Jim Pelton has seen firsthand the effect that drugs can have on a family, and he wants to be sure that others don’t experience the same.

Pelton, who had a family member deal with substance abuse for four years, started A Drug Free Kid, a group that provides drug-testing kits to parents.

The Bow resident has donated kits to the Bow Police Department, and parents can obtain the kits for free, no questions asked.

“Parents need to smarten up. There are too many parents who are saying ‘Not my child.’ By taking charge, parents could be saving their child’s life,” Pelton said.

Bow Police Lt. Dave Girard agrees with Pelton when it comes to parents’ roles in preventing substance abuse.

“I think parents are the first line of defense in any sort of problem. They’re the most effective and have the most influence. The more they’re involved, the less likely it is that we get involved,” Girard said. “We’ll use every tool and resource available to us to combat substance abuse.”

Pelton said high school students aren’t the only age group that parents need to look out for when it comes to drugs.

“If they start talking to their kids once they enter middle school and have these drug kits, they are able to work together, and kids know they have an agreement with their parents,” he said.

In addition to Bow, Pelton has also donated drug kits to five other towns, and has sold them to parents across the country.

A Drug Free Kid has also been a way for parents around the country to have someone to talk to.

“We get phone calls and deal with parents all over the place. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and just being able to talk,” he said. “All we want to do is make a difference somewhere along the line and make an impact with the kids.”

Over recent months, Pelton said he e-mailed every school administrator in the state of New Hampshire to see if they had interest in making the kits available. He said he heard back from a very small number of schools.

“There’s a sign on our school property that say it’s a drug-free zone, but drugs are as much of a part of their education as reading, writing and arithmetic,” said Pelton. “No one is going to do anything about it unless parents do. No one is going to save their kids but them.”

Pelton said high school students aren’t the only ones being pressured with drugs. He recommends parents begin talking with their kids when they enter middle school.

“They may never use it (the drug kit), but the kids know it’s there,” said Pelton. “That way, kids have another reason to say no to peer pressure.”

Votes were spread out evenly in the contested races during Bow’s Election Day on the school and town sides, with incumbents winning in nearly every category.

Incumbent Selectman Harry Judd won a tight race over opponent Robert Louf by a 732-679 vote, earning him another term on the board.

“I am gratified by the vote of the town, and I think it is a recognition that the Board of Selectmen is doing a good job,” said Judd. “This was not a referendum on me, but on the board as a whole and the direction we’re taking.”

Judd said the town needs to focus on developing the industrial zone in the Route 3A area in the upcoming years.

“We need to put together a solid plan for water and sewer. If we don’t build it, they won’t come,” said Judd.

The School Board race was also a tight one, as incumbents Anne Baier and Deb McCann retained their seats, earning 658 and 649 votes, respectively.

Van Mosher came close to earning a spot on the board, but fell 37 votes short with 612.

“I am sure that Mr. Mosher was pleasantly surprised with the amount of votes he got. He has his supporters,” said McCann. “We (School Board members) know we have to keep a tight line on the budget. There’s still work to be done. This is a great community and we’ll pull together.”

Though Mosher lost his bid for a seat on the School Board, he earned six write-in votes for the school clerk position – a seat for which no candidates filed.

Baier was happy with her reelection, although surprised by the ballot totals.

“I guess I am surprised it was as close as it was,” she said. “We had a goal-setting session two weeks ago and at the top of the results was communication, and this result tells me that the communication needs to be there.”

The continuity of retaining all five board members is important, Baier said.

“I think that being on the board is excellent experience. People who haven’t been on the board and haven’t attended meetings don’t have any idea of how much is involved,” said Baier. “It’s not a simple situation. It’s a complex process.”

Incumbents Peter Cheney, 608 votes, and George Lagos, 587 votes, were re-elected to their seats on the Budget Committee, with Brad Hutton finishing in third place with 540 votes.

“It isn’t an easy process,” said Lagos. “You have to balance the services required and manage the increase and tax increase, which is seemingly more and more difficult.”

Cheney said the committee has a harder time during trying economic times.

“It is quite difficult. The selectmen and town manager have learned from last year’s experience that they need to tighten things up a little bit,” said Cheney. “I think they got the message after last year’s Town Meeting.”

The only incumbent who was not re-elected was Thomas Ives, who was defeated 605-530 by Lisa Richards in the race for a five-year term as library trustee.

“I bring to the position a new perspective. I am really in shock that I won. I am really looking forward to getting to meet the new library director,” said Richards. “It’ll be really exciting to have a new person and to work with him or her to expand the services in town.”

The final contested race went to incumbent Henry Uchida, who defeated John Caron 580-496 in the vote for trustee of trust funds.

In the uncontested races, Jim Hatem was re-elected school moderator, Sara Swenson was voted supervisor of the checklist for six years, Deborah Demoulpied was voted supervisor of the checklist for four years, and John King was elected library trustee for a four-year term.

No candidates ran for school treasurer, but Mark Lavalle got the nod, as he received nine write-in votes.

Town Clerk Jill Hadaway said she will check with the Secretary of State on whether a write-in nomination requires 10 or more votes to place a person in office.

Of Bow’s 5,851 registered voters, 1,439 voted on Election Day, a 24.5 percent turnout.

At Bow’s Town Meeting last year, residents voted to cut the operating budget significantly. This year, town officials will ask voters to increase the 2008-09 budget about $602,000 over last year.

This year, both the Budget Committee and Board of Selectmen agreed on the proposed operating budget of about $8.3 million, compared to last year’s budget of $7.7 million when Selectman Tom Keane’s floor amendment was approved 114-89.

Town Manager Jim Pitts said he knows there could be more motions to cut the budget this year at the Wednesday, May 14, Town Meeting, beginning at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

“I don’t doubt there will be some motions from the floor, and that’s the taxpayers’ right to do that,” said Pitts. “I hope they’re prepared to identify what service they are proposing we could do without.”

After last year’s cuts, town officials were forced to cut services such as non-emergency paving and street lights, something Pitts said was hard to do.

“It was very difficult for the selectmen to arrive at the decision of what to cut. We were cutting services that had been routinely part of our town budget,” he said. “Generally speaking, the budget going to Town Meeting is extremely realistic. While the operating budget is up from last year, it in essence is restoring that cut from last year.”

Budget Committee members estimate an increase in the total town portion of the tax rate to be 83 cents per $1,000 assessed property value over last year, if all warrant articles pass.

An 83 cent increase in the rax rate would result in a bill of $250 more than last year for the owner of a $300,000 home.

Originally, selectmen and the Budget Committee had budgets differing by $15,000, but the Budget Committee voted to restore that amount to the library’s section of the budget, leaving the two proposals equal.

“We were concerned that if we don’t continue to contribute to the book collection, there would be a negative impact,” said Budget Committee Chairman Dan De Vasto. “We want to make sure that we have enough to provide the level of service that the people in town have grown accustomed to.”

Pitts said town officials were cognizant of the difficult economic times while constructing the proposed budget.

“I can understand the pain of voting to increase your tax, particularly when the economy’s in the shape it is. Almost 5 percent of the increase is caused by external costs that we can’t control,” he said. “They’re dealing with the increase of diesel and gasoline, and so are we. If you hold us to the same number of dollars as last year, you’re actually imposing a cut because we can do less and pay less than the year before.”

Bow Police Chief Jeff Jaran is leaving his position after four years in town, accepting a position in Provincetown, Mass.

“There are a number of personal reasons that play a part in it, but ultimately it was a job on Cape Cod that I really didn’t think I had a shot at,” said Jaran. “I was pleasantly surprised. I have accepted it, and it’s not without sorrow that I’m leaving an agency that I poured my heart and soul into.”

Jaran said he and his family often traveled to Cape Cod while he was growing up, and he looks forward to returning.

“I grew up in Massachusetts and vacationed all up and down the Cape,” he said. “There are only 15 chiefs on the Cape, so they don’t become available very often. At this stage in my life, I didn’t think I could turn it down.”

Town Manager Jim Pitts said he expects the process of finding a new chief to take one to two months, and there is a possibility Lt. Dave Girard could be named interim chief while the search is conducted.

In the absence of a chief, Girard is automatically named officer in charge.

As second-in-command, Girard also assisted in oversaw the Police Department while Jaran attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., from October to December 2007. At that time, Jaran was in constant contact with Girard, said Pitts.

“Jaran continued to be of service to the town as chief of the Bow Police Department and stayed in constant touch with Girard by phone and e-mail,” said Pitts.

Jaran was paid a salary and benefits while attending the academy, Pitts said, and as part of the agreement with the town, Jaran had to serve an additional 24 months as chief of Bow.

In leaving Bow just five months after graduating the academy, Jaran will repay a prorated portion of his time in Virginia, Pitts said.

The town incurred a cost of $3,691 to send Jaran to the academy, including travel, lodging, uniforms and fees, Pitt said. Prorating that amount by five months, Jaran will repay the town $2,922.

“He has agreed to pay that in cash on his last day of service here,” said Pitts, adding that when Jaran first came to Bow, he accepted a lower salary in exchange for possibly being accepted into the FBI academy. Pitts said he is sorry to see Jaran leave Bow.

“I was quite disappointed, of course, because he’s been an excellent chief and brought the department a long way, and was looking forward to more of the same,” said Pitts. “At the same time, he was offered a financial package that would be hard for anybody to refuse.”

Pitts said he will put an advertisement for the position out next week. Jaran’s position paid $73,100, according to the town’s pay scale.

Jaran will be paid an annual salary of $100,000 in Provincetown. The biggest challenges he will face in his new role is dealing with a large tourist population, the diverse culture and a drug problem in the town, he said.

Jaran told his co-workers of his decision at a departmentwide meeting so they would hear the news from him first.

“For me, it’s always been all about relationships. I have many friends not only in the Police Department, but in the community. I’m leaving behind a topnotch group,” Jaran said. “I can say in good conscience I am leaving it a lot better off than when I arrived. That’s from personnel to upgrading the facility, equipment and technology.”

Pitts said one of Jaran’s biggest achievements during his four years in Bow was forming a working relationship between the emergency services in town.

“What I’ll miss most is that he was a team player and he established a great relationship between the police and fire departments down to the lowest level. That goes back to his leadership,” said Pitts. “There’s a teamwork between the two departments that is, unfortunately, rare. We don’t have any animosity and I credit both chiefs.”

While looking for Jaran’s replacement, Pitts said he will form a board to interview the potential candidates, who he hopes will meet his specific criteria.

“We need a spirit of team play. Someone who recognizes it’s not the only department in town and, above all, a leader who can motivate the people in the department and influence them to work to their maximum performance level,” said Pitts.

Physically, the visitors were every bit the equal of their hosts. But Salem’s boys lacrosse team, which trekked nearly 80 miles round trip for an interdivisional contest on Saturday, April 26, proved it has a long way to go to match Bow’s proven mental makeup.

The Falcons, last year’s Division- II runner-up and fresh off a 7-6 double-overtime defeat of D-II champ St. Thomas Aquinas a day earlier, played steady, heady lax in an 8-1 victory over the Division-I Blue Devils.

“Some of the kids were saying, ‘They’re D-II, so no problem.’ Well, they’re also the state runner-up, and they’re always strong,” said Salem head coach Chris Kelleher. “Skill-wise and athletically, I don’t think they’re that different than us. Mentally, though, there’s a big gap there.”

True, Bow controlled play by every physical, statistical measure – shots on goal, saves by David Bucchino in the first half and Nick Calkins in the second, and, of course, assists and goals scored – but that doesn’t completely explain Bow’s dominance.

“We talk about mental toughness, about things we can control,” said Bow’s cocoach, Steve Gaudreau. “The kids have consistently done a good job in how they react to situations.”

Against Salem, Bow forced the visitors to do most of the reacting. Only a nifty catch-and- shoot goal late in the fourth quarter prevented Bow from securing the shutout.

Meanwhile, the offense produced three goals in the first quarter and three more in the second, and Bow rotated in a number of players who helped the Falcons pull away.

“Someone like (sophomore midfielder) Chris Roberts had an opportunity, and he’s worked his way up,” said head coach Chris Gaudreau. “We’ve got a lot of kids that are fundamentally sound. That’s a credit to the youth program in town.”

Game notes

Sean Dippold, Stephen Lagos and Alex Grip tallied in the first quarter, then Alex Davies and Steven Gallerani gave Bow a 5-0 edge. Dippold capped the first-half barrage. Gallerani netted both of the Falcons’ second- half scores, one each in the third and fourth quarters.

Speedy Greg Bueddeman contributed two assists, and Dippold also had multiple helpers. Roberts assisted on Gallerani’s second score.

A Bow man was killed at his vacation home in Maine while cutting down a tree that rotted over the winter.

Timothy Dugal, 51, died on the scene at his Northport, Maine, home despite attempts by his wife to revive him.

“He was cutting a tree with his son and part of the top of the tree had storm damage to it,” said Maine state trooper Shawn Porter, who was on scene after the accident. “During some course in the cutting, the tree had a large amount of pressure to it and when he cut it, the tree kicked back and hit him in the head.”

State police were on scene within 20 minutes of the accident, and local fire and rescue units were dispatched to the scene as well. Dugal’s wife, Deborah, was inside when she heard her 17-year-old son yell for help.

“His wife and other daughter were there and heard the son scream. They went out and the wife performed CPR until rescue arrived,” said Porter, who also said no drugs or alcohol were involved. “It was a tragic accident.”

Dugal was born in Dover and was president and owner of New Hampshire Mailing Services in Concord.

Dugal was able to share his passion for athletics while serving as a member of the University of New Hampshire Athletic Council, and while taking in golf and Boston Red Sox games with his son.

Garin Veris, co-director of athletic fundraising at UNH, said he met Dugal at several of the school’s athletic fundraisers.

“I know from his past of being a great supporter in our belief of scholarship and fundraising, that he believed in giving student athletes the opportunity to continue their education and succeed,” said Veris. “He’s been part of UNH athletics for a long time.”

Upon meeting Dugal, Veris said the descriptions he had heard were true.

“I know before I had first met him, I had heard a lot about him. I heard how nice he was and what a great supporter he was, and when I met him it was true to form,” said Veris. “It was a tragedy to hear about his accident, and he will be missed.”

Bow Chief of Police Jeff Jaran is one of four final candidates for the open chief position in Provincetown, Mass.

Jaran has a lengthy career in law enforcement and has been Bow’s chief of police for the past four years. He was also a chief in Sandwich prior to taking his post in Bow.

On Tuesday, April 24, Jaran interviewed in front of the Provincetown Board of Selectmen after previously interviewing with Provincetown Town Manager Sharon Lynn.

Bow Town Manager Jim Pitts said although the town would miss Jaran should he accept the job if it is offered to him, he also knows the Police Department would be able to find a capable replacement.

“I am aware that he applied for (the position) and that he is a finalist,” said Pitts. “If he were to leave, he’s been an outstanding chief, and I have no doubt he would be able to be replaced by an outstanding chief. I am not concerned the department would deteriorate.”

Provincetown Assistant Town Manager David Gardner said Jaran deserved the spot he earned in the list of four final candidates.

“The reason why he made the top four, based on what I understand, is that he was well-qualified, well-spoken and had a background that was a match for what we’re looking for,” said Gardner. “Based on his interview, he was thought to be a good fit, not only from a qualification standpoint but personality as well.”

Jaran’s position in the Police Department is listed on the town pay scale at $73,100, according to Pitts.

Gardner said it is possible the Provincetown Town Manager will make her recommendation to the Board of Selectmen at the next scheduled meeting, which is Monday, May 12.

Jaran said he did not feel comfortable commenting on the matter just yet.

After hearing from library trustees at a recent public hearing about the operating budget, Bow Budget Committee members decided to return $15,000 to the budget for the Baker Free Library.

By a 4-3 vote after the public hearing, Budget Committee members brought the recommended budget to the same number as the selectmen’s recommendation – about $8.3 million. If passed, the operating budget will have an estimated tax rate increase of 66 cents per $1,000 assessed property valuation, or about $198 over last year for the owner of a home assessed at $300,000.

If all warrant articles pass, Budget Committee members estimate an additional increase of 17 cents per $1,000 assessed property valuation. Both the budget and warrants would bring the total town portion of the tax rate to about 83 cents per $1,000 assessed property value over last year – a spike of $250 for the owner of a $300,000 home.

Originally, the Budget Committee wanted to remove $10,000 for the book collection and $5,000 for the salary of the new library director to replace Linda Kling, who retired in March.

During the public hearing, library trustees came to the defense of the library, and Budget Committee members reconsidered their recommendation and agreed with the sentiment.

“We were concerned that if we don’t continue to contribute to the book collection, there would be a negative impact,” said Budget Committee Chairman Dan De Vasto. “We want to make sure that we have enough to provide the level of service that the people in town have grown accustomed to.”

Last year, the operating budget was cut during Town Meeting, and many departments in town suffered. The library was one of them, as they elected not to use money for the book collection during the year.

“We made cuts to the books. You can do that for a year, but your collection will suffer and you’ll end up with big holes in the collection if you continually cut from your book funding,” said Library Trustee Susan Hatem. “There’s always a juggling process, and you just try to save money where ever you can, and at the same time meet the demands that the public has been asking for.”

July will mark the two-year anniversary of Baker Free Library extending its hours to six days per week and, Hatem said, having the $15,000 in the budget is crucial, especially during a difficult economic time.

“What we tried to get across, and the Budget Committee seemed to agree, is that the library is the jewel of the community,” said Hatem. “Everyone from young children to senior citizens can use it. In times when the economy is bad, the library becomes even more important. People use the library for job searching, and just to get out and clear their head and think.”

Residents will vote on the budget and warrant articles at Town Meeting, Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m. in the Bow High School auditorium.