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Hudson~Litchfield News APRIL


27th Volume 22 Number 41 April 27, 2012 20 Pages


Arbor Day, Friday, April 27


by Doug Robinson On Arbor Day, people are encouraged to plant and care for trees. More than 135 years after J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day, events throughout the United States are organized to promote Arbor Day. These include: communal tree planting ceremonies; proclamations by city governments; exhibitions and educational activities on trees and their importance to local communities and the planet as a whole; and fairs, musical performances and open days in garden centers. Schools are encouraged to plan lessons around the theme of trees. Arbor Day awards are also presented to individuals and organizations across the United States and around the world. These are awarded for outstanding service to trees, forestry or related ecological themes. For most states, Arbor Day falls on the


last Friday of April. The date coincides with the appropriate planting season. According to Arborday.org, “In 1854 J. Sterling Morton moved from Detroit to the area that is now the state of Nebraska. At that time there were virtually no trees in the area and he and the other pioneers desired to have them in their surroundings. They also noticed that trees were needed to act as windbreaks to stabilize the soil and to provide shade from the sun, fuel and building materials. Morton planted many trees around his own home but wanted to encourage and enable others to do the same. “At a Nebraska State Board of Agriculture meeting on January 4, 1872, he proposed a holiday to plant trees on April 10, 1872. This was known as “Arbor Day” and prizes were awarded to the counties and individuals who planted the most trees on the day. A total of about one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day. In 1874, Governor Robert W Furnas officially proclaimed that Arbor Day would be observed on April 10, 1884. Former President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day during his presidency in 1970. “The official Arbor Day logo shows a mature deciduous tree and the words “celebrate Arbor Day”. The symbol of the Arbor Day Foundation is a similar tree in a circle, symbolizing the importance of trees to the whole planet. Local initiatives may use their state tree as a symbol.”


by Marc Ayotte The school bus dropped them off at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18. For the ensuing six hours or so, a total of 21 Alvirne High students involved with the school’s forestry and landscaping program, planted an amazing 1,200 trees on the grounds of Noel’s Tree Farm in Litchfield. According to second year AHS forestry and landscaping teacher Michael Gagnon, the award-winning forestry team recently captured first place during the career development competition held at the state convention. Similarly, the landscaping team captured third place in the Interscholastic Awards held at the University of New Hampshire. Gagnon, who supervised the activity, was contacted by the tree farm’s owner


Students from the Alvirne Forestry and Landscaping program planted nearly 1,200 trees on Noel’s Tree Farm during a day-long school activity; Second from left is AHS teacher Michael Gagnon; far right is farm owner Paul Lamire


Alvirne High students Tim Beauregard (L) and David Carr kneel near a couple of little Canaan Fir that were interplanted at the tree farm


Paul Lamire with the hopes that the students would be willing to engage in what is referred to as interplanting. As it pertained to this endeavor, the students planted the newly acquired young trees called Canaan Fir (also called the West Virginia balsam fir) in between the Christmas trees that are already growing in a designated section of Lamire’s property (see photo). In all, there are approximately 9,000 trees on the nine acres of land set aside for Christmas tree growing. These trees, in turn become the ones made available for customers to ‘cut their own Christmas tree’ during the holiday season. During the ‘planting-fest’, Gagnon and the


students were joined on site by the school’s agriculture department head, Jenna Dube, who was impressed with the student’s collective effort. Lamire purchased the seedlings from


West Virginia where they were grown. The trio of Jerry Parent, Pete Levesque, and Lamire traveled to Colebrook to pick up the trees and bring them to the tree farm where the Alvirne students then took control of planting them. According to Lamire, it takes about eight years of growing for the trees to be eligible for cutting. At that point the trees are ready to spend their last Christmas, decorated in living rooms throughout the area. The tree


continued to page 6- Students Plant Junior Women’s Club Rabies Clinic Benefits the Community in More Ways Then Imagined


by Kristen Hoffman Saturday, April 21 may not have been a dog’s day per se, but good deeds were done. The Hudson Junior Women’s Club sponsored their annual Rabies Clinic at the Hudson Animal Control Offices. It was estimated that nearly 150 dogs were inoculated by noontime. Dr. Conti of the Hudson Animal Hospital dedicated the morning to vaccinating animals both large and small. “It’s a matter of public safety,” Animal


Control Officer Jana M. McMillian said. All dogs in Hudson must be registered by the last day of April, so the low cost rabies clinic allowed for pet owners to drop by, register their pets and get the vaccinated against rabies all in one place. The $15 fee went directly to the Hudson Junior Women’s Club to go towards their scholarship for a graduating senior. They have been running the annual event for over two decades. The clinic serves a dual


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Alvirne Students Plant Trees at Noel’s Farm


Dry Conditions May be Around for Longer Than Anticipated


by Kristen Hoffman Monday’s rain brought a respite to area fire departments,, but both Hudson’s Chief Shawn Murray and Litchfield’s Chief Frank Fraitzl warned that the downpours may not completely relieve the state of its chronically dry conditions. “It’s been an unusual spring-very unusual,” Fraitzl


said. High temperatures, low humidity and strong winds have all worked to create favorable positions for brush and wild fires. Both chiefs also noted that prior to April 23, New Hampshire had not seen any measurable rainfall since January. The Halloween snowstorm also played a role in the increased risks of wildfires, as many tress felled by the storm have since dried out and remain dead in the woods, or entangled in other trees. The lack of foliage and dry wood caused allowed area forests to act as kindling. “We’ve been very fortunate,” Chief Murray said.


Murray added that during the hot, dry, windy weather Hudson faired out rather well, with only a few minor brush fires and a few bark mulch fires. None were severe, and were taken care of easily. Litchfield fared even better, merely acting as mutual aid for surrounding towns.


One late night fire in Windham on April 18 drew mutual aid from both Hudson and Litchfield. The structure fire spread through nearby woods due to the heavy wind. According to Murray, close to an acre was destroyed in the fire. The sign in front of the Central Hudson Fire Department on Library Street warned residents of extreme fire danger for three days last week, something that is rarely seen in the area. According to Murray, there are five levels of fire danger, and the few days leading up to the rain were in the upper bracket.


continued to page 6- Dry Conditions Taylor Morin, with her dogs Dakota and Gage


Nicole and Kelsey, along with their friend Elan


purpose, not only does it allow for a fundraising opportunity for the organization’s community interests, it also allows for Hudson residents who may for one reason or another be able to provide veterinary care on their own to get a low cost vaccination.


Also present at the Rabies Clinic were students from Alvirne’s


Veterinary Science Program. About a half a dozen students spent their first Saturday of April vacation helping out at the event, prepping dogs and preparing registration paperwork. Allison Bendel, a student in the Veterinary Science Program was excited to spend her morning at the clinic, “I came to see what it takes to run a clinic,” Bendel said. Bendel will be one of the students representing Alvirne at their first ever foray in the national Veterinary Sciences Competition at the end of the year.


Middle School Chefs Serve a Four Star Dinner


by Lynne Ober It began when Hudson resident and classically trained


chef Deb Savoie saw an article in the Hudson~Litchfield News about Hudson School District Food Services Director, Carla Anger’s search for a chef to speak to the middle school. Chef Deb said that it took her a while to respond, but she did. When she and Anger met, they talked and talked and before Chef Savoie knew it what was to be a 30 minute talk to the students turned into a fun and educational six week program that she’s already looking forward to repeating next year. Six student chefs, Caroline Truesdell, Elizabeth Pena, Morgan Atherton, Chiara Freitas, Jon White and Erin Regan, signed up for the program. The idea was to start an after school program for eighth


graders who are interested in going onto Culinary at Alvirne. It began on Wednesday, March 14, in the Hudson Memorial Cafeteria. The first week, Chef Deb introduced them to basic food prep plus a lesson on hygiene, sanitation, cross contamination of food and their very first recipe. “I use only fresh ingredients,” smiled Chef Deb. “I wanted to make dishes with four or five basic ingredients and knew that we’d have to be able to prepare the dish in 15 to 20 minutes because there were time constraints for the students who would ride the late bus.”


Erin prepares chicken parmesan continued to page 9- HMS Chefs


Staff photos by Lynne Ober


Staff photos by Marc Ayotte


Photos by Kristen Hoffman


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