An Independent Weekly Newspaper Salem Community


Historical Society Visits the American Independence Museum


by Robyn Hatch The Salem Historical Society recently visited the American Independence Museum, which includes the 18th century Ladd-Gilman House, Folsom Tavern, and over an acre of landscaped property in downtown Exeter. The Gilman family were prosperous Exeter merchants who became linked to the Revolution. Museum collections included two rare drafts of the United States Constitution as well as an original Purple Heart awarded by George Washington to soldiers demonstrating extraordinary bravery. This exhibit highlighted the Society of the Cincinnati (the nation’s oldest veterans society) and its first president, George Washington. This American Independence Museum is a private, not-for-profit institution whose mission is to provide a place to study, research, and interpretation of the American Revolution and the role that the New Hampshire, Exeter, and the Gilman


Salem Community Patriot Patriot Outside of the American Independence Museum Mantel images from the museum


family played in the development of this new republic. The Folsom Tavern, down the hill from the Ladd-Gilman House, built by local entrepreneur Colonel Samuel Folsom, was the center of Exeter’s political scene during the Revolution. This place is a not-for-profit institution that provides a place for the study and research of the role the Gilman family played in the founding of the new republic. This tavern was built in 1775 by Colonel Samuel Folsom, brother of General


Nathaniel Folsom. After Samuel Folsom’s death in 1790, one-third of his estate was bequeathed to his wife Elizabeth, and the remaining part of his estate went to his three daughters. Elizabeth continued to run this tavern until her death in 1805 as “Widow Folsom’s Inn.” This historic structure stayed in the family until 1856 when it was sold to George Washington Dearborn, a retired druggist who kept antiques in the building.


continued to page 5- Independence Museum


Young ‘Spies’ Among Us


by Jay Hobson Children have been fascinated with spies and detective


work for generations. Decoder rings in cereal boxes and as premiums in boxes of caramel corn have been a big hit with youngsters since the 50s. For the past two weeks, young “spies” have been learning about blood typing, crime scene investigation procedures, invisible ink, and more at St. Joseph Regional School. The program, geared for ages six to 12, is being led by educators Kristine Turcotte of Manchester, who is a guidance counselor at the Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua, and Jackie Stovall, a fifth-grade teacher in the Utica, NY, area who spends her summers living in Manchester and traveling to the different sites around New Hampshire, where the Science Camps are being held. “The kids really love the hands-on aspect of what we do


here. It’s fun as well as educational,” Turcotte said. Using props like dollhouse-type furniture to create and mimic “crime scenes” and a take-off of the popular Colorforms plastic cling-to-background, two-dimensional backdrops, the “spies” set up their imaginary crimes and crime scenes and learn how the real-life detectives use science to catch the bad guys. “The kids learn about the science behind what professionals do to catch criminals,” Stovall said. There are different themed Science Camps available and are held on a half-day or full-day schedule, depending on the theme and/or venue. Cody Fluet, 9, and Ray DeVita, 8, sit at a table closely examining the crime scene they’ve created with tiny furniture and are drawing the scene on paper, “It’s fun to figure it all out and see what happens,” Fluet said. “Yeah, it’s fun,” DeVita agrees.


Ray DeVita, 8, and Codey Fluet, 9, create a “crime scene” and draw it on paper by Robyn Hatch Salem once again participated in the annual Summer Musical


Theater Workshop at Salem High School’s air-conditioned Seifert Auditorium last weekend. The play was OZ, a dazzling musical based on the L. Frank Baum classic story The Wizard of Oz. The book was by Tim Kelly, with music and lyrics by Bill Francoeur. This was a first-class act, especially when the actors only had a few weeks to prepare and put the completed story together. Again, such a great job for summer entertainment!


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Volume 5 Number 3 July 29, 2011 12 Pages


Selectmen Address Possibility of


Cuts to Services


by S. Aaron Shamshoyan Cuts to services may be inevitable next year, according to


Town Manager Keith Hickey, being asked by Selectmen to keep the tax rate around $5.40 per thousand and include a $5.25 million road project. “There’ll be cuts to services that are currently enjoyed by residents of this community if we go to $5.40,” said Hickey to Selectmen last Monday. Discussion on the recommendation began with a presentation by Town Engineer Robert Puff, explaining two capital road improvement options for next year, one set at $3.3 million, reconstructing 1.7 miles of roadway, and one at $5.25 million reconstructing 2.8 miles of roadway. Both options include five to seven miles of mill and overlay work. The board preferred the $5.25 million option. Selectmen Stephen Campbell felt the tax rate should stay the same as the previous year.


“I’ve said for the last two months,


$5.15,” he said. A motion made by Selectman Michael Lyons to recommend a $5.98 tax rate, including the $5.25 million road project, failed, with Lyons and Chairwoman Elizabeth Roth in the minority.


continued to page 5- Cuts to Services


OZ Presented at Seifert Auditorium


Dorothy, played by Shaina Gilks


Assistant Instructor Jackie Stovall helps the “spies” solve the “case” as the children and lead Instructor Kristine Turcotte look on


Kristine Turcotte, right, a guidance counselor at Fairgrounds Middle School in Nashua and lead instructor in the Mad Science summer day camp program, distributes materials to her “scientists/spies”


www.thecolosseumrestaurant.com Piano Bar Tues. & Weds. Evenings


Winner Best of NH 2008, 2009, 2010! Gift Certificates Available


From Napoli, Italy to Salem, NH How Italian Food Should Be!!


Breckenridge Plaza 264 NO. Broadway, Salem, NH 603-898-1190 Cowardly Lion Gregg Casazza and Tin Man Katie McDermot


Anniversary Anniversary


August 1,1990 August 1,1990


staff photos by Robyn Hatch


staff photos by Jay Hobson


staff photos by Robyn Hatch


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