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News and Information for the Town of Goffstown
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BY RYAN O’CONNOR  Sean Colligan didn’t learn his lesson at last year’s Goffstown Gallop. But at this year’s 5.2-mile run, he took the rest of the field to school.
After finishing second behind an invited guest in 2007, Colligan once again chanced fate. “I actually invited more people this year,” he said. Still, on Saturday, June 28, Colligan left both his buddies – and everyone else – in the dust. He won the 29th annual Goffstown Gallop with a time of 28 minutes, 13.375 seconds, bettering last year’s mark by 54 seconds and finishing more than 18 seconds ahead of Bedford’s Jason Porter, who is 20 years his senior. “I knew I could win it if I was at my best,” said Colligan. “I’ve been training more, doing higher mileage this year. I have more experience.” Colligan, who graduated from Goffstown High School in June, plans to compete in cross country at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. “I’ll be back next year,” he added. “Gotta repeat.” In fact, while the majority of the 170-plus person field were Goffstown residents, dozens of runners competed from across New Hampshire and even other states. “It’s a family event. A lot of people that come here come year after year after year,” said Dave French, the Goffstown Parks and Recreation director who organizes the Gallop each year.  “That’s a testimony to the atmosphere of the race. It’s an old-fashioned race. We don’t do computer chips, we hand out tongue depressors (at the finish line). We’re one of the oldest races in New Hampshire ... More than anything else it’s a tradition.”
Count Bedford’s Barth Getto as one participant happy to get away from modern competition for a day. The 46-year-old regularly competes in triathlons. “(The Gallop) is kind of laid back. It’s not as crazy as some of the big races,” said Getto. “It was definitely more fun. When you do these triathlons, people are crazy. You know, they come with $5,000 bikes and these pointed helmets. This is more of a social thing ... It’s all about heart.” Bow’s Margaret Burns and Pembroke’s Joanne Welch have been running mates for eight years. They’re currently preparing for a half marathon in Quebec in August. “It’s a good training run,” said Welch of the Gallop. “It’s a nice distance for a Saturday morning. It’s a good tempo run.” “It’s more of a community event,” said Burns. “It’s kind of competitive, and if you want to go for a run, it’s better to do it with other people rather than by yourself,” No one traveled farther to participate than French’s daughter, Heather. The 24-year-old, who served as the race’s starter from childhood through high school, returned from her home in Florida to run the race for the first time. “My dad is getting close to retirement, and I just wanted to run it for him because who knows when his last Goffstown Gallop will be,” she said, adding that training in Florida is much different than running in New Hampshire. “I was training in 95-degree weather and 100-percent humidity,” she continued. “I’m not used to running with all the hills, but it was a really gratifying feeling when I crossed the finish line.” Another Floridian, Dean Riley, a former Goffstown and Bedford resident, also returned to compete. “He ran the race before and knows it’s the same weekend every year,” said the elder French. “I really appreciate the runners coming back each year. I really do. It’s great for them. It’s great for us.”
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BY MATT SCHOOLEY It may be warm in July, but area residents are still feeling the pain of the past winter’s heating bills and fear what the future holds. Goffstown resident Carol Clark said her oil prices have tripled from what she used to pay. “It’s extremely frustrating. I don’t know what to do. A $300 fill will cost almost $900 and it’s ridiculous,” said Clark. “I wear a sweater or a jacket all winter in the house. It’s awful. I wear an electric blanket to keep warm sometimes as well. I try to conserve any way that I can. I’m a sole owner, so it’s difficult on my income.” Although summer is just beginning, Clark said she already has an eye on the upcoming cold months. “I am starting to plan now and putting money aside for oil,” she said. “It’s all got to go to that.” Lois Hollow and her husband Jim Hollow of Dunbarton use both oil and propane. Last June did a pre-pay purchase for the oil and it cost them $2,000 for their twostory home. “We have a sunroom that is unheated, and it was cheaper for us to install a free-standing propane stove to heat it, which is why we have both,” said Lois Hollow. “We don’t turn the furnace on right away, we start the propane stove and the goes upstairs to save us a little bit at the beginning of the year.” Hollow also said the cost of oil has forced them to cut back on traveling and also put off some home upgrades that they had planned on doing. Contoocook resident Roland Dubois heats his home with oil, and locked his price in last year at $2.60 a gallon. “I am glad that I am, as we speak, adding insulation to the house,” said Dubois. I have no idea how much it will cost this year, but we are hoping that quite a bit of renovation will help.” The price of natural gas has increased as well. Edward Ramos of Bedford said he doesn’t know exact figures, but guesses that his bill has increased about 50 percent over the past two years. Ramos heats a 2,200- square-foot home with natural gas, and said he is forced to look at his budget and remove money from other areas. “We just do less of what we used to do. We don’t travel, or eat out as much, and that’s about it for now,” said Ramos, who said he tried to keep the temperature lower in the house during winter months. “We just wear more layers of clothing. Obviously we’d like to see the prices come down, but we don’t see it happening.” Dominick Rainone of Bedford uses gas to heat his 2,000-square-foot condo, but said he hasn’t felt too much of an increase. On his April bill, Rainone said he paid $97.85, and said during the winter months that bill would probably have been about $20 higher. His most recent bill was down to about $41. Although he hasn’t felt the increase in heating prices, Rainone said he said he is lucky to have gas heating his home. “I’ll say I am very lucky to have gas heating,” he said. “People who have oil have been telling me how expensive it is, and how much it’s been hurting their wallets.” Local governments feel some pressure Homeowners and town officials are both feeling the repercussions of rising heating costs, as both groups are forced to look inside their budgets to make up for higher than usual prices. With about half the year passed, Hopkinton has already gone over its budgeted fuel for the Town Hall. For this year, officials budgeted $4,400 for the Town Hall, and have already spent $4,600 due to the rising costs, something interim Town Administrator Bob Veloski said the town will need to make up for in other portions of the budget. “It’s frustrating for everybody. Every time you look, the cost of oil has jumped again,” said Veloski. “We’re trying to cut back in other areas to offset that so we don’t have a deficit.” The budgets in the other town buildings for heat are half or more than half spent, having gone through $4,300 of the allotted $6,000 for the Public Works building, $6,000 out of $10,000 for the fire station and about $2,400 of the $3,300 for the tax collector’s office with more cold weather left in the year. “It’s having a significant effect on all of the towns,” said Veloski. “We still have a significant portion of the winter to look at still.” Last year Hopkinton went over budget for heating in all of the buildings, but only by a few hundred dollars in each case. In 2007, Goffstown officials spent $28,829 to heat the library, three fire stations and the Parks and Recreation building, when only $20,713 was budgeted. “Other things didn’t get purchased. We try to manage within the bottom-line budget,” said Goffstown Town Administrator Susan Desruisseaux. “Sometimes, if you have a vacancy in a department, that didn’t get filled you can find some money. You’re always monitoring that.” So far in 2008, Goffstown has spent $12,947 out of its $27,537 heat budget for the buildings, and Desruisseaux said the high prices are frustrating. “It’s difficult. The gasoline and diesel are also affecting us. We’re trying to take energy conservation methods, but we’re still going to be over spent,” said Desrisseaux, who also said the town is in the process of doing energy studies for some of the town buildings. Oil providers in a tough spot, too
While they are in the moneymaking business, several oil companies in the state have said the through-the-roof prices are not exactly good for business, and are going to pose a problem this winter as they try not to buy too much for deliveries. “The biggest concerns are the elderly and people on fixed incomes,” said Bill West, manager of the Derry-based Rockingham Oil. “How are they going to come up with that money? They’re going to have to choose between heat and food, and that’s not a good place to be.” Rockingham Oil’s price is hovering at $4.49 a gallon right now, up more double from the $2.31 the company was selling a gallon for in March 2007. West said they’re still doing prebuy and budget plans, but won’t set a lock-in price until August. “For anybody in this industry, the lower the price, the more fuel you sell. But it’s a commodity – everybody needs it,” said West, adding sales are currently down and collections are higher. Ricky Barnard, manager of Contoocook Valley Fuel, said the oil prices aren’t good for anyone, oil companies included. Right now, Barnard said his company, a family-owned and operated business since 1961, is selling 150 gallons of oil at a discounted price of $4.59 per gallon. The company has a 100-gallon purchase minimum, and is selling 100 to 149 gallons for $4.69 per gallon. Like Rockingham, Contoocook Valley is still going to offer pre-buys and budget plans, but won’t set a price until the end of July or August. “I’m hoping it will get better. Some people say it will go higher, and others say it will come down and the bubble will pop,” said Barnard. He added the nation’s reliance on foreign oil sources should be actively diminished. “I think we should be allowed to drill inside the United States, and we need to update the refineries,’ said Barnard. Viking Oil, based in Candia, sold out of the oil it was selling at $4.49 a gallon in two days, according to owner John Mayland. “We usually go out with a contract at a stated price based on next heating season buys,” said Mayland. “This year, we sent out a letter to customers saying we have only so much oil, and to call from a price and contract paperwork. We sold out in two days at $4.49 a gallon. Now we’re selling at a higher price, $4.74 a gallon,” Mayland said. Mayland added the volatile market is making it hard to determine how much he should get for his customers. “We’ve been very careful about buying too much. We’re not sure how much people are going to use,” he said. A lot of customers have told him they’re going to keep their thermostats set extremely low and use space heaters, Mayland said. Fred Fuller Oil Company, one of the largest in the state, is selling oil at $4.59 a gallon right now. In June 2007, said general manager Bill Fuller, the price was $2.20 a gallon. “People can’t afford to fill their tanks or afford to do any pre-buy or budget plans,” said Fuller, adding the company will still offer both but has yet to lock in a rate. – Staff writer Sarah Lebrun contributed to this story.
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BY CAROLE KLEMENT HUXEL  Mark Duval of Goffstown made his first 4,000-foot mountain climb in 1994, when a friend invited him along on a hike up Mount Moosilauke. Already an avid climber, Duval and his wife, Nina, had climbed Mount Washington several times, and after climbing “Moose Hillock” he began to make two or three serious climbs a year.
“After a while, I was starting to make a dent in the (Four- Thousand Peak) list,” he said. “It became a goal. I met a couple more avid hikers and this gave me a good pool of people to hike with and they shared their experiences.” The 4,000 Foot Club was formed in 1957 to introduce hikers to some of the less well-known sections of the White Mountains. Currently a volunteer organization run by the American Mountain Club (AMC) Four Thousand Footer Committee, the New Hampshire club encourages and recognizes hikers that climb all of the White Mountain Region’s 48 4,000-foot peaks. Duval has completed 40 successful climbs and doesn’t have too many more mountains left in New Hampshire. Now his hiking has become a family affair, as his daughter joins him to complete his list. Preparations for each hike begin the night before, packing backpacks full of trail mix, clothes, and “miscellaneous stuff.” “The most important thing is good hiking footwear. Foul weather gear and warm clothes are a must,” said Duval. “Bring plenty of water, five or six bottles. First-aid kit, flashlight and a good pack that distributes the weight. Don’t forget your trail maps and/or GPS.” You will also want to bring your wallet, because there’s a $3 honor-system fee for parking at the trail heads. Duval pointed out that these hikes are not for someone with a fear of heights. “Some trails are very steep and come very close to some sharp drop-offs,” said Duval. Although he has yet to meet any bears, his wife advises caution to be on the safe side. One late-fall trip in 2000 started out pleasantly enough, with warm weather and clear skies. However, the days are much shorter in November, and Duval and his companion found themselves still coming down Mount Passaconaway at 8 p.m., stumbling around in dense woods and grateful to finally find an old logging trail out to the highway. If you are looking for the best views during your climb, Duval suggests the Tuckerman Ravine area. People who are just starting to climb might consider Mount Tecumseh, Mount Osceola and Mount Monadnock. “The most difficult climb was the Flume Slide Trail. This one was very steep on very slippery rocks, and we were huffing and puffing when we got to the top.” The Flume peak is smack dab in the middle of the Four- Thousand Peak list, at 4,328 feet. The “shortest” peak on the list is Mount Tecumseh, at 4,003 feet. Duval’s first Four-Thousand Footer Mountain, back in 1994, happened to be in the top 10 out of the 48 mountains on the list, coming in at more than 4,800 feet. This year, his priority is to finish Mount Jefferson, which is 5,712 feet.
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BY STEPHEN BEALE Founded 90 years ago as a school run by the Religious of Jesus and Mary, the Villa Augustina was reborn this week as an independent Catholic school with parents at its helm. “This year … we’ve all been holding our breath for so long, afraid that there might be no more Rosary Hall masses, basketball games, Saints’ processions or talent shows,” the Villa Augustina Leadership Transition Team wrote in a letter to parents earlier this week. “We feared that June 30, 2008, might be the final day of the Villa’s long history. Instead, June 30 marked the Villa’s purchase and transfer to a new organization, and July 1 is the birthday of the Villa’s new life as a Catholic school that holds fast to its old, traditional mission of academic excellence and loving service.” In a quiet, 20-minute ceremony on Monday, June 20, Carol Barrett, the chair of a new board of directors, signed the papers effecting the purchase of the school for $400,000 from the Religious of Jesus and Mary, which founded it nearly a century ago but is no longer able to support it. “We’re sitting inside a very old school, but it’s a very new school simultaneously,” said Gary Bouchard, a spokesman for parents. Parents want to preserve the heritage of the Religious of Jesus and Mary. Some members of the order will continue to work at the school, and the new legal name – the St. Claudine Villa Academy – is in honor of St. Claudine Thevenet, who founded the religious order at Lyons, France, in 1818. But the Villa Augustina still will have to forge a new identity as an independent Catholic school – not affiliated with a religious order or parish and not integrated into the diocesan school system. “For 90 years, we’ve been an RJM school,” Barrett said. “That’s how we’ve identified who we are, but now we’re something different.” Yesterday, Barrett and her colleagues said they hoped their story would become an inspiration to other Catholic schools in the country facing closure. Since 2000, more than 150 Catholic elementary, middle and high schools across the country have been shut down every year, according to the National Catholic Education Association. In New Hampshire, St. Albert’s School in West Stewartstown closed in 2003 and the St. Michael School in Berlin followed suit last year. Six months ago, all the signs pointed toward a similar fate for the Villa Augustina School, which has students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. In an emotional meeting with parents last December, representatives of the Religious of Jesus and Mary said their order was relinquishing control of the school, making its closure likely. Aside from financial difficulties, the order also said it was confronted with declining recruitment and an aging membership. Parents pledged to do everything they could to save the school. “I think if we knew what we were getting into, it might have been overwhelming,” Barrett said. The obstacles were formidable: parents would need to raise $400,000 to purchase the school and another half million or so for serious repairs, not to mention a litany of other logistical and legal hurdles. “There were times when we were sitting there saying, ‘This isn’t going to happen,’” Barrett recalled. Parents were able to buy the school building and surrounding 33 acres, thanks to a separate set of donations, including $100,000 again from an anonymous donor and a $100,000 gift from the monks of Saint Anselm College. St. Mary’s Bank has loaned an additional $200,000 to the St. Claudine Villa Academy, the nonprofit corporation parents established to run the school. Although the name technically has changed for legal reasons, the school will still be able to refer to itself as the Villa Augustina, according to the terms of the sale.
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Crispin’s House Inc., a nonprofit program for at-risk youth, hosts its annual one-pitch softball tournament on Saturday, Aug. 9, at the Goffstown Junior Baseball Villa Augustina Fields, starting at 9 a.m. Al Baines, president of Crispin’s House and the tournament director, said the event was moved from its usual Friday night slot in the hope that more teams will participate and more families will come out to enjoy the fun atmosphere the tourney generates. There will be raffles and a concessions stand with burgers, hot dogs, drinks and popcorn. All proceeds from the charity event benefit Crispin’s House programming, including the after-school program at Mountain View Middle School, the Goffstown Area Juvenile Diversion Program, the Starfish Coalition Teen Cafe and the Goffstown Youth Forum. “Crispin’s House works to prevent juvenile delinquency, drug, tobacco and alcohol involvement through positive leisure-time activities, resources and education,” said Baines, noting Crispin’s House is based in Goffstown but serves New Boston, Dunbarton, Weare and Francestown. The tournament is a onepitch, double-elimination format, and trophies will be awarded to the first- and second- place teams. Each game has a 30-minute time limit or five-inning maximum, whichever comes first. Home runs are considered an out. Each team can field 10 players defensively, with no limit to the number of players on a team. The entry fee is $100 per team. To register a team or for additional information, call 497-3499.
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In Goffstown Babe Ruth action: Red Wings 6 – Sea Dogs 5
Dante Distaso belted a walkoff home run on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh as the Red Wings captured the minor league title with a win over the scrappy Sea Dogs. Riley Palmer and Steven French held the Sea Dogs to three runs though six innings, but Matt Riehl delivered a tworun triple to tie the game at 5-5 and set the stage for Distaso, who also doubled in the contest. French plated two runners, Shawn Bond and Jeremy Boucher both doubled, and Mark Misiorski and Mike Whintey added singles for the champs, coached by Dave French, Chris Misiorski, Steve Bond, Jeff Dorow and Bert Boucher. Pat Naughton, Ryan Lange and Brian Yost each collected two hits for the Sea Dogs, coached by Jim Lange, John Riehl and Kevin Naughton. • • • In Goffstown Junior Baseball action: NuWave Electric 11 – Northeastern Sheet Metal 0
Maxx Chambers and Thomas Hurley homered, and Zach Peters, backed by a fine running catch by Connor Anderson, pitched well in NuWave's win. Paradise, Raymond & Jalbert CPAs 13 – Landscape Plus 9
Nic Larochelle singled and tripled, and Cameron Bond and Josh Lacerte each doubled and singled in the CPA win. Riley Rain, Vincent Dorow, Robbie Girardin and Ryan Richard added hits for the victors. Lacerte and Bond combined for 10 strikeouts, and Dorow pitched well to end the game. Trevor Smith doubled for Landscape, while Tyler Smith, Camden Gagnon and Brad Beleveau singled. Beleveau, Gagnon and Max Lapoint pitched for Landscape. Paradise, Raymond & Jalbert CPAs 15 – Mansour Orthodontics 12
Cameron Bond hit a threerun home run, and Josh Lacerte clubbed a two-run double as the CPAs won a first-round playoff game. Jack Nordin added an RBI. Pitchers Lacerte, Nic Larochelle and Bond teamed for 12 strikeouts. Casey Gervais produced a multiple-hit game for Mansour, including a triple, and Joe Lagasse, Cody Morel, Mike Pooler, Andrew Biron and Conor Sweisz added to the attack. Nathan Proulx shared mound chores with Gervais and Biron. NuWave Electric 9 – Goffstown Physical Therapy 8
NuWave battled back from a six-run deficit, and Marcus Haynes delivered a go-ahead triple in the fifth inning as Nu- Wave escaped with a first-round playoff win. Maxx Chambers pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief, recording all seven outs via strikeout, to earn the win. Thomas Hurley went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Dan Swift and Nick Zylak keyed NuWave rallies in the second and fourth innings. • • • In Kearsarge Mountain South Goffstown Babe Ruth softball action: Goffstown NuWave 6 – Weare Kilar 4
In the first round of the U10 playoffs, Jasmine Colon, Nicole Anderson, Amber Davis and Megan Menard, who delivered a key hit and fine baserunning, led Goffstown to the win. Makayla Fleming and Emma Campbell combined for 17 strikeouts, and their batterymates, catchers Olivia St. Jean and Jasmine Colon, also played well. Chico’s Driving Center 10 – Goffstown Hardware 4
Chico’s Driving Center won the U-12 Babe Ruth softball championship on June 15, beating Goffstown Hardware, 10-4, to conclude a perfect season. Emma Olson and Sidney Elithorpe each threw three innings, and they were backed by strong play from all of their teammates. Olson also added two triples at the plate to help her own cause. The game ended with a sterling catch in left field by Meghan Callanan, who received the game ball for her strong effort.
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BY STEPHEN BEALE Parents at the Villa Augustina School are hoping to not only preserve what they had this year – a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade Catholic school – but also expand upon it by adding a daycare program this fall. Greg Tracy, a member of the Villa Augustina Leadership Transition Team, said the program would be more than just a day care, a place to drop off children while parents go to work. It would instead be a structured, educational and developmental program for 3-year-olds that would complement what the school offers to 4-year-olds in pre-kindergarten up to students in middle school. The Villa Augustina will not need a license to be a day care, since it is already certified as a school, Tracy noted. He said the teachers in the program are professionally qualified to be instructors in a day care setting. Tracy said the program could run from three to five days and be half or full days. Most of the details are still being hashed out. “It’s all in the planning stages now,” Tracy said. “Nothing is set in stone.” The school is soliciting input and gauging interest from Villa Augustina parents as well as the greater Goffstown community. “We’re open to suggestions, to trying to satisfy the majority of families that respond,” Tracy added. So far, he said about 10 to 15 families from the Villa Augustina have expressed an interest. He said the school wants to enroll at least eight to 10 in the day care, but could easily expand to 20 pupils or more. Tracy said the new program is a way of boosting enrollment, which has gone from a little more than 300 a few years ago to approximately 200 students next year. Several parents in the past have inquired about day care, he added. Now that the school has the space for it, he said it makes sense to start the program. Tracy said the timing was also right, given the crowding at other day cares in the area. Some of about a dozen day cares he surveyed have waiting lists. Anyone interested in the Villa Augustina day care should call the school office at 497- 2361.
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BY CAROLE KLEMENT HUXEL From January to December in 2011, Goffstown will pull out all the stops to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the town. The village of Goffstown was incorporated in 1761, and 250 years later, there are almost 18,000 people living in town. There have already been several meetings held to discuss different events and possibilities. Suggestions have included a big parade with floats and music, a family fair especially for the kids, winter events such as Goffstown First Night, and even a Grand Finale Gala. With an emphasis on historic education and celebration, the 250th Anniversary Committee also hopes to include a legacy for children. Community organizations are busy considering how they can include their annual events in this anniversary celebration. Local churches will lend a hand, as well as the Class of 2011 at Goffstown High School. The Goffstown 250th Anniversary Committee invites everyone interested in joining the team to attend their next meeting, on Sept. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at Grasmere Town Hall. If you already belong to a community organization, consider sending a representative to this meeting to learn more about what’s already being planned. If you are a community member who has been waiting for the right time to volunteer, this would be that time! If you are interested but not ready to commit yourself, that’s OK too. You can jump in when you are ready, or send a donation and then enjoy the parties and events in 2011.
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BY STEPHEN BEALE A family brought closer together by one fire has been separated by another. In March, Keith Moore and his wife Toni lost most of their 58 Elm St. home to a fire. Since then, he has lived with his daughter, Shannon Moody, and her family at their home on 32 N. Mast Road, scarcely a mile away. But now the family again found itself displaced by a fire. “It rains, it pours,” Moody said. Fire Chief Rich O’Brien said the investigation into the cause of the June 23 fire indicated it had been caused by lightning. O’Brien said the electricity in the house had been affected by the lightning. Earlier in the day, during lunchtime, he said the fire crew on duty at the Church Street fire station had seen a lightning bolt strike close by. Something ignited in the basement, sending flames shooting up into the main two floors of the home and the attic. Moody discovered the fire when she was returning to the home about 4:45 in the afternoon. As she approached her kitchen door, she said she saw the smoke. Moody left her daughter, Kameryn, 3, outside, while she ran in to get her cat Popeye, who was in one of the upper floors. She could not find a second cat, Mystic. Since she knew her family was safe, she said her first thought was of her cats still in the house. Hours after firefighters had extinguished the last hot spot in her house, Mystic was still missing. A third cat, Lucky, survived the Elm Street fire and was living with relatives in Manchester. After rescuing her other cat, she called her husband, David Moody, who had been doing some cleaning up on the construction site where a new home is being built for his father-inlaw. Moody and her family rent the North Mast Road home from Jude Charpentier, who said he has not had similar problems with fire and electricity in the past. An annex behind the main part of the house contains five apartments, none of which appeared to be damaged by the fire. O’Brien said firefighters prevented the fire from spreading beyond the front basement. He said the department planned to return most of the tenants to their apartments in time for the night, but said it would take longer to inspect the safety of the house electrical system for Moody and her parents. The night of the fire, Moore stayed with his sister-in-law in Sanbornton. He is weeks away from moving back into his reconstructed home on Elm Street. The Red Cross put his daughter up in the Quality in Bedford. She also has relatives with whom she can live in Manchester. A second strike
On June 22, another Goffstown home was also hit by lightning, bringing out fire fighting power from Goffstown, Bedford, New Boston, Dunbarton and Weare. The second floor and roof of the home of Craig and Jennifer Hollinrake at 78 Winter Hill Road were severely damaged when a bolt hit the home that afternoon. O’Brien said the call for that strike came in around 3:30 p.m. from a neighbor who initially thought the lightning struck their own house. The neighbor went outside to investigate and saw smoke coming from the Hollinrake home. Firefighters were at the home within two or three minutes, O’Brien said, and battled the flames for about an hour before they were smothered. The Hollinrakes were out of town at the time, but their dog, which O’Brien described as a golden lab, was inside the home. Firefighters were able to gain entry into the home before the flames overwhelmed the home and got the dog out safely. The hole in the roof where the bolt hit was about 18 inches in diameter, O’Brien said. Firefighters have to take extra caution with fires caused by lightning strikes due to the heightened risk of “hidden fires” inside the walls and ceiling of the structure hit. O’Brien said there was nothing unique about the home that would attract the lightning, adding there are trees taller than the home in the yard as well as utility poles nearby with transformers. “By looking at the strike area, it centered around the electrical system right there, and there was significant damage to the wiring. It also targeted the copper pipes to the baseboard heating,” said O’Brien. “It was looking for a ground and it found it, one way or another.” Staff writer Jenn McDowell contributed to this story.
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BY RYAN O’CONNOR Weeks before Goffstown’s varsity baseball squad earned the first Class L title in program history, another group of Grizzlies celebrated a similar accomplishment. With a 5-1 victory against Salem, on May 26, the GHS JV team completed an undefeated season to capture its second-straight state crown. In fact, the last time the Grizzlies lost was May, 2007, a stretch that extends 30 games. And as the varsity players and coaches finished their onfield celebration and prepared to carry the festivities onto the bus back to GHS, Teri Gatzoulis stood in the dugout clutching the state title. It was, after all, his second trophy in the past month. Indeed, the Grizzlies’ junior varsity head coach, and varsity assistant, knows all too well the joys of winning on the high school baseball diamond. But he’s not about to take all the credit for Goffstown’s success. “Me and coach Benson and my assistant coach, Nick Jaskolka ... we’re all on the same page, from the freshman team to the JV team to the varsity team, you know, we practice and play the same way,” said Gatzoulis. “And we have a bunch of good kids that played together for a long time coming up from Little League to Babe Ruth to (American) Legion ball. They know how to win together.” “We have nine seniors at the varsity level and those (JV) guys are going to have to fill their shoes. They’re the future of Goffstown baseball coming up,” he continued. “They’re committed to baseball from day one through the last day. And you can’t teach that. That comes from the heart, that comes from the parents, that comes from their coaches growing up.” Those who contributed during the JV team’s run this season include Steve Beal, Mike Bisceglia, Dante Distaso, Steven French, Andy Gordon, Mark Misiorski, Pat Naughton, Riley Palmer, Brad York, Brian Yost, Colby Couture, Ryan Beal, Reece Easton, Jake Glauser, Ryan Smith, and Alex Wageling. Couture, French, Palmer, Smith and Distaso handled the majority of the pitching load. Steve Beal played catcher most of the season until an injury forced him to play first base and close games for the remainder of the year. Ryan Beal took over for his older brother behind the plate. Yost also handled some catching duties while playing the infield as well. Smith, Glauser, Palmer, Naughton, Wageling, French and Distaso all played fine defense in the infield, while York, Gordon, Misiorski, Couture, and Easton ran down balls in the outfield. On their path to a state title, the Grizzlies defeated Londonderry, 11-2, and Trinity, 19- 1, before taking care of Salem in the finale. But winning is nothing new to this group. According to Babe Ruth President Steve Beal, of the 16 players who started the season on the JV squad, 14 have won at least one state championship in Babe Ruth tournament play. In fact, Bisceglia, Distaso, Gordon, Misiorski, Naughton, Palmer, and York garnered three consecutive state crowns. In 2009, it’s Gatzoulis and the junior varsity squad that play for a three-peat. - Steve Beal contributed to this story.
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BY RYAN O’CONNOR  Throughout the season, Matt Benson and his players committed to never look back, only forward.
Now the Goffstown baseball coach has no choice but to glance into the past. He is, after all a state champion. Benson and the thirdseeded Grizzlies captured the school’s first Class L title with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Salem on Saturday, June 14 at Manchester’s MerchantsAuto. com Stadium. “It’s something we kind of thought when we got out of Class I it would just happen every year, but this league is just so competitive, it took awhile to earn it” said Benson. “Now we’re going to put the first Class L banner up on the wall.” And the coach couldn’t have imagined it happening a better way. Indeed, he watched his nine seniors - specifically Kory Kiro and Eric Badasarian - carry their teammates across the threshold. While Kiro notched the game-winning RBI, it was Badasarian who came into the contest in the bottom of the seventh inning, with two runners on and no outs, and protected the Goffstown lead. “Those two have had their ups and downs this year, and for them to keep their positive attitudes and say ‘Hey, I’m going to make it happen when it’s my time...’ well, they did that today,” said Benson. “That’s how you win titles, is with your seniors. “What a run. I tell ya, what a special group,” he added. “They’re good kids, they’ve got strong character, and they’re fun to be around.” Benson said Salem - a squad that matched his in terms of talent and class - proved the toughest team he’s seen in his six years at the GHS helm. Blue Devils’ coach Dan Keleher admitted if his top-seeded unit was to lose, he couldn’t think of a better rival to shake hands with following the game. “We’re pretty close, Matt and I. We talk a lot in the offseason, and watch a lot of Babe Ruth games together in the summer,” he said. “I know all those guys. They’re a good, solid ball club and they’re evenly matched with our guys. They’ve had some battles since they were in Little League." In fact, Keleher said the most recent contest ranks among the most competitive title games in state history. “It’s probably up there in the tops,” he said. “I mean, we had runners in scoring position in the seventh with less than two outs. We had a chance to do it and we didn’t.” Indeed, Salem had many chances, but time and time again, the locals put a pitchfork in the Blue Devils’ momentum. After Goffstown pitcher Tom MacDonald dueled with Salem’s Larry Weymouth for the first two innings, it was Goffstown that crossed home plate first. In the top of the third inning, MacDonald lined a single into right field and Travis Rand reached on a bunt. MacDonald came all the way home from second on a wild pitch and overthrow to third. Steve Case’s RBI single plated Rand from third. Goffstown padded its lead in the fourth inning when Josh Lafond reached and took second. Kory Kiro singled the runner to third and Eric Badasarian provided the RBI. But the Blue Devils charged back. In the bottom of the fourth inning Salem’s Joe O’Dell and Kyle Johnson led off with back-to-back singles, and Larry Weymouth walked to load the bases. After two quick outs, Brad White came into the game and hit a pinch-hit single to score O’Dell and pinch runner Mark Bergeron. Weymouth and Matt Hardy kept the Grizzlies at bay from the pitching mound, and in the sixth inning, Salem once again loaded the bases - this time with one out. Junior Josh Jones took a free pass to first to bring Greg Bates home and tie the contest. But in the seventh inning, Goffstown notched a go-ahead run and put the pressure back on Salem. Hickey singled to shallow center and was replaced by pinch runner Brad York. Ryan Allen singled York to second and Lafond moved him to third on a fielders choice that took Allen out at second. That’s when Kory Kiro stepped to the plate and brought the game-winning run home. “Pinch me because I must not be awake right now,” said Kiro. “I seriously couldn’t have dreamt this any better.”
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BY STEPHEN BEALE They were supposed to be the last graduating class of the Villa Augustina. Instead, the 19 eighth-graders who received their diplomas on Sunday, June 15, seemed destined for a less historic yet far happier honor – they are graduates of a school founded by the Religious of Jesus and Mary 90 years ago, an institution that has been and almost certainly will continue to be an icon of Catholic education in the greater Manchester community. “Great comebacks can happen,” said Gary Bouchard, the graduation speaker. “And you know what? It’s not always in the distant world of professional sports or in the movies.” Soon after news broke that the school was on the brink of closing, Principal Jack Daniels asked Bouchard, an English professor at Saint Anselm College, to speak at graduation. “My immediate thought was, ‘I’m going to be giving a eulogy. I don’t want to do that,’” Bouchard recalled. Bouchard, whose two sons attended the school, had also been tapped by Daniels to recruit parents for a last-ditch effort to save the school. For the next six months, Bouchard worked hard, determined not to be the last graduation speaker. Behind the scenes, he organized the Villa Augustina Leadership Transition Team, or VALTT – a name he coined. As the name suggests, the team has handled the transition from a school affiliated with a religious order to one run by laymen, mainly the parents themselves. Bouchard also was very much out in the open, serving as the public spokesman to the media. Yesterday, Bouchard reminded eighth-graders how far their school had come. “You may remember, and I hope that you do, that in December of this past year, it was decided that you, the Class of 2008, would be the last class to ever graduate from the Villa Augustina,” he said. Bouchard told students they had learned a lesson: that miracles do happen, if you have faith and match that faith with work. “You and I have witnessed a miracle in our midst,” he continued. “And in that, you were taught a lesson more valuable than anything anyone could ever teach you in a classroom. You were taught to believe.” Daniels said the eighth-grade class had bonded this year as the fate of their school hung in the balance. Their parents’ enduring faith in the school’s future had made an impression on the students, according to Daniels. “That’s a lesson you will take with you,” he said. “If I truly give myself to something, even when the odds are against me, it can be accomplished.” At the end of graduation, which took place at the Saint Anselm College abbey, students sang a medley of pop songs, including “Livin’ on a Prayer,” by Bon Jovi. The following are the 2008 graduates: Joseph Anderson, Emily Barrett, Graham Beaudoin, Amy Bouchard, Daniel Ciruzzi, Chantel deRochemont, Aidan Donovan, Taylor Giarmmarino, Eric Hambleton, Elaina Lavigne, Perri Maliska, Kiersten Photiades, Abigail Piergross, Grace Pope, Katy Richardson, Tyler Sweetser, Kyra Thiel, Maria Turner and Anastasia Yogas. “They really were a fun-loving, high-spirited class, with creativity,” Daniels said. The class almost attained another distinction – of being the first class to graduate after the religious order that shaped the school for nearly a century turned it over to parents. Their graduation was weeks away from the scheduled closing date of the sale of the Villa Augustina School. “We’re getting close to the finish line,” Bouchard said, “which is also the beginning of a marathon.”
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BY STEPHEN BEALE  There are many ways one could measure how bright a valedictorian is. There are the spotless, straight-A transcripts, the accumulation of advanced placement courses, or the acceptance into an Ivy League college. Tyler Clites, of Dunbarton, who is the valedictorian for Goffstown High School this year, has all those marks of an exceptional student. Then, there is the pogo stick.
According to Principal Frank McBride, Clites can solve a Rubik’s cube while jumping on a pogo stick. “Two and a half, three minutes later, the Rubik’s cube will be finished,” McBride said. McBride said Clites was as bright a student as any he has seen in his seven years as an administrator at Goffstown High. His academic achievements, combined with his athleticism and school spirit, make him unique, McBride said. As a young child, Clites at first did not come across as a gifted student. Instead, his elementary school thought he had attention deficit disorder. After an examination, however, his school realized something else was wrong. It turned out he was not being challenged in his classes. By the time he entered high school, Clites was performing well above average, especially in math. His freshman year, he took two courses: algebra II and geometry. The following year, he completed AP statistics and pre-calculus, then moved onto the calculus courses available at the school. This year, the school district covered his tuition for a calculus III course at Saint Anselm College. Although he is most proficient at math, his passion is for the humanities. “I really enjoy other subject areas,” Clites said. “I really like discussion and debate.” He often will get into deep conversations with one of his close friends on topics such as the existence of God and the origin of human moral intuitions. He is looking forward to more of that when he heads to Harvard University this fall. But Clites is not consumed by the world of academia – whether it be math, science or the humanities. “That’s something I’ve worked on,” Clites said. “I really do like to have the social aspect of it.” He is the vice president of his class, giving him a seat on the student council, and holds the same position for the National Honor Society. Clites has also been active in Model Congress and is an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts. In addition, he is involved in the priesthood program in his church, the Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ. Clites spends much of his time with school sports. For three years, he has been a varsity wrestler, and when he is not in the sports arena himself, he is one of the most devoted fans for other athletes, said McBride. Once, for a championship baseball game this year, Clites showed up in full body paint, half maroon and half white – the school colors. Clites will stand out again as the valedictorian speaker at graduation, which is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, at the Saint Anselm College Sullivan Arena. Todd Lavallee, the dean of students and the wrestling coach for Clites, said it is a moment he deserves. “This is the moment that he’s going to be in the spotlight,” Lavallee said. “I’m proud to see him in that position.”
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BY STEPHEN BEALE High school bands, move on over. Now elementary schools are getting into the marching band act, beginning here in Goffstown. The 68-student Maple Avenue Elementary marching recorder band made its debut at the town Memorial Day parade in May, marching along with its Goffstown High School counterpart. The school said it is the first and only marching recorder band composed of elementary school students in the country. Chris Gantner, the music teacher who organized the band, said he reached that conclusion after extensive online research and conversations with colleagues. The closest equivalent he found was in Singapore. None was in the United States. Gantner said the marching recorder band became a way for him to engage more students in music. “I wanted to do something different to still spark the interest of kids who may not be the best singers,” Gantner said. So far, the response has been more than he expected. Because the band – which is limited to third- and fourth-graders – is not part of the regular school curriculum, Gantner had to work with students outside of the time for music class, running drills and teaching them marching moves during recess. Most students, he said, are eager to show up and participate. “When you push them to different levels, then they can exceed your expectations,” Gantner said. In just a short period of time, they have learned how to march while playing their recorders and they have memorized six songs, including “Yankee Doodle,” Taps,” and the theme song for “SpongeBob SquarePants.” “When kids have fun and they like what they’re doing, they learn,” Gantner said. Normally, students in public school elementary music programs begin playing band instruments in the fifth grade, and they do not march until middle school, according to Gantner. The marching recorder band, Gantner said, gives a similar experience to students earlier, at the elementary level. Students in the two lower grades, he added, are already excited about being able to be in the school band when they get older. “It sounded like it would be a big challenge, and I really like to be challenged, so I liked it,” said Rebecca Olson, 10, a fourth-grader. Directing a band is also something of a career aspiration for Gantner, who has been a music teacher at the Maple Avenue Elementary School for three years. Many music teachers, he said, start out in the elementary setting and do not get a band until they move on to high school. But Gantner said he is happy being at an elementary school. “I said, ‘I can create my own band,’” he recalled. He said what he first thought of as an experiment has turned out to be a success. He has big plans for the future. “I’m hoping that one day we might get good enough to march in the parade in New York,” Gantner said. “Then Londonderry High School won’t be the only one there.” Already, the elementary marching band is attracting attention outside of the Granite State. Gantner said he had been contacted by a music teacher in Indiana who wanted to form her own. “It made me proud that she wrote me and wanted to do something like that,” Gantner said. The activity has also been really popular with parents, he added. He said he receives emails almost daily from parents with positive feedback on the program. One father, he added, who is a colonel in the military, even complimented Gantner on his marching calls. More information about the Maple Avenue school’s music program is available online at www.aluraensemble.com/music1.html.
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BY RYAN O’CONNOR  Matt Benson and his nine seniors know all too well how easy it is to trip and fall at the Class L championship threshold.
Last year, Goffstown stumbled in the semifinals to upstart Trinity, a squad that entered the postseason as the No. 13 seed after a 10-12 regular season. With their collective hand knocking on the door once again, the Grizzlies say they’re ready to take their turn. “We learned a lesson last year that we need to have controlled passion,” said Benson. “You know, we can’t get too high, we can’t get too low, and that includes the coaching. I’m just as guilty.” Maintaining focus, harnessing intensity and limiting mistakes are, of course, key, but learning to win even when things don’t go as planned is important too, said the manager. Against No. 6 Londonderry, for example, in the state quarterfinals on Saturday, June 7, Goffstown rallied from a 3-1 second-inning deficit and tied the contest in the bottom of the fourth. In the sixth, the Grizzlies took advantage of a handful of Lancer miscues to secure a 4-3 victory. Senior Kory Kiro led off the inning with a single and took second on an overthrow to first base. Riley Palmer reached on a bunt, moving Kiro to third, and Mike Bisceglia took fi rst to load the bases. After a fielder’s choice, Travis Rand hit a hard chopper right off the first baseman’s shoulder to bring fellow senior Eric Badasarian, a pinch runner, home from third. Matt Gifford closed the game and secured the win for his senior co-captain, Tom Mac- Donald. Still, Benson knows his squad was fortunate to escape with the victory. “(We) can’t play like that in the semifinals. I mean, we battled through the adversity … You’ve got to make the plays, and we did that when it counted,” he said. “One thing about baseball is you can play awful in some games and come back and play great the next game, and vice versa.” In addition to the aforementioned seniors, Steve Case, Ryan Allen, Matt Auger-Lencki and Nick Campasano look to close their high school careers at the top of Class L. The Grizzlies were scheduled to play No. 15 Memorial in the semifinals on Wednesday, June 11.
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