Hudson - Litchfield News | February 17, 2012 - 7


Anthony Sturzo Wins LMS Geography Bee, Moves One Step Closer to College Scholarship


National Geographic Bee. The Bee is sponsored Google. Sixth grade participants were Will Bauer, Trevor Gomes and Jarrod MacDonald. Trevor Gomes competed with Anthony in the final championship round with Trevor ending up as the school runner-up. The following students participated in the bee for the fifth grade: Sara Keane, Lydia Osmer and Eli Smith. The two other seventh grade participants were Mike DePietro and Bill Mahany. The eighth grade contestants included Nathan Cooke, Curtis Gagnon and Nathan Guerrette. These students were up on stage in front of the fifth and sixth grade students as well as parents and friends. They all should be extremely proud of their accomplishments. Anthony has taken a written test that has been sent off to the National Geographic Society to be scored. The top 100 students from New Hampshire will participate in the State Bee at Keene State College in April. Jeopardy host Alex Trebek will then moderate the national finals


submitted by Gr. 6 Social Studies Teacher: Kathleen A. Sidilau Anthony Sturzo, a seventh grade student at Litchfield Middle


School won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on Friday, January 6, and a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. The school-level Bee, at which students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in the 24th annual


on May 24. The program will air on television. Everyone can test their geography knowledge with the new and exciting GeoBee Challenge, an online geography quiz at www.nationalgeographic. com/geobee, which poses 10 new questions a day and allows players to e-mail their score to friends and challenge them to do better. The staff and students of Litchfield Middle School congratulate all the participants and wish Anthony luck with the next step of the process.


St. Kathryn’s Fifth Graders Serve Up Some Love


St. Kathryn Parish fifth graders from left to right: Zachary Nyman, Jake Natola, Sarah Lavoie, Alicia Salvalzo, Madison Schofield, Jeremy Natola, Ryan Santos, Bobby Stickney, Hannah Swain, not pictured: Emillenne Tarrant.


submitted by Doreena Stickney How much can a fifth grader do to help a charitable cause?


Plenty! At least that’s what a group of 10 fifth grade Religious Education students from St. Kathryn Parish in Hudson have demonstrated. Last Monday, February 13, in honor of St. Valentine’s Day, this group of enthusiastic kids held a Spaghetti Supper to


benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charitable organization whose mission is to grant wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. Each year, the children of St. Kathryn Parish are asked to do some type of community service project as a class. This particular class decided early on that they would like to do something “big.” and something that they could really roll up their sleeves and get involved in. While the ideas were numerous on what they could do, and whom they could help, the class put it to a vote to chose their project and who the beneficiary would be. After deliberating, planning, decorating, creating personalized centerpieces with heart- felt messages, cooking and serving, the results were phenomenal. The kids served close to 100 generous patrons a lovely meal, and raised $361 for their chosen charity. They even had a good amount of food left over, which was donated to the Nashua Soup Kitchen. The evening was a great success, and this small group of 10-11-year-olds proved that you don’t have to be “big” to have a big heart.


Warrant Articles - continued from page 2


The mater was closed for discussion after nearly a half an hour. The second warrant article was about approving a contract for a multi-year contract for the Town of Hudson Support Staff Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees [AFSCME local 1801]. The article calls for a $ 29,866 increase for the fiscal year starting July 1,2012 and extending to June 30, 2013, with an additional $25,709 increase for the fiscal year starting July 1, 2013, and ending June 30, 2014. It was recommended unanimously by both the Board of Selectmen and the Budget Committee. If approved by voters in March the wage increase would equal about one cent per thousand on the tax rate for both fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Similar in nature to the previous warrant article, Article 6 proposes changes to insurance policies, by eliminating some plans, and streamlining opt-out costs. The last salary oriented warrant article has been a hot button issue in Hudson for nearly a month now. Article 7 proposes increasing the town clerk’s salary by 3 percent. The raise would add an additional $1,800 [including benefits] to her income. The article was supported unanimously by the Board of Selectmen and with an 8-2 vote by the Budget Committee. The town clerk is an elected position, and according to Jasper, that position has not seen a raise since 2007. The article was passed, and will appear on the ballot unchanged, with exception to the Budget Committee vote recommendation. After the Deliberative session, the Committee reconvened, and another vote was taken. John Drabnowicz was not present during the original vote. After the meeting he cast a vote not in favor of the 3 percent raise. Joyce Goodwin was not present at the second vote, making the final vote 7-3. The Board of Selectman did not change their vote. Articles 8 through 14 were approved of with little to no


discussion, with the exception of article 10, which called for replacing an ambulance. Article 10 was approved unanimously by the Board of Selectman and the Budget Committee. There was some discussion in the audience regarding if the ambulance really needed to be replaced. Robinson Smith spoke out against purchasing a new ambulance, and questioned Murray if the purchase was really required. Smith stated that through his research,


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he found that many private emergency response companies keep their vehicles for twice as long. Murray argued that the technology in ambulances goes out of date quickly, and the vehicles need to be well equipped to shorten responding time. Articles 15 through 17 were petition articles,


all of which were unanimously rejected by the Board of Selectman. Robinson Smith presented all of petition articles. Article 15 calls for installing parking meters at Benson’s Park, a measure that the Board of Selectman argue is illegal in regards to the deed. The town bought the land from the state, and has set guidelines regarding what they can do with the land. Charging for parking is against the agreement. If this is passed there is a possibility that the state may take the land away. Language was added to the petition articles to articulate this point.


Article 16 pertained to contracting and


purchase requests. Smith lobbied that town departments should be required to find three estimates for equipment or contracts totaling over $250. Again, this was unanimously voted down by the Board of Selectmen. Article 17 met the most disdain from the Board


of Selectmen. The article calls for accountability for waste, fraud and abuse incentive. If approved, it would hold town departments and employees accountable for the above mentioned infractions. “I don’t see how anyone could vote for this,” John Drabinowicz, Budget Committee member said. Jasper added that the town already has ethics training for employees, and the article would call for additional funds being spent on a program that is unneeded. The petition articles are the only


changes that will occur on the ballot for the March 13 election.


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Outdoors


Charlie Chalk Tick Bourne Illness


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Found in Some Blood Transfusion Patients


Babesia, a tick borne parasite of red blood cells, is being


transmitted through blood transfusions, according to results of a collaborative study, led by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, of data from the past three decades. In the report, CDC and collaborators describe 159 transfusion-related babesiosis cases that occurred during 1979-2009, most (77 percent) from 2000 to 2009. No Babesia test approved by the Food and Drug Administration is available for screening prospective blood donors, who can feel fine despite being infected. Babesiosis is a potentially fatal but treatable complication of transfusion. Severe consequences, such as multi-organ failure and death, are most often seen in persons without a spleen, the elderly, and those with a weak immune system. The study authors say prevention strategies, including development of a screening test, are needed. Some manufacturers are working with investigators at blood establishments to develop FDA- approved tests for Babesia for donor-screening purposes. Most U.S. tick borne Babesia cases have occurred in seven states in the Northeast and the upper Midwest (in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin), particularly during the warm months of the year. However, transfusion-associated Babesia cases have been identified in 19 states and have occurred year-round.


Charlie Chalk can be reached at outdoorswithcharlie@areanewsgroup.com


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