Once again, several players turned out in Goffstown on a hot summer night to play in the annual softball games to benefit Crispin's House.

The games, always fun and never without a spirit of competition as well, are for a good cause – they benefit the efforts of Crispin's House, a local organization that works on behalf of at-risk area children.

Every player who gave an evening to play in the games did so on his/her own time, as a volunteer. Sure, playing is fun – but we all know how busy everyone's lives are. Each individual who took part in the games demonstrated the importance of donating your time to help a local organization.

A big round of applause goes out to members of the Goffstown Rotary, the Goffstown police and fire departments, Goffstown Main Street, Goffstown Junior Baseball's Board of Directors – who won the evening's tourney – and staff from The Goffstown News.

Laurie Hambleton, director of Crispin's House, said she was pleased with the turnout, not only of players, but of family, friends and community members who showed up to watch the games at the Villa Augustina ballfields, as well as to participate in the silent auction.

Goffstown gets kudos for a fun and charitable event every summer, the kind of event that makes Goffstown such a nice place to live - a place full of community spirit.

Editorials published by Neighborhood News Inc. are written by an editorial board. The board is composed of Publisher and President Amy J. Vellucci, Executive Editor Ginger Kozlowski and Managing Editor Christine Heiser.

To the Editor:
With all due respect to Brian McDonald, who recently wrote a letter to the editor, our small town of Weare is doing better today than it has in a long time. A sense of civility and respect is displayed by this board of selectmen towards each other and towards Weare's citizens.

When, recently, several employees have either followed another dream or have been relieved of their positions, the rest of our staff, from the town office staff to the highway department to the police department, have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to our community by pitching in to fill the voids.

This teamwork and cooperation will allow the selectmen the time necessary to assess and fill the vacant positions. We have awesome town employees who we appreciate and truly thank.

In the past year, new volunteer committees have been formed and staffed to help guide our town as it grows. For the first time in a long time, boards, committees and commissions are meeting and communicating with each other. This certainly does not sound like an erosion of our volunteer force.

Many volunteers (including Brian) give countless hours to make our town work well. If you have the time, interest and can provide a fresh voice to any of our town's committees, please contact the selectmen's office.

There is a danger in writing vague and inaccurate attacks on people, especially when it comes from one who is the president of a much-respected local nonprofit organization. This kind of political posturing does not serve our town well.
Heleen Kurk
Weare selectman

To the Editor:
On Thursday, Aug. 11, the Goffstown School District (GSD) will present a development plan to the planning board for construction of a kindergarten on a town-owned parcel of land across from Glen Lake.

Curiously, the plans that have been presented to date, including plans filed as part of the applications for state and federal permits, only include a kindergarten and not an elementary school.

This piecemeal approach to addressing our school needs is not in the best interests of our residents and taxpayers, particularly when considering that the GSD has included a new elementary school in their Capital Improvements Program request.

Where is that elementary school to go?

In spite of repeated efforts by representatives of the Goffstown Residents Association (GRA), the school district has steadfastly refused to consider other town-owned property which is much more suitable for development of this scale.

When questioned as to why the school district has not investigated school construction on other town-owned property, their response has been because the board of selectmen has not given them permission. The truth of the matter is that the board of selectmen has not denied the Goffstown School District the opportunity to investigate other property because, according to town administration, the GSD has never asked the board of selectmen to be allowed to examine other property.

The Goffstown School District is doing a huge disservice to our residents and taxpayers by not engaging in discussions with the selectmen regarding other options to meet the needs of our school children and their families in a way that utilizes good community planning in the most fiscally sound manner.

Goffstown has until June 2006 to develop the best possible plan; there is no need to rush to some foregone conclusion.

I would encourage anyone who wants to become more fully educated about the issues to visit the GRA Web site.

There you will find a wealth of information including public documents, as well as a feasibility study and conceptual plan for development of a full-scale school facility for kindergarten, elementary school and recreation fields on a portion of the property off Elm Street owned by the department of public works.

Please take the time to educate yourself and then ask questions of your elected town and school officials.
Collis Adams
Goffstown

To the Editor:
What an amazing night of softball play we saw Friday, July 29, at the Villa fields in Goffstown!

Many, many thanks to all the volunteers and players who stepped up to the plate to make the Crispin's House Summer Softball Tournament one of the best events ever. We raised nearly $1,000 for the nonprofit organization through the efforts of all those who came and played.

Thanks especially to Dr. John Yost and the board of directors of Goffstown Junior Baseball. Dr. Yost worked hard to open the playing fields, equipment and concession stand to our benefit.

And thanks, too, to Jamie Palmer and Diane Baines for dedicating an evening to cooking the delicious food that made the event a success. Jessie Donovan, Emily Hambleton and Morgan Baines helped with food service. We really appreciate all their efforts.

Umpires Greg Begin and Mike Baines made a huge contribution to the one-pitch event by calling them like they saw them and taking an occasional grapefruit splatter at the plate.

Thanks, too, to Sgt. Steve Ranfos of the Manchester Police Department and Kaitlin Binnie for announcing the big event and keeping the crowd well informed. We are grateful for all their dedication and great work.

And what great play by all our teams, including Neighborhood News, Goffstown Police, Goffstown Rotary Club, Goffstown Main Street Program, Goffstown Fire Department and Goffstown Junior Baseball's board of directors! Thanks to everyone who stood up to bat, caught a ball or took a spill for our benefit. Everyone played their hearts out and is a winner in our book.

Many thanks also go out to Crown Trophy for its work on our awards, to the New Hampshire Tobacco Prevention and Control Program for its water bottles and gear, and to silent auction donors Mike French, Bill Exner, Robbie Grady, Al Baines and Nancy Clark. And thanks to Cody Little, Eric Hambleton, Geoffrey Ranfos, Spencer Little and all the volunteers who pitched in and helped with the event.

Finally, my sincere appreciation goes to Al Baines, Mark Bodanza, Jill Girolimon, Bill Exner, Nancy Clark, Robbie Grady, Mike Ryan and the entire board of directors of Crispin's House Inc. for their hard work on this event, as well as their dedication to the youth of the greater Goffstown area.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Laurie Hambleton
Executive Director
Crispin's House

To the Editor:
I have just finished reading the conservation commission's report to the planning board on the proposed Glen Lake kindergarten site.

It is the first honest, unbiased assessment of the site I have yet read, and I'm outraged at what it found.

In the report, the commission blasted the currently proposed Glen Lake location as being completely "inappropriate" for the town's new kindergarten, and urged the planning board to reject the current subdivision application (the planning board then went ahead and recommended it anyway), in favor of the department of public works site located near the transfer station.

The commission sited numerous reasons, not the least of which included major impact on wetlands, poor soils and the inability to expand to a future elementary school.

"More than half of the proposed site ... would lie within the wetlands conservation overlay district," the report said.

This finding is completely contrary to numerous public statements made by school superintendent Darryl Lockwood, whereby he has claimed there would be "minimal" wetlands impact.

The commission also cited the failure of the board of selectmen to adhere to state statute RSA 41:14-a, the suppression of facts, and numerous instances when vital information was withheld from voters.

"By not following these procedures, the transfer warrant article was placed on the ballot without allowing the relevant facts to be discussed in a public forum. During the deliberative session, attempts to discuss the factual details were suppressed. Voters did not receive the proper technical information about the site, and instead were given inaccurate information such as ‘there are no significant wetlands.'"

They also found that the proposed construction is in direct conflict with the 1997 Goffstown Master Plan, again contrary to claims made by Lockwood and the board of selectmen.

"The site does not follow the intended use for recreation and conservation that was clearly indicated in the Goffstown Master Plan Chapter 8 (Objective P2.2, Action Plan # 3), when the HUD funds were used to purchase the land, or when the voters previously authorized the purchase of the land. These facts were not disclosed to the voters in the presentations of Article 24 of the 2005 Town Ballot."

And by the way, the 20 acres approved by voters has now been quietly expanded to 26 acres.
The Goffstown Residents Association is publishing this report today, Aug. 4, on their Web site.

I urge all residents to read this report and get a firsthand look at how we have been cleverly misled by our elected officials.
Guy Caron
Goffstown

To the Editor:
It is a national disgrace that tens of thousands of U.S.-bred horses end up on dinner plates in Europe and Asia.

Equines are frequently shipped to slaughterhouses in double-decker trailers where they sustain neck and head injuries since they are taller than cattle and cannot stand up for days at a time during transport.

The top decks of these trailers have been known to collapse, crushing the horses on the bottom level to death.

In the chute to the slaughterhouse, you will often see former pleasure horses and immaculately groomed ponies wait for their turn to be killed. Reluctant horses are beaten with electric cattle prods into the chute and are stunned with a captive bolt to the head and then bled. Because of improper stunning methods, many horses have their throats slit while still fully conscious.

Because racetracks breed thousands of surplus horses each year to produce champions, those unfit to race or with damaging injuries are sold for meat.

Because of lax enforcement of adoption policies by the Federal Bureau of Land Management, people purchase wild horses and burros only later to sell them to slaughterhouses.

"Killer buyers" respond to "good home" ads and sell the pleasure horses advertised for meat. These horses end up at auctions where animals of all ages, conditions and temperaments are crowded together in substandard barns.

Premarin farms that produce estrogen supplements from pregnant mare urine sell tens of thousands of unwanted foals born from forced pregnancies to slaughterhouses.

Here's what you can do to help stop this gruesome industry: If you are selling a companion horse, make sure the prospective buyer signs a legally binding adoption contract, visit the person's home, making an agreement that you can visit any time unannounced to check up on the horses.

If you are a woman in menopause, do not take Prempro, Prempak of Premarin. Many natural and humane alternatives exist. Read the label – don't buy companion animal food containing horse meat. Don't support horse racing in any way. Adopt a wild horse, burro or Premarin foal.

For information on menopause solutions, horse slaughter, adoption contracts or horse adoption, call 224-1361.
Barbara Bonsignore
Concord

To the Editor:
At a recent White House briefing, spokesman Scott McClellan repeatedly stonewalled legitimate questions from reporters about his earlier assertions – now proven false – that Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was not involved in the illegal disclosure of a CIA operative's identity.

According to recent reports, Karl Rove had detailed conversations about Valerie Plame, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife and her classified national security responsibilities with at least one political reporter.

Now that we know that Rove told reporters about "Wilson's wife," who told Rove? Rove had to find out about Plame and her job from someone. Where did this information come from?

Rove had previously denied any knowledge of Plame. In August 2004, facing questions of his role in the Plame leak scandal, Rove denied his involvement, saying that he did not even know who Plame was at the time of the leak.

"Well, I'll repeat what I said to ABC News when this whole thing broke some number of months ago. I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name."

If Rove is innocent, then why would he claim that he didn't know who Plame was? What did he have to hide? Why was he so careful, saying that "I didn't know her name and didn't leak her name," instead of just admitting that he revealed "Wilson's wife" to a reporter? What about the president? What did he know and when did he know it?

Thirty years ago, a president resigned after a dirty tricks coverup known as "Watergate." Rovegate is now upon us. I call on our congressman, Charlie Bass, to take the lead in convening an immediate investigation of these matters to see that justice is done.
Paul Hodes
Concord

To the Editor:
The New Hampshire State Council Vietnam Veterans of America salutes the Goffstown Public Library for bringing the Moving Wall to Goffstown.

We know the kind of planning and coordination it takes to make this a successful event and it should not go unnoticed.

We would especially like to thank Sandy Whipple of the library for her devotion to this project and the many hours she gave preparing, planning and attending this vigil.

Kudos to the many volunteers that manned The Wall during its time at Goffstown High School. The 24-hour security coverage was great. it is always a successful event when people care enough to share such a wonderful experience.

God bless you all for taking the time to care. Thank you for remembering those listed on The Wall and the special care given to those veterans who attended.
Raymond J. Goulet
President
New Hampshire State Council Vietnam Veterans of America