Salem Observer

After midseason switches, Salem rolls, faces champs

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:38:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Pinkerton Academy had no problem disposing of Salem during the regular season. What a difference a month makes.

The Blue Devils girls volleyball team avenged a 3-0 loss on Sept. 26 by knocking the Astros out of the Division I tournament on Saturday, Oct. 31, with a 3-1 victory to advance to the state semifinals.

Salem played its most complete match of the year, flying high and hitting hard to jump out to an early lead while grabbing the first two games by 25- 21 and 25-13 scores. Pinkerton responded in the third game, holding off a late SHS charge to win, 27-25.

But the final game of the match belonged to Salem, which won, 25-17, thanks in large part to strong play at the net by Melissa Ouellet, Erica Begin, Courtney Wright and a host of Blue Devils.

Ouellet had nine kills, Wright added eight, and Begin delivered seven for Salem, which has now reeled off eight straight victories after making midseason positional changes to address inconsistencies.

“They have come a long way,” said Pinkerton head coach Roger Konstant. “They pounded the ball at us all night long. That was the difference.”

Erica Tilton produced a season-high 17 digs, while Wright and Steph Long each tallied nine. Sarah Scott dished 30 assists in the win.

As a reward for their quarterfinal- round victory, the Blue Devils meet top-seeded Spaulding, which eased past Salem with a straight-sets victory in the regular season. The match was scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Spaulding has yet to lose a game in its first two playoff matches.

Salem’s head coach, Dan Young, said his team has been playing at its highest level during its playoff run.

“That was by far the best we’ve play this year,” said Young. “They’ve been progressing, and I hope we haven’t peaked too soon. It was not a clean game, but the plays that weren’t perfect, we adjusted and were able to move on as well as we have done this year.”

Salem fell in the semifinals last year after winning the previous two state championships. Spaulding won the D-I championship last year, and Young knows his team needs a tiptop game to dethrone the champions.

“We have to prepare, and we have to play aggressive,” said Young. “They’re a hard-hitting team, so if we don’t come with a high energy level, they’ll just keep coming at us.”

Defending champ Central edges top-ranked Salem

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:36:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Peter Lally knows from experience what the Salem girls soccer team went through at Stellos Stadium.

Lally’s No. 4 Manchester Central Little Green knocked off the No. 1-ranked Blue Devils in the Class L semifinals on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2-1, earning a shot at winning a second consecutive state title.

“I’ve certainly been in Salem’s position before. I’ve been a top seed and been knocked out, been undefeated and knocked out,” said Lally. “It’s not fun.”

All of the scoring in the game came within a span of 3 minutes, 28 seconds in the second half, beginning with a connection between two Hooksett players.

Deven McKiernan put a ball on net that bounced off Salem goaltender Sarah Snyder, and Lindsay Johnson put the rebound in while falling to the turf with 25:18 left to play. The Blue Devils responded when Cassandra Chase took a perfectly placed through-ball from Tayllar Righini and capitalized with a wide-open goal at the 22:03 mark to even the score.

A mere 13 seconds later, while Salem’s fans celebrated the equalizer, the Little Green came storming back when Hooksett’s Sarah Velasquez took advantage of a failed clear by the SHS backfield, finding the back of the net to again give her team the lead. Johnson earned the assist after putting the ball into the middle of the box.

“We let down after we scored, and that’s uncharacteristic of us,” said Salem mentor Kendrick Whittle. “I thought we were in the driver’s seat, but that’s what Central does to you. They were just a little bit tougher than us.”

The Blue Devils couldn’t muster many more scoring threats, though Chase did fire twice while closely guarded; the junior sent one high and the other into the side of the net.

As the final seconds wound down, Salem defender Avery Neusch lofted a free kick off the crossbar, but an infraction was whistled on the Blue Devils, and time expired just seconds later.

Both teams had similar runs into the semifinal meeting. Each won a preliminaryround game, 1-0, before surviving quarterfinal-round tilts on penalty kicks.

Salem graduates Neusch, Kristine Gosson, Elizabeth Morin, Sarah Raye, Amanda Vaudreuil, Katherine Donovan and Snyder from this year’s team, but the Blue Devils return several key players. Lally said his team’s grit has been the biggest factor in reaching the Class L championship, which is scheduled for the campus of Southern New Hampshire University on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.

“We’re not the biggest team, but sometimes they play big,” said Lally. “Our program is as good as any team in the state. The Little Green is still around. I think the ‘little’ part of that is appropriate.”

Salem High School responds to challenge, beats Timberlane in finals

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:31:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

For the time being at least, the only sure things in life remain death, taxes and, of course, Salem High School’s domination of New Hampshire boys volleyball.

The undefeated Blue Devils won a sixth consecutive Division-I state championship following a 3-1 victory against Timberlane on Friday, Oct. 30, at Pinkerton Academy.

Despite being a team that had lost just 14 games during a 111-match winning streak, complacency was never an issue entering the contest with the Owls.

Indeed, Salem dominated during the first game. Following a powerful Jason Kinney kill, the score was 16-1. The Blue Devils won the game, 25- 5, and head coach EJ Perry said he witnessed a level of play he had never seen.

“That (game) was by far the best any of my teams have ever played,” said Perry. “Some people were doubting us, saying that we were beatable, and I told them we had to go out there and show that it wasn’t the case.”

After Salem won the second game, 25-20, the Owls erased a late three-point deficit to win game three, 25-23.

Following Salem’s high energy level during the first game, some Blue Devils said the closer second and third games were a result of the adrenaline wearing off.

“We did come down a little, but the second we lost (game three), we bounced right back,” said Daniel Tiner. And how. The Blue Devils rolled in game four, 25-10, to secure the title.

More than three hours prior to game time, the Salem bus pulled up and the team walked through the hallways of Pinkerton Academy, reacquainting themselves with the building Perry called his second home.

“We got here so early, and we were on fire right when we came out,” said Tiner, a senior who collected 20 kills, 14 service points and four aces. “We were so amped, and they couldn’t handle us.”

Kinney recorded 21 kills to complement his 10 blocks. Justin O’Brien managed 13 service points, and Chris Barnes delivered his second-highest career total when he dished out 53 assists.

Those seniors, along with Matthew Les, Patrick Sheehy, Jared Scali, Kevin Delfosse, Kyle Ruffen, Joseph Trovato and Chris DeMarco, depart with perfect records.

And next season’s boys volleyball landscape figures to change slightly in other ways, too.

Perry said he hopes at least three more teams join Division I, maybe even squads from Massachusetts. Further, the Blue Devils won’t begin their title defense until spring 2011, when volleyball becomes a spring sport.

“When you’re on a roll, you always want to play. I wish we could play tomorrow,” said Perry. “The level of play has climbed, and we want it to continue to do so. As long as they work hard in the offseason, we will reload.”

While Timberlane proved a worthy adversary, head coach John Dube said his team’s slow start set the tone for what became another link in the never-broken chain of wins for Salem.

“Any team is beatable, but that’s not a team you can play down against,” said Dube. “Once they smell blood, forget it.”

SNHU locked down, Derry man arrested

Salem Editor — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:20:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

A self-described “amateur comedian” charged with a threat that locked down Southern New Hampshire University for about an hour on Wednesday, Oct. 28, is headed back to New Hampshire Hospital to await trial, say prosecutors.

Shawn DeCoste, 31, of Derry was arraigned on criminal threatening and disorderly conduct charges Oct. 29 in Salem District Court via a televised feed from Rockingham County jail.

DeCoste’s Oct. 28 arrest was prompted by a telephone call between the accused and Linda Richelson, director of SNHU’s Salem center, about 4 p.m.

Informed he was being expelled, DeCoste, a graduate student, allegedly said, “I am going to make you regret your decision for the rest of your life,” according to the arrest affidavit and criminal complaint.

The conversation prompted university officials to close the 19 Keewaydin Drive campus for about an hour as police cleared and secured the building. Police arrested DeCoste at his 109 Franklin St. home about 7:45 p.m.

In court yesterday, prosecutor Robert Prince said DeCoste was on conditional release from the state hospital and officials there want him returned.

Opened in 1842, the Concord- based state hospital is publicly funded and provides psychiatric and neurological care. Police didn’t know why DeCoste is a patient of the state hospital, and officials there did not respond to requests for information.

Capt. Shawn Patten of the Salem Police Department would not elaborate on what DeCoste allegedly told Richelson, but said the nature of the threat was “against her health and well-being.”

In his arrest warrant affidavit, Officer Daniel J. Nelson wrote, “I concluded that Richelson was in fact fearful of harm from DeCoste. The threats made by DeCoste had in fact caused great alarm and concern for the safety of both the school and the persons within.”

DeCoste was charged with resisting arrest after a struggle with Derry and Salem police during which he claimed “diplomatic immunity,” police said.

DeCoste was held overnight at a county jail on a $25,000 cash bail, police said. During his arraignment, DeCoste told the court he has lived alone for the past four years and was an amateur comedian.

“I don’t get paid, but I keep a busy schedule,” he said.

On his MySpace profile, DeCoste has posted several videos of his stand-up routine and says he is a 2009 graduate of Hesser College.

He describes himself as “nice and serious” and a “certified genius like Einstein.”

The court decided DeCoste should continue to be held on $25,000 cash bail, but will be returned to the state hospital, Patten said. The court set his trial date for Nov. 23.

Salem falls in overtime of quarterfi nals after breathtaking battle

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:17:00 GMT

BY JERRY LIPTAK

Salem High’s field hockey team took its fans on a wild roller coaster ride in Class L’s quarterfinal playoff round. But the hosts from Exeter High abruptly stopped the locals’ fun.

Two teams that entered the postseason with identical 10-3- 1 records needed overtime to decide a winner, and Exeter’s Emalyn Loh scored midway through the 15-minute extra period to give the Blue Hawks a 2-1 victory on Sunday, Oct. 25.

The goal stunned Salem and its followers, who just as quickly realized they’d seen a memorable match – full of ups and downs, twists and turns – and cheered their hard-working but defeated Blue Devils. Loh’s goal, her second of the game, capped a contest that featured back-and-forth action, momentum swings and athletic play throughout. It was also the second straight year Exeter knocked Salem from the state tourney by one goal.

“This is one of the better teams I’ve coached,” said John Gatsas, who has worked the high school sidelines since 1986, including 17 years through 2002 with SHS. “Obviously, it was a very well-played game, but Exeter – give them credit – beat us in transition in overtime.”

The Blue Devils led until just prior to intermission following junior Meghan Bench’s goal, a deflection of a long shot off the stick of sophomore Sarah Frahm.

Gatsas, though, was concerned Exeter was too often beating his charges to the ball. After some halftime adjustments, SHS, seeded No. 5, held fourth-seeded EHS scoreless after the break, helped by its goalie, Allison Breton.

Still, spectators watched – some with eyes partially hidden behind hands, others nervously nibbling fingernails – a second half that was more like a tennis match. Heads swiveled left, then quickly right, attempting to keep up with the frantic pace on Eustis Field.

Salem nearly took the lead near the end of regulation, smartly turning an Exeter corner opportunity at one end of the field into a two-on-one chance at the other. Melissa Higgins narrowly missed solving Exeter’s steady keeper, Emily Meade, who left the net and cut down Higgins’ angle. The speedy Salem midfielder threw her stick away in frustration.

Gatsas said his team, which crushed Manchester Central Oct. 21 in the preliminary round, 6-2, was naturally disappointed by the defeat. Yet he was also quick to mention the invaluable efforts of his departing seniors – Amanda Smigliani, Taylor Buatti, Christine Cannone, Carly Federico, Chelsie Muldowney and Megan Martineau.

Gatsas said he knows strong current contributors return in 2010, including sophomores Brittney Hall and Jenna Lucas, and he praised Christine Landry and Tiffany D’Amour, who coached Woodbury School’s 44 middle school players. He expects some of those athletes to further replenish Salem’s varsity squad.

“This was a great season,” said Gatsas. “I don’t think anyone thought we’d come this far.”

Town to buy, demolish 9 Haigh Avenue homes

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:02:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

After two decades of flooding, Norbert Pestana was awash with relief when he learned town officials want to buy and demolish his Haigh Avenue home.

Since 1983, Pestana has watched as the home where he and his wife Helen raised their family suffered seven 100-year floods. After Mother’s Day flooding in 2006 left his basement full of water yet again, Pestana banded together with neighbors and petitioned the town to buy them out.

With help from a $1.889 million Federal Emergency Management Agency grant and $700,000 match from the state, selectmen are bringing an end to a 30-year-old problem.

Nine homes at the end of Haigh Avenue, including Pestana’s, will be purchased and demolished at no cost to the taxpayer. The state will then use the 5.4 acres as drainage for Interstate 93.

It’s a bittersweet end to a lengthy battle for Pestana, vice chairman of Salem’s Flood Mitigation Action Committee, who watched the value of his home sink with every inch of rising water.

“It’s somewhat of a relief, but it’s one of those things,” he said. “The problems that were here needed to be dealt with, but we’re saddened that we have to leave.”

Neighbor Louise Loguidice shared Pestana’s mixed emotions. Loguidice didn’t have any intention of leaving her home until after her children graduated from high school. But even then, how could she sell a house that was at times under water?

“Who would buy a home that floods every couple of years?” she asked. “Your home is worth what someone will pay for it.”

With one child still in high school, Loguidice wants to stay in Salem. Still, she supports what the town has done. Spending her golden years sandbagging her home was not Loguidice’s dream for retirement.

“Hopefully, I’ll find something on dry land I can afford,” she said.

Demolishing the homes is expected to start in the spring and officials plan to turn the land over to the state within 18 months of November.

With nine homes down, that leaves 14 more to go, said Selectman Everett McBride. He has been involved in the project since the 1987 floods. An application for another FEMA grant will be readied as the town moves ahead with the project’s first phase, he said.

Victorian Park says goodbye to Halloween haunts

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:53:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

A local Halloween haunt is headed to the other side 13 years after its first screams, but fear monger Larry Belair isn’t nailing the lid on the coffin just yet.

Larry Belair, owner of Victorian Park, said the decision to shutter Haunted Mansion indefinitely came in the face of stiff competition from nearby Canobie Lake Park’s Screeemfest and Spookyworld in Litchfield. But he might reopen if a niche materializes.

After taking last year off, Belair found he enjoyed shriekless October nights more than being the master of mayhem at the mansion.

“My wife and I are 70 years old, and there comes a point where after cold nights and long days you just begin to say ‘perhaps we’ve had enough.’ That’s part of the equation: our age and where we are in life, and it’s sort of bittersweet,” Belair said. “The older I get and the colder it gets, the more I appreciate how much work we put into making it work.”

The “Belair witch project” was spawned 15 years ago after he attended an International Amusement Parks and Attractions conference. Belair realized his mini-golf course on Route 28 would make a fine haunted house post season.

In its heyday, roughly 45 actors terrorized park patrons on any given night in the weeks leading up to Halloween, Belair said. Over the years, more than 150,000 people survived his Forbidden Forest and Victorian mansion all told, he said.

For the show, Belair teamed up with John Henry, who fell into the business of bringing nightmares to life after putting on haunted houses for fundraisers for local nonprofit groups in his spare time. This Halloween marks only the third year in two decades that Henry won’t be inspiring goosebumps.

“I haven’t moved on yet,” he said. “It just grew, it snowballed, it mushroomed and it got better and I realized I really love it. Even on the years I have not done one … in two of those I have done something for the neighborhood kids.”

What lured people back year after year was the quality of the production, Henry said. Design work began in August, and in September, the haunted house would come to life. The next few weeks would be a blur of late nights and good shows, he said.

The phone still rings with happy customers asking if the attraction will reopen, Belair said. He hasn’t ruled out bringing the mansion back to life, but it depends largely on if he can compete in a market crowded with big players.

“This year we’re watching ... whether or not (Screeemfest) is as successful in its second year as its first, and whether there is still life in the market and whether we should be thinking about reinventing ourselves and offer sort of a niche market Halloween event,” Belair said.

Still, just as Belair has concluded, there’s something to be said for spending chilly October nights at home, said Henry, operations manager with the Bedford-based Expert Server Group.

“It became a burden to the family because you’re a passing ship in the night,” he said. “I’m going to sit back, enjoy the family and have some pumpkin pie, and see what happens.”

Keeping promise, taxes stay steady

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:47:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

To keep a promise made to voters last March, Salem selectmen will dip deeper into the town’s unreserved balance rather than raise taxes in December. But higher town taxes will be unavoidable in 2010.

The decision came Oct. 19 after Town Manager Jonathan Sistare presented options to the board: use reserves to maintain a level-funded budget or increase the tax rate between 3 and 11 cents per $1,000 assessed property value in December to offset shortfalls in 2009 and to anticipate what will be needed in 2010.

In a unanimous vote, the board gave Sistare the go-ahead to pull a total of $450,000 from reserve funds. That will keep the town portion of tax bills the same in December, but the bill will be up an estimated 17 cents per $1,000 assessed property value as the school and county portions of the bill each rose.

Last March, selectmen promised voters their budget would hold the line on taxes in 2009. It hasn’t been an easy promise to keep.

Feeling a cash crunch of its own, the state shorted Salem, leaving a $371,000 hole in anticipated revenue.

Sistare covered that shortfall with a hiring freeze and $300,000 from the town’s rainy day fund. But the rain kept coming, as money from motor vehicle permits and other revenue sources sank dramatically. That meant the town had to find another $150,000 to cover 2009 expenses or raise taxes, he said.

It’s not unusual for the town to draw on its rainy day fund to adjust the municipal portion of December’s tax bill, said Selectman Michael Lyons. But in a normal year, the difference is tens of thousands not hundreds of thousands, he said.

“Right at the time we were proposing our budget there was all this talk in Concord about massive cuts. We went into Town Meeting not knowing what our state aid was going to be,” Lyons said. “We had projected a number of $200,000 (in cuts), but what the state ended up taking away from us went well above that number.”

Sistare said rising health insurance costs alone mean the town will need another $450,000 in 2010. The operating budget proposed by selectmen for next year, already includes a 6.5 cent increase to the tax rate that doesn’t take into account the higher health premiums.

Given that and that more cuts in state aid are expected, Lyons and Selectman Everett McBride argued for raising the municipal tax rate in December above the $4.79 it’s been at since 2008.

That sparked heated debate among board members. Selectman Patrick Hargreaves said changing the tax rate at the final hour would be unfair to residents budgeting for the bill since March and put undue strain on taxpayers already struggling financially.

“If you’re going to tell me my taxes are going to go up 10 percent next year I know. If you tell me, ‘Pat, next year your taxes are going up (X) then I know I have to budget my family for (X),” he said. “You’re giving me the playing field. You’re telling me what I need to survive in this town for one more year. As long as you tell me the number I’m OK.”

Chairman Arthur Barnes said he felt honor-bound to maintain a level-funded tax rate.

Haigh School remains open

Salem Editor — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:45:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

The Walter F. Haigh Elementary School is here to stay.

The School Board voted 4-1 on Oct. 20 to keep the 55-year-old building open and pursue a master facilities plan incorporating all six elementary schools in Salem. The move came after Haigh parents lobbied board members to save the neighborhood school during two public forums earlier this month.

For Annette Carroll, one of several Haigh parents in attendance, the news came as a welcome sigh of relief. The mother of two said she was worried the board would close Haigh and had encouraged fellow parents to come out and show their support.

“I think (the decision) was fantastic,” Carroll said. “Haigh is a great school. We all know each other and the teachers. We were just there making scarecrows a few hours ago … We want the school to stay.”

Haigh was put on the chopping block after officials looked at developing a master plan for renovating the district’s elementary schools. Early estimates had Salem saving more than $1.5 million in one-time construction costs and annual operational costs by closing Haigh.

But board member Peter Morgan argued that the building needs at least $450,000 in renovations anyway unless the district plans to sell it off.

Even if the school was closed, Salem would still pay some heating and electrical bills on Haigh as well as transportation costs associated with busing those students elsewhere, he said. Higher student populations in other elementary schools would also put a strain on classroom space and staff, Morgan said.

“By the time I’m done with this, what I’m going to save the taxpayers by going to five schools is on the order of less than $1 a month for a person that owns a $300,000 home,” he said. “It’s not a cost issue, it’s a cost-effective issue.”

The lone dissenting voice on the board, Bernard Campbell, said he voted against saving Haigh not out of wanting to do away with the school, but because the building could be left as is and used for something other than an elementary school.

With Haigh’s future secure, the question remaining for school officials is whether to place a warrant article funding some portion of the roughly $35 million master plan on the March ballot. That should be decided in November, superintendent Michael Delahanty said.

SHS grows closer while tackling roadblock of inconsistency

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:14:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

For the Salem girls volleyball team, chemistry wasn’t an elective, it was a requirement.

Head coach Dan Young said his squad has faced a variety of hurdles, including position changes due to inconsistent play, that have brought the squad closer together.

“This team has been through a lot on and off the court, and despite that they have stuck together better than any team I have had,” said Young. “Chemistry has been forced upon us.”

The Blue Devils continued on their path to the playoffs with a straight-set victory over visiting Trinity on Monday, Oct. 19, to improve to 12-3.

Sarah Scott delivered a 12- assist match. The junior setter led the way during the third game, as Salem took a 10-0 advantage behind her service attack.

Senior captain Courtney Wright added four kills, while Melissa Ouellet chipped in five kills and three blocks. Despite its impressive record, Salem has so far proved vulnerable to the top Division I teams.

Spaulding, Londonderry and Bishop Guertin, the three teams ahead of the locals in the standings, have beaten the Blue Devils.

Though his team won its first five matches, Young was unhappy with his athletes’ play. As a result the coach moved Nicole Boucher from outside hitter to middle hitter and swapped Kerry White to the outside.

“We’ve made a lot of adjustments, and we’re starting to see the fruits of that,” said Young. “The consistency that wasn’t there is with us now … We are getting over (the mistakes) a lot better. We’ve made sure that it doesn’t affect us on the next play.”

Another difference-maker in Salem’s recent play has been Steph Long, a key contributor off the bench. Young said the outside hitter’s passing and defensive abilities allow him, in essence, to bring a starter off the bench.

The postseason opens Wednesday, Oct. 28, with the preliminary round. Salem concludes its regular season on Friday, Oct. 23, with a match against Merrimack that could decide the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.

Unbeaten Salem grinds down North with ground game

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:11:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Nashua North’s defense had their hands on Max Jacques and Jerickson Fedrick all game. The Titans just couldn’t hold on.

The electrifying pair of Salem running backs dashed for a combined 496 yards and seven touchdowns. Much of the yardage came after initial contact.

On Saturday, Oct. 17, the Blue Devils improved to 7- 0, 5-0 in Division-I play, and grabbed the top spot in the standings following a 54-33 road victory over previously unbeaten North.

“Everyone was underestimating us, and we had to show them who’s the best team in Division I,” said the sophomore Fedrick, who bruised his way to 220 yards and four touchdowns. “I just kept my legs moving after the first hits and kept moving.”

Salem entered halftime trailing, 26-19, but scored 28 unanswered points to open up a 47-26 lead.

Nashua trimmed the deficit to 14 late in the fourth quarter and recovered an onside kick with 5:43 remaining in the contest, looking to cut its deficit to a single score.

The Titans drove within striking distance of the end zone, but Fedrick made an interception at the 15-yard line and returned it all the way to North’s 19, setting up an Alex Sobrado score that capped the Blue Devil victory.

Salem ran sweep plays to Jacques throughout the contest, and though he regularly appeared bottled up near the sidelines, he popped free time and time again … for 276 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.

Big plays were the norm for the Blue Devils, who produced five touchdown runs of more than 40 yards on the game, including Fedrick’s run of 81 yards and Jacques’ scamper of 71.

“It was a great statement for us. We’re looking to go undefeated,” said Jacques, a junior, who takes particular pride in the runs he makes following contact. “I love those scores. It’s all the work you put in during the offseason in the weight room paying off.”

The Blue Devils have finished the difficult portion of their schedule – on paper, anyway. Winless Concord and West, along with two-win Central, remain.

Salem head coach Jack Gati down-played the win over undefeated North. “I’m not willing to say (we’re the top team in Division I) yet,” said Gati. “We’re 7-0, and that’s nice, but that isn’t going to mean anything in the postseason.”

Though blessed with two highly talented backs, Gati also knows those runners wouldn’t consistently spring free without the blocking of Darren Brown, Andrew Ivas, Greg Coleman, John Pascal, Craig Lawlor, Dillon Cohen, Kyle Henrick and Mike Lorenz.

In five division games Salem has piled up 197 points – nearly 40 per contest – thanks in large part to its ground game.

“They’ve done it to everyone that they’ve played,” said Nashua North head coach Jason Robie. “That doesn’t make me feel any better about it.”

Old Town Hall named to New Hampshire Register of Historic Places

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:01:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

What’s the connection between the Old Town Hall and the Washington National Cathedral? A 19thcentury English architect by the name of Henry Vaughan, according to preservation consultant Lisa Mausolf.

Mausolf was hired by Salem’s Historic District Commission earlier this year to research the meetinghouse turned town hall turned museum built in 1738 when the community was still part of Massachusetts. She discovered that Vaughan – who also worked on the National Cathedral – was commissioned by local philanthropist and millionaire Edward Searles to renovate the building in 1899.

That came as news to Beverly Glynn, commission chairman and museum curator.

“I didn’t know the details. We knew about Searles donating the time and money,” she said. “It was a very pleasant surprise.”

Planning Director Ross Moldoff had a similar reaction to the news. A Salem resident, Moldoff knew the Old Town Hall for what it was, an old town hall, and not much more.

“I knew nothing about it. I knew that it was a historic building, but I didn’t know anything about the details,” said Moldoff, who worked with Glynn in finding a consultant to help with research.

“We had no idea about the Searles connection. It’s a name that’s familiar around here for people who are interested in historic buildings, but we didn’t know about his connection.”

Little more is known about Vaughan other than his work with Searles in the surrounding communities and his reputation as a respectable architect specializing in gothic revival buildings, Mausolf said. After 25 years as an architectural historian, Mausolf said she was blown away after her first step inside the Old Town Hall.

“The second floor is really the most fascinating part. You get a sense of almost a medieval English hall,” she said. “You have these beams that don’t fit with the New England style meetinghouse building.”

But Glynn always knew the building was special. For three years, she worked with Moldoff and Community Development Director Bill Scott to put the local landmark on the State Register of Historic Places, always unsuccessful.

At last March’s Town Meeting Glynn asked voters to fund an outside consultant to help.

The move paid off, Glynn said. Earlier this month, she presented selectmen with a certificate from the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources cementing the Old Town Hall’s place in history.

The building was one of three added to the registry in September, making it eligible for grant money, according to State Survey Coordinator Mary Kate Ryan.

The Old Town Hall could also be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, but Glynn has her eyes set on elevating a few other local buildings, including Hose House No. 2, the old cemetery and School House No. 5, to the state’s registry. And there’s more work to be done on the Old Town Hall, she said.

“We have a layer of protection for that building. It’s 270 years old, and everything is changing. Maybe we can get some grants to do improvements and keep up on that building,” Glynn said. “It’s like having Salem’s attic with all of the peoples memories housed in one place, and each week we collect more from residents ... We’re still looking for old pictures of the town and its residents.”

Salem toddler beats cancer, now parents want to help

Salem Editor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:41:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

When John Rufo learned his baby daughter had a cancerous tumor on her kidney, he stepped out of the hospital emergency room and vomited in the parking lot.

“How can anything go wrong with a 10-month-old baby, especially my child? It’s such a young age. It’s something that is just unfathomable,” he said. “Children are supposed to be untouchable. You let them grow and experience and become adults. You expect that to happen to older people, not to children.”

Diane Rufo, an occupational therapist, felt the hard lump of a Wilms’ tumor on Milana’s side a year ago and knew instantly something was very wrong with her bubbly, wide-eyed daughter. There was no time to stop and think or let the bad news sink in, she said.

“You put your head down and you plow right through,” Diane said.

On the advice of pediatrician Susan Brown, the Rufos drove straight to Children’s Hospital in Boston. Milana spent two weeks there, undergoing surgery to have her right kidney removed on Halloween last year.

From there it was a whirlwind of daily doctors appointments, chemotherapy and radiation, Diane said. Throughout, the couple dealt with their worries as Milana’s weight dropped and hair fell out as she underwent treatment. There were no more trips to the park or play dates. Relatives were asked not to drop by for fear Milana might catch a cold. One trip to the isolation chamber for a mild case of the flu was enough, Diane said.

But now Milana is on the mend – her last round of chemotherapy ended in June – and pent-up emotions have poured out.

“You’re so busy, you don’t really have time to get depressed,” Diane said. “After everything was done we both fell apart.”

John still feels the anxiety of the past year. He calls his wife daily to check on Milana.

“She’s out of the woods and you sit back and look at her and she’s running and playing and laughing and then it hits home, more or less like a wake-up call: this terrible thing had taken our daughter,” John said. “Everything comes kind of like a freight train in a way. You step back and sometimes I cry for no reason, just looking at her.”

Out of the three of them, Milana may have taken it the best. She’s quick to smile and eager to share her toys – though not for too long – despite her ordeal. She was a “trooper,” Diane said, Milana kissing her nurses’ hands even during injections or when they’d draw blood.

But if Milana walks away with no more than a few surgical scars, Diane and John will live with what they saw during daily trips to the hospital: dozens of children as sick or more so than their daughter.

To help, the couple has partnered with friends they made since last Halloween to coordinate local blood drives for cancer patients.

It’s the least they can do, John and Diane said. They received a lot over support over the past year and want to pay it forward. Treating Milana cost $300,000, which the family was able to offset through fundraising, social services, insurance and help from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jimmy Fund. They also received a lot of emotional support from friends, co-workers and doctors, the couple said.

“As they say, every pint helps four kids,” John said. “The more blood that they’re going to get ... the more that get better.”

Arlington Pond homeowner fined $25K

Salem Editor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:17:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Town officials say the $25,000 penalty Michael Pantaleo owes the state for ignoring environmental laws to protect shorelines should serve as a cautionary tale for other waterfront homeowners.

Bill Carter, chairman of the Conservation Commission, said residents on the town’s ponds and lakes should think twice about home or landscape improvements. They need to understand state environmental laws. Ignoring them is costly, he said.

According to court records, Pantaleo laid down a new beach, built a patio and retaining wall, installed a dock and made other improvements. In October 2006, state officials had a look at his Arlington Pond property at 20 Glen Road, but weren’t impressed.

Since Pantaleo had twice been rejected for a permit to build a retaining wall, the improvements were a willful violation of the Shoreline Act and wetlands laws, said Allen Brooks, senior assistant attorney general.

“We look at the conduct of the person. He had previously applied for the permits for retaining walls and he had been turned down, and then he did that plus some other things,” Brooks said. “That indicated to us higher culpability.”

Pantaleo could not be reached for comment, but his attorney, Brian Quirk, said Pantaleo had fully cooperated with the state Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Environmental Services to resolve the matter.

The court-approved settlement Pantaleo reached with state officials earlier this month fined him $40,000, with $15,000 suspended on condition he not violate environmental laws for three years.

Pantaleo also was required to restore his land. Carter estimates that alone might have set the homeowner back another $25,000 to $30,000.

“Reconstruction could be as much as that fine and that’s a lot of money for the homeowner of that property,” Carter said. “This should be used as a learning exercise for anyone who might decide to do something wrong, because the state will take this serious and prosecute.”

Neighbor Steve Sapienti had a different view. “I heard about this, and I know he spent a lot of money to put that up there,” said Sapienti, 22. “I was shocked to see that the state made him take it down.”

According to Howie Glynn, president of the Arlington Pond Protective Association, most shoreline homeowners know to work with town officials to get permits before making improvements. But doing it the right way can also be costly. To help, the association will guide residents through the town or state approval process, he said.

Though they’ve helped residents for years, even the association doesn’t know the process backwards and forwards, Glynn said.

“We don’t know all the rules,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to accept that responsibility.”

Exit 1 done

Salem Editor — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:14:00 GMT

BY DERRICK PERKINS

Right on schedule, the traffic cones have been hauled away, police details have vanished and workers have disappeared: Exit 1 off of Interstate 93 is all but officially a finished job.

After spending two years on the project, the bulk of Mark Caesar’s work has become tying up loose ends. There is still some work left to be done, said Caesar, a contract administrator with the state Department of Transportation, but the heavy equipment and masses of construction workers are gone for the foreseeable future.

At its height throughout 2008, the roughly $24 million project included eight or nine subcontractors on any given day, employing some 75 to 100 workers under the direction of the prime contractor, Salisbury Mass., based SPS New England. Seven bridges on the state’s red-list were replaced since August 2007 and highway ramps were reworked in anticipation of eventually widening the interstate from two to four lanes in either direction.

Now Caesar is focusing on getting delineators – essentially reflectors – installed on the guardrails, laying grass down on the embankments, adding dry standpipes to the new bridges and putting a drainage system in place to filter the runoff from the freshly paved road.

“These things are going to be installed with great frequency as we move through there,” Caesar said. “We’re finishing it up in one round. No more night work. We’re in the home stretch.”

That’s music to Peter Stamnas’ ears. The I-93 project manager said the DOT can now move forward with plans to double the traffic lanes along a 20-mile stretch from Salem to Manchester. All he’s waiting for is the completion of a supplemental environmental impact study final report – required after a 2007 lawsuit brought on by the Conservation Law Fund – and a thumbs up from the Federal Highway Administration.

With comments coming in from residents and officials in communities lining the interstate, Stamnas believes the final report will be issued sometime around Jan. 1 and pending the go-ahead by federal authorities, work could begin as soon as the summer of 2010.

“The majority of the dozens and dozens of e-mails and letters I have received are in support of the project,” he said. “We put (the SEIS) out in the beginning of August and people have read it and made their opinions known ... We’ll continue to involve the public to shape and model the plan.”

Count Salem Selectman Everett McBride among those backing the project. McBride voted along with the rest of the board to send a letter to DOT Commissioner George Campbell praising the work last week.

Commuting daily to Burlington, Mass., McBride said it was nice to see the traffic cones had gone, but even better to know that the bridges were safe and ready for a wider highway.

“I think its time to go forward,” he said. “They’re putting in park-and-rides and educating folks on using the bus services. I think they’re doing everything they can to get as many cars off the highway as they can.”