Daily Archives: February 8, 2010

Man and Woman Marriage Vote will be in Londonderry Voting Booth

February 8, 2010

Town Manager Dave Caron announced at the start of the Town Council meeting tonight the following facts about the Citizens petition on the definition of Marriage submitted by Al Baldasaro.

  • 923 signatures were submitted Saturday February  6th
  • 271 signatures were verified between 10pm and midnight Saturday
  • 759 signatures were validated by the town (completed late today 2/8/2010)
  • 848 signatures were needed
  • March 3rd is the deadline but will require a special meeting
  • 45 more signatures were submitted Sunday, they have not been validated
  • 30.5 man hours were spent validating the signatures
  • The signatures have a rejection rate of 17.7%
  • A special Meeting would cost over $3,200

Dave Caron said, “Based on these facts they will be successful by March 3rd meeting the 923 valid signatures, even with the 17.7% rejection rate.  Section 7.4 of our town charter would allow the council to place this on the ballot.  That would be my recommendation.”

The Town Manager continued to indicate that this should be placed before the voters to avoid the cost of $3,200 we would incur in a special election.  The section of the charter if the Council supported it would change this from a referendum petition to a initiative petition.

The Town Council provided comments on this option, while they were supportive of this option for the reasons the Town Manager outlined councilors O’Keefe, Farmer and Chairman Brown were critical of calls, emails and letters that they got on this issue.  Kathy Wagner asked that we not divide the community with this, “I would hope that whatever happens here we will remain the community we are.”  Paul DiMarco explained the mechanics of the process and how difficult it will be even if the town passes this.  “A constitutional convention is out of the question, so 3/5 of the legislators need to support this and 2/3 of the voters in the state will need to vote yes.”

Before taking public comment the Londonderry Town Council voted to present Representative Baldasaro’s “marriage petition” to the ballot;

The citizens of New Hampshire should be allowed to vote on an amendment to the New Hampshire Constitution that defines ‘marriage,’

They voted to move this to the ballot 5 yes 0 no.

Al Baldasaro spoke and expressed his disappointment and apologies for any of his supporters that acted wrongly in communicating how they feel to the town council.  One other community member who had “raced down in her car” expressed if the item is going to the ballot could the wording be change to a clearer definition, but she had missed the vote while she traveled to town hall.

Reed Page Clark shared past experience with petitions that had 20% non-registered and duplicate signatures as normal in his experience.  He felt no ill will or fraud was intended.

Other related stories including many with comments include;

Representative Falling Short on Marriage Signatures

NH Democratic Party Calls For Resignation of Baldasaro

Students Organize Support for Gay and Lesbian Couples

“Londonderry Protects Equality” Proposes Amendment to Marrage Petition

Student Group Demonstrates to Protect Gay Marriage

Man and Woman Marriage Vote may Not be at Londonderry Polls

 

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By admin | Posted in Around Town, Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments (80)

Bill Boucher of Londonderry

February 8, 2010

William “Bill” P. Boucher, 79, of Londonderry, NH passed away February 7, 2010 following a period of declining health. His devoted wife of 58 years and his loving family were at his side. He was born April 4, 1930 in Manchester, NH, son of the late George and Violet (Rivard) Boucher.

Although paralyzed and wheelchair bound following an accident in the Korean War, Bill never let his disability hamper his activities. He played wheelchair basketball and was an avid hunter, fisherman, gunsmith, hunter-safety instructor and a lifetime member of the Londonderry Fish and Game Club.

Bill was first elected to the General Court in 1971 and was a New Hampshire State Representative for 26 years. He served in multiple capacities including Chair of both the Rockingham County Delegation and the House Education Committee and was a rank and file member of the Fish & Game Committee. Among others, his former memberships include the Building Committee, Farm Operation Committee, Personnel Committee, and Executive Board Nominating Committee. He was a selectman for the Town of Londonderry and served on the Londonderry School Board where he helped create the Londonderry High School system.

Bill and his wife, Eleanor, enjoyed many years at their camp on Maidstone Lake in Maidstone, Vermont. Bill served on the Board of Directors for the Maidstone Lake Campowners’ Association where he was instrumental in the negotiations with Champion Paper to allow camp owners to purchase their lots and became the first private landowner in 1996.

In addition, Bill served on the Maidstone Lake Campowners’ Dam Committee and helped form an LLC that allowed the dam to be repaired. Bill was also active in the Guildhall Fun Flyers, a remote control airplane group.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Eleanor R. (McKinnon) Boucher of Londonderry, two sons, Wm. Patrick Boucher and his wife Cheryl of Groton, VT, Martin P. Boucher and his wife Diane of Londonderry, eight grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, two brothers-in-law and four sisters-in-law. He was predeceased by a brother and three sisters.

At Bill’s request there will be no visiting hours. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 1:00 pm in St. Jude Parish, 435 Mammoth Rd., Londonderry. Burial with military honors will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery, 765 Brown Ave., Manchester. The Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Derry and Londonderry is in charge of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the St. Jude Parish Community, 435 Mammoth Rd., Londonderry, NH 03053 or to the Visiting Nurse Association, 33 South Commercial St., Manchester, NH 03101-2626.

Visit the Peabody Funeral Homes website to leave a condolence note or view others.

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

Londonderry Candidate Publishes First Book

February 8, 2010

Our own local Daniel Lekas had his first book published. The book, called Tales of a Thirtysomething Nobody, was originally meant to be a series of short (and funny) stories. It is intended for readers of the mature type and contains Lekas’ real-life, smart mouth, dry humor.

Tales of a Thirtysomething Nobody tells the story of the average man and his adventures through life. Written to read like a diary, it follows the same man for more than thirty years. The man’s name, town in which he lives, and the people that he comes into contact with, are never revealed.

The nameless character’s interesting, and often amusing, takes on school, childhood, marriage and divorce, are incorporated throughout the book. There may just be something for everyone, with a story or two most readers can relate to.

Daniel Lekas wrote the short stories in Londonderry, NH, where he has been a resident for more than 7 years. The book took about a year to put together, given that most of the writing was already completed. In just around 6 months, it was published.

Daniel is currently working on two more books, which he says are “more polished”. In a recent interview, when asked if the book was as funny as he was in person, Lekas replied, “I’m much funnier looking.”

Presently when searching for the book on the internet it is number one at a India Book seller. Somehow this brings a smile to Dan’s face. We have quite a few readers and should be able to knock out the India book seller from number one in the search engines, even if it is only 950 Rupee. When you get a chance to read it stop back to provide a few comments.

Below is an excerpt from Tales of a Thirtysomething Nobody.

“Although I had a relationship taking up most of my time, I still found time to get together with my friend. On one particular occasion I had gone to visit him at home. He had been out of school for a few days after having an accident while riding his bike. He was just minding his own business when he was hit by the mailman in the mail truck. He had sustained a slight concussion and received a few stitches in his head. I’ve always told him “at least it wasn’t the ice cream man”. But secretly I’ve always had a vision that it was the ice cream man. There he was, sitting on the ground with a snow cone applied to his injured head while he rocked back and forth wailing “all I wanted was a nutty buddy”.

Dan Lekas mounted a unsuccessful run for Town Council last year and brought some humor to the candidate forums. This year you will find his name on the slate of Londonderry Budget Committee Candidates.

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

Londonderry Frito-Lay, not just food for the fun of it

February 8, 2010

In 1932, a man named CE Doolin purchased a bag of corn chips from a small cafe in San Antonio. He soon learned that the manufacturer of the chips was eager to sell his small business. CE Doolin bought the recipe, and began selling FRITOS Corn Chips from his Model T Ford. That same year, in Nashville, Herman W. Lay began a potato chip business. He started delivering the snack foods, but soon bought the manufacturer and the HW Lay and Company was created. HW Lay and Company became one of the largest snack food companies in the southeast. By 1961, the Frito Company and HW Lay and Company merged to form, what remains to be, Frito-Lay, Inc.

Dating as far back as 1939, Frito-Lay, Inc. has been taking steps to reduce the “environmental footprint” that it would leave. Over the years, they have focused on reducing harmful emissions, and harnessing renewable energy. In a span of 5 years, they have eliminated 5 billion square inches of packaging. They’ve done this by reducing the amount of materials they use by 10%. Thirty-three percent of every 10.5 ounce bag of SunChips is made with renewable, plant based materials. They reuse shipping cartons an average of five times. This effort now saves five million trees each year.

On Earth Day of 2010, Frito-Lay will be releasing the first fully decomposable chip bag of its kind. It is said to fully decompose in about 14 weeks when placed in a hot, active compost pile or bin. When the announcement of the bag came out on their website, it couldn’t have been said better than this, “So you eat the chips. The earth eats the bag. And we all live in a cleaner world.” Watch the time lapse video below to see the bag decompose for yourself.

Throughout the years, Frito-Lay has achieved several awards honoring their strive towards making a cleaner world. Their first national award came in 2003 for their environmental sustainability efforts from the Alliance to Save Energy. In 2006, they were named the Energy Star Partner of the Year for the first time. They were the only Consumer Packaged Goods company to receive this award.

In 2007, a deadly tornado struck in Greensburg, Kansas and destroyed 95% of the town. Frito-Lay stepped in and began rebuilding the town alongside residents from the community. The company donated one million dollars to support the building of a solar-powered business incubator. This building was to house 10 local businesses and provide the foundation for a new economy. Frito-Lay Sales Representative Doug Ulrich was one of the 1500 that lost his home and belongings to the tornado. The company contributed to the rebuilding of a new, greener house for Doug and his family. In response to Frito-Lay’s help, Doug says, “It’s really nice to know that the company I work for is willing to invest the time and money to see that this town rebuilds in a way to become even better than it was before. It’s amazing to see the kind of progress that will come out of such a disaster.”

With close to 40 different brands and well over 250 varieties, Frito-Lay, Inc. offers snacks from potato chips and pita chips, to nuts, dips, salsas, cookies, popcorn, and sunflower seeds. They now account for about 59% of the snack chip industry of the United States. There are upwards of 45,000 employees working for Frito-Lay, Inc. throughout the United States and Canada.

Frito-Lay, Inc., has a plant located in Londonderry, NH. The Londonderry plant is on North Wentworth Ave. The building, at just under 32,000 square feet, sits on about six and a half acres of land. Both the land and the building are estimated at about 1.6 million dollars. The building was built around 1989.

In Londonderry, “Business is Good. Life is Better!”

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