"Winchester's Boys of Summer" is on display at the Sheridan House Museum through August. The Museum is off Route #119 in Ashuelot across the covered bridge. The museum is open Sundays from 2-4pm and Wednesdays from 9-11:30am.
The town's baseball history began in 1896, when a group of brothers began playing ball in a cow pasture on their farm in the Westport section of Winchester. The earliest known team in town was known as the Thayer High School team in 1907. Many remember the AC Lawrence Leather factory, known as the tannery; but how many remember the state championship teams from 1946-1948?
The display outlines Winchester's baseball craze, which peaked in 1910 and 1915, a time when larger towns, including Keene, Brattleboro and Greenfield all fielded semi-pro teams. At one time, Winchester had 5 baseball fields and barnstorming teams would come to town to challenge local teams for a percentage of the gate including one of the old Negro League team, the Philadelphia Giants. Lots of history here for the old ball game.
All of that is gone now; but the memories live on at the Heritage House Museum. Come on by to relive some of these golden moments in sports history of our town.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Dangerous Temperatures
Over the next couple of days temperatures are expected to soar in our region to dangerous levels. Please take a moment to check on your neighbors, especially if they are elderly and if you have pets be sure to keep an eye on them give them plenty of water too. Slow down, know the signs of heat stroke and what to do in an emergency situation and stay hydrated.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Why The Censorship ?
Seems the Town has something to hide from us citizens and is continuing to waste money on a website that provides no information as to what has transpired at public meetings for over a month and in some cases over a year. Why all the secrecy and why aren't meeting minutes being posted and kept up to date? Surely there isn't that much going on at Town Hall that all of these people we pay to do their jobs in support of the community can't find the time to keep us all informed to the happenings going on at Town meetings. I guess someone downtown figures we should all drive down there and read what they post when they post it on a bulletin board instead of putting the information up on the website that we pay for, after all they are just so busy that they can't keep up.
Planning Board, last entry June 6th 2011. meets twice a month
Board of Selectmen, last entry June 6th 2011 meets weekly
Zoning Board of Adjustment, last entry April 11, 2011 meets once a month
Historical District Commission, last entry June 14, 2011 meets once a month
Conservation Commission, last entry October 10, 2010 meets once a month
BTW, just what are we paying a Town Administrator and an Executive Secretary to do anyways?
Planning Board, last entry June 6th 2011. meets twice a month
Board of Selectmen, last entry June 6th 2011 meets weekly
Zoning Board of Adjustment, last entry April 11, 2011 meets once a month
Historical District Commission, last entry June 14, 2011 meets once a month
Conservation Commission, last entry October 10, 2010 meets once a month
BTW, just what are we paying a Town Administrator and an Executive Secretary to do anyways?
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Town Of Winchester, BOS Going To Court Over RSA 91-A Violations
A lawsuit filed in Superior Court charges the Winchester Board of Selectmen with violations of the Right To Know Law and an award of attorney fees pursuant to RSA 91-A:7 and Silva v. Blotsch, 121 N.H. 1040 ( 1981) ( remedy of attorney's fees recognized for a public official who prevails in an action to have that public official removed from office.)
Margaret Sharra's vindictive witch hunt to remove Kim Gordon from the Planning Board because she disagreed with violations by the board during the Mitchell hearings and the Selectman's bungling of RSA 91-A protocol and procedure with their non-meeting meeting baloney and their public lynching of Ms. Gordon in written minutes posted on the Towns website, (despite their admittance that Kim Gordon did not violate the law nor do anything legally wrong) has resulted in another easily avoided litigation in front of a judge. When are the citizens of Winchester going to wake up and stop voting fools and ego-maniacs into office? Enough is enough. If anyone demonstrates a vote of no confidence it is our BOS and Ms. Sharra for their unacceptable conduct in this matter.
Margaret Sharra's vindictive witch hunt to remove Kim Gordon from the Planning Board because she disagreed with violations by the board during the Mitchell hearings and the Selectman's bungling of RSA 91-A protocol and procedure with their non-meeting meeting baloney and their public lynching of Ms. Gordon in written minutes posted on the Towns website, (despite their admittance that Kim Gordon did not violate the law nor do anything legally wrong) has resulted in another easily avoided litigation in front of a judge. When are the citizens of Winchester going to wake up and stop voting fools and ego-maniacs into office? Enough is enough. If anyone demonstrates a vote of no confidence it is our BOS and Ms. Sharra for their unacceptable conduct in this matter.
Winchester Nixes Demolition
Developer hoped to build a dollar store on the site of a 200-year-old building ..
Winchester’s historic district commission voted Monday, 4-1, to deny an application by Zaremba Group of Cleveland to demolish the 200-year-old house at 71 Main St. and replace it with a new Dollar General store. The house is part of the town’s historic district and needs approval from the commission before it can be removed.
Advocates for the demolition argued that rehabilitating the building would be prohibitively expensive, but they faced skepticism.
“The place looks square and plumb,” said Michael Haman, commission chairman and a professional carpenter. “My first gut feeling looking at the place is it doesn’t look as bad as many of you are portraying it.”
Sherman Tedford, who represents the board of selectmen on the commission, was the one member to vote against denying the application.
“I don’t see it being a significant element of historic value,” Tedford said of the building.
The house was built around 1810 and was the home and office space of doctors who served Winchester residents from 1812 to 1848, according to Lynne Emerson Monroe, a historical preservationist from Kensington hired to consult with the commission.
The building itself is not a candidate for official designation on the National Register of Historic Places, but it makes a “substantial contribution” to the Winchester Historic District, Monroe wrote in her report on the building.
If the district as a whole were added to the national register, the owner of the house would be able to take advantage of tax credits to refurbish it as a business, Monroe said in an interview this morning.
“There’s no question in my mind that the quality of the district is high and it would be eligible for the national register, but it hasn’t gone through the paperwork,” she said.
Margaret A. Sharra and James S. Shannon, both of Winchester, and their brother, Michael P. Shannon of Connecticut, own the house and its 4-acre lot. Sharra is a member of the town planning board.
When the siblings bought the building in 2008 they intended to turn it into a bed and breakfast or restaurant, but when they found out how much it would cost to restore the building they decided to sell, James Shannon told The Sentinel in late May.
The historic district commission held a public hearing on the application to demolish the building, which began on June 14 and concluded Monday.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing the house go, but my concern is what would be put in its place,” resident Harry J. Bickford said.
The proposed Dollar General building was criticized for looking like a strip mall, and several residents asked if at least the exterior of the old house could be preserved as part of a new business development.
But others said Winchester shouldn’t turn away a new investor.
“We live in a poor community. We’ll never have enough money in this community to take care of that building,” resident John Pasquarelli said. “If someone wants to come into our community and spend money, we should put our hand out and take that money.”
Zaremba Group representative Matthew Chase said Dollar General was prepared to invest as much as $1 million to develop the property, and the store would employ between eight and 10 people. The stores carry a range of products priced between $1 and $40, he said.
Chase said his company estimated that restoring and renovating the building to use as a restaurant or bed and breakfast would cost $690,000.
Selectman Ken Gardner spoke during the public hearing.
“If the board denies this application, what do the present owners do now?” he asked.
But commission member Harvey Sieran denied the commission was placing an unfair economic burden on the owners.
As a member of town government, Sharra was aware of the building’s address in the historic district at the time of purchase, he said.
Sieran also questioned the claim that the siblings had tried but were unable to find a different buyer for the property. He had looked for the building listed with local real-estate agencies and hadn’t found it, he said during the meeting.
After the vote, Sharra declined to name the agent but said the building had been on the market.
Winchester’s historic district commission voted Monday, 4-1, to deny an application by Zaremba Group of Cleveland to demolish the 200-year-old house at 71 Main St. and replace it with a new Dollar General store. The house is part of the town’s historic district and needs approval from the commission before it can be removed.
“The place looks square and plumb,” said Michael Haman, commission chairman and a professional carpenter. “My first gut feeling looking at the place is it doesn’t look as bad as many of you are portraying it.”
Sherman Tedford, who represents the board of selectmen on the commission, was the one member to vote against denying the application.
“I don’t see it being a significant element of historic value,” Tedford said of the building.
The house was built around 1810 and was the home and office space of doctors who served Winchester residents from 1812 to 1848, according to Lynne Emerson Monroe, a historical preservationist from Kensington hired to consult with the commission.
The building itself is not a candidate for official designation on the National Register of Historic Places, but it makes a “substantial contribution” to the Winchester Historic District, Monroe wrote in her report on the building.
If the district as a whole were added to the national register, the owner of the house would be able to take advantage of tax credits to refurbish it as a business, Monroe said in an interview this morning.
“There’s no question in my mind that the quality of the district is high and it would be eligible for the national register, but it hasn’t gone through the paperwork,” she said.
Margaret A. Sharra and James S. Shannon, both of Winchester, and their brother, Michael P. Shannon of Connecticut, own the house and its 4-acre lot. Sharra is a member of the town planning board.
When the siblings bought the building in 2008 they intended to turn it into a bed and breakfast or restaurant, but when they found out how much it would cost to restore the building they decided to sell, James Shannon told The Sentinel in late May.
The historic district commission held a public hearing on the application to demolish the building, which began on June 14 and concluded Monday.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing the house go, but my concern is what would be put in its place,” resident Harry J. Bickford said.
The proposed Dollar General building was criticized for looking like a strip mall, and several residents asked if at least the exterior of the old house could be preserved as part of a new business development.
But others said Winchester shouldn’t turn away a new investor.
“We live in a poor community. We’ll never have enough money in this community to take care of that building,” resident John Pasquarelli said. “If someone wants to come into our community and spend money, we should put our hand out and take that money.”
Zaremba Group representative Matthew Chase said Dollar General was prepared to invest as much as $1 million to develop the property, and the store would employ between eight and 10 people. The stores carry a range of products priced between $1 and $40, he said.
Chase said his company estimated that restoring and renovating the building to use as a restaurant or bed and breakfast would cost $690,000.
Selectman Ken Gardner spoke during the public hearing.
“If the board denies this application, what do the present owners do now?” he asked.
But commission member Harvey Sieran denied the commission was placing an unfair economic burden on the owners.
As a member of town government, Sharra was aware of the building’s address in the historic district at the time of purchase, he said.
Sieran also questioned the claim that the siblings had tried but were unable to find a different buyer for the property. He had looked for the building listed with local real-estate agencies and hadn’t found it, he said during the meeting.
After the vote, Sharra declined to name the agent but said the building had been on the market.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Does This Sound Familiar and Ring Any Bells?
How is ‘no’ so unclear?
The following is a letter sent in to the Opinions section of the Keene Sentinel.
Looks like Winchester isn't alone when it comes to the voice of the people falling on deaf ears.
As we approach this 4th of July weekend, I have to wonder if “we the people” means anything here in Acworth to our local government.“We the People” the hardworking, taxpaying people of Acworth seem to be having a hard time making the selectboard understand our town meeting votes, because they keep disregarding them, and here we go again!
The town votes no and the board of selectmen ignores it. So does your vote count? I am writing to tell your readers after attending the June 27 meeting, that it apparently does not matter how we vote, the board is going to buy an excavator even though it was voted down.
This past March at town meeting, we voted against purchasing an excavator for $62,900. This article failed 86-59 after a very lengthy discussion. Remember that?
The board was told we were in a recession, we were a small town with a limited tax base and people could not afford this at this time.
Of course, when voters disagree, we are criticized and told how stupid we are. I remember reading in one of the papers, and I quote Selectman Tom Esslinger: “People don’t realize how hard our roads and our geography are on equipment,.”
Oh, really? We have equipment too — cars, vans and pickups. And we have to repair those.
Perhaps more potholes should have been filled this spring before shelves were built in the town garage. We who drive on these awful Acworth roads don’t need to be told we don’t understand. We understand very well and our repair bills constantly remind us.
And now the board is disregarding our vote and is determined to sign a lease to purchase an excavator.
And the board had the nerve to say they are doing this to save the town money.
I ask you, what part of “no” do they not understand and what is their definition of ” save money?”
We just paid our taxes — more than last year. So glad the town has our money so they can save it instead of us.
Two years ago we voted for one loader but that vote was ignored and we got another loader for more money (no savings here).
And, we bought it from a selectman by vote of the other two selectmen and not the town.
Now, we voted no on an excavator but the board members in their great wise and infinite dictatorial leadership are proceeding to buy one anyway at a cost of $90,000.
When I went to school (which was in Acworth by the way, but God forbid I play the native card) $90,000 was more than $62,000 and I knew what democracy was and what “no” meant.
What does democracy mean to you? “We the People” need to speak up and speak out and speak loud enough to be heard. If we don’t, what rights will be taken from us next here in Acworth?
Happy 4th of July! Hope you paid your taxes. The board wants more and more money to save so they can buy more and more equipment after we vote “no.”
Resident
East Acworth
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