Anni Forts 'UP' Fund board invites you to our monthly meetings
To the editor,
The Annie Forts "UP" Fund is thankful for the support received this past year through its annual appeal letter; to John Moulton for allowing our participation and fundraising efforts at the Moulton Farm Spring Opening Festival; and to Jim Nolan of RBC Wealth Management for donating his financial advice and guidance to the "UP" Fund for over 10 years, enabling safe investment growth.
The "UP" Fund was able to award nearly $13,000 in 2012. The awards went to Special Education Scholarships, for Community Wellness Center Fitness Program Memberships, for a family and child to participate in the Leadership Program at University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability, for a child's participation in the Therapeutic Riding Program, for summer camp for a young person with Down Syndrome, to the Lakes Region Community Services - Down Syndrome Team and to purchase an iPad for a student with Down Syndrome.
The "UP" Fund directors participated in the Altrusa Festival of Trees at Waukewan Golf Club, decorating and donating a tree for a needy family. The theme for the tree was "Starry, Starry Night".
Annie once said to her dad, "I would like to have as many friends as there are stars in the sky". New Board member Michael Lancor approached Vutek to make a banner with this saying for the event. The "UP" Fund thanks Altrusa and Vutek and welcomes Michael Lancor to the Board.
The Board welcomes whose who would like to join them at meetings held the third Thursday of the month at 8:00 A.M. at Preferred Vacation Rentals in Center Harbor. The "UP" Fund thanks Mark Borrin for providing the conference room for our "UP" Fund meetings.
Thank you all for supporting Annie and the "UP" Fund.
Robin Rist
Meredith
The Annie Forts "UP" Fund is thankful for the support received this past year through its annual appeal letter; to John Moulton for allowing our participation and fundraising efforts at the Moulton Farm Spring Opening Festival; and to Jim Nolan of RBC Wealth Management for donating his financial advice and guidance to the "UP" Fund for over 10 years, enabling safe investment growth.
The "UP" Fund was able to award nearly $13,000 in 2012. The awards went to Special Education Scholarships, for Community Wellness Center Fitness Program Memberships, for a family and child to participate in the Leadership Program at University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability, for a child's participation in the Therapeutic Riding Program, for summer camp for a young person with Down Syndrome, to the Lakes Region Community Services - Down Syndrome Team and to purchase an iPad for a student with Down Syndrome.
The "UP" Fund directors participated in the Altrusa Festival of Trees at Waukewan Golf Club, decorating and donating a tree for a needy family. The theme for the tree was "Starry, Starry Night".
Annie once said to her dad, "I would like to have as many friends as there are stars in the sky". New Board member Michael Lancor approached Vutek to make a banner with this saying for the event. The "UP" Fund thanks Altrusa and Vutek and welcomes Michael Lancor to the Board.
The Board welcomes whose who would like to join them at meetings held the third Thursday of the month at 8:00 A.M. at Preferred Vacation Rentals in Center Harbor. The "UP" Fund thanks Mark Borrin for providing the conference room for our "UP" Fund meetings.
Thank you all for supporting Annie and the "UP" Fund.
Robin Rist
Meredith
Last Updated on Friday, 25 January 2013 01:06
Hits: 74
I ate it all & loved every minute of our evening at Local Eatery
To the editor,
This New Years' eve, my wife and I decided to try the new restaurant in Laconia located at Railroad square, called The Local Eatery. My daughter and son in law had been there a couple of times, and raved about the dining experience. So we dressed up, and off we went for our 7 p.m. reservations, not quite sure what to expect.
It was probably over two plus hours later that we attempted to move our overstuffed bodies to the door to make our way home, having had the single best dining experience we have encountered in a very long time. What is it, about this restaurant that made us feel so welcome, so much at home, yet there was nothing about the cuisine that was simple, or home cooked. We were seated at a table with a large picture window, overlooking the main square in downtown Laconia, with people nearby having their great time, yet it felt so private, so personal, yet part of something bigger. I will not confuse you with my inadequate descriptions of the specifics of the complete dinner we so thoroughly enjoyed. The soups alone kept me smiling as I devoured every bit of the Lobster Bisque, (the best I have ever had!), and the onion and squash samplers were equally spectacular. To follow it up with a delicious crab dish, then a tender mini beef tenderloin pot pie, and then a main dish of Lobster in three styles, was just completely overwhelming to my palate and my stomach. The melt in your mouth gingerbread and eggnog ice cream for dessert, was more than any human should have to endure after such a complete and satisfying meal, and dining experience. I must plead guilty, I ate it all and loved every minute of the evening, especially since I had such a beautiful and loving companion to spend it with, my wife Virginia!
Thank You to Kevin and Jillian Halligan for not only providing my wife and I with a great New Years Eve dining experience, but also for giving the Lakes Region a special change from the usual meal, and doing it with such a personal touch. My wife and I watched you grow up and are very proud of the way you have provided the downtown with two very quality, and needy business's. I give you five thumbs up!
Jim Babcock
Gilford
This New Years' eve, my wife and I decided to try the new restaurant in Laconia located at Railroad square, called The Local Eatery. My daughter and son in law had been there a couple of times, and raved about the dining experience. So we dressed up, and off we went for our 7 p.m. reservations, not quite sure what to expect.
It was probably over two plus hours later that we attempted to move our overstuffed bodies to the door to make our way home, having had the single best dining experience we have encountered in a very long time. What is it, about this restaurant that made us feel so welcome, so much at home, yet there was nothing about the cuisine that was simple, or home cooked. We were seated at a table with a large picture window, overlooking the main square in downtown Laconia, with people nearby having their great time, yet it felt so private, so personal, yet part of something bigger. I will not confuse you with my inadequate descriptions of the specifics of the complete dinner we so thoroughly enjoyed. The soups alone kept me smiling as I devoured every bit of the Lobster Bisque, (the best I have ever had!), and the onion and squash samplers were equally spectacular. To follow it up with a delicious crab dish, then a tender mini beef tenderloin pot pie, and then a main dish of Lobster in three styles, was just completely overwhelming to my palate and my stomach. The melt in your mouth gingerbread and eggnog ice cream for dessert, was more than any human should have to endure after such a complete and satisfying meal, and dining experience. I must plead guilty, I ate it all and loved every minute of the evening, especially since I had such a beautiful and loving companion to spend it with, my wife Virginia!
Thank You to Kevin and Jillian Halligan for not only providing my wife and I with a great New Years Eve dining experience, but also for giving the Lakes Region a special change from the usual meal, and doing it with such a personal touch. My wife and I watched you grow up and are very proud of the way you have provided the downtown with two very quality, and needy business's. I give you five thumbs up!
Jim Babcock
Gilford
Last Updated on Friday, 25 January 2013 01:02
Hits: 252
Commissioners being told there can never be a budget change
To the editor,
A favorite analogy for bureaucratic budget discussions is "the kitchen table", the family budget. It seems simple and easy for non-bureaucrats to relate to. So let's discuss that in light of the recent Belknap County Delegation's suggestion to micromanage the county budget and take discretionary power away from the elected commissioners.
Imagine that you have created your household budget for fuel, mortgage, health insurance, transportation, utilities, entertainment etc. based on the current income of your family. You have dutifully allocated a certain amount for each item based on current and projected costs. Now, imagine that there is an especially harsh winter and it becomes necessary to heat your home for a longer slightly longer season, and at the same time the price of heating fuel goes up. Or suppose you have an unexpected household emergency such as a roof leaking as a result of an ice dam? You might logically decide to juggle your budget a bit and take some money from transportation or utilities or entertainment to cover this unexpected change. Now imagine that some outside agency prevented you from making this necessary adjustment.
Would this make any sense? Well that is exactly what the delegation is attempting to do. It is telling our elected commissioners that once they have created a budget and allocated funds for specific areas — the nursing home, department of corrections, sheriff's department, county administration — there can never be a change. They cannot move funds from one area to another no matter what emergency or circumstance arises. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all had crystal balls and could predict the future. Having the ability to make necessary changes is essential for both kitchen table budgets as well as the bureaucratic ones.
Dorothy Piquado
Gilford
A favorite analogy for bureaucratic budget discussions is "the kitchen table", the family budget. It seems simple and easy for non-bureaucrats to relate to. So let's discuss that in light of the recent Belknap County Delegation's suggestion to micromanage the county budget and take discretionary power away from the elected commissioners.
Imagine that you have created your household budget for fuel, mortgage, health insurance, transportation, utilities, entertainment etc. based on the current income of your family. You have dutifully allocated a certain amount for each item based on current and projected costs. Now, imagine that there is an especially harsh winter and it becomes necessary to heat your home for a longer slightly longer season, and at the same time the price of heating fuel goes up. Or suppose you have an unexpected household emergency such as a roof leaking as a result of an ice dam? You might logically decide to juggle your budget a bit and take some money from transportation or utilities or entertainment to cover this unexpected change. Now imagine that some outside agency prevented you from making this necessary adjustment.
Would this make any sense? Well that is exactly what the delegation is attempting to do. It is telling our elected commissioners that once they have created a budget and allocated funds for specific areas — the nursing home, department of corrections, sheriff's department, county administration — there can never be a change. They cannot move funds from one area to another no matter what emergency or circumstance arises. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all had crystal balls and could predict the future. Having the ability to make necessary changes is essential for both kitchen table budgets as well as the bureaucratic ones.
Dorothy Piquado
Gilford
Last Updated on Friday, 25 January 2013 00:57
Hits: 179
Our public schools should be allowed to demand vaccination
To the editor,
In recent weeks, there has been a great deal of debate in the editorial pages of The Sun about chiropractic and the immune system. There are some, including a chiropractor, who maintain that vaccination is not needed for immunity to disease but only chiropractic manipulation. This is irresponsible. There is no real evidence that chiropractic confers immunity and any chiropractor who claims it does is acting irresponsibly, especially when he or she condemns childhood immunizations.
This is certainly not to say that there are no good chiropractors. I have gone to excellent chiropractors to whom I was referred by an M.D. As long as they stick to treating muscular and skeletal issues, they are practicing responsible medicine It is when they claim that chiropractic is good for almost anything that they are practicing quackery and thus endangering the health of individuals and the public. Such chiropractors are practicing pseudoscience, not science. They should be disciplined for malpractice and if their advice or treatment results in someone's death or injury, they should be sued.
In the past century or more, humankind has succeeded in eliminating many diseases which previously often ended in the death of the patient. How has modern, scientific medicine accomplished this? With antibiotics and VACCINES! One can always point to some rare side effect or to a bad batch of vaccine but the reality is that we are far healthier with vaccines than without them.
Another recent writer to The Sun was encouraging parents to "opt out" of having their children vaccinated before starting school. I realize that schools allow this but I am not so sure they should. I am not so sure that parents have a "right" to not vaccinate their kids against childhood diseases that used to commonly kill children. I think that like any right, "parental rights" have limitations. In this case, perhaps the rights of the child have a better claim than the rights of the parents.
I realize that some do not vaccinate for religious reasons. People who have reached the age of majority have that right. Parents also have the right to raise their kids in their faith but there are also reasonable limitations on this right. Parents cannot deny a minor life-saving medical treatment even if that is what their religion teaches. Why should they be allowed to not vaccinate their kids?
Public schools should be allowed to demand childhood vaccination. If any exceptions are made, then the parents should homeschool their kids or send them to a private school.
Could there be a link between American students having some of the world's lowest science scores and adults who promote pseudo-science as "science?"
E. Scott Cracraft
Gilford
In recent weeks, there has been a great deal of debate in the editorial pages of The Sun about chiropractic and the immune system. There are some, including a chiropractor, who maintain that vaccination is not needed for immunity to disease but only chiropractic manipulation. This is irresponsible. There is no real evidence that chiropractic confers immunity and any chiropractor who claims it does is acting irresponsibly, especially when he or she condemns childhood immunizations.
This is certainly not to say that there are no good chiropractors. I have gone to excellent chiropractors to whom I was referred by an M.D. As long as they stick to treating muscular and skeletal issues, they are practicing responsible medicine It is when they claim that chiropractic is good for almost anything that they are practicing quackery and thus endangering the health of individuals and the public. Such chiropractors are practicing pseudoscience, not science. They should be disciplined for malpractice and if their advice or treatment results in someone's death or injury, they should be sued.
In the past century or more, humankind has succeeded in eliminating many diseases which previously often ended in the death of the patient. How has modern, scientific medicine accomplished this? With antibiotics and VACCINES! One can always point to some rare side effect or to a bad batch of vaccine but the reality is that we are far healthier with vaccines than without them.
Another recent writer to The Sun was encouraging parents to "opt out" of having their children vaccinated before starting school. I realize that schools allow this but I am not so sure they should. I am not so sure that parents have a "right" to not vaccinate their kids against childhood diseases that used to commonly kill children. I think that like any right, "parental rights" have limitations. In this case, perhaps the rights of the child have a better claim than the rights of the parents.
I realize that some do not vaccinate for religious reasons. People who have reached the age of majority have that right. Parents also have the right to raise their kids in their faith but there are also reasonable limitations on this right. Parents cannot deny a minor life-saving medical treatment even if that is what their religion teaches. Why should they be allowed to not vaccinate their kids?
Public schools should be allowed to demand childhood vaccination. If any exceptions are made, then the parents should homeschool their kids or send them to a private school.
Could there be a link between American students having some of the world's lowest science scores and adults who promote pseudo-science as "science?"
E. Scott Cracraft
Gilford
Last Updated on Friday, 25 January 2013 00:54
Hits: 363
Neither the delegation nor the people we represent are the enemy
To the editor,
Reading today's issue (January 24) of The Laconia Daily Sun and the article about the Belknap County Commission's response to the meeting held on Monday, January 21, there was a sense that peasants, in the form of the county delegation, had stormed the Bastile as represented by county headquarters. The phrase "appease misguided leadership", for example, typifies the discourse emanating from County Drive.
"Appease" has many meanings which depend upon context for interpretation. The one most apropos in this instance seems to be: to pacify or attempt to pacify an enemy by granting concessions, often at the expense of principle. I am sorry that the commissioners seem a trifle agitated, as does the county administrator, who asks what the problem is, and so I would offer the following points for consideration:
1. The convention followed the letter of the law as we understand it. We did so with the knowledge that many taxpayers in the county are at a low ebb financially and not with the sense that our hard working employees should be punished instead of rewarded. The eighteen representatives who convened on Monday directly respond to about three thousand residents, many of whom have expressed concern with expanding the budget at this time. The people who showed up on Monday to present their frustration with the budget proposed by the commissioners are not subverters of the process of governance nor are the delegates to the convention. I will concede that democracy can be a bit less tidy than commissioners meeting behind closed doors with budgetary figures revealed only to them.
2. While I appreciate the work of the commissioners on various matters, including the budget, my response to the comment "all your planning ends and their planning now starts" is that, wittingly or not, this captures the essence of our problem. The delegation and the people should be involved in the planning process from the beginning. To avoid a hierarchy
condescending from on high and the subsequent backlash from the public and, possibly, the convention, it would be useful to involve the people and their representatives from the beginning of whatever planning takes place.
Neither the delegation nor the people it represents are the enemy nor are we the "other" but rather should we all seek to move the process along in service to the ideals which we seek to uphold. In my experience, it is not possible to serve and to condescend at one and the same time.
Rep. Richard B. Burchell
Belknap County District 5
Gilmanton
Reading today's issue (January 24) of The Laconia Daily Sun and the article about the Belknap County Commission's response to the meeting held on Monday, January 21, there was a sense that peasants, in the form of the county delegation, had stormed the Bastile as represented by county headquarters. The phrase "appease misguided leadership", for example, typifies the discourse emanating from County Drive.
"Appease" has many meanings which depend upon context for interpretation. The one most apropos in this instance seems to be: to pacify or attempt to pacify an enemy by granting concessions, often at the expense of principle. I am sorry that the commissioners seem a trifle agitated, as does the county administrator, who asks what the problem is, and so I would offer the following points for consideration:
1. The convention followed the letter of the law as we understand it. We did so with the knowledge that many taxpayers in the county are at a low ebb financially and not with the sense that our hard working employees should be punished instead of rewarded. The eighteen representatives who convened on Monday directly respond to about three thousand residents, many of whom have expressed concern with expanding the budget at this time. The people who showed up on Monday to present their frustration with the budget proposed by the commissioners are not subverters of the process of governance nor are the delegates to the convention. I will concede that democracy can be a bit less tidy than commissioners meeting behind closed doors with budgetary figures revealed only to them.
2. While I appreciate the work of the commissioners on various matters, including the budget, my response to the comment "all your planning ends and their planning now starts" is that, wittingly or not, this captures the essence of our problem. The delegation and the people should be involved in the planning process from the beginning. To avoid a hierarchy
condescending from on high and the subsequent backlash from the public and, possibly, the convention, it would be useful to involve the people and their representatives from the beginning of whatever planning takes place.
Neither the delegation nor the people it represents are the enemy nor are we the "other" but rather should we all seek to move the process along in service to the ideals which we seek to uphold. In my experience, it is not possible to serve and to condescend at one and the same time.
Rep. Richard B. Burchell
Belknap County District 5
Gilmanton
Last Updated on Friday, 25 January 2013 00:39
Hits: 108
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