FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 166
BERLIN, N.H.
On behalf of the state’s Executive Council, District 1 Executive Councilor Raymond Burton (center) presents a ceremonial shovel used in the dedication of the Burgess BioPower biomass plant to the Coos and Berlin Historical Society. (L-R) State Senator John Gallus, Historical Society Director Raymond Daigle, Curator Odette Leclerc, Burton, Berlin Mayor Paul Grenier, Tri-County CAP Housing and Economic Development Director Max Makaitis, and Society Director Jackie Nadeau. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).
FREE
752-5858
Executive Councilor Raymond Burton (center) looks at some of the material at the Coos and Berlin Historical Society’s Genealogy Center during a tour of the museum yesterday. Historical Society President Renney Morneau (l) and Director Raymond Daigle explain the center has the largest library of genealogical material north of Manchester. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO)
Berlin and Coos County Historical Society gets new artifact BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN – The Berlin and Coos County Historical Society yesterday received a new artifact and a group of local and state officials got a tour of the society’s Moffett House & Genealogy Center. Executive Councilor Raymond Burton presented the society with a ceremonial shovel used in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Berlin BioPower biomass plant in October. Burton explained that Cate Street Capital gave the shovel to the Executive Council. Believing the shovel should end up in Berlin, Burton said he immediately thought of the historical society. All five members of the executive council agreed and signed a formal letter donating the shovel to the Moffett House museum.
To take part in yesterday’s ceremony, Burton invited three officials who played a major role in winning approval and building support for the biomass plant - state Senator John Gallus, Mayor Paul Grenier, and Tri-County CAP Housing and Economic Development Director Max Makaitis. “It takes a team to win a game,” Grenier remarked, after Burton credited the local officials for their advocacy of the project. Realizing that none of the four officials had ever toured the facility, society members quickly seized the opportunity. One of the city’s hidden treasures, the center contains about 2,000 historical items, 1,500 images, and 3,000 historically-related books, documents, and binders. The historical society was founded in 1990 and six
years later, Mrs. Mary Moffett donated the home she had shared with her husband, Dr. Irving Moffett, to the society. An osteopath, Moffett had run his practice out of the house on 119 High Street from 1949 until his death in 1993. Mary Moffett, who has since passed away, worked with her husband. The office remains on the basement floor of the building much as it did when Moffett practiced there, with his old equipment and furniture intact. Gallus remarked the office looked as he remembered it when, as a teenager, he got his broken nose set by Moffett. The first floor of the house contains many of the artifacts the society has collected. Society President Renney Morneau pointed out political buttons from one of the many campaigns by the late state Senator see ARTIFACT page 5
Woody Pines performance in Gorham Balsams deal appears key to power plan But without the Balsams piece, the By ANNMARIE TIMMINS to benefit little Stella Blue Woods route stops abruptly with no easy way Monitor staff
GORHAM -- International touring band Woody Pines will be playing at the Gorham Town Hall on Friday, December 30, at 7 p.m. The band, fronted by Jon Woods, a native of Jefferson, will be performing at a benefit for Jon’s four-year-old niece, Stella Blue Woods, who is battling cancer at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The band consists of Jon (WMRHS ‘96) on acoustic guitar, harmonica, and lead vocals, along with Zack Pozebanchuck on standup bass and Lyon Graulty on clarinet, guitar, and vocals. Hailed as a band with a “rock solid old time vaudeville hill-billy groove” and “a rollicking, engaging mixture of old-
berlindailysun.com
time blues and jug band sensibilities”, Woody Pines will have you clapping your hands, tapping your feet, and dancing in the aisles. This fast-paced, high energy show infuses a hundred years of American music into the performance—everything from early 20th century acoustic blues to ragtime, country-blues and lightningspeed folk. The band is based out of Asheville, North Carolina and tours extensively throughout the U.S. Annually, they play a month-long tour in England, Scotland, and Wales where they perform to consistently sold-out crowds. For more informasee WOODY page 5
BANKRUPTCY or CRIMINAL DEFENSE Free InitialM eeting
S m all& Lyons A ttorneys 1-800-373-1114 (a debtreliefagency)
When they lost a $3 million bid for land at the Balsams last week, Northern Pass officials said the piece wasn’t critical to their proposed hydropower line from Canada. But the company’s recent land purchases in northern New Hampshire suggest otherwise. Since mid-October, Northern Pass has spent nearly $4 million buying property from the Canadian border to the Balsams property in Dixville Notch, according to property deed records. The 16 properties aren’t contiguous, but they line up well enough on a map to reveal what was likely Northern Pass’s latest hope for a new route though the North Country. Buying or Selling Real Estate?
Call WAYNE MICUCCI 723-7015 RE/MAX Northern Edge Realty 232 Glen Ave Berlin 752-0003
to achieve its goal of connecting with the existing power line corridor that starts in Groveton. And if Northern Pass can’t negotiate a path to that existing corridor, it won’t be able to import hydropower from Canada to the New England power grid. Company spokesman Martin Murray declined yesterday to disclose the company’s next step. “I can say that the 24-acre parcel that is on the Balsams property was certainly an alternative that we had an interest in,” Murray said in an email. “There are other (parcels), but I will decline to discuss them.” see BALSAMS page 7
Hall of Greetings
50% OFF All Christmas Items
107 Main St, Berlin, NH • 752-1520 • www.greetingsjewelers.com