I haven't had time to find the quote I read, about developers chuckling something like 'the best thing for Hooksett Village would be to bulldoze it all.' I will make some, though.

Did you hear "The Hooksett Planning Board is currently drafting some performance standards" targeting the Village and other areas?

Our town planner, Mr. Watson, who doesn't even live in Hooksett, said "We would like to see the Village as a good mixed use area." I guess the bulldozers are warming up.

If the citizens of Hooksett continue to be as complacent as they were when they gave away their greatest, and most valuable natural resource, Head's Pond, then, good-bye Hooksett Village.

I found it mirthful, (sadly humorous), to buy and read the book, "Historical Hooksett Sketches." It is proudly offered at Town Hall and other places. I bought it because I love history. If you look on page 110, you will find that one of the last real Hooksett patriots pointed to Head's Pond as a precious commodity. He was right. How long do you think it will be, before Manchester needs all the water capacity of Massabesic? Will they do without, to help us? I don't think so.

As most know, my roots are shallow here, but I care. I don't live in the Village, but know that it is an irreplaceable asset to this town. When I lived in Belmont, their Village district was about to be the home of an elderly housing development and have a divided roadway paved right through. There too, it didn't effect me personally, but I cared. I wasn't alone, which is why Belmont Village is still a Village and the Belmont Mill isn't a parking lot. A number of friends still live there and miss me. That is encouraging, considering that all I did there is what I.m doing here, speaking up loudly and paying attention to details. It is now up to you to do what they did. Join me and do likewise!

David Ross
Hooksett

Many towns, including Epsom, were reassessed this past year. Ultimately, the timing of these reassessments could not have been worse. This happened in what many believe was the peak of the housing market. Combine this with the fact that many towns reassessed at 100 percent of value, and you have got what results in a real increased tax burden to many homeowners.

An important factor in this economy where wages are not keeping up with the alarming rising cost of living is the outrageous fuel oil, propane and gasoline prices.

The legislature having passed in November an emergency fuel assistance bill, taking money from the budget surplus to aid the many more New Hampshire families that had applied for or were on a waiting list to apply for needed assistance, was an important step to help. One can only wonder if the increased number of applicants was due to the fact that property tax hikes because of reassessments had drained needed money in household budgets to pay for fuel.

I believe in the long run that high fuel costs will make a huge difference in how average- income people will be able to afford these overpriced and overvalued homes. After all, any pay raise that a worker may get nowadays will ultimately go into a fuel tank of some kind. Although in Epsom, like other towns, the rate per $1,000 dropped in half, many people saw their properties triple in value, which makes the 50 percent drop in price per $1,000 little, if any, consolation.

In closing, I can only hope and pray that town officials in this state will consider this before bringing double-digit budget proposals forward this March, the reason being that many people have already paid a double-digit tax increase in 2005 without ever having had a chance to vote on it.

Tom Langlais
Epsom

Sometimes we tend not to appreciate the simple things in life. That we take for granted the Sunday paper, the morning sunrise or the evening newscast. We do this not because they're not important, but because they have always been there.

One of those things in our life, in the life of Hooksett, was Robies Country Store. But as of Nov. 1, 1997, Robies Country Store closed its doors for the last time. Our lives will never be the same.

Hooksett became Robies and Robies became Hooksett. Since 1888, Robies and the town went hand-in-hand. We changed together, we faced the flood of 1936 and survived, we faced World War II and survived. We fought the tide of change. Always trying to keep up with the times but always striving to resist that rising tide, trying to stay that small country store and that small New England town.

But like everyone else we could not turn back the clock. Hooksett is not that small town and Robies is no longer. For this we come out losers. Time marched on and we both got caught in its footsteps.

But how can a store become part of our collective conscious. After all, it was just a store. But it was not just a store, it was not just another 7-11. It was Robies. A store that was for 109 years of Hooksett history our local meeting place. It was where friends, old and young, could gather for a cup of coffee or a slice of cheese or local gossip or political debate. Where each squeak of those wooden planks told a story. Just look around - there was history. From that display of historical knickknacks of genuine Americana, that old post office corner, the potbelly stove or checkerboard. From that can of "Billy" beer, that wooden Indian or the display of razor straps or even the cobwebs. It was those pictures of famous people, from Jimmy Durante to Red Skelton to Liz Walker of WBZ fame. It was where "Jimmy who?" became President Carter. Where Jack Kemp, Al Gore and Nancy Reagan stopped by for some politicking. It was where the local folk would sit for hours talking, laughing or planning some celebration.

But we cannot forget the family. For without them, all our fondest memories would be for naught. Thank you, Lloyd, Dot, Wayne and Janyce. You became members of our family just as close to us as our mother or father. Thanks for serving up that great conversation, with that great coffee, from behind the counter, making change out of an old hand-punch cash register. You were there for us and will always be there.

Robies Country Store was what Hooksett is and what it wanted to be. Just a small store living in the glorious past and hoping for a great future. As the saying goes, "the song may have ended, but melody lingers on." The long run of Robies store has ended, but those memories will linger on and on.

Each of us in Hooksett will have our own memories, and we will remember them for a long time to come. Thanks for the memories. There will never be another you. God bless, Amen and goodbye.

Thank you Mr. Robie, we will miss you.

To the Robie family - my deepest sympathy.

James Sullivan
Hooksett

A special thank you to the staff: Heather Shumway, our head librarian; Mark; Lee Ann; Sara; Rosanne; Jeff; and Carie.

We have been able to deliver a wonderful variety of books and magazines to many of our K-2 classrooms at Underhill School. The teachers and students are thrilled with the abundance of new reading materials.

I want to also thank the individuals from our community for their generous donations of books that were delivered to the library and Underhill for this project. This effort is still underway. We are still in need of more biographies and nonfiction books for the elementary level.

If you haven't brought your family to the Hooksett Public Library, I urge you to do so! The staff is friendly and enjoys assisting all visitors. Any age will find it to be a comfortable "home away from home," especially on cold, rainy or snowy days! There is a very child-friendly room complete with puppets to accompany their books. Our new librarian, Heather, has created a newly furnished, modern (and cozy) teen area with rug, bean bag chairs, lamp and book suggestions from peers. Adults will love the new coffee pot niche next to the revolving display of "book picks" from library staff and all the latest "new release" books out on view. Trust me when I say the Hooksett Public Library is one of our favorite places in Hooksett. Plan to visit with the whole family in the new year!

Anne Marie Kenny
Hooksett

I am curious though - if they have done such wonderful things, why is it that the police department is still several employees down? It is my understanding that they are short three to four dispatchers and they were filling the shifts with officers and sergeants for overtime. Why is this?

I am aware that dispatcher Jay Wilson is still on paid leave since December 2004. I understand that the internal was completed in April, he has not returned back to work or been fired and we, the taxpayers, are spending all this money on overtime?

I ask you, the taxpayers, is this really good management? I would like to know, what did we pay dispatcher Wilson for a salary this year just so he could sit at home?

I understand this seems to be a trend with Chief Agrafiotis, place people on leave for a year with pay. I know that Sgt. McDaniel was on paid leave for a year. How do I sign up for this free money?

As a taxpayer, I feel that there must be something wrong that we can't hire people. I know it is difficult to hire good candidates but do we even get any candidates? I personally think it is about time the townspeople start paying attention to what is going on within our police department.

Maybe another independent investigation should be done from someone other than the police commission? Mr. Jodoin, maybe you should be looking into a management study of the police department by someone other than the commission's choosing so the real truth can come out.

D. Dunn
Hooksett

This bill would modify the child support guidelines so they actually take into account both parents. incomes as opposed to only the obligor (payer) income taken into account today. This bill would further proportion child support in accordance with the residential time spent with the child by both parents.

In a nutshell, this bill would make child support awards much more fair than they are at present and allow child support to be used for the benefit of the children at both parents' households. This bill will restore equality in New Hampshire family law for both parents and their children.

As an example, I will summarize my current situation. While going through the divorce process, I was able to get a schedule that would allow me to have the children 50 percent of the time.

This came at an extreme cost. In order to get this, I was forced to agree to pay my ex-wife 33 percent of my salary and bonuses, even though I have the children half of the time. If I were to have taken this issue to court, not only would I have incurred huge legal fees, I was advised that I would not get the schedule of 50 percent but rather that my ex-wife could (and would) choose not to agree to that schedule and the court system would have given me the "usual" schedule of every other weekend and one night a week.

Since this was unacceptable, I was forced into a unfair position of having to pay the full "legal" amount of support. This is a form of extortion - I can only have my children half of the time if I give money.

During the marriage, she chose not to work even when my children were in school full time (even though I would have liked her to work). Since she made a choice not to work, she has no income, yet another factor against me.

Though I consider myself very fortunate to have my children equal time, I struggle with the disproportionate child support that I pay. Currently, I am paying my ex-wife $3,100 per month for my two children. However, I still need to provide before- and after-school care, food, clothing, health care and entertainment costs when they are in my custody, again half of the time.

During this time, my ex-wife completed the nursing program (which I paid for), had received her degree and was employed full time at Concord Hospital for four months. She has since quit that job to work perdiem at the Elliot Hospital and has re-married. She now has three incomes ... her part-time income, the $3,100 in child support that I pay her (tax free) and her new husband's income.

I honestly do not understand why any system would make a father pay the amount of child support that I do when I share custody and my ex-wife chooses not to work. As long as I am paying the money that I am to her, I would never have that option. At the end of the day, I am really paying much more than the $3,100 as I provide the same things as she does for the same amount of time.

The problem is the guidelines are not fair. So please help pass HB 1580 and help extended families thrive in this state and lead the country for national reform.

Jim Cote
Pembroke

He is trying to be David Letterman with a "Top 10" list of stupid ideas.

It's too bad that he doesn't number them.

Phil Daley
Hillsborough