Friday Update June 26, 2009

"FRIDAY
UPDATES”

Friday,
June 26, 2009

 

Jackson’s Landing Open
House: On Sunday, July 26, 2009, beginning
at 2:00 PM, the Town will host an Open House at the new and improved Jackson’s Landing. The Piscataqua Gundalow Company
will be bringing the Gundalow to the landing to celebrate the Oyster River.  There will be music and tours.  All are invited and
encouraged to check out the landing and the Gundalow. For more information,
please click HERE.

Town
Offices Closed for Independence Day

The Town Offices will be closed in
observance of the July 4^th holiday on Friday, July 3, 2009. All
offices will reopen for regular business hours on Monday, July 5, 2009 at
8:00 AM. There will be NO commercial recycling
collection on July 3^rd.  

The Transfer Station
and Recycling Center will be CLOSED on Saturday, July 4^th.  

JULY
FOURTH CELEBRATION

The Durham-Great Bay Rotary Club and
the Town of Durham will be sponsoring a gala Independence Day celebration with fireworks
on Saturday, July 4^th with a rain date of Sunday, July 5^th
to be held at Cowell Stadium on the UNH campus. Activities will begin at 6:30
PM. In addition to music, activities are also planned for children. The food
court will also be open and serve great food throughout the fireworks display.
Donations will be accepted at the gate. Fireworks will begin at dusk (9:00-9:15
PM). UNH provides this venue at no cost to the community.

THURSDAY NIGHT PARK PICNIC HOSTED BY DURHAM PARKS & RECREATION COMMITTEE

The Parks & Recreation Committee will host a “Thursday
Night Park Picnic” for townspeople throughout the summer.  Every other
Thursday, a location will be selected where people can bring a picnic and
any games, etc., they would like to play or share.  Beautiful Weather
welcomed our first Thursday Night Pack Picnic last night!  The waterfront
at Wagon Hill was a wonderful setting, with around 30 townspeople hiking down
to enjoy picnics, volleyball, football, and socializing. The next location
will be along the waterfront at Old Town Landing on July 9. Games will be
set up in advance, but feel free to bring your favorites along as well. 
It is intended to be a very casual event, with no specified times or requirements
beyond getting together after 5:00 PM and meeting more of the members of our
great community.  You are encouraged to come individually or in groups
and join in the fun. Please contact the Parks & Recreation Committee at
durhamparksandrec@yahoo.com with
any questions or suggestions for other locations you would like to see utilized
for these gatherings. Given the venue, consider the event canceled if it is
raining.  Hope to see you there!

DURHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY EVENTS

Library Closed for Independence Day
Holiday
The Library
Trustees have approved closing the Library on Friday, July 3 and Saturday
July 4. The library will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, July 7^th.
Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy holiday.

2009 Summer Reading Program,
for ages birth through 18: Registration begins the week of June 22^nd.
Read books, (or be read to,) record your titles or minutes read on your reading
log, and turn in your logs to win free books!  Write book reviews of
your favorite books and be entered in a drawing for even more prizes. The
program will run from June 23 through August 1.  DPL Summer Reading Program
events and programs flyers are available – fun for kids, teens, and families. 
DPL will also have reading lists with suggestions of great books to read if
you’re looking for something new and exciting, or just want to keep up on
your academic reading list.  Special thanks to the Durham Library Friends
of the Library for an excellent selection of Summer Reading Program book prizes. 

Geocaching for Families, Saturday,
June 27, 1:00 PM: Geocaching
is a fun, high-tech version of a treasure hunt, and is growing in popularity
with the development of personal GPS devices and the increase in these devices
being installed in cars. Durham resident and Geocaching
enthusiast, Larry Vannata, will present a brief power point on several Geocaching
trails that are available in the Great Bay area. After the presentation, you are invited to find a walkable
geocache to experience what this fun, family-friendly activity is all about. 
If you have your own GPS device, you are welcome to bring one. Please call
the Library at 868-6699 to RSVP.

New
England
Center
Will Serve Continental Breakfast for Guests Beginning July 7

Beginning July 7, 2009, the New England
Center Hotel and Conference Center
at the University of New Hampshire will no longer be open for hot breakfast in the restaurant. A
continental breakfast will be available for hotel guests in the lobby of the
hotel. The center’s dining will continue to be available for lunch and dinner,
as well as Sunday brunch from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

MUB
Copy Center
Closes for July

The MUB Copy Center will be closed for the month of July this summer and will reopen
on Monday, August 3. This initiative is in support of the UNH mission to reduce
expenses during the current economically-challenging environment. This action
will also contribute to UNH’s sustainability efforts in that there will be
minimal electrical and air-conditioning requirements for the center during
this period. Printing and Mailing Services will be shifting all work to the
West Edge facility and expect to maintain the level of service to which the
UNH community has grown accustom. Projects may be submitted to the online
order site http://www.printing.unh.edu/index.html,
emailed to printing.services@unh.edu, dropped
off at the West Edge office, or you may call 2-0537 to arrange for the project
to be picked up. The West Edge office is open Monday through Friday from 7:30
AM to 4:30 PM.

HOME
ENERGY ALTERNATIVE TOUR

On Saturday, June 27, 2009, from 9-10:00
AM, the Durham Energy Committee will host a home energy alternative tour to
visit four local homes and one apartment building that incorporate energy
conservation and alternative home energy measures that include enhanced insulation,
photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. Meet at 9:00 AM in the Durham Public
Library parking lot for carpooling, or pickup a map at the library and go
on your own power, at your own pace. For more information call or email Nat
Balch, natster3413@comcast.net, 868-6355. Maps
and home tour information sheets available at the library on Friday, June
26^th (library opens at 10:00 AM on Saturday).

THE
FARMERS MARKET

A reminder that the Durham Farmers
Market is underway for the summer and will continue through October 5, 2009.
The market will be in the Pettee Brook parking lot every Monday from 2:30
to 5:30 PM. There will be several farmers selling vegetables and fruit, and
residents will also find cut flowers, plants, bread, and more.

DURHAM
DAY 2009

Durham Day 2008 has been set for Sunday,
September 20, 2009 from 12:30-4:30 PM at Wagon Hill Farm. Residents interested
in assisting with this annual event should contact Durham Day Coordinator,
Nicole Moore, at 868-6775 or e-mail durhamday3@yahoo.com.

JACKSON’S LANDING WORK SESSION

On Saturday, June 27, 2009 from 8:30
– 11:30 AM, the Jackson's Landing and Parks and Recreation
Committees will have a work session at Jackson's Landing to complete the trail work that was begun last fall.
 Volunteers are needed to haul wood chips and cut and clear brush. If
you are interested in helping you can contact John Parry at jeparry3@comcast.net, or just meet at the
north side of the ice rink anytime that morning.

Oyster
River
Watershed Association “River
Drive”

On Saturday, June 27, 2009 the Oyster
River Watershed Association will host a “River Drive” from 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon. For
several years, the Oyster River Watershed Association has hosted monthly “Riverwalks”
as a means of becoming familiar with the river and its tributaries, and to
better understand the challenges of protecting and managing the watershed.
Now that the river is going through the nomination process for inclusion in
the New Hampshire Rivers Management Program, it is appropriate to help stakeholders
learn about some of the major features of the river and the land through which
it flows. The “River Drive” will involve car pooling to visit
several spots along the main course of the river and tributaries to see the
range of terrain and flow characteristics of the river, as well as the water
quality and quantity challenges. There are seven years of water quality records
that have been produced by volunteer monitors, and these results will be discussed
in terms of the locations along the river. A fact sheet about the watershed
and the river will be distributed and discussed.

As part of the New Hampshire Rivers
Management Program application, the core group will need to resolve whether
to include only the fresh water portion of the Oyster River or to include the entire watershed, including the salt water portion.

Meet at the lower end of Market Basket
Shopping Plaza at the Lee Traffic Circle, close to Pizza Spinners. All are
welcome. Prior registration is not necessary, but it would be helpful in terms
of managing the logistics of the tour. Call or contact Dick Weyrick, 868-2862,
dweyrick@comcast.net for registration,
additional details, or information about possible weather postponement.

Churchill
Rink

Concrete was poured this week beginning
work on the new entry way to the Churchill Rink at Jackson’s Landing.  We believe rink users will
be happy with the newly designated entrance. 

PSNH's
Peak Smart Plus Program Update

A few months ago, members of the Department
of Public Works met with Public Service of New Hampshire representatives to
discuss the Peak Smart Plus program. The program specifically applied
to the Wastewater Treatment Plant since it is a huge user of electricity (bill
averages $12,000 per month) and it has a generator capable of fully supplying
its own power to the plant during outages.  The program is designed to
have participants run on their generator power during times of power needs
from PSNH, such as brown outs or other outages, and it rebates the monthly
electricity bill.  It will not be often that the plan will be mobilized.
In addition, the plan will only be mobilized during normal workdays, Monday-Friday,
so it will not cause additional overtime needs on the department.  The
program kicked off in April do date, the town has seen an approximate $1,000
credit in the last two bills. 

Wiswall
Road Bridge
Replacement Project to Start in July

NHDOT representatives announced this
week they will arrive during the second or third week of July to remove the
temporary Bailey Bridge that has been resting on top of the Wiswall Road Bridge since August of 2006. The Department of Public Works is making
preparations to close off public access to the bridge which will begin the
day NHDOT arrives. The town should have a more definite idea of NHDOT’s
arrival plans later next week. Dismantling the Bailey Bridge is expected
to take 2 to 3 weeks. The Wiswall Road Bridge was permanently damaged during the Mother’s Day Flood in 2006
and selection of a contractor to construct the new bridge will hopefully be
completed by August 1st. The construction of the new bridge will take approximately
one year, and during that time the public will not be allowed to access the
bridge.  A detour will be established to route through traffic coming
from the east in a north/south direction on Packers Falls Road, and traffic coming from the
west will be routed north/south on Lee Hook Road in the Town of Lee.
Please contact Town Engineer David Cedarholm at 868-5578, dcedarholm@ci.durham.nh.us with questions
or for additional information.

PUBLIC
MEETING SCHEDULE

The following public meetings are
scheduled for the coming week in the Town Council chambers at the Durham Town
Office and will begin at 7:00 PM unless otherwise indicated below.

Historic District Commission – Thursday,
July 2, 2009

To view the agendas for the meetings
listed above, please click HERE.  All meetings
recorded on DCAT are available on DVD at the Durham Public Library for checkout
and viewing. 

To view the Oyster River School Board meeting schedule,
please click HERE. 

The Durham Public Library Board of Trustees meet
every third Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM at the Durham Public Library. 
All are welcome to attend. To view the Trustees meeting schedule, please click
HERE.

The Friends of the Durham Public Library is a
non-profit group of volunteers from the community who are passionate about
the Library and all it has to offer our town.  Friends meet every third
Wednesday of the month at 1:30 PM at the Durham Public Library. 

DURHAM CABLE ACCESS TELEVISION
PROGRAMMING SCHEDULE

To view a listing of the DCAT programming
schedule, please click HERE 

SEACOAST
PUBLIC MARKET

The second Seacoast Public Market
will be held on Saturday, June 27, 2009 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Frank
Jones Center on the Route 1 South bypass in
Portsmouth. A number of new food vendors have been added, as well as
a local clothing company and bath and body products company. There will be
music supplied by the Eric Klaxton Jazz Trio from UNH, and as always, lots
of sampling for shoppers. For more information, contact Tastes of New England
at (603) 762-4155 or via email at info@tastesofnewengland.com.

ORYA
FOOTBALL

The Oyster River Youth Association
has begun registration for its football program. For more information, please
click HERE.

GROWING
PLACES SUMMER CAMPS

Growing Places, a non profit early
education and youth recreation agency, offers three different camp programs
for children!  Camp Cowabunga is for children ages 5-7 and offers arts and crafts, games,
swimming, and a field trip every week. Bridge Camp, for children ages 7-9,
offers a more active day with team building games, sports, and enrichment
activities, daily swimming and field trips.  At Adventure Camp, for ages
10-14, children are involved in more challenging activities, including outdoor
adventures, service projects, water sports, and camping trips. All programs
are licensed by the state of New Hampshire and have low staff to camper ratios. 
Programs run for 8 weeks starting on June 29.  Part time, full time and
extended care is available. Tuition assistance is available for eligible families. 
Please contact 868-1335 for more information and a registration packet.

UNH
CAMP WILDCAT
BEGINS JUNE 29

Registration is open for UNH Camp
Wildcat for the summer 2009. Camp Wildcat is a 7-week summer camp for youth that takes place on the UNH
Campus and is sponsored by Campus Recreation.  It has been in existence
for over 20 years.  Camp Wildcat currently offers one free session
of camp to all Forest Park residents, as well as a scholarship
program that offers one free registration for Mast Way Elementary, Moharimet
Elementary, and Oyster River Middle School.  The scholarship
is coordinated by the nurse’s office at each school.  For more information
regarding this program and to register, visit http://campusrec.unh.edu/index.cfm?ID=A7CD2551-96B0-C712-0A368ACAC28CE6D1
or contact Erika Cooper at 862-0845, erika.cooper@unh.edu.

SUMMER
ART CAMP OFFERED AT THE MUSEUM OF ART, UNH

The Museum of Art, University of New Hampshire, is offering week-long
summer art classes for children on Monday through Friday during the weeks
of August 3-7 and August 10-14, 2009. Children in grades 4 – 9 have a wide
variety of classes to choose from and may sign up for classes during the morning
(9 am – noon) or afternoon sessions (1 – 4 pm) or both. The cost per session
is $125 per session or $225 for two sessions during the same week. Classes
include the cost of basic materials. Lunch is not provided, but children are
welcome to bring their lunches to enjoy in the Paul Creative Arts
Center. Supervision is provided during the lunch hour. Pre-registration
is required by July 10, 2009. For more information, visit www.unh.edu/moa.

Healthy
Food and Hygiene Drive for Health Care

Donations of healthy food and hygiene
will be gratefully accepted outside of the Bagelry and the Durham Market Place
this Saturday, June 27^th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM to supply the
Cornucopia Food Pantry in Durham (United Campus Ministry).  Food banks in our state have
been running low at a time when there is more of a need. This effort is in
conjunction with the National Health Care Day of Service to promote health
care reform.

food items: flour, breads, pancake and baking
mixes, healthy cereals, soups, rice, dried fruit, nuts, coffee, tea, canned
food, healthy snacks, pasta, juice

hygiene items:
toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, soap, shampoo, tissue, laundry detergent,
paper towels, toilet paper

FROM
HISTORY IN AN OYSTERSHELL – 1600 – 1976

“1918 – The influenza epidemic, lasting
3 months, started with SATC students, billeted in the Barracks; 3 college
buildings served as hospitals. Strict quarantine, with guards on streets and
buildings; passes were necessary, 12 deaths occurred among townspeople and
students.”

“1918 – The 1897 T. Hall flagpole
needed replacement. Digging the stump was unsuccessful, so it was bored, packed
with dynamite, and fired as the clock struck twelve. The stump shot higher
than the tower, turned, and plunged into the hole. It was not hard to find
witnesses 20 years ago.”

Have a nice weekend.

Todd

Todd I. Selig, Administrator

Town of Durham

15 Newmarket Road

Durham, New Hampshire 03824

Tel (603) 868-5571

Fax (603) 868-5572

tselig@ci.durham.nh.us

www.ci.durham.nh.us

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