Goffstown News

Eagles middle-schoolers one win from another title

2009-11-18T18:36:00Z

The Goffstown Screamin’ Eagles middle school football team plays for its third championship in four years following a convincing 28-8 win against the Manchester Bears on Sunday, Nov. 15. The locals face Lowell, Mass., at Bedford High School on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 11 a.m. Goffstown once again started quickly, with Alex Duval capping the opening drive with an 11-yard touchdown. After the Bears answered immediately, the Eagles’ defense shut them down. Charlie Hunt and Chris Garrison led...(read more)

ADs say divisional format brings more flexibility to schools

2009-11-18T18:30:00Z

BY MATT SCHOOLEY When the next fall sports season arrives, expect a change in the landscape of New Hampshire athletics. Beginning with the 2010- 11 fall schedule, all sports will use the divisional format, including the possibility of petitioning up or down. The change, according to athletics directors, provides more choice for schools. Some sports, including volleyball and hockey, are already broken up into divisions, but most use the class system – L, I, M and S. Under the new system, teams...(read more)

Goffstown quick to answer Mass. size; locals one win from nationals

2009-11-18T18:27:00Z

BY MATT SCHOOLEY Good things do indeed come in small packages. Especially when it’s a blitz package. The Goffstown sixth-grade football team was severely outsized in its Northeast regional semifinal contest against Massachusetts foe Milford, but the Screamin’ Eagles proved they weren’t going to be outworked. On Saturday, Nov. 14, the locals moved within one win of a trip to the American Youth Football National Championship Week in Kissimmee, Fla., following a 40-13 victory at Bedford...(read more)

New equipment added to Goffstown skateboard park

2009-11-18T18:21:00Z

BY SARAH LEBRUN Thanks to numerous donations, three new pieces have been added to the Goffstown skateboard park. According to Goffstown Recreation director Dave French, nearly $4,000 in donations was received for some new stairs, a rail and a bench. And on Saturday, Nov. 14, despite heavy rain, members of the Goffstown High School baseball team and skateboard enthusiasts gathered to install the new skateboard park equipment. “This was a great opportunity for teens to get together for a worthwhile...(read more)

Communities gear up to help those in need

2009-11-18T18:15:00Z

BY SUZANNE D’AMATO To those of us who live in the Granite State, it’s no surprise that small-town folks have big hearts. With the holiday season almost here, the familiar requests for monetary donations and drives for items of all kinds are being made. The following are just a few examples of how generous donations of money, time and items from the kindness of strangers will touch the lives of friends and neighbors in need in our communities and provide them with some of the basic necessities...(read more)

Rent hike: Medvil residents face large increase

2009-11-18T18:10:00Z

BY SARAH LEBRUN Residents of the Medvil Cooperative in Goffstown can expect their rent to increase 12 to 82 percent next year. At the cooperative’s annual meeting at Maple Avenue Elementary School on Nov. 14, residents approved a budget that would increase the rent of association members to $455 per month as of April 11. Nonmembers will be charged $660. For members who are currently paying $250 per month, this is an 82 percent increase. “Some of our residents cannot afford this,”...(read more)

Goffstown nursing home resident is 102 years old

2009-11-11T19:49:00Z

Hillsborough County Nursing Home has several residents that have passed the century mark in age. One of these ladies is Helen Salter, who turned 102 on Sept. 11. She was born north of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in the small town of Tunkhannock, Pa., to Percy Stark and Fanny Dornsife Stark. This was a rural area where most residents ran dairy farms as a livelihood. Her father was an educator and her mother a homemaker. Her father also worked in wholesale foods and brought the first grapefruit to the area,...(read more)

Goffstown taxes down $1.02

2009-11-11T19:34:00Z

By Jillian Jorgensen Residents may be happier than last year when they open their property tax bills, with the tax rate in Goffstown dropping by $1.02 from 2008. The 2009 property tax rate is $21.67 per $1,000, Sue Desruisseaux, town administrator, said yesterday. “Any little bit helps right now, and most taxpayers are going to see a $200 to $400 decrease in their tax bill,” said Scott Gross, chairman of the Board of Selectman. For a home valued at $300,000, the savings for the year will...(read more)

Goffstown boys battle Concord before slipping in postseason

2009-11-04T23:12:00Z

BY MATT SCHOOLEY For the Goffstown boys soccer team, the pitch was far from perfect in the opening round of the Class L tournament. In addition to dealing with top-seeded Concord, the No. 16 Grizzlies battled a muddy and wet surface during action on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Despite a lopsided 5-1 score, Goffstown gave the home team a bit of a scare, trailing 2-1 until about 15 minutes remained, when the Crimson Tide pulled away. Concord jumped to a 2-0 lead and was ready to cruise into the quarterfinals,...(read more)

For second straight year, Goffstown High School earns victory in playoffs

2009-11-04T23:09:00Z

BY MATT SCHOOLEY The girls of Goffstown High School volleyball have started a tradition their coach plans to continue year after year – success in the postseason. The Grizzlies won a playoff match for the first time in school history in 2008, and they did it again in ’09, upsetting seventh-seeded Alvirne, 3-2, on Wednesday, Oct. 28. The 10th-seeded locals fell to No. 2 Londonderry, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, Oct. 31. Senior captain Jackie Borror pounded out 40 kills and...(read more)

Giant pumpkins set sail in annual regatta

2009-11-04T23:02:00Z

By Amy J. Vellucci Several hundred turned out in the rain, sleet and, yes, even snow, to witness Goffstown’s annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta on the Piscataquog River on Sunday, Oct. 18. “Everyone seems to be having fun,” said Robbie Grady, executive director of the Goffstown Main Street Program, which runs the weekend-long event in which townspeople convert giant pumpkins into theme-decorated boats and race them down the river. It certainly wasn’t ideal weather, but it could’ve...(read more)

Goffstown to save $48,246 with cost-of-living cuts

2009-11-04T22:55:00Z

By Jillian Jorgensen Goffstown municipal employees will feel the pinch next year, with the town cutting cost-of-living adjustments and switching to new insurance plans for nonunion employees. “This is not an easy topic, and I think we all know it. I think the employees of the town know it,” Scott Gross, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said Monday night. “We’re not trying to save the town on the backs of our employees.” The town has historically given nonunion employees...(read more)

35-year postal worker retires

2009-11-04T22:51:00Z

By Kathy Remillard Goffstown residents going to the post office will no longer see the familiar face of Alan Dutch behind the counter. Dutch retired Oct. 31 after spending 35 years at the Goffstown Post Office. Staff members marked Dutch’s last day quietly, with a cake and certificate of appreciation. Dutch has worked at the Goffstown branch since July 1974. Postmaster Marc Richer has worked with Dutch for the past six years and saw him as a great local resource. “He had a lot of knowledge,...(read more)

Goffstown attorney suspended for six months

2009-10-14T19:48:00Z

By SARAH LEBRUN Tamblyn F. Gosling, esq., an attorney with a practice in Goffstown, has been issued a six-month suspension from practicing law, stayed for a period of two years, for altering medical release documents in a divorce proceeding. Gosling is currently able to practice law and will be listed in records as having a six-month suspension but will not have to serve it if there are no additional problems within a two-year period. According to a case file from the New Hampshire Supreme Court...(read more)

Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta is Oct. 17, 18

2009-10-14T19:30:00Z

By SARAH LEBRUN Giant pumpkins return to Goffstown on Oct. 17 and 18 for the annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off and Regatta. According to Robbie Grady, Goffstown Main Street director, more than 5,000 people attend this event annually. The weekend is packed with various events, including a giant pumpkin weigh-off, pumpkin catapulting, live entertainment, pumpkin decorating, and of course, the giant pumpkin regatta. Last year’s weigh-off winner was Geoff Peirce of New Boston, with a pumpkin weighing...(read more)