Monthly Archives: February 2012

Don’t Forget to Call Watty

February 29, 2012

As a reminder, you can report power outages HERE or by calling 1-800-662-7764

Keep your friends and neighbors informed, sending outage information to @LondonderryNH on twitter we will broadcast that information to friends, neighbors and town officials.  If you only have a cell phone you can follow us and our breaking news by texting “LondonderryNH” to 40404. Handheld devices will format our website to the best option for your handheld device.

Remember too, commenting on any storm story will provide nearly instant communications to others in the community.  Many may be away and wanting to know storm information.  Those out of town appreciate your assistance, so do we!

Where's Watty Coloring Book Click for a larger image

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By admin | Posted in Alert, Around Town | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

Londonderry Drumline to Perform During NBA Game

February 29, 2012

The Londonderry High School Drumline will be performing a special six-minute routine tonight, February 29, 2012, during the Boston Celtics halftime show. The Celtics will host the home game against the Milwaukee Bucks tonight, where the Lancers will play four arrangements from their repertoire and perform on each side of the court.

The 25-member squad will carry on the tradition of performing for the Celtics. This year marks the sixth consecutive the drumline has performed for the Boston National Basketball Association team.

The Drumline is the heartbeat of the Londonderry High School Lancer Marching Band and Colorguard. For more information, visit the Lancer Music Program website.

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By Jacklynn Weeks | Posted in Around Town, Schools, Sports | Tagged , , , , | Comment (1)

Celebrate Leap Year, But Not as Often as You Think

February 29, 2012

Most of us just accept the leap year, not really thinking about what it means and why it’s there. Just an extra day we get to live our lives. I’ve always thought we have this day because each year has a quarter of a day at the end of it and, after four years, that quarter becomes one, so it needs to go somewhere. But I wanted to learn more. And what I found was a neat little history, a lot of math, and the fact that leap years actually don’t occur every four years.

The calendar year needs to be the same length as the tropical calendar, which is the cycle of the seasons. However, according to the United States Naval Observatory’s website, the tropical calendar is about 365.2422 days long, giving an extra 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds per year. If the calendar year is always only 365 days, this would eventually move the changing of the seasons over time. For example, in a century, the Spring Equinox would move 24 days, from March 20 to April 13.

In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which added a leap day every four years. The average year became 365.25 days long. This resulted in the calendar year being longer, by about .0078 days, than the tropical year and between the time the calendar was instituted until the sixteenth century A.D., the Spring Equinox was shifted from March 23 to March 11.

When Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1582, the calendar was shifted to make the Spring Equinox fall on March 21 and a new system of leap days was introduced. Instead of including a leap year every four years, 97 leap years are held over a 400 year period. That means that there are 3 leap years that are actually “skipped” every 400 years.

If you’re keeping track of the math, that makes the Gregorian calendar year 365.2425 days long. Or about a half a minute longer than the tropical year. Using this method, it would take 3300 years before the Gregorian calendar gets as much as one day out of step with the seasonal calendar.

So which years do we skip? There’s math for that too. Years that are evenly divisible by 4 are leap years, except centennial years that are not evenly divisible by 400. Basically, that means the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years. 2100, 2200, and 2300 won’t be either. But none of us will be around to find out for sure anyway.

Visit the United States Naval Observatory’s website to learn more.

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By Jacklynn Weeks | Posted in Around Town | Tagged , , , , , | Comment (1)

Nature Celebrates Leap Day by Dumping Snow on New Hampshire

February 29, 2012

March is coming in like a lion this year, with a winter storm expected to hit this afternoon, February 29, through tomorrow, bringing with it between six and ten inches of snow to much of New Hampshire. The National Weather Service has issued the following winter storm warning, which includes slippery roads, wind, and low visibilities.

Snow will overspread the region this afternoon into tonight then continue into Thursday evening producing several inches of snow.

A warm front will stall south of New England as low pressure forms along this boundary later today into tonight. The front will remain south of New England as the low continues to move slowly to the east through Thursday. This will give the region a prolongs period of snow.

Snowfall accumulations reaching 6 to 10 inches with some locally higher amounts can be expected across Southern and Central New Hampshire and Southwest Maine where a winter storm warning has been posted beginning either late this afternoon or early this evening and extending through Thursday.

Across Northern New Hampshire to Central Maine then to the Mid Coast of Maine snow amounts of 4 to 8 inches are expected where a winter weather advisory has been issued for late tonight through Thursday. The winter storm watch remains in effect for Thursday for Franklin and Somerset counties where snowfall amounts and timing are less certain… though this area may end up requiring a winter weather advisory.

The snow will gradually wind down Thursday night as the low moves out to sea.

Winter storm warning in effect from 3 PM this afternoon to 9 PM EST Thursday.

Locations: Sullivan, Merrimack, Belknap, Strafford, and Rockingham counties in Southern New Hampshire.

Hazard Types: Snow

Accumulations: 6 to 10 inches of snow with locally higher amounts possible.

Timing: Snow developing this afternoon and continuing through Thursday.

Impacts: Roads will become snow covered and slippery. The prolonged period of accumulating snow will make clean up efforts more challenging.

Winds: Northeast 5 to 15 miles per hour with gusts up to 20 miles per hour.

Temperatures: Highs in the 30′s today. Lows 25 to 30 tonight and highs 30 to 35 Thursday.

Visibilities: Lowering to half a mile or lower at times.

Instructions: Motorists should use caution traveling this afternoon through Thursday evening. Allow plenty of time to reach your destination.

Londonderry schools are on vacation this week, so no snow day will be added to the calendar! If you find yourself at home with the kids tomorrow, don’t forget Londonderry News offers free coloring book pages for almost all occasions! Keep the kids entertained with more than just the television tomorrow by printing our pages and coloring away.

Featured here are the lion and lamb coloring book pages, perfect for the month of March as the first part proves to be true; “In like a Lion, Out like a Lamb.” To print the pages, simply click the picture, right click and select “Save As”. Save the image under an easy name, open it then select print. These pages are also great to open in a paint program on the computer for some fun with technology!

Click here to visit our Darkroom for other fun coloring book pages!

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By Jacklynn Weeks | Posted in Around Town | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Creating Crafts this St. Patrick’s Day

February 29, 2012

I believe children learn best when they do not even realize they are learning! Enjoy these activities that incorporate hands-on projects while touching on a child’s five senses.  Three major academic areas, math, science and language, are focused on, as well as some crafty and tasty treats.

Have Fun and Enjoy Your Children!

March Theme:  St. Patrick’s Day

Song:  Oh Rainbow (Oh Christmas Tree)
Oh, rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors?
Oh, rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors?
Purple, red and orange too.
Yellow, green and blue so true.
Oh, rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors?

Math:  Pot of Gold Game
Need: Roll of 50 pennies, dice

  • Put the gold (pennies) in the middle of the table.
  • Each player takes turns rolling the dice to determine how many pieces of “gold” they take.  If the dice falls off the table that person needs to put that amount of their gold back in the pot.  Play ends when there are no more gold pieces in the middle.  The player with the most gold wins.  Good luck!

Science:  Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Need: Red, Yellow, Blue paint, 3 mixing bowls, paintbrushes, blank paper, newpaper.

  • Ask your child if they know how to make a rainbow?  Talk about the colors and the correct order of the colors.  Show them the 3 colors of paint.  Ask them what colors from the rainbow are missing?
  • Put some red, yellow and blue paint in it’s own bowl.
  • Let your child guess what two colors would make orange what would make green and purple?
  • After putting down newspaper, let them experiment by using two colors and painting on their paper.  What color did they make?  Is it in the rainbow?
  • Once they have made all the colors of the rainbow let them have fun painting rainbows.

Language:  Where’s My Gold?  A Leprechaun Interview
Need: Imagination, paper and pencil

  • Make up a fun story about a little leprechaun named (use your child’s name) who hid his gold under a rainbow.  Use familiar areas, like the name of your town or your street in the story.  Pretend your child is the leprechaun and you are now a reporter.  Write down the following questions and ask your child to answer them:
  • Where did you find the gold?  Where was the rainbow?  How much gold was in the pot?  Where did you bury the gold?  What do you plan on buying with the gold?  Who will you share your gold with?
  • Switch the roles:  have your child be the reporter and you be the leprechaun.

Art:  Abstract Shamrocks
Need: White & green paint, marbles, old box with a cover (shoe box, small pizza box), 3 hearts drawn on construction paper, scissors, glue.

  • Cut out the hearts and let your child put them together to form a shamrock.  Glue together and use scraps for a stem.
  • Put the shamrock in the box and add some green and white paint. (if paint is thick add some water before to make it thinner).
  • Add a few marbles and close the lid.  Let your child have fun shaking and rolling the marbles.  Open the box and see their creation.  Talk about the different shades of green that the two paint colors made.

Tasty Treat:  Green Kabobs
Need: Green fruit (grapes, Granny Smith apples, kiwi) vanilla yogurt, green food coloring, wooden skewers.

  • Wash the fruit and cut into appropriate pieces.
  • Carefully assist your child in putting the fruit onto the skewers in a pattern: grape, apple, kiwi.
  • Add a few drops off food coloring to the yogurt.
  • Have fun dipping the kabobs into the green dip!

Corrie Binette is the owner of The Learning Stop.  It is located in the Londonderry Commons on 44 Nashua Road.  The Learning Stop is a Preschool-Kindergarten and also provides after Moose Hill care and drop-off hours.  For more information please visit their website or call 434-0082.

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By Corrie Binette | Posted in Columns | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Elizabeth M. (Blundon) Branson of Nashua formally of Londonderry

February 28, 2012

Mrs. Elizabeth M. (Blundon) Branson of Nashua, NH, formally of  Londonderry NH, Medford,  Somerville,  Melrose, Malden  MA, and beloved wife of the late William E. Branson, died at the Huntington Nursing Center in Nashua, surrounded by her family on Friday, February 24, 2012. She was 82 years old. Born in Catalina, Newfoundland, Canada on February 1, 1930, Elizabeth was the beloved daughter of the late Moses and Moretta (Hart) Blundon.

Mrs. Branson worked as an Administrative Assistant for the Math Department at Tufts for more than 25 years. In addition to her everyday duties at the University, she helped transcribe a Math textbook. While working at Tufts, she made sure to open her heart and help the University community by inviting any students, professors, and others to her home on Thanksgiving.

In her spare time, Mrs. Branson enjoyed reading and crossword puzzles, as well as cooking, baking breads, and cookies for her family. Elizabeth enjoyed knitting and helped to start a knitting club for the residents at the Huntington. She had been a member of the Grace Episcopal Church in Medford for many years and more recently a member of St. Peter Episcopal Church in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Above all, Elizabeth was a very devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She will be very sorely missed by her loving sons and family; Randolph H. Branson of Londonderry and David A. Branson of Melrose, Randolph’s wife; Donna H. Branson, grandson; Matthew H. Branson of Londonderry, her sisters; Belle Steeves, Joyce Topham, Ruth Hiscock and Donna Young, all of Canada, as well as her many nieces and nephews.

Her funeral service will be celebrated in St. Peter Episcopal Church, 3 Peabody Row, Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Thursday, March 1, 2012, at 10:00 AM. Relatives and friends are most welcome to attend. Interment will be private. Flowers for the Funeral Service may be sent to Beals-Geake Magliozzi Funeral Home, 29 Governors Avenue, Medford, MA 02155. Donations in Elizabeth’s memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, 30 Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701 or to the Alzheimer’s Association, 311 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472. For additional information, please visit, www.magliozzifuneralhome.com.

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By admin | Posted in Obituaries | Tagged | Comments (0)