Epsom
Dairy farm destroyed,
community rallies
By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer
jwolfe@yourneighborhoodnews.com
EPSOM Not only did the Bachelder
family lose most of the barn that was the center of their family
dairy business, but two of their approximately 75 cows gave birth
to two calves that same night. Now the community is rallying
to their aid.
Charlie and Ruth Bachelder's dairy farm, Spooky View Farm, now
owned by their son Keith, caught on fire Friday, Aug. 27, about
6:30 p.m.
One of the cows delivered a calf at the scene of the fire and
the other delivered once she arrived at the cows' new home at
the Yeaton Dairy Farm, said Keith Bachelder.
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As soon as the fire department got the
call, Epsom Fire Chief Stewart Yeaton called his brother Bill
to have him help Keith Bachelder and his family move the cows
to their farm.
One cow had to be put to sleep after suffering smoke inhalation,
said Charlie Bachelder.
The cow, like some of the other cows, didn't want to leave her
home on the Bachelder's property even though it was on fire.
Another cow ran off into the woods and found the next day, said
Bachelder.
Thirteen fire departments, many friends,
neighbors and fellow farmers showed up the night of the blaze
to help save the cows and get bales of hay out of the barn to
prevent any more damage.
One of the bearings on the hay elevator overheated, which caused
the fire, said Chief Yeaton.
"It was a freak accident," said
Yeaton. "It's not something that happens often."
Yeaton and the insurance company, the New Hampshire Farmer's
Bureau, came to the conclusion that it was the bearing after
ruling out all other possibilities. This is the first time he
has seen a fire at the Bachelder's barn.
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DEVASTATED Charlie Bachelder, who
started the dairy farm with his wife, Ruth, looks at the damage
on the heifer and young stock side of the barn. Though retired
from the dairy business, Bachelder still helps his son on the
farm. (Jodi Wolfe Photos)
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"A father's nightmare, as they say," Charles Bachelder
said. "(I) put a lot of work into it. My whole life was
right there."
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire, he said.
"That's a good thing in and of itself," said Yeaton.
Many people in Epsom have brought food and offered to help in
various ways. Keith Bachelder said he has received lots of hay,
offers to help milk the cows and other free labor, which he is
happy to see. The hay is being stored at the Echo Valley Farm
right up the street from the Bachelder's.
"People have been coming out of the woodwork to help,"
he said.
Charlie Bachelder said they have received help and donations
from people they don't even know.
"I love it," he said. "You know who your friends
and neighbors are, that's for sure."
One of their neighbors went around and collected $1,000 for the
Bachelders.
"I feel awful bad about this because these people are my
friends," Ron Raymond, a friend of the family, said. "It's
hard to put into words what these people feel. (It's a) a tremendous
loss for these people."
The Yeatons, who are good friends of the Bachelders, thought
nothing about offering to take in their homeless cows.
"We had the capacity and we're just down the road,"
said Yeaton.
He said they were simply friends helping friends and neighbors
helping neighbors.
"They're good farmers and they're good people," Keith
Bachelder said.
"It's very nice of them," added Ruth Bachelder.
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Some of the cows have fevers from the stress
of the fire, the move and the high temperatures these past couple
of days, said Charlie.
"They're doing pretty good for what they've been through,"
said Keith Bachelder.
He has been giving them penicillin, and the milk they produce
while on penicillin had to be thrown out, Charlie Bachelder said.
The cows will be at the Yeaton Dairy Farm for a while, Keith
Bachelder said. The Yeaton brothers are allowing him to use their
milking equipment, which he said is more modern than his.
"It will make things go faster," he said.
However, the milk tank and the heater weren't damaged, Charlie
Bachelder said. They will have to be taken out of the barn so
it can be torn down to rebuild.
He said he hopes to start rebuilding as
soon as the money from the insurance comes through.
Keith Bachelder is now working with their
insurance company to determine how to finance rebuilding the
farm.
"It's gonna have an impact on the business," he said.
"I don't know how long it will take to recover."
It will take at least six months, as there is a lot of work to
do, he said.
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THANKS This sign was posted on Center
Hill Road in front of the burned barn.
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Those wishing to help can donate money at the Epsom Circle Market,
stop at the Bank of New Hampshire in Epsom to make a donation,
or mail a check to "Bachelder Farm Fire Fund," Bank
of New Hampshire, P.O. Box 200, Suncook, NH 03275.
Hooksett
Connector road gets final approval
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Sick of the traffic clogging Hooksett Road
and making it impossible to get into the Village? Well, relief
is in sight.
At the Hooksett Town Council's Wednesday, Aug. 25, meeting, councilors
finally signed a contract with the New Hampshire Department of
Transportation for the proposed connector road. The contract
has been decades in the making.
"This will be a significant improvement in safety,"
Councilor Michael DiBitetto said. "This will avoid the Granite
Street cut-through. That road is absolutely harrowing."
The contract calls for $600,000 of state money and possibly about
$300,000 more, DiBitetto said. The finish date is set for late
2005.
The connector road will start at the HealthSource building on
Hooksett Road across from the library. The road will go all the
way down to Main Street near the intersection of Maine and Merrimack.
The connector road will bring you to Route 3A and the Village
without the traffic of Hooksett Road and Granite Street.
"It will divert traffic off those two roads, which are hazardous,
and put traffic on a much better-designed road," DiBitetto
said.
The contract came after almost two decades of negotiations with
the state, a time period that caused many Hooksettites to lose
faith and a period in which residents have seen a large
increase in traffic.
"We've been working on it and essentially it's been hard
to find funds," DiBitetto said. "The state bent over
backwards to make this happen."
The town signed the contract, but will have essentially nothing
to do with the project. They will specifically receive the check
and hand it over to road builders for the project. DiBitetto
said the town has to be the one in the contract, but the state
and road builders will be in charge.
Hooksett
It's a brand new Memorial School
First day of school was Wednesday, Sept.
1, for new school and students
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
With the change of grades and renovations
that have more than doubled the size of the original, Hooksett
Memorial School is bound to feel like a brand new school for
the students who returned to classes there Sept. 1.
The school has undergone a complete $8 million renovation, adding
a new wing with nine fifth-grade classrooms, a computer lab and
media center, and several other specialty classrooms and administrative
offices.
The new space allows Memorial to take the third-graders from
Underhill School. Fourth- and fifth-graders at Memorial come
from the now-closed Village School.
"We feel so very lucky to have this new school," said
former Village principal and now Memorial Principal Carol Soucy.
"It's a total renovation, right down to the foundation."
Indeed, it's hard to tell where the older parts of the building
meet the new ones, since the entire structure including
the floors, walls, windows, and celings - has been redone.
In addition, the north wing of the building was expanded, adding
seven new classrooms, and the gym was widened by a few feet and
improved with a new floor and new celings.
"Of course, the gym has been a big hit with the kids,"
said Soucy, who joined other staff members in giving tours of
the new facility to eager students and parents on Monday, Aug.
23.
The school now also has a separate new kitchen and a cafeteria,
lightening the load on the gym, which was previously used for
both purposes.
The former library has been turned into a common area that can
be used for presentations, lectures or assemblies. Soucy said
a school store may also be run in the common area.
Soucy added that the renovation was also focused on technological
improvements, and now every classroom is wired for Internet access.
"We have the capacity built right in," Soucy said.
"We tried to plan everything so that it would be very 21st
century."
Plans for the courtyard area in the center of the school won't
simply be for decoration.
"It won't be just a beautiful space, it will also help support
the students' science curriculum," she said.
Memorial also sees some changes in its staffing this year, with
the addition of assistant principal Bridey Bellemare.
"The position was added because it was getting to be just
too much for one person to handle," Bellemare said. "I
came on to help with all of this, and I'm very excited with the
new school and for the upcoming year."
Hooksett School Board Chairman Jim Sullivan said a dedication
ceremony for the school will be held later this fall.
Candia
Junk or not, property
must be cleaned up
By JENNIFER CLAISE
Staff Writer
jclaise@yourneighborhoodnews.com
A man charged with operating an illegal
junkyard on Rockingham Road may soon be getting a bill from the
town which could top $75,000 for cleanup of the property, after
a judge ruled that he did not make an effort to clean the property
in a timely manner himself.
Clarence Blevens, who owns the three-acre property covered with
automobile parts, shingles, scrap metal, electronic equipment,
satellite dishes and the burnt-out remnants of a greenhouse,
was given 60 days to clear the property.
When he failed to do so by his deadline in May, a Rockingham
County Superior Court judge authorized the town to clean it for
him, at Blevens' expense.
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Recently, according to Selectmen
Chairman Clark Thyng, representatives from various crews interested
in bidding for the clean-up job met on Blevens' property to assess
the extent of the work necessary and approximate cost of getting
it done.
Blevens did not accompany the contractors, but remained in his
home, Thyng said.
Interested contractors are to submit bids by Friday, Sept. 17,
according to Selectmen's Assistant Carolyn Emerson.
The situation on Blevens' property is not a new one. In 1989,
the town informed Blevens that his property was considered an
illegal junkyard under state and local laws. In 1992, he was
found in contempt of court, fined $1,000 and ordered to pay the
town $6,800 in attorneys' fees.
Thyng said the matter comes down to an
issue of defining what is and what is not junk.
According to Candia statutes, "junk"
is partially defined as "old scrap copper, brass, rope,
rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber debris, waste, or junked,
dismantled or wrecked automobiles."
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JUNK OR TREASURE? Old tractor-trailer
trucks, automobile and piles of scrap metal on Clarence Blevens'
property can be see from Blevens Drive. A judge has authorized
the town to clean up the lots after Blevens failed to do it himself
before the May 24 deadline. (Jennifer Claise Photo)
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But, Thyng said, Blevens considers the items on his property
to be valuable.
"You and I would look at the items and say, 'They're junk
clean them up,' but he sees them as assets and feels that
we're taking away his livelihood," Thyng said.
"He's livid," Thyng added. "It's a sad situation,
and as a selectman, I don't like that I have to do things like
this."
But there are serious environmental concerns on the property
that need to be addressed now, he said.
"We found what appeared to be a pile of asbestos on one
of the lots," Thyng said.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asbestos
is a mineral made up of microscopic bundles of fibers that can
become airborne and inhaled into the lungs, possibly causing
significant health problems. No safe level of exposure has been
determined.
And while Thyng said it appears now that Blevens is making an
attempt to clear the property, he has waited too long to do so.
"It does appear that he is trying to clean the property
at this point, but this has been an issue for quite some time
and it needs to be taken care of now," he said.
Blevens did not return repeated calls for comment.
Epsom
Former police chief hurt
in Iraq, family hit by hurricane
By JODI WOLFE
Staff Writer
jwolfe@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Money is being collected
at the Epsom Circle Market and the Wendy's in Epsom for former
Epsom Police Chief Henry Farrin Jr.
Farrin, a member of the Manchester-based 172nd Mountain Division,
Army National Guard, was injured by a roadside bomb while serving
in Iraq the same day his family's house was hit by Hurricane
Charley.
Community members are pitching in to help the former police chief.
"It's going very well," said Larry Willey, who owns
the Epsom Circle Storage, the Epsom Circle Market and the Wendy's
with his brother Steve. "It's well over $500 that we've
collected so far."
The brothers are planning to match the donations when they are
all collected and send a check to Farrin's wife, Sandy, and children
in Florida.
Farrin was well-known in town.
"He was fair with the people," Epsom Police Chief William
Preve said. "He did a good job with the police department."
"Henry served this community a long time and he's overseas
serving his country," said Willey. "It was certainly
a tough day for him."
The police and fire associations are planning a spaghetti dinner
to raise money for Farrin and his family, said Preve. The dinner
is tentatively planned for Saturday, Sept. 11. The Willey brothers
are going to donate the spaghetti and the spaghetti sauce for
that fundraiser and make Italian bread.
"Everyone's kinda pulling together," said Preve.
Willey knew Farrin and his wife worked part-time at Wendy's.
"I was obviously horrified when I heard about Friday the
13th coming true," said Willey.
Preve worked with Farrin for seven years before he left.
"I think it's terrible," Preve said. "It really
is when bad luck strikes two things in one day."
Farrin suffered minor injuries from scrap metal from the roadside
bomb that hit him in the face when his window was open, said
Preve.
Farrin got the call from the National Guard that he was being
sent to Iraq two days after he and his family moved to Florida
last December, Preve said. The Farrin family was renting a home
when the hurricane hit.
"Talk about bad luck," Preve said.
Sandy Farrin and the two children are staying with her sister,
a couple hours from where they were living in Florida. At first
they didn't have an address to send money, so an account at the
Bank of New Hampshire was set up to collect money for the Farrins.
"You sit there and wish you could do something more,"
he said. "We figured the best way would be a fundraiser
to help financially."
Preve hopes people will come out and help the Farrin family.
The Willeys will continue to collect money for another week.
Those interested can also deposit donations at any Bank of New
Hampshire branch or mail them to Bank of New Hampshire, P.O.
Box 200, Suncook, NH 03275.
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