LACONIA — A Gale to Goss Library Walk Saturday morning at 10 a.m. will celebrate Laconia's public reading spaces and offer participants an opportunity to see some of the city's history along the way.
Both the Laconia Public Library, where the walk begins, and the Goss Reading Room, where it ends, were gifts to the city and opened only four years apart.
The Laconia Public Library was a gift from Napoleon Bonaparte Gale, who died in 1894 and left most of his fortune to the city of Laconia, with the provision that a library and city park be built with it.. The former John C. Moulton house was purchased as a site and work started on the Romanesque Revival style building in 1901. It was completed and opened to the public in 1903.
The Goss Reading Room was built following the 1903 Lakeport fire, which destroyed over 100 homes and left 500 people homeless. Among those whose home was destroyed was that of Dr. Ossian Wilbur Goss. He died shortly after the fire but had prepared a plan for the site of his former Elm Street home which his will described as ''the homestead house to be erected'' and was given to city of Laconia as ''the Ossian Wilbur Goss Reading Rooms.''
The walk with start at the Laconia Public Library and proceed along the WOW Trail to Lakeport Square, then move northwest on Elm Street.
Participants will see the Messer Street crossing where an 1897 wreck involving a horse drawn buggy and a train, resulting in the death of two people, led to the creation seven months later of Laconia's first hospital, the Laconia Cottage Hospital on Court Street,
They will also see the former Lakeport mills which once were the center of a world-wide knitting machine manufacturing and visit the Lakeport Railroad Station museum, where machinery which once was manufactured in Lakeport can be seen.
Randy Brough, library director, says that the walk is sponsored by the library in partnership with the WOW Trail, the Laconia Historical and Museum Society and the Laconia School District's Project EXTRA.
Each youth who participates in the walk will receive some of Laconia Middle School's TWIST program's original WOW Trail Mix, a free raffle ticket for a chance to win a Kindle reader and a 10 books for $10 reading log from TD Bank North.
The event will also see the unveiling of Laconia Middle School's mascot, as well as four reading stations along the WOW trail with special guest readers.
Once walkers reach the Goss Reading Room they will receive a drink and a free book and will finish out the morning with a ride back to the Laconia Public Library on Molly the Trolley.

CAPTION:
Regina Theberge, administrative assistant for the Laconia School District's Project EXTRA program, and Randy Brough, Laconia City Library librarian, plan for the Gale to Goss Library Walk which will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. Participants will have an opportunity to win a Kindle. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

LACONIA — There's a new twist for the this year's annual Winni Salmon Derby.
The winner of the $12,500 first prize for the largest landlocked salmon caught on the big lake over the weekend, as well as the person who witnessed the catch, will be subject to a polygraph test to ensure that they are telling the truth about where the fish was landed.
''There's been some concern, due to the rumors and information on some fishing blogs, that it's possible that some of the past entries weren't landed in Lake Winnipesaukee,'' says Dianne LaBrie, chairman of the derby which is now run by the Laconia Rotary Club.
LaBrie says that the response from fishermen and on the blogs has been overwhelmingly supportive of the decision to require the polygraph test, which has long been a part of the derby's rules but has never been invoked before.
''It gives people confidence that it's fair for everyone involved,'' says LaBrie.
The polygraph examination will be administered by Crawford Polygraph Service of Moultonborough and will be scheduled after the event at the convenience of all involved.
LaBrie said that registrations were very busy on Thursday and she expects that there will be at least as many taking part as last year, when about 1,300 anglers registered.
''Actually I'd like to see the sun go away. Fishing for salmon is best when it's cloudy and there's a little chop on the water,'' said LaBrie.
Over $50,000 in prizes will be awarded over the weekend in the derby, which is the largest landlocked salmon and lake trout derby in the state.
Only salmon and lake trout taken from Winnipesaukee are eligible for the prizes, which include a $12,500 grand prize in the salmon division, and a $5,000 grand prize in the lake trout division.
The runner-up in the salmon division will won $2,500 and the second place lake trout will net the angler $1,000. The winner of the Junior Division will receive a 14 foot Alumacraft boat and trailer.
Weigh-in station for the event will be at Weirs Beach and the station will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday.
All fish weighed in between 6 and 9 p.m. on Friday or Saturday will qualify for the next day's awards. Daily awards will be presented at the Lacuna Ice Arena starting at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

LACONIA — The lobby of Lakes Region General Hospital rang with the sound of clinking glasses early yesterday evening as officials of LRGHealthcare hosted and toasted those who contributed to the "Strengthening the Community's Well-Being" capital campaign to fund renovations at the corporation's hospitals in Laconia and Franklin.
Altogether the effort has raised $4,026,591.23 that will be applied to emergency department and endoscopy suite at Lakes Regional General Hospital and medical imaging technology and the dining room at Franklin Regional Hospital as well as to creating single patient rooms and providing new furniture and furnishings at both hospitals.
Dr. Paul Racicot, emergency services physician at LRGHealthcare, who co-chaired the campaign, said that all the trustees and senior executives and managers, together with nearly 60-percent of the employees, contributed to the campaign. He singled out the community banks — Bank of New Hampshire, Meredith Village Savings Bank, Franklin Savings Bank — all of them represented at the celebration, as "the cornerstone of this campaign."
Quoting Sir Winston Churchill, Racicot closed by saying "we make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."
"This is a great endeavor," remarked Tom Clairmont, president and chief executive officer of LRGHealthcare, "and it has worked without a hitch." Noting that the corporation owns or leases some 600,000-square-feet of space, he said that the renovations will ensure that the quality of the space matches the quality of the care. He said that work will begin by converting rooms at both hospitals to single rooms to control infection and provide privacy.

CAPTION: Tom Clairmont (left), president and chief executive officer of LRGHealthcare, joins Dr. Paul Racicot, emergency services physician of LRGHealthcare, and Gil Schohan, a trustee of LRGHealthcare, who co-chaired the "Strengthening the Community's Well-Being" capital campaign in raising a glass of champagne to salute the donors whose contributions topped $4-million while celebrating the success of the fundraising effort  at Lakes Region General Hospital yesterday. (Laconia DFaily Sun photo/Michael Kitch)