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Valentine’s Day:


by Doug Robinson The modern Valentine’s Day, for most people, symbolizes a day to honor the love for one another. Giving symbols include the heart- shaped outline of chocolate candy, figure of the winged Cupid., expressions of love sent by cards and letters, all ending, special dinners, breakfast in bed, and the special language of “I love you.” Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the first Valentine’s


Day greeting in 1382 with his poem “Parliament of Foules.” Parliament of Foules reads: For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make. From that day on, Valentine’s Day was connected to romantic love. The history of Valentine’s Day writes, “This poem was written to honor the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. A treaty providing for a marriage was signed on May 2, 1381. They were only 15 years old when they married 8 months later. Since then, Saint Valentine’s Day, commonly shortened to Valentine’s Day, a holiday observed on February 14 honoring one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as “valentines”). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It was first established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. Paper Valentines became so popular in England in the early 19th century that they were assembled in factories. Fancy Valentines were made with real lace and ribbons, with paper lace introduced in the mid-19th century. Handwritten valentines cards have given way to mass- produced greeting cards offered by the mass card retailers.


Americans probably began exchanging hand-


made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as “scrap.” Today, according to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.


Amanda Travaglini races out of the icy water


by Samantha B. Gauvain On February 3, 15 Salem High athletes took a dip at Hampton Beach for the fourth annual High School Plunge to support the Special Olympics. The Salem High students raised approximately $3,600 for Special Olympics through team fundraising at basketball and hockey games and individual contributions of $150 or more.


Melinda Rozumek, freshmen basketball


coach and faculty coordinator was impressed with the amount of money raised as it was the school’s first year participating, “the town really came out and supported the kids, we’re hoping that next year it’ll be even more,” she said. Festivities began at 11:15 a.m., as participants gathered on the street in front


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View past issues and our other papers online.


Volume 5 Number 30 February 10, 2012 16 Pages


Editor’s note: Samantha Gauvain, 18, is a senior at Salem High and is planning a career in journalism. She plans on becoming a foreign correspondent after college and wants to travel in her search for stories. It is an honor and a privilege to work with, mentor and aid her in her future career as a journalist.


Students ‘Plunge’ into Frigid Ocean to Raise Money for Special Olympics


Salem High Athletes led by Victoria Rozumek and Amanda Travaglini prepare for this year’s High School Plunge


of the Casino Ballroom for the costume parade led by Salem High School. Students sported eye patches, bandanas, and parrots to follow this year’s pirate theme. “Plungers” then headed to the beach


where they anxiously waited in the 34- degree weather for the plunge into the frigid Atlantic to begin. After counting down the remaining time, participants raced to the


continued to page 12- Plunge


Knights of Columbus Crown Free Throw Champions


Submitted by Tony Fabrizio Eight boys and girls from Salem, ages 10 to 14, were named local champions of the 2011 Knights of Columbus Local Free Throw Championship and have earned the right to compete at the state level. Council 4442 in Salem sponsored the local competition at The Salem Boys and Girls Club. Any youngsters ages 10 to 14 were eligible to participate.


Kaitly Tetu giving it her best shot


Kristen Carney was the 10-year-old girls’ champion and Ben Laycock was the winner of the 10-year-old boys’ division. In the 11-year-olds’ bracket, Katy Quinn was the girls’ champion and Matt David was the boys’ champion. Twelve-year-old winners in the girls’ and boys’ divisions were Petra Perrault and Matt Carney. The 13-year-old boys’ division was won by Raymond Giuffre and 13-year-old girls was Sierra Carr. Each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contests. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged. Each of these winners will compete in the state level competition with an eye toward moving on to international level. The Knights would like to thank Josh Perrault, the Boys and Girls Club and all the contestants who participated in this year’s competition.


No Changes


at First Deliberative Session


by S. Aaron Shamshoyan A nearly three hour first deliberative session provided no


change to warrant articles for the March election. Despite debate among voters, the nine articles failed to be amended. The first article, 12, a citizen’s petition to change the town’s


charter to a Senate Bill Two form of government and eliminate the Second Deliberative Session, was presented by Selectman Stephen Campbell. “It’s become more and more obvious that we can’t get the numbers of people out to town meeting that we used to,” said Campbell. He said Salem has changed and the school currently operates under a Senate Bill Two form of government. Chairwoman Elizabeth Roth disagreed with Campbell.


“There was concern that the change would be almost too immediate,” she said adding she felt it was a knee jerk reaction to the sudden tax increases of last year’s Town Meeting. Local resident Tom Linehan favored the article saying he felt the current form of government was the wrong way of doing things.


Selectwoman Susan Covey said she thought more discussion


was necessary adding she didn’t agree with the increases of the last town meeting either. Citizen’s petitions 13 and 14 were next being petitions to


revert back to appointed planning and zoning board positions as opposed to elected seats. In 2006, a citizen’s petition lead by Ron Giordano way approved at town meeting making the switch to elected positions.


Resident and planning board member Robert Campbell spoke about the change. “What I really think is necessary if we continue with elected members is there needs to be a greater attention to issues,” he said. Campbell also felt more information needed to be displayed during campaigning. “You don’t want to do negative campaigning, the truth is not negative,” he said, “You can’t have an informed public if no one is willing to inform the public.”


continued to page 12- Deliberative


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Breckenridge Plaza 264 NO. Broadway, Salem, NH 603-898-1190 Organizations Gather to Fight Homelessness


by Jay Hobson Representatives from Salem Welfare, the Council on Aging, Salem Housing, NH Council of Churches, the Salem Senior Center and Housing Action NH among others met recently at Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church (TCLC) for a meeting to discuss homelessness. The meeting was hosted which by Coalition of Care and TCLC Pastor David Yasenka. Rev. Yasenka gave a brief history of


Triumphant Cross Lutheran church’s history from their move from Route 28 to their present location off of Shadow Lake Road. “Our mission is to be very involved in our community and be involved in various issues. We have been meeting as the Western Rockingham Coalition For Care for almost three years. We meet once a month and bring together social workers from the area as well as various groups of people that work in the helping professions,“ Yasenka said. Housing Action NH Director Elissa Margolin said that although New Hampshire is one of the most attractive places to live, it is also one of the least affordable.


continued to page 12- Fight Homelessness


Community Loan Fund Program Director Mike LaFountain shares facts and stats projected on a screen to those gathered at Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church.


Tuesday!


Staff photos by Robyn Hatch


Courtesy photos


Staff photos by Jay Hobson


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