GILFORD — A youth basketball tournament which was started as a tribute to Gilford Middle School student Aaron T. Francoeur, who died of leukemia in the summer of 1993 at the age of 13, marks its 20th anniversary when it opens today at Gilford Middle School.
During those 20 years the tourney has raised over $100,000 in scholarships for Gilford High School graduates, assisting over 100 students according to Tom Francoeur, Aaron's father, who says that the success of the tournament can be traced to the original idea that it should be both simple and fun.
''I'm amazed. You'd think that after five years it would have run its course and people would have lost their enthusiasm. But it hasn't. People keep coming back year after year and that's what's so rewarding for me. It's really become a part of the community,'' says Francoeur.
He says that some of the same people who were there for the first tournament, like Laconia High School athletic director Jim Chase, who has officiated games ever since 1994; Gilford High School nurse Meg Jenkins, former Parks and Recreation Director Sue King, Bob Gunther, long-time scorekeeper and former Selectman and former Gilford Rotary Club president Larry Routhier.
''Larry saves up his change all year and brings it in as a donation. Some years that's well over $200,'' says Francoeur, who marvels that many people who played in the tournament as youngsters return to help out in the tournament.
Among those who helped organize the first tournament was Jim Babcock, long-time guidance counselor at Laconia Middle School.
Babcock recalls that he was active in recreational league basketball in Gilford at that time and that he and others felt the need to do something to help the Francouer family get through the tragedy and thought that the tournament would be a good way to memorialize Aaron's love of basketball.
Little did he realize that some day his own son, Nathan, would be memorialized in the name of the same tournament.
''Nate played in the tournament all four years that he was in the rec league,'' says Babcock, who says that after his son was diagnosed with cancer while finishing high school in 2004 he continued to be active in the tournament and officiated games in 2005 while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
He died in September of 2005 and his name was added to the title of the tournament in 2006.
The five-day tournament features 12 teams in three brackets, with ages ranging from third to sixth grade and from the towns of Belmont, Gilford, Gilmanton, Laconia, Sanbornton and Tilton/Northfield..
It's the seventh tournament for Gilford's Parks and Recreation department Director Herb Greene, who says that as many as 70 volunteers, including 15 different referees, will be taking part this year.
''It's really a great tournament and it's popular because of it's philosophy, which focuses on sportsmanship and team play. There's the Hustle Award, which goes not to he best athlete but the player who gives 110 percent of themselves.''
He says that the all-tournament team is based on sportsmanship and that one player from each team is honored.
''There's a great atmosphere in the gym. The players are cheered for their effort and everyone really has a good time,'' says Greene.
''There are a lot of dedicated people who make this possible and that's quite a tribute to the community.'' says Greene.

CAPTION: slugged Francouer

Jim Babcock, Gilford Parks and Recreation Director Herb Greene and Tom Francoeur have been working to put together the 20th annual Francouer-Babcock Memorial Basketball Tournament which opens today at Gilford Middle School. The tourney concludes on Sunday. Greene is holding a framed Gilford rec league jersey worn back in the early 90s by one of the two young men the tournament honors each year, Aaron Francouer. Aaron died of leukemia at age 13. The tournaments other namesake, Nathan Babock died of cancer soon after he graduated from Gilford High School. (Roger Amsden photo for the Laconia Daily Sun)

GILFORD — After a year-long wildlife study conducted for the Laconia Airport Authority by the United States Department of Agriculture, the plans for the completion of a fence that encompasses the entire airport is now before Gilford's Conservation Commission.
The reason the Conservation Commission must be consulted said airport manager Diane Cooper-Terrill, is because there are five wetland areas that must be crossed for the circumferential fence to be complete.
Cooper-Terrill said this is Phase 3 of the fencing project and has been part of the Authority's Master Plan since it was adopted in 2003. She said Phase 1 is the fence along Lily Pond Road and the second phase is by the outer side of the terminal.
"The last phase is to completely enclose the airport," Cooper-Terrill said.
She said the fencing recommended by the USDA will extend four feet underground  in the area dry areas and two feet deep in the wetlands areas. The 6-foot high chain link fence will be anchored by 4-foot deep posts anchored in concrete.
She said the FAA's top concerns recently involve wildlife management and she said there have been recorded deer strikes at the Laconia Airport but "fortunately none of them involved any personal injury."
Cooper-Terrill explained that the depth of the fence is to prevent burrowing animals from accessing the airport. She said burrowing animals are ofter prey for larger predators like coyotes and bobcats. The report also said turkeys are a problem for the airport as well.
The report also indicates that a vegetative-free buffer zone on either side of the fence should be maintained whenever practical.
Cooper-Terrill said the biggest wildlife problem faced by many airports is birds in general and Canadian geese in particular, for Laconia.
The USDA report recommended keeping the grass moved to 6 to 10 inches so the grass height is a deterrent to birds by keeping rodents well hidden from their sight. In addition, small predators like fox, raccoons and skunks are deterred by long grass. The recommendation is to move grass to shorter than six inches only where it is required by the FAA.
Open areas not covered by grass, read the report, should be covered by asphalt or crushed gravel when possible.
The report also recommends an "aggressive harassment and shooting effort towards bird and mammals using pyrotechnics, propane cannons, dogs, remote controlled airplanes and electronic scarecrows.
In some cases, read the report, lethal methods of eliminating wildlife are appropriate, including limited and controlled uses of high-powered rifles from high elevations.
The report also said Lily Pond represents a "significant" hazard to the Laconia Airport because ducks like to land atop the runway lights and spread their wings after diving for fish.
Cooper-Terrill said the project, which has not gone out to bid, will be largely funded by federal airport improvement grants that are funded by user fees and supplemented by the state airport improvements funds — also funded by user fees, and the Laconia Airport Authority.
After a review by the Conservation Commission, the application will be forwarded to the Department of Environmental Services.

LACONIA — Two city schools went into "soft" lock-down for about an hour yesterday after an administrator spotted two men walking toward the high school, one of which appeared to be carrying a rifle. Students were eventually released after a police search of the vicinity couldn't find the individuals.
Laconia police Captain Matt Canfield said the department was called at 1:18 p.m. on Tuesday by an LHS administrator who reported seeing the two males walking on Dewey Street, a short street that leads from Gilford Avenue to the side of the high school. The school went into was is called a "soft" lock-down mode — students are kept in their classrooms, hallways are cleared, doors are locked, teaching continues — while police searched the area for the individuals.
Woodland Heights School was also locked down, due to its relative vicinity to the high school.
The lock-down lasted until about 2:20 p.m., 15 minutes later than the usual dismissal time for the high school.
Canfield said that the search, which included assistance from a State Police K-9 unit and examination of surveillance video from a nearby convenience store, was unsuccessful in finding the two males in question.
Although Canfield said it is not necessarily illegal to carry an exposed firearm in the city, the fact that they were spotted walking toward the school caused "serious concern."
Both of the subjects were described by the administrator as white males. One was wearing a black T-shirt and the other a white sweatshirt with red lettering. Police continue to investigate the incident and ask anyone with information to call the department at 524-5252 or the Laconia Crimeline at 527-1717.