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West faces future without Bedford students

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:49:00 GMT

By MATT SCHOOLEY

After the final Bedford student walks across the stage during Manchester High School West’s graduation ceremony on June 20, a new era will officially begin at the school.

What that era will consist of remains to be seen.

With Bedford students no longer filling the hallways and classrooms at the school, West administrators will meet challenges, but also find new benefits for their students.

“It is going to impact the whole school,” said Manchester School Board member Art Beaudry. “I think aside from the social part of it, I think the major impact will be in sports. We may be eliminating several sports because of low numbers.”

Beaudry said he believes the best solution would be to move Hooksett students from Central to West, but he knows it is an option that is made complicated by the city’s contract.

“That would make things better for the city of Manchester as a whole,” said Beaudry. “Central is getting overcrowded while West will struggle because they don’t have enough students. The way the contract is drafted we would have to renegotiate it.”

Hooksett School Board Chairman Paul Cournoyer said a high school study committee will gather data on the new West setup, but he believes most questions won’t be answered until the school year begins again this fall. “West will certainly have a new identity, but the Hooksett students will continue to strive, I am confident,” said Cournoyer.

“A smaller school can be a better environment, but that remains to be seen.” After multiple years of having an under-capacity building, the new Bedford High School’s classrooms will finally be full when the new school year kicks off.

Bedford High School Principal George Edwards said administrators expect to fill the building with 1,250 students and about 90 teachers, hosting seniors for the first time.

While Edwards, who recently resigned as the school’s principal but is finishing out this school year, said he is excited about the prospect of Bedford having a full school, he is also aware of the impact that will be felt in Manchester.

“The number of students West has lost is really significant,” said Edwards. “From an academic standpoint, many of the top students have been Bedford students, so when you start to lose a good number of academically talented students, it leaves a hole.”

In Bedford, the first day of school this fall will be a monumental day for the town, and Edwards said the school will benefit from the experience of students who have been in the building since the door opened.

“I think that having the leadership of a senior class next year will be one of the things the students will feel that’ll be different and positive,” said Edwards. It’s been simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. It’s been professionally rewarding to have the opportunitiy to work with the community and staff, but it’s also been a lot of work.”

While the low numbers and potential impact on programs is a concern, there are also positive ramifications of the loss of Bedford residents.

“There will be less students in the class, so the teachers will have more one-on-one education time with students,” said Beaudry. “Also, classes that may not have been available before because they were full will now be available. That’s a big plus.”

Cournoyer agreed that the smaller numbers could lead to a better learning environment, and also said the board is constantly monitoring the situation to find what is in the best interest of the Hooksett students attending West.

Edwards said there will be opportunities for the remaining West students to step up and fill roles they previously hadn’t in order to keep programs and classes running as they previously had.

“There will certainly be some significant changes at West,” said Edwards. “Hopefully the city will be able to implement some strategies to offset the loss of so many students and continue running the school successfully.”

FIRST robotics competition is Feb. 27 and 28; this year’s game tries to simulate the moon’s gravity

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:47:00 GMT

BY GINGER KOZLOWSKI

Lunacy. An apt description of the idea a bunch of high school kids could design and build a robot capable of playing a game under conditions similar to the moon’s surface in just six weeks. But that is exactly what teams involved in this year’s FIRST robotics competition are doing for this year’s game, called “Lunacy.”

In the game, robots will play on a slippery surface, meant to simulate gravity one-sixth of the Earth’s, just like on the moon. Two threeteam robot alliances collect and store balls in trailers attached to the opposing team’s robots, with human plays positioned around the perimeter to score by throwing balls in the trailers.

The robots play without human intervention for the first 15 seconds, then are operated by radio control for the remaining two minutes. West High School’s Team 501, the PowerKnights, is ready to play.

“Unlike previous years where we finished the robot just in time to ship,” said Bedford senior Chris Costes, “this year we completed construction of the major robot features about a week in advance of the ship date. Though we completed construction early, the remaining week was used to the fullest and allowed us time for testing and tweaking.”

Coming up with ways to cope with the slippery surface were important to the team.

“The drive train we decided on is a six-wheel system with all wheels powered using a singlespeed transmission on each side of the robot,” he said.

“There were many ideas discussed about how to manipulate the moon rocks. Ultimately we decided to build upon the system we used during the Aim High competition two years ago.

There are a pair of rollers at the front of the robot that are used to suck the moon rocks off the floor where they are stored in a hopper. Towards the back of the robot there is a “magazine” where we can store up to four moon rocks, ready to be shot.

“On top of this magazine there is a turret that holds our shooter, able to launch moon rocks about 5 feet. This turret can be controlled by the operator and can rotate about 270 degrees. We also have a camera mounted on the turret that can be used to track the opposing team’s trailer markers and aid in aiming the turret,” said Costes.

Other local teams competing this year include Bedford High School, Team 509; St. Paul’s School, Concord, Team 1512; Bishop Brady High School, Team 1517; Hopkinton High School and John Stark High School, Team 1922; Pinkerton Academy, Team 241; Memorial High School, Team 238; Trinity High School, Team 40; Central High School, Team 131; and Pembroke Academy, Team 134.

The BAE regional competition takes place at the Verizon Wireless Arena Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28. Admission is free.

Towns line up for their share of the federal stimulus funds

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:31:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

State and town officials across New Hampshire have been preparing for the passing of the latest economic stimulus proposal, and now that it’s official, the waiting game begins for potential projects.

Several towns in the area began scrambling to finalize plans for projects in hopes that potential stimulus money could help fund some, if not all of the work.

In Hooksett, town officials scrambled to prepare a warrant article for residents to approve dealing with upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment facility and compost facility.

The town is asking for $9.4 million for the project, with taxpayers paying 25 percent and the other $7 million coming from a potential grant from money made available to the state.

If the article is passed but the grant is not given to Hooksett, the article is voided.

“The article had to be rather vague, and the council had trouble getting their mind around it,” said Sewer Commission Chairman Sid Baines. “We did what we were supposed to do so we could be in the ballgame. We had to have something. We’re proposing something that can be adjusted at the floor.”

Bow taxpayers approved a sewer and water project in 2000, authorizing a $12 million bond designed to attract businesses to Route 3A.

The project has not yet gone forward for various reasons, but with plans for the stimulus coming closer to fruition, selectmen agreed to send the project out to bid in late January in order to be eligible when the proposal was passed.

Leon Kenison, chairman for the Board of Selectmen, said town officials have been cautiously optimistic as they hope for money to fund the project.

“On the one hand, we’re hopeful that we’ll be eligible for funding that will come through,” said Kenison. “However, on the other hand we are realists, and we know there are many others also seeking funding. It would certainly be nice if we could use some for this project.”

Bedford Town Manager Russ Marcoux said the town prepared a modest list of projects it hoped to have funded by the state, including work on Route 101.

In total, Bedford town officials asked for $8.45 million in projects from the state’s part of the stimulus money.

“Whatever money is put aside for local communities will be on first-come, first-serve and shovel-ready within a 90-day period. Most projects we can be ready if we have to be,” Marcoux said. “We’ve been in constant contact with the state throughout and we’re feeling fairly comfortable that it’ll be funded, but I am hesitant to say in total.”

In Gov. John Lynch’s recent proposed budget, he suggests suspending rebates on the room and meal tax and also revenue sharing, making up the difference with stimulus money.

Marcoux said those two areas would lead to a loss of a projected $1.88 million in revenues for the town, which would mean Bedford taxpayers would feel the impact of about 36 cents on the tax rate.

“I don’t think it’s been well thought out. There is no cookiecutter community financing. All of the towns are different,” Marcoux said. “For us to find out halfway through the year that we’ll lose revenue through the state is not conscionable to me. We need to be prepared.”

One project that will definitely receive assistance from the approved stimulus package will be the improvements on I- 93 at Exit 3 in Windham.

The project is currently out to bid, and project manager Peter Stamnas said with the down state of the economy, construction workers will be eager to get their hands on the work.

“We expect to receive a good number of bids. People are hungry, they’re sharpening their pencils and we’re getting competitive bids,” said Stamnas. “In most cases they just want to keep the people that they have employed. It’s going to keep people working, there’s no doubt about that.”

The project is being estimated at about $31 million, and was supposed to go out to bid last August until financial concerns delayed it.

Stamnas said seeing towns across the state preparing to receive stimulus money from the state is unlike anything he’s seen before.

“There’s always a line to get those available funds that are allotted for town infrastructure programs,” Stamnas said. “I think it tends to be years ahead that you have to plan. When there’s an opportunity for municipality to get the funding, it is a fairly rare occasion.

Volunteering thrives as needs grow

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:59:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Although some volunteer organizations are down in numbers, many have experienced a significant increase in support during difficult economic times.

The growth of volunteerism can be seen, especially in Hooksett, where the Kiwanis Club is currently the fastest-growing group in New England.

“By the stroke of luck, we were born into good homes and good communities,” said Kiwanis President Fred Bishop. “That gives us an obligation to share that with the people around the world and in our country. That is what gives me the motivation.”

Currently the club has 67 members, and the club has expanded to the youth of the community, forming the Builders Club, a group that gives Cawley Middle School students the chance to get involved in volunteering.

“I think it’s very personally rewarding because you get a great feeling knowing you’ve helped establish young people serving the community,” said Bishop. “To see the interest, you assume kids are more interested in sports, texting on cell phones and playing video games – then you see these kids really involved.”

A similar group has been formed in Goffstown, where the Goffstown VolunTEENS can be found at the high school twice a month, advertising to the students about 13 organizations they can volunteer for.

Many of the students volunteer at the Goffstown Network food pantry. Although many households are struggling with the current economic climate, donations have actually increased according to David Greiner, a volunteer with the organization.

“I see stories all the time about the plight of food pantries,” said Greiner. “I find the opposite. The demand is definitely way up, but we’re doing well on the supply side because people hear the bad news and react. They see that they need to help. We’ve seen the support really pick up in the last 12 months or so.”

The Goffstown Network is open Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, and Greiner said that if not for the volunteers, they would be unable to keep up with the heavy traffic.

Pelham’s Good Neighbors Fund has raised money for families in need since 1969, and Frank Sullivan, who has been with the group for 35 years, agreed with Greiner.

“People seem to donate more during tough economic times,” said Sullivan. “As a result of that, we’re able to help a lot more people in return with household expenses and other things.”

David Gilbert, a member of the Bedford Men’s Club said the group’s membership has been growing, and is up about 25 percent.

“I think we have some new people in town, and new people want to get out in the community and make a difference,” said Gilbert. “In our town, we’re no different than any other town. There are people in Bedford who need help, kids who need help, causes that need help. It’s still there, no matter where you go.”

Gilbert said he got involved with the club because of the effect he could have on the Bedford communities, particularly youth.

“I think it’s that I get to make a difference, and not just sit around and watch TV or whatever people do,” said Gilbert.

“We focus on kids in town, and the needs of the kids. It’s nice to do that because anything the kids need or want, they should have. If they see this volunteerism as a kid, maybe they’ll grow up to give back also.”

For the Bedford Lions Club,

Ernest Henrichon said now is the time to give to the community. “Obviously there are more people in need right now,” said Henrichon. “There are very definite needs for people that are less fortunate, and those of us who are more fortunate should step up and help them out.”

One group having a particularly difficult time finding and holding onto volunteers is the Hopkinton Fire Department, which relies on its volunteers to respond to emergencies.

Fire Chief Rick Schaefer’s policy is to have every volunteer become a certified firefighter, which requires a time commitment. Schaefer has been with the department for 30 years and said that there is a rule that will not allow there to be more than 50 members of the department. “I had to be put on a waiting list and waited a year before I could take someone’s spot,” said Schaefer. “We currently have 30 people, and it’s just gone down, down, down.”

Recently Schaefer went to a conference on volunteerism, and the speaker at the event said that in general, people do not volunteer as much as they used to.

“I would love to see two or three new faces every year. It isn’t for everyone,” said Schaefer. “You rely more on mutual aid. If we had an incident years ago we wouldn’t, but now we bump it up and are more apt to call them. You do what you can with what you’re given.”

Those who do volunteer have a positive experience, and Pelham’s Sullivan said he is surprised with the thanks he gets, and not always from the community members receiving assistance from volunteers.

“A lot of the people who donate to us send us thank you cards to tell us how great of an organization we are,” said Sullivan. “They are giving us donations, but they’re thanking us. It’s a tremendous feeling.”

This year, shoppers frugal, family comes first

Hooksett Editor — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:29:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

While the state of the country’s economy is forcing local residents to change holiday plans, it has also caused volunteers to step up their efforts during the upcoming season.

When it comes to purchasing gifts, Joan Therrien of Salem has been forced to be more selective due to financial constraints.

“We’ve had to cut back on giving to kids of other families so we can give our kids what we can,” said Therrien, who may turn to a more creative method of gift-giving this year. “Handmade crafts are definitely an option this year.”

May Hedges, also of Salem, said the uncertainty of the economy is the biggest worry when it comes to planning a budget for the holidays.

“You have to be tight with money because you don’t know what will happen with the rest of it,” said Hedges. “Taxes are coming and heating bills too. You have to hang on with money that you need to live with. Spending for the holiday and trivial things like that you don’t even think of, it’s the important things you need to focus on.”

Though the shopping she does may be less, Hedges said there is one thing that doesn’t change.

“That’s about the only thing we have left is to get together. Family is everything right now,” Hedges said. “We all help one another. Getting together is the good times that we could do before things were bad, and spending that time doesn’t cost anything.”

Bedford resident Cheryl Mousseau said that with two children in North Carolina it is getting the entire family together that is most being affected by the state of the country.

“Children are now outside of our family unit, so it makes it difficult,” she said. “It’s so expensive for my son to come and justify coming for a few days, so it’ll be difficult this year.”

More local residents are being forced to ask for help, and pastor Ron Clow of Hooksett’s Emmanuel Baptist Church said he expects the number of people attending his church’s free Thanksgiving dinner to be up. With about a week left until Thanksgiving, Clow said the church had 125 people signed up for the dinner, and he expected even more through last-minute sign-ups.

“It looks like it’s increasing. It seems like people are hurting,” said Clow. “We used to give away Thanksgiving baskets and we weren’t really getting them to the people who needed them.”

In Bedford, the Knights of Columbus organized a turkey drive to benefit the New Hampshire Food Bank with the help of St. Elizabeth Seton Church, raising $7,600 to purchase 615 turkeys.

“Unemployment is up, people are out of work. It certainly is a need,” said Grand Knight Rene Pincince. “I had many members say it was the greatest thing we’ve ever done. When you sit at Thanksgiving, you can think that you’ve done something for someone who has nothing.”

Clow also said members of his church get a special feeling being able to give to the less fortunate.

“It’s one of our greatest gifts,” said Clow. “It warms our hearts. You see the people returning every year, and sometimes people will come in and serve when things get better for them.”

For businesses, holiday sales are important for keeping customers shopping during difficult times, such as the three-day after-Thanksgiving sale at Ace Hardware in Goffstown.

Karen Henderson, the store’s general manager, said she doesn’t expect business to be down this year, but expects customers to be more selective.

“I would say that we haven’t noticed a significant change in overall volume of customers, but people being more careful with what they choose,” Henderson said. “People are starting their Christmas shopping already, and really looking for those bargains early on.”

Henderson also said she expects people to give gifts that focus on what people need, such as gift cards, rather than luxury items.

Giving a holiday experience to town residents at no cost is important to the Hopkinton Recreation Department, as Recreation Director Justin La Vigne has organized several programs that town members can take part in.

The department sponsors a holiday lighting contest, breakfast with Santa, and a new program that allows children to receive a call from Santa, all for a minimum price.

“They’re fun things, and it’s good to do stuff for the community that is free or very low cost,” said La Vigne. “It isn’t just the children that love it, it’s the adults who do too.”

Residents may be forced to change their holiday plans, but one thing remains constant. “We cut back on gifts, but we still get together to eat,” said Therrien. “That’s 100 percent important to us.”

Rules change aims to stifle fouling, raise sportsmanship

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:26:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Consider this: Team A and Team B enter the final game of the regular season. Team A is in first place, and team B is out of contention. At some point in the game a player from Team A goes for the ball and trips a Team B foe in the process.

A yellow card is drawn.

Team A wins the game and locks up the top playoff spot, yet that squad isn’t headed to the postseason.

The yellow card, Team A’s 12th, eliminated the top squad from the postseason based on a new rule. It states, in part:

… Any team, whose players/ coaches receive a collective total of 12 yellow cards during the regular season, will be ineligible for NHIAA tournament play and required to attend a hearing with the Soccer Committee.

(Editor’s note: the rule can be found at nhiaa.org under “Policies & Procedures.”)

Consider the alternative
As recently as five years ago, athletes ran around the pitch with little fear of repercussions. Of course, there were injuries, but there was an underlying lack of sportsmanship as well, said Steve Beals, chairman of the soccer rules committee. He began recording data on the amount of warning cards handed out in 2002, when there were 714 yellow cards among Granite State sub-varsity and varsity boys squads. The girls accumulated 161 such warnings.

Those numbers increased slightly in 2003, and in 2004 the NHIAA instituted rules that, in addition to personal penalties levied against the offending player, disqualified a coach for a game following 10 team yellow cards in a season.

That year, the numbers dropped to 576 yellow cards among males and 124 among females.

In 2006, Beals said teams became noticeably complacent about the rules, and the amount of yellow cards jumped to 676 and 142, respectively.

Last year, such stats were recorded electronically for the first time and only included varsity numbers, which produced a large margin for error in the data, said Beals.

This season, with the new rules in place, Beals said there’s no doubt the policies are working.

“The amount of yellow cards is way down, and there are currently no teams ineligible for the tournament,” he said. “We’re certainly confident we’re moving in the right direction.”

As of Thursday, Oct. 16, the varsity boys teams in New Hampshire had accumulated roughly 232 yellow cards, and the girls garnered 50 cards in that time.

While the results aren’t open to debate, the reasons for success are.

Stuart Pepper has coached boys and girls for many years with Seacoast United, and he’s mentored seven years at the high school level – five at Hollis- Brookline, where his team won a state championship without receiving a yellow card all season, and two years at Bedford, where he’s guided the secondyear Bulldogs to the postseason, again, without a penalty.

Pepper, who said he coaches his players the same way no matter the playing field, conceded he’s torn on the issue of stiffer penalties.

“On the one hand, I support anything that cleans up the game and stops dangerous fouls. But my feelings are, this season, referees are more lenient on giving out yellow cards, and I think many fouls are going unpunished,” he said. “So in a way, I think it’s not helped a team like Bedford that’s a clean team and plays the game the right way.”

Competing without seniors and regularly facing larger opponents would force many teams to adopt a chippier brand of soccer. That hasn’t happened at Bedford High.

“We have players that play aggressive and do compete, but they understand how to play within the laws of the game. Giving away stupid fouls hurts you more anyway. You conceded possession, and you take players off the field,” Pepper continued. “You do see teams that are overly aggressive and use that style of play to win games, but with me it’s a moral and a spiritual thing you take with you as an educator and a coach. You’ve got a job to do, and it’s not just winning games. It’s developing young adults.”

Players are seeing that mentality applied throughout the state.

Following an early-season contest in which the Goffstown boys received two yellow cards in one game, senior Ian Downing said coach Randy Lovering pulled the players aside at the next practice. He told them to maintain their intensity while being wary of unnecessary fouls that could cost the team later in the season. The Grizzlies want to win, said Downing, but they want to be smart about it.

For his part, Downing said he’s still aggressive against players of similar height and build, but takes a more cautious approach when going head to head with a smaller player because he feels he’s more likely to be carded for incidental contact.

There’s little doubt the nature of play is more physical in the boys game, yet Kendrick Whittle, coach of the Salem High School girls soccer team, also has questions about the new rules.

“I think in girls soccer, officials are reluctant to give players cards anyway, but what’s happening is it’s taking the officials’ ability to control the game away from them because nobody wants to keep a team from the playoffs,” said Whittle, who acknowledged he supports keeping the game clean, but noted the difficulty in being fair when cards are such a subjective part of the game.

“People forget a yellow card is nothing more than a warning for hard play,” he continued. “What’s next? Are we going to start penalizing a hockey team for too many penalty minutes or a basketball player for fouling out two games in a row?”

Talking points
R. Patrick Corbin, executive director of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association, said he and the 11- member soccer board consulted with state representatives throughout the region, which includes schools from New England, New York and New Jersey. He said Connecticut and Massachusetts have the best results in minimizing the amount of cards handed out, so the NHIAA has attempted to model its policies after those states.

“I’d say it’s just another step in what has been a multi-year process to get a handle on the enormous amount of yellow cards and red cards that occur in soccer,” said Corbin, who noted that players and coaches learned to take advantage of the previous set of rules, so it was deemed a priority to make the policies more stringent in those areas.

Since 2004, a team’s 10th yellow card resulted in a onegame suspension for the coach. The count would then recycle. Because a coach didn’t want to miss a playoff game, some sent in players to purposely draw a card with a few regular-season games remaining, all in an effort to reset the count.

That type of loophole, said Corbin, required elimination. At the same time, he added, the committee decided to become less restrictive in other areas. Card counts used to start in the preseason, during scrimmages and jamborees. That’s no longer the case.

“Speaking with officials and coaches, we determined there were a heavier amount of cards given out early, while teams and players were still transitioning younger players and those who played in more lenient summer leagues. We felt that really put teams behind the eight ball before they even got started, so now we don’t start counting until the first game (of the regular season).”

Corbin also said a team is notified when it reaches six yellow cards, giving the athletics director and coach an opportunity to correct the issue before it becomes a real problem.

In addition, Corbin said the NHIAA is making a better attempt to monitor officials because of complaints of a lack of consistency among referees across the state.

“We want to be able to count on good coaching and are increasingly trying to work with officials. If we want better sportsmanship and behavior, a good official can contribute a lot just in the way that they handle routine situations that occur in the course of the game, and a lot of that involves constant communication with players and coaches,” said Corbin. “Whatever system we put in, there are going to be cynics out there. But our primary concern is injuries and trying to protect the students.”

Downing said he’s certainly noticed a change for the better.

“I’m sure (the referee) doesn’t want to be that person that kicks a team out (of the playoffs), but they’ll still give a card when they need to,” said Downing. “I just think they’re more hesitant to throw the card for the more ticky-tack things. They’re more likely to pull you aside and talk to you about it now.”

Paul Ostberg said he can see both sides.

As an official and 10- year coach at Memorial High School, Ostberg said a good referee rarely pulls a card from his pocket.

On the other hand, he’s seen one of his players take a deliberate elbow to the head and another break their clavicle on a hard takedown. Neither play resulted in a card being issued.

As difficult as it is to see some rough play go unpunished, Ostberg sympathizes with many officials, not only because of the enormity of their task – two referees keeping track of 22 players on a 120- by 80-yard field – but also because he knows they don’t want to punish the whole for the conduct of a few.

“My biggest thing is I don’t think the actions of an individual player should result in a team getting suspended. If you want to punish the player, punish the player, but don’t punish the team for one or two players’ actions,” said Ostberg. “It’s really a terrible thing to have a good season and then not be rewarded by going to the playoffs.”

The Memorial mentor admitted, however, play is cleaner this season, and he said coaches are doing a better job of policing their own players.

Ostberg’s team is one of the cleaner units in the state. The Crusaders maintain a 10-4-0 record and sit in fourth place in Class L. They have two yellow cards all season, and both warnings were given to the same player.

“One of those times (the player) was warned twice not to say anything, and he persisted. I give that official a lot of credit in that situation,” said Ostberg. “It’s amazing what happens when an official calls a player by their first name. That’s the key. Education and communication is probably the best way to get it solved.”

At games, some adults cross the line of unacceptable behavior

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:45:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Sitting at a youth hockey conference, watching what was likely to be another boring prerecorded training video, Kermit Brunelle sighed.

On the screen, Don Lucia, coach of the national champion University of Minnesota ice hockey team, was giving a speech.

“A lot of people think I have the best job in hockey, and I tell them, ‘You know, I have the second- best job in hockey,’” said Lucia. “‘The best job is being the head coach at an orphanage – no parents to deal with.’” Brunelle chuckled.

The Bedford native has been coaching youth hockey in the greater-Manchester area the past decade.

For nine years, he woke before sunrise, brought his son or daughter to a frigid ice rink and taught half-awake children to skate, handle the puck and, most importantly, play hard and clean. Only this year did he shed the added pressure of coaching one of his own children.

He’s been able to handle the lack of sleep and multiple layers of clothing well enough.

In fact, the experience has generally been positive, even rewarding, but it’s parents who think their child deserves more playing time than another, or those who vocally second-guess a coach or official, that grate on his nerves.

That behavior, said Brunelle, does not reflect the true nature of youth sports.

In some cases, emotions run high; in extreme cases, people are hurt, even killed. Usually, it’s the child who suffers.

Pressure points
As a Little League coach in Goffstown, Bob Gurskis knows all too well the weight parents can put on coaches’ and players’ shoulders.

In a town where baseball roots grow deep, he feels like just another weed to be plucked from the infield dirt, even after leading the Goffstown 9- and 10- year-old tournament team to a District 1 title in 2007.

“Some parents are so demanding, I literally have to talk to them and say, ‘Hey, lighten up, you’re taking the (kid’s minds) out of the game,’” said Gurskis. He said he’s talked to several players so disenchanted they’re ready to quit the sport rather than continue into Babe Ruth. It’s no wonder, he said, that at least one study indicates only 9 percent of children play organized baseball after the age of 12.

Gurskis grew up playing in Nashua and competed in semipro ball. He relocated to Florida and coached Little League there before moving to Goffstown. The attitude toward junior baseball in Goffstown – as compared to everywhere else he’s lived – is astounding, he said. “This year, even more than ever, I think it’s kind of 50-50.

Half the families and half the people involved understand baseball is entertainment. It’s a game. Coaches teach you to work hard. Sports is a healthy thing,” he said. “The other half take the game so far to the opposite direction. Every play is life or death. Every pitch is the last out of the World Series.”

And Gurskis said that mentality has reached the softball diamond, the soccer field and the football gridiron, among other playing surfaces.

“Everyone gets emotional,” he said. “But it becomes personal. ‘Why is your son getting the starting assignment and not mine?’ or ‘Why is he playing four innings and mine is only playing three and two-thirds?’”

Gurskis has clashed with fellow board members and coaches who have exhibited such an attitude, both at games and behind closed doors.

He can deal with the shots fired at him. It’s the collateral damage that concerns him.

“The pressure comes down on the kids, and that’s not what you want,” he said. “They’re going to find pressure in life without us. We don’t need to put more on them.

“Let’s help them try to be successful and analyze and improve what they’ve done wrong rather than scream at them for swinging at a bad pitch.”

It’s not just the coaches and players who are targets.

Leon Kenison of Bow began officiating baseball in high school when he was forced to substitute for a group of absent umpires. Roughly 50 years later he’s still listening to parents, coaches and players question his rulings. Most of it is background noise.

“Because of my gray hair, I guess I don’t get as much grief as some of my younger colleagues, whether it be from parents, coaches or players … But it’s tough to say because I’ve really trained myself not to hear that stuff,” said Kenison. “I know the younger (umps) let it get to them a little. When I’m in the stands I prefer to be a silent spectator and only positively encourage those on the field, but if I’m umping and someone gets really bad, I’ll just turn to them and say, “Gosh, I could use some help.”

There is constant recruiting for umpires, added Kenison, who said he’d rather be officiating than coaching.

“The coaches get a lot more pressure from parents in terms of, ‘Why doesn’t my kid play more?’” he said. “Not only do they have logistic stuff, in terms of scheduling practices and finding fields, which is a nightmare, but they have to deal with the parents of a 12-year-old kid who is going to break into the Major Leagues next week.”

Kenison has umpired and/ or coached at every local level, from Little League to high school to American Legion and beyond, and he’s seen the sport and the attitudes evolve.

In the past, a disruptive parent would be reprimanded and usually calmed by peers. These days, it’s not necessarily a parent’s actions that create problems, said Kenison, it’s inaction. “A kid (is) throwing a hissy fit when they think they’ve been tagged out or something like that,” he said. “… I’m not saying parents should reprimand their kids right on the field, but I certainly don’t see folks getting involved (in discipline) like they did 20 or 30 years ago. I think it makes it harder on the coaches more than anyone.”

Brunelle can relate.

On the ice, he teaches children to play with respect for themselves, their foes and the game, minus the violence generally associated with hockey. He knows other coaches preach a similar approach.

Yet many pupils still exhibit selfish tendencies.

“It’s the trips home from the rink after games,” said Brunelle. “(Parents are) talking about the performance of their individual child, where on the bench we’re stressing team play.”

Every now and then he witnesses the effects of a parent coaching from a distance.

“A lot of parents, I think, try to live vicariously through their children,” he said. “But parents yelling from the stands in such a manner that a child can hear it, that child usually takes it as criticism and internalizes it as a negative experience for them.”

Indeed, such actions generally serve as a deterrent to participate, said Kate Hays, who practiced sports psychology in Concord for 25 years before moving her practice to Toronto in 1997.

“Ironically, a kid may lose interest in being involved in sports because of the huge amount of negative energy involved,” she said. “(The parent) is thinking they’re protecting their kid or standing up for their kid, but most kids actually find that type of intervention embarrassing and feel more pressure to perform.

“Essentially, what may ordinarily be a fun activity with friends begins to have a lot of emotional pieces that in turn create long-term implications.”

Jim Bail not only coaches and serves as a Little League board member in Windham, but he scouts players for the professional ranks.

At one particular American Legion game in 2007, Bail was asked by Concord coach Avril Cate to take a look at a couple players.

Bail obliged and, after the game, pulled one particular athlete aside and told him he’ll never have a chance at the next level if he continues to throw fits over an umpire’s calls.

“I see parents softening their kids up a little more than is good for them,” he said.

More than ever, he added, parents are turning their children into victims.

“(The players) aren’t taking enough ownership for their own issues,” he said. “They try to pout their way onto teams or try to pout their way into starting positions – with mom and dad in the background saying how unfair it is – instead of bucking up and doing it themselves.”

Even in youth football, said Dave Tremblay, a coach receives their share of parent-generated headaches.

Tremblay has coached football at the youth and high school level for roughly 10 years.

“Generally, I think you have two different types of parents,” said the current Pembroke Academy head coach. “You have the parents who expect their kids to be all-stars, and then you have the parents who kind of have the fear of the unknown, the ones who get nervous when their kids are practicing five days a week, and they’re getting used to the physicality of the sport.” The latter is easier to deal with, said Tremblay.

He remembered one incident when he coached the Hooksett Hurricanes.

A neighbor, whose child played under Tremblay, decided to confront him because of a perceived lack of playing time.

A mildly heated exchange ensued, recalls the coach, but he said he learned from the experience.

“First of all, the Pop Warner rules set forth and regulate playing time, but I’ve just learned to be really open with everyone and let them know up front how it’s going to be. I also spread the responsibility among my coaches, so it’s not just my decision, and parents can’t single out one person.”

Even if disagreements occur, Hays said these kinds of moments offer opportunities to positively resolve problems.

More importantly, she said it’s necessary to communicate with the child and identify and separate the aspirations of the young athlete from the parent.

Proof positive
One of Brunelle’s most memorable moments as coach involved a youngster from Minnesota who had transferred to New Hampshire and was moving back to the Midwest with his parents.

“I received an e-mail thanking me for my efforts as a coach, and more importantly it said the one thing the boy remembered is, at the end of the game when you shake hands, you’re supposed to take your glove off.”

That, said Brunelle, was indicative of parents who care, and there are many of them, he said.

In fact, all parties interviewed for this story acknowledged they’ve generally had positive experiences with youth sports, and they said there are some encouraging trends.

Leagues around the country are taking proactive approaches to eliminating inappropriate behavior.

Kenison noted that approximately 10 years ago the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association created a policy that mandates any coach or player ejected from a game must sit at least one additional contest. A second violation brings an immediate end to that individual’s season.

Several other organizations, said Kenison, including Babe Ruth, have adopted similar policies. “It’s sort of a motivational tool to make people behave, and from what I’ve seen, it’s made a heck of a difference,” he said. “People previously felt they could have their say anytime they wanted, and now we just say, ‘See ya.’ I think that’s had a very sobering effect on malcontents and makes the umpiring job much easier.”

Brunelle said USA Hockey and Granite State Youth Hockey have created a parents code of conduct and are enforcing zero-tolerance policies concerning a parent’s verbal or physical abuse of a player, coach, fellow parent or official.

If an individual breaks the code, he said, a 30-day suspension follows, and those punished must go before a board and request reinstatement.

“I think it’s needed just to make sure parents understand this is a game,” said Brunelle, “and winning and losing is not that important, as long as kids continue to develop as players and people.”

DUI leads Hooksett man to resign as cop

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:05:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

A Bedford police officer who lives in Hooksett and just got hired in December has resigned after being arrested and charged with operating under the influence after he rear-ended a couple on a motorcycle.

Alejandro Jaime, 36, of Hooksett, was off duty and driving down Tarrytown Road just south of Hanover Street in Manchester on Thursday, June 12, said Manchester police Sgt. Maureen Tessier, when he ran into the motorcycle in front of him.

The motorcycle driver, James McLaughlin, 30, and his wife and passenger, Taylor McLaughlin, 31, were tossed from the bike. Both were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Tessier said, and were released shortly after.

Tessier would not comment on whether Jaime submitted to a blood alcohol test, but said Jaime was reportedly cooperative with arresting officers.

Bedford Police Chief David C. Bailey said Jaime tendered his resignation, along with his badge and gun, to the Bedford police station on Monday, June 16.

“We are grateful that no one was seriously injured in the accident. That charge will be adjudicated through the court system, just as it would for anyone else,” Bailey said during a press briefing on Monday, June 16.

“We all from time to time make poor decisions, and police officers are like anyone else, but we must be held to a higher standard, and, in my opinion, he did the right thing by resigning,” Bailey added.

Bedford police hired Jaime in December 2007, putting him through the police academy and training.

Jaime was still in field training, in fact, and had not yet been out on patrol alone when the incident occurred.

Bailey said the Manchester Police Department contacted Bedford police as a courtesy immediately after the arrest. Something like this has never happened in Bailey’s tenure, he said, as chief.“

That’s a serious charge. It’s something that we enforce all the time,” Bailey said.

Jaime went through an intensive background check, a polygraph test and a psychological exam before being hired, as is customary for all police hires, and nothing alarming jumped out, said Bailey.

He pointed out that Jaime awaits his day in court, and is not yet convicted.

“We’ve got to remember that it’s an allegation,” said Bailey. “He has to face the system just like any other civilian.”

Currently, there are a total of four openings, including one for Jaime’s position, in the Bedford department.

“I’m not happy. It’s an embarrassment,” said Bailey. “People make poor judgments, but again, we’re held to a higher standard.”

Jaime is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, June 25, to answer to the charge.

In an interview on his new job as a Bedford police officer back in March, just after he graduated from the police academy, Jaime said he was born in Columbia and moved to the United States in 1994. He worked at a Mexican restaurant before deciding to go into law enforcement, he said, and put his bilingual skills to good use.

“I want to make a difference in people’s lives and the community,” Jaime said at the time.

Bedford Community TV an example for Hooksett

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:34:00 GMT

BY STEPHEN BEALE

Missed that big debate at the Town Council meeting? Or perhaps the Planning Board hearing where a developer explained what he is going to do in your neighborhood?

Now you can watch those meetings and more – in fact, all of the town and school government meetings in Bedford – online at the Web site for the community cable television program. The town now offers video on demand service at www.bedfordtv.com, in addition to channels 16 and 22 which Comcast cable subscribers in Bedford can watch.

The service, which became available at the end of April, took about a year to plan and implement, according to Bill Jennings, the station manager.

“What we wanted to do was expand our broadcast capability so that we could provide our service through the Internet,” Jennings said.

Channel 22 carries all of the local government meetings in town. All other programming, including school athletic games, is on Channel 16. In addition to video on demand for both, the live broadcast of Channel 22 will also be available simultaneously online. That service would make those meetings accessible to a broader population, Jennings said.

BCTV is funded through franchise fees which are charged to Comcast consumers in Bedford. Its budget does not affect the tax rate, according to Jennings.

Jennings estimates that it cost about $10,000 to acquire the video on demand and live streaming. Those new capabilities were provided through Tightrope Media Systems, a vendor that Bedford community television has been using for the past four to five years.

The town has spent a total of $40,000 to $50,000 installing and upgrading Tightrope systems during that period, Jennings said. Before the town could switch over to video on demand and live streaming, Jennings said it had to get a high speed fiber optic line with a wider bandwidth. That would ensure that the community television Web site could handle multiple viewers.

The online viewing capability now means that the 16 percent of Bedford households who do not subscribe to Comcast – meaning they do not get community cable channels 16 and 22 – will now be able to follow meetings, if they are unable to attend them in person, Jennings added.

Even some of the Comcast subscribers might be more comfortable checking out a meeting from the convenience of their computer.

“Sometimes, television has to come to us,” Jennings said. To see the archived videos, visit www.bedfordtv.com.

Hooksett, Candia, Auburn and Bedford all warn city that budget cuts violate tuition agreements

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 18:47:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

Cassie Hobbs of Auburn said she might have gone with other friends from Auburn Village to Derry for high school had she known the sports and art classes she loves at West High School would be struck from the school’s budget for her senior year.

“I wouldn’t be in this district if it weren’t for these programs,” said Hobbs, 17, who plays on West’s junior varsity soccer and varsity lacrosse teams and has a growing interest in photography.

“I hope that you think this over,” Hobbs told Manchester’s Board of Aldermen at the city’s budget hearing for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Thousands of concerned parents from Manchester and its contracted school districts, including Candia, Auburn, Hooksett and Bedford; teachers, many anticipating pink slips; Manchester taxpayers and dozens of students wearing school colors and raising signs showed up at the hearing on Monday, April 28, quickly overflowing the 550-seat auditorium at Memorial High School.

“We estimate that there was close to 2,000 people there,” said Manchester Fire Chief James Burkush, adding the auditorium and cafeteria were both filled to capacity with the rest spilling into the gynasium, which was about half full.

The Manchester Fire Department herded hundreds of others toward the cafeteria and gymnasium to watch the proceedings on projection screens.

The hearing started shortly after 6 p.m. and finally wrapped up around midnight, with the majority of the budget discussion focusing on the school cuts.

The $140 million school district budget Mayor Frank Guinta included in his budget preparation is $13 million less than what Manchester’s Board of School Committee asked for, largely due to the reduction in revenue from Bedford’s high school students transition out of West to their own high school.

This year, the Manchester School District is running on a $147 million operating budget. The $153 million request was a 4 percent increase in the budget.

The cuts mean a level tax rate for Manchester, but also the loss of many teaching positions, eight vice principals, athletics, music and art classes, NJROTC program, performing arts, and virtually all other funded extraand co-curricular programs.

The academy structure that West High School was planning to implement next year has also been canned.

Hooksett School Board Chairman Maura Ouellette spoke around 10:30 p.m., warning aldermen and the mayor that cutting these programs and eliminating teaching positions that would inevitably increase class sizes, which would constitute violations in the Manchester’s tuition contract with Hooksett.

The cuts may affect the accreditation renewal of Manchester schools, also a breach in contract, Ouellette said. “With the proposed budget, Manchester will certainly put its accreditation status at risk, thereby jeopardizing students competing for slots in the highly competitive college arena,” Ouellette said.

She added cutting such programs would affect Manchester students’ college applications and scholarship eligibility.

“These programs not only offer a student the chance to excel, it gives them a reason not only to attend school but to do well in school,” Ouellette said.

The Hooksett School Board’s attorney sent a letter to Guinta and aldermen Chairman Michael Lopez informing them of this point.

Ouellette added the cuts would increase class sizes to levels beyond the state’s accepted levels, the minimum being 30 students per class or 24 students for lab classes.

“The ramifications of an ill funded school budget are far reaching and almost impossible to correct at a later date,” Ouellette said.

Elaine Hobbs, mother of Cassie Hobbs and Chairman of the Auburn School Board, agreed with Ouellette’s statements and added that the cuts may overwork the school district administration and remaining staff at the schools as well as affecting students’ well-roundedness.

The Auburn School Board’s attorney also sent a letter to the Board of Aldermen outlining their concerns about violating their tuition contract.

“So, if the cuts are to take place, you may be in breach of contract, which would allow for Auburn, Hooksett, Candia and Bedford to opt out early without penalties and/or (those districts) would not be responsible for the capital component of the contract,” Hobbs, one of the last speakers, told the Board of Aldermen, adding that could further affect the budget.

Candia School Board Chairman Ed Caito said he could not make the meeting, the board being represented at the meeting by other board members who did not speak or issue a statement.

“I really feel that the mayor and the acting superintendent should try to get beyond the rhetoric and both be willing to roll up their sleeves with their own people and say let’s work on this together and come up with a solution,” Caito said, adding Mayor Frank Guinta and Superintendent Henry Aliberti have taken “extreme positions” on both sides of the coin.

“There’s no question that the economic environment is different, but there’s got to be some middle ground,” Caito said.

Prior to the meeting, Ouellette said Hooksett sends 560 students to Manchester schools.

The Hooksett School Board has been searching for buildable land to possibly go to voters with to construct a high school in town.

“We knew that it would be coming up,” said Ouellette about Manchester’s school cut, “that’s why we’re looking at sites for a new high school.”

Manchester wants money now for Hooksett high school tuition

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:27:00 GMT

BY GRETA CUYLER

A major enrollment miscalculation on the part of Manchester schools means the city is asking Hooksett for nearly $250,000 more in high school tuition costs for the 2007-08 school year.

And that means most of the projects Hooksett planned for improving local schools will be put on the back burner.

“We sort of got hit with this by surprise,” Dr. Charles Littlefield, superintendent of SAU 15, told the Hooksett School Board last night.

Hooksett sends its students to Manchester high schools -- this year, that number is 512 students.

Contractually, Hooksett pays a tuition fee per student, a figure that gets reconciled each year. For the past three years, Manchester has divvied out an annual credit to Hooksett, anywhere from $147 to $278 per student.

Now the tables have turned dramatically.

The initial estimate for Hooksett this year was a per pupil cost of $7,100, a $200 increase over the last year. But Manchester told Hooksett lower-than expected enrollment -- with no decline in costs -- has upped that figure to $7,584.32 per pupil, an increase of $484.32 per student.

Littlefield attributes the miscalculation to a number of factors, mostly the new high school in Bedford. He also cited general enrollment declines across the state and Hooksett students who attend high school outside of Manchester.

“The Bedford pullout, honestly, was probably the most difficult to predict,” Littlefield said.

This year, Bedford High School has 588 students in ninth and 10th grades. Next year, the enrollment is expected to jump to 959 students with the addition of 11th grade.

Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta said the city has lost 1,500 students over the past four years.

His $276 million budget proposal slashes education spending in the city by $7.3 million.

Instead of waiting until October, when Manchester and Hooksett typically reconcile their high school enrollment figures, Manchester is asking if Hooksett can pay the shortfall now -- a total of $247,971.84.

“We think we can pay a healthy part of this,” Littlefield said last night. “Our hope is to pay all of it and start the school year on solid ground.”

But that means four local projects won’t get done in Hooksett because the board hoped to pay for them with leftover budget funds. Postponed projects include a traffic study at Underhill School, additional lighting at Cawley Middle School, installing cameras on school buses and putting in two means of egress at the elementary schools.

The district promises to complete the projects approved by the voters on this year’s warrant, including a technology upgrade and a new maintenance van.

Littlefield said he also plans to turn over $130,000 to the town as promised for health care costs saved under the new teacher contract.

The increases for Hooksett aren’t over, as Manchester has also revised tuition estimates for 2009. In 2009, the estimated per pupil student cost is $7,990.22.

Streets are full of potholes; money is running out

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:40:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Long after the snow has melted beneath the warm rays of spring sunshine, New Hampshire towns will still be feeling Mother Nature’s wrath. This time, it won’t be barraging residents from the sky. Instead, it will hit them under their tires.

“I was coming from Hannaford the way I come up every day,” said Jane Stanton-Turcotte of Goffstown. “I come up the road, wasn’t paying attention and bang! It was horrifying. I drive a car that can take anything, but my eggs went everywhere. “When I opened the back of my hatch, it looked like someo

ne had already made breakfast.”

Public Works and Highway departments across the state are struggling with how to fix poor road conditions, and many towns are also struggling with budget issues as an extremely harsh winter winds down.

During Hopkinton’s annual Town Meeting, voters approved the addition of $53,000 to the Public Works Department budget, as selectmen informed voters that the town has already gone over its allowance in salt and sand, and is on pace to do so in several other areas.

Goffstown Director of Public Works Carl Quiram said this winter has been the most devastating in a long time.

“It has been the worst in recent memory, and it’s just the way the weather has been,” said Quiram. “It’s been an unwinnable battle with potholes. We have a lot of new potholes on roads we wouldn’t have anticipated.”

Stanton-Turcotte’s pothole disaster happened on Laurel Road off College Road in Goffstown. “The sign says ‘Frost Heaves,’ but that’s not what it should say. It should say ‘Caution: Amusement Park Ahead,’” she said. “They (potholes) are everywhere.

Just going down St. A’s Drive is terrible, and so is my street. We have Manchester beat this year. It’s like when you go in the ocean and float over the big swells, except you’re driving in the street.”

Budget dilemmas
For Quiram, in addition to the battle with potholes, his and other departments in town are facing another battle.

“We took some heavy budget cuts, so it’ll make for an extremely tough year. You do what you have to do,” Quiram said. “We’re not going to not salt roads because we have no money. That’s where the policy comes in. Are we just going to ride it out? Or do we have to hold off on some summer projects?”

Jim Stanford, Bedford’s Director of Public Works, said he has not yet run into issues with salt, as the town built a new salt shed in 2004, and has been able to stock up in that area.

Working on a calendar year budget, Stanford said he is not sure yet what financial challenges his department will face. “I’ll let you know in November,” he joked. “You look at a day like today and say maybe we’re through this. But in November and December you never know. The sun is a lot higher now, so if it snows, it doesn’t stick around as long.”

Stanford said Bedford is not having as many struggles with potholes as other towns, but is struggling in other areas. “It’s not so much the potholes, but more the deterioration of the pavement and the frost heaves,” said Stanford. “It isn’t like all of the sudden one pothole pops up, but we have roads where the whole section of pavement has failed.”

Bedford has a computerized pavement management database that shows every road in town as well as its length, when it was constructed and the condition of it.

Although two road bonds in Bedford were defeated on Election Day, Stanford said the town still has money left from two previous road bonds.

Dale Hemeon, Hooksett director of highways, said the routine for his workers is the same on a daily basis. “I send out a crew for potholes every day if it isn’t snowing,” he said. “To end this battle, you put them in today and they’re gone tomorrow. It’s been a rough winter. There’s been a lot of damage. It’s really strange.”

Hemeon said he is far over on his overtime, fuel and salt budgets. The town’s budget goes from July 1 until the end of June, so Hooksett still has just over three months remaining on its current budget.

Another problem on the roads has come with the amount of snow.

“The tough part was that we have no more room to put snow. The banks are so high. We need to just get through until April when we can get some asphalt,” said Hemeon. “For the first month of spring we’ll be out paving and patching roads.”

Bow’s Chum Cleverly goes against the Public Works norm in neighboring towns, as he said this winter has been no different from other winters in his recent memory.

“We haven’t done much different from other years. Every year is average. Some years there a few more on some roads, and none on others. It’s always similar,” said the Public Works director, who said he has the most trouble with roads that were paved long ago.

Cleverly said he does expect cost issues for next year, with prices on the rise.

“Trying to keep the roads in good shape with the increasing cost of asphalt is big. Next year, we’re expecting a 30 percent rise in cost of salt,” he said. “I assume that the manufacturing and transportation is the cause of that with the increased cost of oil. I just talked to two truckers who have parked their trucks and won’t move until cost of fuel goes down.”

Temporary fix
Departments are constantly putting cold patch, a compound that is only meant as a temporary fix, into potholes. Hot top is not available for towns until sometime in April, which means many departments are fixing the same potholes on a daily basis.

“The people have to understand that at this time of year, these situations are beyond our control, it’s Mother Nature. Drivers have to slow down and make sure they have proper air inflation in their tires so they don’t blow their tires out,” said Russell.

“Some of them we could patch three times a day. The cold patch is a temporary fix, that’s it. Nothing replaces putting hot top in.”

Russell said the Salem department already has to turn its attention toward potential flooding in addition to filling potholes. His workers are spread thin.

“I have 12 employees who are dedicated to the streets for a town this big to maintain all of the sidewalks and drainage,” he said. “People think we have a 400-man department, but we don’t. We have 41 total in the Department of Public Works, but only 12 assigned to that section.”

In Hooksett, Hemeon summed up what many Public Works employees are feeling across the Granite State. “It’s been a long, frustrating winter for everyone – my guys and the residents,” he said. “Hopefully, spring isn’t too far away.”

Champs - for openers – Amoskeag Rugby wins preseason title, eyes New England crown

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:08:00 GMT

BY RYAN O'CONNOR

Don Dumais is a dentist who plays rugby.

But despite the stereotypes, the Bow resident said there are few teeth lost in the sport, though he can remember a few instances where one player’s mouth met another player’s skull, and the result wasn’t pretty.

“Most guys are pretty good about wearing their mouth guards, so you don’t see too much of that anymore,” he said.

After playing in college, Dumais was only a spectator for many years until he was recently convinced by one of his dental hygienists to join the Amoskeag Rugby Football Club.

In 2006, the Amoskeag Rugby Football Club finished New England Division 1 runner-up. This year, everyone involved, from the players right up to the club president, expect the squad to finish on top.

“We’re one of the smallest markets and have one of the best teams,” said president Bob Bishop of Bedford, who played more than a decade with the club before retiring two years ago. “Last year it was us, New Haven and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds, so as a small-market team, bragging rights are pretty important.”

If bragging rights are their goal, they got an early start on the competition, winning the Premier Division of the Can-Am rugby tournament – the largest in North America, with more than 120 teams – in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake in New York on Aug. 12.

Amoskeag began tournament play with a close contest, beating the Penn State Alumni team, 13-12, before defeating Ottawa, 7-0, via forfeit.

In the semifinals, Amoskeag faced a much larger New York’s Old Rhinos team and took a 38-12 victory, which set up a rematch with Penn State Alumni in the finale.

Though the opposition took an early 8-0 lead, captain Russ Dolan answered, scoring on a break started by MVP Chris Pierce of New Boston. Amoskeag led 10-8 at the half. Behind 10 kicked second-half points – two penalties and a conversion – from Pierce, Amoskeag won, 18-8, to take its first Can-Am title since it started competing in the tournament in 1992.

“This is one of the biggest achievements in the history of the club,” said coach John Banarhall of Auburn. “I couldn’t be prouder of the way the boys played this week against such strong competition. This is a great beginning to the upcoming Division 1 season.”

And that’s the way the players are looking at the successful trip to New York – as the start of something special.

Amoskeag kicks off its season against Albany on Sept. 8 at the Dartmouth Rugby Complex, though they play most of their home games in Pembroke.

“The fitness it takes to play at this level is just incredible. I mean, you basically need to be a top-level college athlete to make our A squad.” said Dumais. “It’s an 80-minute match, and there’s really not a lot of stoppage of play.”

Should Amoskeag win the New England Rugby Union, it advances to a national tournament and compete against 15 other teams from around the United States.

For details, visit rugbynh.com.

This grad was a ball

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 16:27:00 GMT

BY KEVIN SHALVEY

With a Rubik’s cube, a first-grade T-shirt and 465 oversized bouncing balls, the Manchester West graduation for the Class of 2007 turned out to be a childish, but very well-behaved, event for Hooksett, Bedford and Manchester students.

The 465 graduates at the Wednesday, June 13, graduation didn’t make too much noise -- and none of the graduates inflated beach balls -- during the ceremony, probably because they had been promised a surprise ending.

As Class President Paul Renolis told students they could move their tassels to the left of their mortar boards, the Verizon Wireless Center broke into pandemonium with the hundreds of colored balls filling the air.

That part was designed by Assistant Principal Mary Ellen McGorry.

“It was basically a caveat to have the kids behave themselves during the ceremony, and it worked well. Everyone was well behaved,” said McGorry afterwards.

During her speech, valedictorian Julianne Quinn brought out a T-shirt she designed in first grade. When she had drawn on it, it was unbelievable that she would be graduating in 2007, she said.

She said she’s grown into the shirt, which once drooped to her knees.

“If I can grow into this T-shirt, I know we can grow into the big shoes we have to fill,” she said.

While giving his speech, salutatorian R.J. Walsh toyed with a Rubik’s cube that Principal Jan Thompson mixed up for him.

“To me, high school was harder than a jigsaw puzzle and it’s harder than a game. With many more possibilities,” Walsh said, likening his classmates to the billions of positions the cube could take on.

By the time he finished his speech, he had all the colors on the right sides.

The graduates, too, found a time to make a bit of noise during the ceremony. After Quinn’s speech they took the opportunity to chant, just once.

“It’s all over,” they sang.

Opening-night delight - Central begins another title defense with win

Hooksett Editor — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:06:00 GMT

BY SAPNA PATHAK

When you lose three of your top players – also three of the best in the state – it’s normal for other teams to question how you’ll bounce back.

Central answered that question on Tuesday, Dec. 19, when its boys basketball team opened the season with an 83- 47 win over West.

The Queen City rivals took the court at the Charles J. Quinn Gymnasium in front of a packed house. Fans included West alumna Alyssa Thayer and former Central star Tyler Roche, both of Hooksett.

“We’re just looking to get better,” said Central coach Dave “Doc” Wheeler. “But there’s a long way to go to decide who’s going to be No. 1.”

The Blue Knights were frustrated by Central’s defense in the first half. West trailed, 29- 11, after one quarter. The deficit grew to 48-24 at the half.

“[The first half] was kind of painful,” West head coach Colin Burke said. “The kids were getting frustrated because they couldn’t execute the offense they’d done in practice.”

Still, the Blue Knights mentor found positives within the game. In the final stanza, West challenged for every loose ball, limited its turnovers and received strong performances from its bench.

As Central’s lead grew, so did Wheeler’s expectations.

“We demand intensity,” said Wheeler. “Every minute is very important, and every guy knows if he doesn’t do what he should, there’s another one waiting on the bench eager to do it.”

West looks for its first win at Timberlane on Friday, Dec. 22.

“Obviously they’re the best for a reason,” said Burke. “It’s tough to open up with but it’s good experience for our young guys too.”

Central hosts its home opener the same night against Memorial.