BY STEPHEN BEALE

Kathi Titus, an assistant superintendent for Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston, is retiring at the end of this school year.

Her departure will coincide with that of Dr. Darrell Lockwood, the 10-year superintendent who is taking the top school administrative position in Tyngsborough, Mass., after this year.

The other assistant superintendent, Stacy Buckley, will take over as interim superintendent this summer.

As one of two assistant superintendents, Titus has oversight over curriculum and instruction for regular education in the school districts for the three towns — grouped together under School Administrative Unit 19.

The second assistant position deals with special education.

Keith Allard, chairman of the Goffstown School Board, said the SAU board will hire a one-year assistant superintendent for regular education and a permanent assistant superintendent for special education. If Buckley does not move from interim to permanent superintendent, Allard said she would take over as the assistant for regular education in a year. Titus earned $92,204 during the 2007-08 school year and Buckley earned $88,265, according to the state department of education.

Titus has been in Goffstown for five years, her latest stint in a 32-year career. Titus, who is 54, said she wanted to retire while she is still young.

“People don’t retire to play bingo these days,” she said. “We still have the energy and the time and the skills to create.”

She noted that she chose this year specifically due to the uncertainties surrounding the reform of the New Hampshire retirement system.

Titus got her start in 1976 as a high school teacher in Ludlow, Mass. About 10 years later, she shifted to more of an administrative role. Her latest was as a supervising principal at a grammar school in Methuen, Mass., before coming to Goffstown.

“I’ve loved every role I have ever had,” Titus said. “Each time I’ve ended up enjoying the next one a little bit more than the other one.”

She said she took the Goffstown position after remembering how much she respected Lockwood while working with him in the Exeter school system.

“He’s a fantastic superintendent,” Titus said. “It’s been wonderful working for him.”

For her first two years in Goffstown, Titus was the assistant superintendent for special education. She then moved over to regular education in 2005. One of the things she has enjoyed doing, she said, is sharing resources and combining various tasks — such as integrating teacher training with training of their supervisors.

Allard praised Titus for her work, saying she played an integral role in the advancement and development of the curriculum in the schools and credited her with guiding the expansion of the honors program at the high school.

“The fruits of Kathi’s creative thinking and devotion to our schools can be seen in the work of all our fine educators,” Allard said. “In just five years Kathi has earned the respect of the staff and has left a favorable imprint on our school district.”

As she prepares to leave, Titus said she will miss what she describes as a special school community.

“It’s a very special place,” Titus said. “All the school districts — the kids and the communities — really do support their schools.”

Titus said education has been the love of her life, adding that it is likely she will somehow be involved in schools even during her retirement. She is trying to think more about that — than the fact that she is leaving.

“I don’t think about the goodbye part,” Titus said. “I’m just focused on the next steps.”

BY JENN McDOWELL

Town Administrator Janice VandeBogart is one of many municipal employees across the state who has announced her retirement this year after hearing about the state of flux the New Hampshire retirement system is in.

Having started out as deputy town clerk in 1983 and moving up to become Dunbarton’s first town administrator, VandeBogart has about 25 years in the retirement system.

Currently, Group I municipal employees, including teachers and town office staff, are eligible for the medical subsidy at the age of 60, provided they have paid into the system for 20 years.

The medical subsidy for such employees is disappearing, and while the deadline was extended until 2009, the initial deadline for those who wanted to retire with the current benefits was July 1, 2008.

While VandeBogart looks forward to spending more time with her husband, she admitted the possibility of losing some or all of her medical subsidy benefit weighed heavily in her decision to retire this year.

After figuring out the formula used in the past to set employer contribution rates and allocate funding was faulty, legislators and municipalities alike set to work to figure out a way to fill a $2.7 billion shortfall in the main part of the fund.

The House of Representatives put forth a proposal, House Bill 1645, aimed at correcting the problem. The Senate is currently pondering its own version of the proposal.

The House’s proposal, if passed, would eliminate an 8 percent annual increase in medical subsidy payments to retirees and transfer $250 million from a special account for medical subsidies into the corpus of the fund and include financial and accounting professionals on the New Hampshire retirement system’s Board of Trustees.

It would also have increased the minimum retirement age for public safety employees, such as police officers and firefighters, to 50 instead of the current 45 years old and would have increased the number of years they needed to put in to retire from 20 to 25 years total. The current Senate version of the bill freezes the annual increase in the medical subsidy until 2012, at which time 4 percent annual increases would begin.

It would also leave both the Board of Trustees’ composition and the age limit and time requirements for public safety employees as they are.

The Local Government Center calculated the impact of House Bill 1645 compared to the costs associated with taking no action to fix the retirement system for towns and school districts across the state.

According to Goffstown Town Administrator Sue Desruisseaux, if nothing is done at the state level to fix the retirement system, the town and school employer contributions for the 2009-10 year would increase by about $600,000 from what they currently are.

The cost falling to taxpayers for the town side alone would be $261,730 for 2009-10, according to projected estimates. If the House bill is passed, it would result in an estimated $17,293.80 in contribution costs to the town.

The school’s portion of the contributions would add another $325,000 or so to those costs if nothing is done, Desruisseaux said.

“Our Board of Selectmen took a stand to support House Bill 1645 and sent letters to all our representatives and senator. They’re also supporting Local Government Center starting a legal fund that if (House Bill) 1645 doesn’t pass to take legal action,” Desruisseaux said.

Many towns and school districts across the state have joined in the coalition with Local Government Center if the medical subsidy costs fall to employers, and therefore taxpayers, saying that situation would result in an unfunded mandate.

Darrell Lockwood, superintendent for Goffstown, Dunbarton and New Boston schools, said all three school boards in those districts have joined that coalition with the stipulation that they could choose to withdraw from it upon seeing the language of the suit.

“In reality, it’s a tough one. There’s a lot of different voices in this one and certainly it’s important to our school boards to have good benefits for their staff, and yet, they’re also responsible for the taxpayers’ dollars,” Lockwood said.

Lockwood said one of the most important aspects of the retirement issue is the stark difference in the points of view of the House and Senate on how to fix it.

“It’s a system that I believe everyone realizes is broken, but there’s still many viewpoints in terms of how to proceed in fixing this,” he said.

Weare Superintendent Christine Tyrie said Weare’s School Board also joined that coalition, but the School Board at John Stark Regional High School has not.

“The boards are very concerned about increases in retirement,” Tyrie said. “They’re wondering how, if they’re negotiating a contract of planning their budget for next year, how they’re going to absorb that and keep their budgets low.”

New Boston employees in the town offices are on a retirement plan separate from the state, but the Police Department would still be greatly impacted by the passing of House Bill 1645.

Police Chief Christopher Krajenka said the House’s proposal would have severe implications in terms of the health and wellness of older officers, given the high stress level of the job.

“This job is truly a young man’s game. Realistically, the stress of this job is taking years off of our lives,” Krajenka said, saying increasing the retirement age to 50 and extending the time officers have to pay into the retirement system before retiring to 25 years is pushing it.

“Forcing people beyond that time, I think we’re setting them up and I think we’re setting the communities up,” Krajenka added.

BY JENN McDOWELL

After a lengthy public hearing, Dunbarton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment has yet to take action on a special exception permit request to put gas pumps in at Page’s Country Store and Deli.

The store’s owner, David Barkie, has been trying to get the special exception permit for years.

The issue is hotly debated in town, as Barkie must show that the pumps would pose no threat to abutters of the property.

In order to get permission, Barkie must show the added pumps would not hurt abutters’ property values, would pose no health or safety threats, would not interrupt traffic flow, would not bleed municipal services and would sustain the current surface and groundwater quality.

The original plan submitted called for three islands with gas pumps that would be supplied through underground storage tanks. Those parameters were turned down in 2002 and previously in 1992 under different ownership.

The store property, located at the intersection of Old Fort Lane and Route 77, is not zoned for gas pumps, and is part of the town’s low density district. Barkie revised and re-submitted a plan including aboveground gasoline storage tanks, but abutters still worry about the possible effects on property values, health, safety and traffic issues.

According to real estate studies presented by Amy Manzelli, the attorney representing the abutters, at the public hearing during the Monday, March 10, Zoning Board meeting, the gas pumps would negatively affect property values.

The study, conducted by Amoskeag Appraisal Company LLC, compared other similar sites in surrounding towns to Page’s Store, but Barkie’s attorney, Richard Uchida, argued the comparisons were too vague and included too many variables to determine whether gas pumps affected property values.

Many abutters and residents in the immediate area of the store spoke out against the project, citing concerns about property values, the possibility of explosion of fire and ground water pollution.

Pam Werner, of 16 Old Fort Lane, who, in addition to living by the store, works for the state’s Department of Environmental Services inspecting gas stations, pointed out that there are only 10 gas stations in the state currently with above-ground storage tanks.

During a prior phone conversation, Werner said putting gas pumps at Page’s could entice larger gas companies to come into town, further driving property values down.

Others spoke in favor of the project, including Jay Davis of 8 Jacqueline Drive, who said he would like the convenience of a gas station in town.

The gas pumps at Page’s Country Store and Deli would be the only ones in town should the permit be issued.

Residents from Weare and Hopkinton showed up as well to speak in favor of the gas station.

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

To Jason Lalla, Jon Parker is more than just a part of a list.

Lalla, a Dunbarton resident working at Manchester’s Next Step Orthotics and Prosthetics, works closely with clients in need of equipment to walk, run and live a normal life.

Three years ago, a 15- year-old Parker was cut off on his final ski run of the day at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, when he was sent out of control into a tree.

Laying face-first in the snow, Parker dug a hole so he could breath long enough to yell to passing skiers for help.

Seven surgeries later, Parker’s parents came to him with what they thought would be a difficult decision. They came to his hospital room prepared with therapists ready to talk through the options.

“I looked up online and saw that people can run with prosthetics and do anything with it. I was excited for it,” said Parker. “I immediately went with that decision (to amputate).”

When Lalla began working at Next Step two years ago, the pair began working together, forming a unique bond.

Lalla’s leg was amputated after a motorcycle accident, something he believes helps him connect with his clients. “Right off the bat there’s a sense of camaraderie and trust. People look at you as a believable, credible source,” said Lalla. “You’ve been there yourself and have that experience how things work and feel. The other side of it is that it is a mental adjustment. People respect that you’ve been through the same mental process as they’ve been through.”

The Dunbarton resident said oftentimes when he walks in the room, those who don’t know about his accident don’t notice any difference in the way he moves.

“The last thing you want to do is stick out in society. When people come in and see me come in just like everyone else, I think that makes them relax a little,” he said.

In addition to the bond the two formed at Next Step, Lalla and Parker also found common ground in skiing. Before his accident, Parker had been a high-level downhill racer.

Lalla is a former gold medal winner for the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, so he had many tips to offer Parker along the way. Although Lalla has been one of the reasons Parker has gotten back into ski racing, the prosthetist said it is his client’s attitude that has been the key to his quick bounce back.

“He’s just like any other 17-year-old kid. He’s a competitor and has a never say die attitude,” said Lalla. “He’s tenacious, and that type of attitude lends itself to athletics and anything, really.”

Parker cruises down the slopes on one ski, electing not to use a second for his prosthetic leg. Although he has two poles with smaller skis attached at the bottom, Parker said throughout most of the runs he relies solely on balance.

One of the more frustrating aspects of Parker’s injury has been getting back to where he was on the slopes. “The level I was at before the accident – I’m not quite there yet. From going to an elite level to back towards the bottom of the charts is pretty hard,” said Parker. “Doing things for the first time can be challenging, even like going on rollercoasters and getting in the cart. You have to get creative.”

Now with the help of Lalla and his other coaches, Parker will be skiing with the UNH ski team next season. “It’s going back and learning to do something that he knows how to do. That’s probably been frustrating for him, so you just have to know that it is going to come,” said Lalla. “Everybody goes through the days that you just don’t want to do things. Things that are so basic and simple now aren’t so basic and simple.”

After two years working with the now 17-year-old Parker, Lalla said the bond he has with Parker is more than a business one.

“The more that I work with him, you form a relationship that is like a friendship as well,” he said. “The people we deal with are more than just patients and names in a book.”

BY JENN McDOWELL

Dunbarton taxpayers will have to pay twice as much for emergency dispatch services in the coming year.

After pondering a tight budget 2008-09 year, the town of Bow will seek more revenue from Bow Dispatch Service fees collected from Dunbarton, Allenstown, Pembroke and Epsom, the four towns the dispatch center serves.

Dunbarton Police Chief Christopher Connelly was on the same page with police departments in the dispatch service’s coverage area in saying the increase in fees is fair, given the rising costs associated with running Bow Dispatch.

The new annual fees are based on updated call volumes from 2006 plus a $10,000 base fee. Dunbarton, which accounted for the least amount of calls, about 6 percent of the total calls for service in that year, will pay almost $23,000 for 2008-09.

That more than doubles the amount Dunbarton is paying for the current year, which is about $11,000.

“I think it’s an equitable way to do business, based on the calls for service,” said Connelly, adding Bow Dispatch is the most reliable service he’s seen in more than two decades of law enforcement experience.

In 2006, Bow Dispatch took 6,195 calls from Allenstown; 6,682 from Epsom; 10,072 from Pembroke; 2,605 from Dunbarton; and 18,980 from its own town for a total of more than 44,534 calls.

Epsom will now pay $43,000 instead of $19,000; Pembroke, which takes up the largest percentage of service calls besides Bow, will pay about $59,000 instead of $30,000; and Allenstown’s fees increased by about $20,000 to $41,000 for the 2008- 09 year.

Bow Dispatch costs about $400,000 per year to operate. That includes running equipment as well as paying eight employees, five of those being full-time. Since Bow absorbs about half the call volume and owns the center, taxpayers there pay the largest amount.

According to Bow Police Chief Jeff Jaran, the town collected about $79,000 in fees from the four peripheral towns for the current year. Under the new fee system, Bow will collect more than twice that amount, leaving about $235,000 on Bow taxpayers.

Some police chiefs, including Connelly, said they have explored other options such as moving to Merrimack County dispatch service since Bow’s push for a new fee system came to light last summer.

The problem is that Merrimack County dispatch is already overstretched in terms of personnel and space, servicing a total of 13 towns, and such a switch would overwhelm the service and clog the frequencies at this time.

“Their infrastructure presents officer safety concerns with getting air time,” Connelly said. “You can only do so much with the personnel you have and the equipment you’re allotted.”

Further, Connelly said, Dunbarton may not realize a savings in doing that after applying the costs to switch over the current information system his officers use, which is connected with Bow Dispatch to record all the necessary information from the call, thereby eliminating a lot of tedious work in entering the incident information into the system like many other departments have to do.

“Really, Bow continues to be our best option and is really in the same ballpark where we could go with other services,” Connelly said, adding the new fees have been added into the proposed 2008-09 police budget, totalling $321,274.

By Michelle Kim
 

DUNBARTON – After nearly four decades as an educator and 20 as a school administrator, Dunbarton Elementary School Principal Brent Rogers is ready for a change of pace.

Rogers, who came to Dunbarton three years ago, is retiring from education at the end of the year and is going into business as a handyman.

He said he started thinking about retirement in the fall and decided it was the right time for him.

“It’s just my next step,” said Rogers. “I’m not retiring from something but to something.”

Becoming an independent contractor would also allow Rogers, a Hampton resident, to spend more time with his wife, Sharon, a teacher for third- and fourth-grade in Seabrook, his 16- and 40-year-old daughters and three grandchildren.

He said he is going to miss just about everything about the job.

“I’m going to miss the kids, the community involvement. It’s an incredible community,” he said of Dunbarton.

One thing he will not miss, he said, is the school’s heating and ventilation system, which has presented a number of challenges.

During his time at Dunbarton, Rogers has overseen a science curriculum revision in the district and on the SAU level and was involved in a social studies curriculum revision as well and has written grants to bring in money for improved technology, according to SAU 19 Superintendent Darrell Lockwood.

Rogers said he is pleased at being able to keep lines of communication open between the school and community. He hopes the next principal will be able to continue to move Dunbarton forward in improved instruction and student learning.

“When he told us he would be leaving, I was quite disappointed because he’s done a very fine job,” said School Board Chairman Betty Ann Noyes. “I wish him well.”

Board member Debra Foster described Rogers as a super principal.

“We’re very sad to see him leave. He’s been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve had very little turnover in the three years since he’s been here.”

Lisa Poirer, head of the Parent Teacher Organization, echoed those sentiments and said she enjoyed working with him.

“I felt he was a good administrator,” she said.

Residents who want to be on the search committee for the next principal can send letters of interest to the board, care of SAU 19, with a deadline of Jan. 30. The committee will be a cross-section of the community, she said, with teachers, administrators and community members, said Noyes.

Advertisements for the position will go out toward the end of the month and applications will be due Feb. 15.

There will also be a public meeting within the first half of February for the community to brainstorm the qualities it would like to see in the next principal, according to Foster. This would give the selection committee guidance on what to look for in candidates, she said. The date of the public meeting is still to be determined but would be posted on the school and town Web sites.

Both Noyes and Foster said they felt it is important to have someone who could relate and interact well with community members.

BY MICHELLE KIM

Dunbarton saw some of the same themes reemerge from 2006 – issues such as the SB2 ballot, gas pumps at Page’s Corner, the completion of the hearse housing. But 2007 also saw a number of changes particularly in the police department with the departure of Police Chief Jeff Nelson and promotion of executive officer Chris Connelly, and the completion of the long awaited town commons bandstand.

Dunbarton saw some of the same themes reemerge from 2006 – issues such as the SB2 ballot, gas pumps at Page’s Corner, the completion of the hearse housing. But 2007 also saw a number of changes particularly in the police department with the departure of Police Chief Jeff Nelson and promotion of executive officer Chris Connelly, and the completion of the long awaited town commons bandstand.

Dunbarton saw some of the same themes reemerge from 2006 – issues such as the SB2 ballot, gas pumps at Page’s Corner, the completion of the hearse housing. But 2007 also saw a number of changes particularly in the police department with the departure of Police Chief Jeff Nelson and promotion of executive officer Chris Connelly, and the completion of the long awaited town commons bandstand.

At the March elections, voters rejected for the second year in a row a warrant article to change elections from the traditional town hall meeting to SB2, or official ballot referendum- style voting, by 419-154 at the town meeting and 415-152 at the school meeting.

Incumbent Selectman Mert Mann, the only contested seat up for election, defeated challenger David Pellenz for another three-year term. Incumbent positions that ran unopposed include Tax Collector Martha Rae, Bryan Clark on the Board of Assessors, Ethics Committee member Brigitte Cook, Library Trustee Tiffany Dodd, Richard Schaeffer as cemetery trustee, Kristen Petretta as library trustee, and Janice VandeBogart as a trustee of the trust funds. On the School Board, Carl Metzger ran unopposed as did incumbent Rene Ouellet.

Voters overwhelmingly approved expanding Town Clerk Linda Peters’ part-time position from 10 hours a week at to a full-time position, despite lack of endorsement by the selectmen, increasing her salary from $23,800 to about $50,000 with benefits.

They also approved a town operating budget of $1,825,744, a 3.2 percent increase over the 2006 operating budget.

The School Board managed to bring in a school operating budget about $38,000 lower than the previous fiscal year, due in part to lower than expected middle and high school enrollments.

Because of the level school budget, the 2007 property tax rate was set in October at $14.56, or 11.5 percent lower than the previous year. The town portion increased by 40 cents, or about 20 percent, but was offset by the school portion drop of $2.39, or about 23.7 percent.

Police Chief Jeff Nelson retired in March, after six years of serving as Dunbarton’s first full-time police chief, for a position with the New Hampshire Juvenile Justice Services as bureau chief in charge of administration.

Previously he had been commander of investigative services with Goffstown police. Under Nelson, the Dunbarton Police Department was recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the first department with part-time officers in New Hampshire to achieve this.

Chris Connelly, who had been brought in by Nelson in 2003 as an executive officer and potential successor, was promoted to chief in March. Connelly served 10 years at the Goffstown Police Department and for seven years before that with the Hillsborough Police Department as deputy sheriff/sergeant. His main goals include seeking CALEA accreditation and renovation of the police station.

In May, Dunbarton hired master patrol officer Jacqueline Pelletier, previously of the Bow Police Department, as full-time executive officer to fill the position left vacant by Connelly’s promotion. Pelletier began her career at Goffstown in 1999 as a part-time officer and full-time communications specialist. She was recently recognized with an award for her outstanding patrol work with Bow.

John Levasseur was sworn in as Dunbarton’s third full-time officer in July. Levasseur, a Goffstown native and graduate of Goffstown High School, came to the department with four years of experience with the New Hampshire Department of Corrections.

Dunbarton resident Lori Davis sued the town in January under the Right-to-Know Law after allegedly being denied access to financial documents at a budget workshop where $100,000 was transferred from surplus to operating funds. Justice Philip P. Mangones agreed with Davis that the selectmen should have addressed the issue at a public meeting, but ruled that no laws had been broken.

A former Dunbarton Fire Department volunteer, Derek Milioto, turned himself in to the Merrimack County Attorney’s Office in May and was was arrested and charged with stealing fuel from the town fuel pumps, a Class A misdemeanor.

Discrepancies in fuel consumption were discovered by Fire Chief Jon Wiggin in October 2006, and surveillance cameras installed at the facility helped obtain evidence.

There may be up to a year and a half or about $3,000 to $4,000 of missing gas, but proof for only about $600, according to Selectman Les Hammond.

After receiving word that there might be fewer spots available for Dunbarton kids at the New Boston Central and Glen Lake’s preschool programs, a Preschool Committee was formed in the spring to explore the option of bringing a preschool program to Dunbarton, which currently sends only special needs children to preschool.

The School Board, after considering a short list of options generated by the committee, decided to remain with the current arrangement until more specific information could be gathered on the costs of an inhouse preschool program.

The Fire Department received $10,400 in the last year from memorial contributions made after the passing of Vera Fogg, Nancy Graybill, and former selectmen and Fire Department volunteers Peter Montgomery and John Swindelhurst II. Fire Chief Jon Wiggin said the money would go to purchase equipment the department didn’t have the funds for in the town budget.

A storage building to house the historic refurbished and rebuilt hearse was constructed by state prison inmates at Page’s cemetery. The dedication ceremony in August saw about 100 residents and volunteers, many in period costumes.

The uniform of deceased World War II hero Frank Dow Merrill of Hopkinton was on display Memorial Day at the Dunbarton Community Center.

Dunbarton American Legion head Gary MacCubbin helped it find a home with the New Hampshire Historical Society.

In August, Marine Sgt. Justin Somers was presented the Combat Action Ribbon by Sen. John Sununu in a ceremony on the Dunbarton town commons and accepted on behalf of his unit, the 2nd Military Police Battalion, which had deployed to Iraq in June.

The Dunbarton Garden Club offered the Hadley Heritage bulb for 2007, a late-blooming white daffodil with a yellow-pink cup, in commemoration of late Dunbarton historian Alice Hadley.

The Garden Club planted 2,500 bulbs around Page’s Corner in October in the third year of the “Daffodils for Dunbarton” program.

In late September, a fouralarm blaze consumed the barn of Sheri Nuanez and Keith Bernard, but miraculously the couple managed to save all of their 11 horses. However, they discovered their insurance covered the replacement barn but not the cost of temporarily sheltering the horses through the winter, as they had originally been told. They filed a claim with the New Hampshire Bureau of Insurance.

The Zoning Board hearing for a special exception for gas pumps at Page’s Country Store finally got underway in November with more than 120 attendees, after being rescheduled from September due to lack of space.

Experts hired by store owner David Barkie presented his state-of- the-art plan for a six-pump aboveground storage tank facility and studies on the traffic, real estate and environmental effects of the gas pumps. Abutters also hired a legal council and experts to address Barkie’s studies and the special exception criteria. The December continuation of the hearing, with 40 to 50 attendees, saw testimony and public imput from residents and abutters, mostly opposed to the plan, although a few spoke in favor of it. The hearing has been continued to Jan. 14.

After seven years of fundraising, the town commons bandstand project was mostly completed by December and dedicated with a Christmas tree lighting.

BY MICHELLE KIM

Residents celebrated the newly built town commons bandstand with a Christmas tree lighting and a special visit from Santa Claus on Sunday, Dec. 2.

It took the Dunbarton Garden Club and the Town Commons Project seven years to raise the $50,000 needed to build the 20-foot wide octagonal lighted structure. But the long wait finally paid off Sunday evening, as more than 60 residents and neighbors mingled over hot chocolate and a small, crackling bonfire as they admired the tree housed under the lighted cupola of the bandstand.

Girl Scouts Troop 2470 and Brownie Troop 65 sang Christmas carols, and wide-eyed kids lined up for a chance to talk with Santa.

For 2-year-old Jack Mann of Dunbarton, it was his first time on Santa’s lap. He smiled shyly as he asked only for a candy cane.

It was a much greater turnout than normally seen at tree lightings, said Jacque Belanger, Parks and Recreation Department commissioner.

“People are excited to see the gazebo,” said his wife Kim Belanger, a teacher at Dunbarton Elementary School. “They’ve been raising funds endlessly.” Judy Petersen, president of the Dunbarton Garden Club, gave opening remarks thanking the organizers and committee and club members for their hard work.

“The community actually built this,” she said, by donating to and supporting the project.

Donna Dunn, co-chairman of the Town Commons Project Committee overseeing the bandstand project, explained that the lighting in the bandstand, thanks to the suggestion of the Green Committee and the assistance of volunteer electrician Alain Biron, was designed to be energy efficient, costing only 2.5 cents an hour or $36 a year to run.

Many design features of the town library were incorporated into the bandstand as well, she said, such as round tapered columns, matching roof shingles, black railings and dentil molding.

Petersen said the project is not quite finished as it still needs landscaping and a few benches installed that were donated by different groups.

But, as the event wrapped up and thick, flakes of snow began to fall, the bandstand was still a sight to behold - an otherworldly beacon glowing in the winter night.