To the Editor:

The Goffstown Main Street Program would like to express sincere gratitude to all the Goffstown citizens who contributed their time and energy to make the 2006 Memorial Day parade a success.

Marie and Henry Boyle were wonderful mentors, guiding the process and arranging for the Boy Scouts color guard. Leon Konieczny, the Goffstown cemetery trustees chairman, also gave generously his time and experience. Judy Pancoast, surely a village treasure, led the community in a rendition of “America the Beautiful” that brought tears to many eyes.

The Rev. Bill Exner, from St. Matthew’s Church, offered an uplifting prayer in the cemetery that I’m sure brought comfort and peace to many hearts. Jess Yianakopolos, a junior at Goffstown High School, gave a lovely speech on the importance of recognizing our American heroes.

A very special thank you is extended to Mr. Doug McKernan, who brought the band from GHS. Mr. McKernan pulled together his band with very little notice, and without his support there might not have been a parade at all.

Likewise, I offer a special thank you to Selectman Barbara Griffin and Police Chief Mike French, who worked together under tense circumstances to solve a difficult scheduling problem. Without their extra effort and attention the parade surely would have suffered, possibly never getting out of the school parking lot.

So that brings us to thanks due the many members of the Goffstown community who pulled together for this Memorial Day parade. Aubrey Legasse and M.E. Stewart, Brian Hazen, Matt Kennerson, Steven Dugrenier, Rick McMahon, the Goffstown Fire and Rescue, the Red Cross, Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts, veterans, the Goffstown Main Street Program Board of Directors and last but not least, Steve Pascucci, de facto mayor of Goffstown and goodwill ambassador extraordinaire! Thank you one and all.

Carole Huxel
Goffstown

To the Editor:

I want to take the opportunity to offer my highest praise and thanks to the people of New Hampshire who have again demonstrated we truly live in a very special state.

As our state has battled some of the worst flooding in our history, neighbors, first responders, town, state and federal officials have all joined together to help. As flood waters rose day by day threatening homes and communities all across New Hampshire, the people of New Hampshire also rose to meet the challenge.

The demands required of emergency workers, first responders and law enforcement personnel are neither easy nor predictable. They all deserve our appreciation and recognition for their tireless efforts and for meeting the crisis head on. Whether it was wading through flood waters to help stranded families or battling to control the flood waters spilling over the top of dams, people across our state were working around the clock to help all those in need.

While the flood waters are beginning to recede, there is still much work to be done to help those in our communities who lost so much. I look forward to continuing to work with Gov. Lynch and those on the federal, state and local level to get the assistance needed to the people who have been so devastated by the flooding.

The citizens of New Hampshire can take pride in their efforts. Whenever they face a challenge, they always react the same way. They roll up their sleeves, and in this case put on their boots, and face it together.

U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH

To the Editor:

On behalf of my family, I would like to thank all of our friends and family who came to help us after our recent flooding.

After living in our home for over 18 years, the 100-year flood finally occurred. When the water had receded, it was clear that we would have to remove everything from our home. Within days, we had people packing their cars, and volunteering to take what they could. Our house was completely gutted, and we are now looking toward rebuilding. What at first seemed like a hopeless situation soon turned into a task that could be managed.

Throughout this period, we have been amazed at how many people came to help us. Parents of kids my children go to school with, and the teachers that teach them.

Families we have met through our children’s extracurricular activities and teachers I teach with. Lifelong friends and acquaintances we had recently met. Of course, we can’t forget our families who have seen us at our worst, and best.

Finally, the organizations that are there to help us, such as, the firemen, the police, American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. It was clear they were not simply “doing their job,” but showed caring, compassion and understanding for our situation.

In closing, it is apparent why I chose to raise my family in Goffstown. This community provides my children with an opportunity to see the best in people.

I am proud to be a resident here, and I am grateful to live in such a warm community. Thank you!

Robin L. Gagne
Goffstown

To the Editor:

This past Memorial Day weekend, I was reflecting on all of those veterans who have shaped our destiny by sacrificing to get us where we are today. I also thought about some of the people we so often forget.

Then, on my weekly visit to the New Boston dump, I ran into coach Rob Cathcart, the Goffstown football head coach. There he was, tossing his empty glass bottles into the recycling bin below; and watching with the delight of a toddler doing it for the first time as each projectile shattered into a thousand harmless bits. Who among us has not done that?

We began to talk about (what else) football. I congratulated him for his impressive winning season. What struck me was how delightfully humble he was about the whole thing. When all of us were having barbecues in our back yards in August, he was on the practice field, in oppressive heat, running his two-a-days and believing in his kids.

We all owe him for his hard work, his integrity and his courage. It’s amazing how some coaches can take a nonexistent program and turn it into a winning program in a few short years while others can take a mature program with a winning tradition and nearly destroy it in one season.

Remember the Alabama football program? After Bear Bryant retired, they decided to ignore the rules, to cheat, to look the other way when some athletes were given preferential treatment. The NCAA found out and sanctioned them for years. The program is still struggling after many years.

I recently heard a story of a local high school coach who was aware of a hazing and vandalism incident perpetrated by two of his high-profile first-string varsity athletes on a member of the JV team. Nearly $1,000 of damage was done to the victim’s car. The coach ignored the school’s published rules calling for immediate suspension and did nothing.

In the same season, this same coach strictly followed the published rules and went out of his way to suspend a player on the JV team (not a starter) for an alleged unexcused absence. What was this boy’s infraction? After receiving permission from his JV coach to miss practice, he gave up his April vacation to travel with his church group to New Mexico to build a school for poor Native American children.

Unbelievably, the administration, all the way up to the superintendent of schools, was made aware of this outrageous abuse of power. What did they do? Evidently, they approved of the coach’s behavior and did nothing. The coach is still there today. Who suffers? The kids always get the short end of the stick. Cheaters never prosper. Does anybody really feel good about Barry Bonds hitting his 715th?

This is why we are so lucky to have a man of integrity like Coach Cathcart at Goffstown High. He runs a clean, honest and open program where all kids are invited, in fact encouraged, to try out. The veterans I know would be proud to see what he has accomplished. The next time you see him, say thanks.

Len Cannon
New Boston

To the Editor:

It’s hard to believe that it was seven years ago that work began on reconstructing the Goffstown Common. A quick look at the size of the trees and shrubbery confirms what the calendar says --- everything has really grown!

This wonderful project was undertaken by a large group of citizens of all ages, with the centerpiece being, as it always was, the Civil War monument and its memorial to local soldiers. For those of us who worked on the project, one of the benefits of having so many young hands help to make the common come alive was that we could pass on the pride in our heritage to the next generation.

Sadly, though, in seven years, some of that educational process has worn thin. As the students who worked on the common have grown and gone off to new lives; younger students don’t have that knowledge of what this common meant to all of us. This is clear in the damage that is being done to the Civil War monument and the park benches by skateboarders and graffiti artists. Skateboarders use the granite base of the monument and park benches as ramps while spray painters tag benches and the statue. OK, I know it was a long time ago since I was young, but I just cannot fathom how it is that our kids think a Civil War monument is fair game to be treated this way.

Frankly, I feel downright crotchety writing this letter, but I know of no other way to alert parents to the damage that is being done by their kids.

The physical damage is one thing. It will cost a great deal of money to remove the graffiti and, hopefully, repair the damage. The emotional cost is far more. How do we repay the debt to people long dead in the Civil War? Surely it is not by allowing skateboarders to destroy a monument to their sacrifice.

Memorial Day (has come). On this holiday originally set aside to honor Civil War dead, let’s take some time to teach our kids about respect --- respect for public property, respect for those who have gone before, respect for our community’s heritage.

Robbie Grady
Hooksett