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This week's stories: (click on the headline
to jump to story)
 Clincher
Town
loses man who touched many lives
New
recycle plan: cheap and easy
Town
to vote on fluoridation
Goffstown
Clincher
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Goffstown all-stars Josh Andruchuk and
catcher Nick Nalette lead the victory lap around Bedford's North
Field following their 6-3 win against Suncook on Saturday, July
17. The victory clinched the District I title for the boys and
earned them the chance to face the District II champ in Dover
as part of a best-of-three state championship series beginning
Saturday, July 24. See story on Page B-1. (Marc Thaler Photo)
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Town loses
man who touched many lives
Richard St. Gelais dies and leaves a legacy
of selfless service
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By HENRY METZ
Staff Writer
hmetz@yourneighborhoodnews.com
On the day that Richard St. Gelais baked
10 lasagnas for a dinner at the Odd Fellows Lodge, he also attended
a meeting at Crispin's House, where the topic was finding ways
to battle teen smoking.
When he wasn't volunteering his time with the Tobacco Coalition
at Crispin's House, he made wood carvings and gave them away
to friends and people in need.
And each year, he would help sponsor area
children so they could attend summer camp in Liberty, Maine.
"He was so dynamic," said Laurie Hambleton, executive
director of Crispin's House. "He put so much of his energy
into helping other people that I think he touched more lives
than we can possibly figure."
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Richard St. Gelais |
St. Gelais, 62, died suddenly on Sunday,
July 18, while volunteering at a breakfast served by the Mystery
Rebekah Lodge at the Odd Fellows Hall on Mountain Road.
His death came as a shock to the legions of people who knew him
through the numerous charitable activities he was involved with.
"We're going to miss him a whole lot," said his pastor,
the Rev. William Exner of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. "He
was one of those guys who really walked the walk."
The people who knew St. Gelais say his greatest contribution
was the example he set for young people.
About 10 years ago, he lost his leg when a drunk driver pinned
him between two cars. St. Gelais had pulled over to the side
of the road to assist his son, whose car had broken down.
"It was great for kids to see an adult who, despite being
dealt a pretty tough hand, didn't let that energy drain him down,"
said Exner. "It really was a transformative thing. His life
just blossomed beautifully after that."
Hambleton recalls St. Gelais coming to Crispin's House in his
wheelchair to speak to the young people there.
"He would come to the meeting in his wheelchair and say,
'My name is Richard St. Gelais and I'm the victim of a drunk
driver,'" explained Hambleton. "It would make everybody
stop and pause. It was a powerful thing to see."
The loss of his leg did not slow him down, say friends.
"The guy was absolutely not handicapped," said Ralph
Smith, whose friendship with St. Gelais grew through their volunteer
work together with the Odd Fellows lodge. "He was extremely
active in the lodge and in the church."
St. Gelais lived at Medford Farms off Goffstown Back Road, yet
another place where he donated his time and talents.
"I would see him climb up a ladder to help paint a building,"
said Smith. "He never slowed down. He had so much energy
he was in constant motion."
Smith said each year St. Gelais helped sponsor two to four children
to attend Camp Neofa in Maine a camp run by the Odd Fellows.
"If we'd allowed him, he would have taken on everything
we get involved with," said Smith.
At St. Matthew's each year, the young people of the parish attend
a mini work camp, helping clean and make repairs to the buildings
and grounds.
"Dick would always work on those projects with great humor,"
said Exner. "His focus was always toward the children and
the youth. He loved that kind of thing."
A hobby of St. Gelais' wood carving brought joy to
many, his friends said.
"It was a recent skill he acquired," said Exner. "It
was a very quiet thing that he did, but he would carve these
hand-held small replicas of the bell tower at St. Matthew's,
and I would give them as Tower of Strength awards to some our
parishioners."
"Somebody made the statement that on the last day of his
life, he was doing what he loved to do," said Smith. "He
went to his church, he went to his lodge, and he was having breakfast
with friends he cared about."
St. Gelais was named Crispin's House's Volunteer of the Year
in 2003.
"He's just one of those guys you're really going to miss,"
said Hambleton. "This is going to hit a lot of people really
hard."
St. Gelais also was involved in the town's Citizen Emergency
Response Team, a volunteer organization working with the police
department to put together a townwide emergency response plan.
He is survived by his wife Nora and three sons, Mark St. Gelais
of Concord; Matthew St. Gelais of Manchester; and Richard St.
Gelais of Goffstown. He is also survived by two brothers, Robert
St. Gelais of Bedford and Scott St. Gelais of Phoenix, Ariz;
a sister, Andrea Stevenson of Phoenix Ariz.; five grandchildren;
and several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.
New recycle
plan: cheap and easy
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Come this fall, recycling might not be
such a tedious task for Goffstown residents, thanks to a newly
enacted recycling program.
Changes to the town's solid waste ordinance were approved by
selectmen at their July 12 meeting, clearing the way for a new
voter-approved recycling program.
Officials say that as early as September, residents will begin
receiving blue 65-gallon recycling barrels. The new barrels will
replace smaller containers currently being used and will eliminate
the need for residents to sort their recyclables.
Fred Plett, a member of the Goffstown Solid Waste Commission
and a longtime supporter of the new program, says it's not only
easier, but could make the cost of recycling cheaper.
"It's much simpler and and it saves money," he said.
According to Plett, the town spends about $90 to process each
ton of trash collected and recycling only costs about $45
a ton.
"The more we can divert from the trash stream, the cheaper
it is for the town," he said. "One of the problems
with the recycling program we had was that it was difficult.
A resident had to separate all the different kinds of recycling."
At the moment, Plett says only about 20 percent of Goffstown's
waste is recycled, but the Solid Waste Commission is hoping to
double that figure in the coming years.
In March, voters approved $578,841 in bonding to get the new
program started. Approximately $530,000 will go towards startup
costs, including the purchase of barrels, a new recycling truck
and the construction of a sorting station.
Town officials estimate the new program will immediately shave
around $70,000 from the town budget.
Once the initial five-year bond is paid off, officials say the
program will save the town up to $100,000 a year.
Until the approval of the new program, Goffstown contracted its
recycling program to Waste Management. The company shipped the
collected waste to a Quebec facility where it was sorted.
Last year, the town paid Waste Management $198,000 for the job,
but Plett said those costs were quickly growing.
"The recycling program we had, there was no competition,"
he said. "And there was a steady 5 percent increase in cost
every year."
Under the new plan, the entire operation will be done in-house.
Plett said the barrels will be collected by a town-owned "one-armed
bandit" truck, which uses a robotic arm to pick up the containers.
The solid waste commission is still developing specific routes
and times for pickup, but does expect to use a four-day collection
schedule.
Goffstown
Town to vote
on fluoridation
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
No one is smiling about an upcoming vote
on water fluoridation.
On Tuesday, Sept. 14, Goffstown residents will vote on behalf
of the roughly 7,000 residents affected by fluoridated water.
Those 7,000 people have water from Manchester's system, and a
recent lawsuit will allow the community what they were initially
denied a vote about what goes into their water.
According to Rich DiPentima, deputy director of the Manchester
Department of Health, close to 165 million Americans are drinking
fluoridated water.
In the past, state law has required that only those living in
a city or town that owns a water system vote on fluoridation.
However, Hillsborough County Superior Court has overturned that
in Manchester and most of the communities served by Manchester
Water Works.
Other communities in the state not served by Manchester Water
Works are not required to vote again on the fluoridation issue.
The process and history of fluoridating Manchester's water system
dates back to 1998 and is complicated because of the changes
in legal requirements. Other towns that drink Manchester's water
are Bedford, Londonderry, Auburn, Hooksett and Goffstown.
Health officials and dentists claim that fluoridated water helps
prevent tooth decay, a problem plaguing children. Other residents
are concerned that there may be adverse effects to fluoride,
or that it may interfere with certain medications.
Goffstown Selectman Bruce Hunter is opposed to fluoride for that
reason. Hunter has heart disease and diabetes, and said that
fluoridated water will interfere with his medication. Hunter
and his wife drink only bottled water, which can be pricey.
"I'm against fluoride," Hunter said. "You can
taste it, it is very strong, so we only buy bottled water now.
I'm on certain heart medication and have diabetes, so I have
to drink bottled water."
DiPentima said he himself has heart disease, and it is a fallacy
that fluoride will interfere with any medication. DiPentima drinks
fluoridated Manchester water at work, and lives in Portsmouth
where the water also contains fluoride.
"I can taste the chlorine," DiPentima said. "But
not fluoride."
Goffstown resident and Health Educator with Elliot Hospital,
Joan Stevetns, wants to see the fluoridation continue.
Stevens said tooth decay is the number one chronic health problem
in children, spurring emergency room visits and many expensive
dentist appointments.
"The benefits far outweigh any negative aspects," Stevens
said. "An ounce of prevention for a pound of cure."
Fluoride tablets are expensive, and fluoridated water would cost
approximately 27 cents a year for each person receiving water
from Manchester Water Works.
Stevens believes fluoride overdoses are unlikely, and said someone
would need to swallow a very large amount of fluoride to incur
any ill effects, something she believes to be unlikely.
Although Stevens has well water, her husband had tongue cancer
and is forced to wear fluoride trays in his mouth to replenish
the fluoride he lost and help strengthen his teeth.
"I want to do some public education so people can make up
their own minds," Stevens said. "It is something important
that is at risk of being taken away."
DiPentima said that two dentists working with the department
of public health went to Manchester elementary schools each year
for 20 years. Their data indicates that 60 percent of children
have tooth decay. This report caused the department to spring
to action in 1998.
In 1998, the Manchester Department of Public Health teamed up
with the Healthy Manchester Leadership Council to get a petition
signed by 10 percent of Manchester's registered voter's.
Following other communities that voted on water fluoridation,
the petition would enable the question to be put on the ballot.
Since Manchester is the owner of Manchester Water Works, only
Manchester residents needed to sign the petition and vote.|
In November of 1999, Manchester voters approved water fluoridation
by a slim margin.
In 2001, a lawsuit was filed in Superior Court asking that Manchester
be barred from fluoridating the water because outlying communities
did not get to vote on the issue.
The court ruled that all affected communities should vote, but
because the law was unclear, it gave the city until June 2005
to remedy the situation with new legislation.
In response, Manchester filed Senate Bill 449, which would have
established that only the community that owns the public water
supply gets to vote. The Senate amended the bill, adding that
everyone in outlying communities who receive water from Manchester
gets to vote.
The House further amended the bill to say that communities with
less than 100 direct connections to the water supply do not get
to vote. Auburn is one of those communities.
Manchester is also required to revote. The date set for each
community to vote is Tuesday, Sept. 14.
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