletries, and First Parish Church teaming together with Windham Woman’s Club in making Christmas ornaments attached to bags! What a heartwarming feeling to give a wonderful and joyous Christmas to the veterans/men/women!


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