,

Kennett High Senior Fills Gov. Sununu’s Shoes For The Day

CONCORD, NH – A Kennett High Senior got to fill Governor Chris Sununu’s shoes yesterday.

Molly Robert, of North Conway, was the governor for the day yesterday after winning an essay contest earlier this year.

The contest was a part of the Women’s History Month celebrations in New Hampshire.

Governor Chris Sununu told the Conway Daily Sun that he was pleased with how the day went and that he was very impressed with Robert. The Governor said that Robert “provided some awesome insight on a variety of issues that we were able to tackle; everything from school safety and the opioid crisis to communications interoperability.”

Robert’s day consisted of a tour of the Bridges House with Sununu, getting to sit in on an executive Councilor’s meeting along side District 1 Councilor Joe Kenney, and even take a photo op with John Fuller 4th graders who happened to be getting a tour of the state house that day.

Robert told the Sun that observing the Executive Councilors meeting was her favorite part of the day.

Robert also got to enjoy lunch with the Governor and Kennett High Alum Speaker of the New Hampshire House Gene Chandler. Chandler told the Sun “I think Molly is a great recipient of the award…She did an outstanding job. I have a hunch she may be back here one day as governor for more than just one day.”

Robert is Kennett High’s senior class president and will be going to St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. this fall.

 

,

Campton Home Invasion Leads To Car Chase And Crash

A GMC Yukon was allegedly stolen and crashed by a Juvenile from the Campton Becket Family Service Residential Facility after a home invasion in Campton.~ Courtesy Photo

 
CAMPTON, NH – A suspect lead police on a chase after breaking into a home in Campton. According to Campton Police Chief Christopher Warm at around 2:20 am Monday officers responded to a reported home invasion on Owl Street.

The homeowner said that a lone juvenile male was found in her kitchen. The individual was later identified as a runaway from the nearby Becket Family Service residential facility. The juvenile was chased from the home by the residents who then called the Police.

While authorities searched for the suspect he entered the garage of the neighboring home where he acquired keys and attempted to leave the area in the neighbors GMC Yukon.

A GMC Yukon was allegedly stolen and crashed by a Juvenile from the Campton Becket Family Service Residential Facility after a home invasion in Campton. ~ Courtesy Photo

 
The responding officer saw the suspect in the vehicle and attempted to stop it. The suspect refused to stop when the officer signaled him to do so and both Campton PD and State Police pursued the vehicle until the SUV lost control in the New Hampton/Meredith area on I-93.

The suspect only sustained minor scrapes and bruises from the accident and was taken into custody at the scene.

A witness reported that a firearm, allegedly taken from the garage where the keys were allegedly taken from, was found on the ground at the scene of the vehicle theft after the incident.

The juvenile is incarcerated at Sununu Youth Detention Center and is to be arraigned in Juvenile Court. The suspect is charged with five counts of delinquency alleging burglary, theft, trespass, and disobeying an officer have been filed against the suspect, with more charges possible as Police continue to investigate the incident.

According to their website the Becker Family Services is “an alliance of nonprofit with the goal of helping struggling adolescents find a “zest for life” and succeed in the “business of life.”

Their Children’s residential treatment services (like the one in Campton) are offered with a goal “to provide education and treatment that enables our students to successfully return home or to alternative community living arrangements, including foster care or kin.”

 

,

First Guard Station In White Mountain National Forest Named To National Register Of Historic Places

The Fabyan Guard Station during the summer of 1926. ~ Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

 
BRETTON WOODS — The White Mountain National Forest and N.H. Division of Historical Resources are proud to announce that the White Mountain National Forest’s Fabyan Guard Station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recognition of this historic building is an honor and has particular significance during this Centennial year of the White Mountain National Forest. The nomination was prepared in partnership with WhiteMountainHistory.org.

To qualify for the National Register, a property must represent a significant part of the history, architecture, archeology, engineering or culture of an area. It must have the characteristics that make it a good representative of properties associated with that aspect of the past. Important both for its use in conservation and as an example of rustic architecture, the well-preserved Fabyan Guard Station also has a high degree of historic integrity.

The Fabyan Guard Station as it stands today in the White Mountain National Forest near Bretton Woods. ~ Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

 
Built in 1923, the station was the first administrative building constructed by the US Forest Service on the White Mountain National Forest, and it is the last remaining example of a Guard Station in New Hampshire.

The one-room, 16-by-22 foot log cabin, hand built by White Mountain National Forest rangers from local materials, served as local headquarters for all nearby Forest Service activities, including the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The cabin is a remnant of early local administration of Forest Service lands, from an era when transportation was difficult and time consuming. Forest Service guards were stationed at similar outposts across the forest to administer timber sales, construct and maintain recreation facilities, and respond quickly to forest fires in their immediate vicinity.

Made from hand-hewn native spruce logs cut and notched on site, Fabyan’s simple architectural details are characteristic of an early 20th-century guard station, including a single door made from vertical planks and held in place by strap hinges, six-pane windows and a gable roof made of pine boards covered with cedar shakes.

The interior, a single room, has wide pine board floors with mid-20th century linoleum “rugs”; a kitchen area with cast iron sink, counter and single light fixture along one wall; and beaver board panels covering the ceiling. In addition to the cabin, a board and batten-sided outhouse – possibly built by the CCC – and a corrugated metal storage shed are part of the property.

Members of HistoriCorps repairing the Fabyan Guard Station in 2014. ~ Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

 
In recent years the National Forest has invested time and resources to preserve Fabyan Guard Station, including a multi-week volunteer project in 2014 in partnership with HistoriCorps to replace deteriorated logs and vandalized windows, a partnership with the Appalachian Mountain Club construction crew to install a new cedar shingle roof, and participation by the White Mountain National Forest Youth Conservation Corps to maintain the grounds around the cabin and install an interpretive panel developed with WhiteMountainHistory.org.

In 2015, the White Mountain National Forest, HistoriCorps and WhiteMountainHistory.org were honored by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance with a Preservation Achievement Award for cooperative efforts to preserve and restore this important piece of both Forest Service and New Hampshire history. Listing in the National Register of Historic Places recognizes and celebrates these successful partnerships and historic preservation accomplishments.

Administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the National Register of Historic Places is the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation and is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect our historic and archaeological resources.

Listings identify historically significant properties and can serve as educational tools and increase heritage tourism opportunities.

For more information on the National Register program in New Hampshire, please visit nh.gov/nhdhr or contact Peter Michaud at the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources at 603-271-3583. For more information about the Fabyan Guard Station, visit tinyurl.com/fabyanhistory.

Follow the N.H. Division of Historical Resources @NHDHR_SHPO. Follow the White Mountain National Forest @WhiteMountainNF.

 

,

Two Hikers Rescued In Huntington Ravine Sunday

Rescue crews repel down to two men from Rhode Island who found themselves stranded on a steep ledge in Huntington Ravine Sunday (6-3-18) ~ Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game.

 
SARGENTS PURCHASE, NH – Two hikers were rescued after getting lost on Mt. Washington this weekend.

Conservation Officers with New Hampshire Fish and Game said that on Sunday at around 1pm they received a call that 27-year-old Daniel Rueda, of Warwick, Rhode Island, and 21-year-old Christopher Petteruto, of Coventry, Rhode Island, were stranded in steep terrain at an unknown location in the area of Huntington Ravine. The hikers were able to give a description of the area but could not provide specific information, as they had not been there before.

Conservation Officers enlisted the help of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC), who responded from around the mountain to search for the hikers. Over the next two hours, distant voice contact was made but an exact location could not be pinpointed.

With the afternoon turning to evening, additional search and rescue teams were formed, consisting of volunteers from Androscoggin Valley Search and Rescue (AVSAR), Mountain Rescue Service (MRS) and the US Forest Service.

Additional information eventually surfaced, helping crews to focus their attention on the northeast side of the ravine in an area known as Henderson’s Buttress.

The red circled area is where the two Rhode Island men where located after getting lost off of the Huntington Ravine Sunday (6-3-18) ~ Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game.

 
By 6:00 PM, crews were still working to reach the stranded individuals.  Temperatures had gone from the 50’s to the high 30’s, and the hikers began to report through 911 (via cell phone) that they were becoming very cold and physically deteriorating.  The hikers had insufficient gear to stay warm, which applied additional pressures to the volunteers to make it to them before the situation

At 7:27 PM, rescue crews successfully reached the hikers at a location approximately 1000 feet off of the Huntington Ravine Trail. The hikers were located in an area of ledge, making it difficult to move either up or down.

Rescue crews provided the  lost hikers with warm clothing,food, and drink after locating them on a steep ledge in Huntington Ravine Sunday (6-3-18) ~ Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game.

 
The hikers were subsequently assessed and provided with warm clothing, water and food.  Once warm, the two were able to hike and climb with the rescue team back out to the Huntington Ravine Trail and eventually up Mount Washington to the Alpine Garden.

Rescuers crews lead the lost hikers up Huntington Ravine Sunday (6-3-18) ~ Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game.

 
The hikers were then lead to the Mount Washington Auto Road where they arrived safely shortly after 9:00 PM.

Following the evacuation, the hikers were checked by members of Gorham Ambulance before leaving in their own vehicle.

Fish and Game Officials said advise outdoor enthusiasts to always be prepared for the unexpected, even on really nice days. Conservation Officer Matthew Holmes said “This day started out great for the hikers in question and then ended in a six hour sit with temperatures that nearly hit the freezing mark. The forecast for the coming week on Mount Washington includes a “wintery mix” that will likely take the mountain from spring right back into winter.”

,

Memorial Hospital Defers Plan For Unification With Mainehealth

 

North Conway, N.H. ­– A proposal to fully unify Memorial Hospital with its parent organization, MaineHealth, will not go forward as planned with respect to financial and governance functions, but the hospital still plans to integrate its other operations with the larger system at the end of the calendar year.

Memorial and the other members of MaineHealth have been working over the past 18 months to create a unified governance, financial and operating model so that resources and expertise can flow more easily across the healthcare system. The Memorial Board of Trustees approved the “unification” plan last fall subject to required approvals.

Since that time, leaders at Memorial and MaineHealth have been working through certain requirements in New Hampshire that do not exist for the other MaineHealth members in Maine. Those leaders have recently concluded that there are aspects of the process that cannot be resolved in a timely manner relative to the overall timeframe for unification across MaineHealth. As a result, Memorial Hospital will not fully unify with the system when the other members of MaineHealth come together on Jan. 1, 2019. Instead, Memorial Hospital will continue to operate under the definitive agreement reached with MaineHealth in 2013.

What this means in practical terms is that Memorial will retain separate governance and financial structures in New Hampshire. It does not mean, however, that the hospital is leaving MaineHealth. In fact, the hospital still plans to unify its operations with the larger system at the end of the calendar year.

“It became clear that we have a lot of work to do with our MaineHealth colleagues before we could move forward with an application to the Attorney General’s office to fully unify with the system,” said Laura Jawitz, chair of the Memorial Board of Trustees. “Rather than rush that process or slow the progress being made across the rest of the system, we determined it was best to go forward under the existing membership agreement with MaineHealth.”

“One thing remains clear,” said Jawitz. “Our membership in MaineHealth has allowed us to better serve our patients here in the Valley, and MaineHealth remains the right partner for us going forward.”

Scott McKinnon, President & CEO of Memorial, said moving forward with unifying operationally with MaineHealth means continuing to pursue the integration of key functions such as human resources, information systems and clinical services. He also said there will be no interruption of the planned installation of the Epic electronic health record system later this year.

“Our leadership is now assessing what it will mean to have separate governance and financial structures alongside a unified MaineHealth,” said McKinnon. “We will share any information we have about that as it becomes available. In the meantime, rest assured, we will continue to move forward with our colleagues to find the most beneficial way to be a part of the MaineHealth family.”

, ,

Story Land Not Closing, Despite Viral Rumor

GLEN, NH – A Facebook post has caused a bit of a stir in the Mount Washington Valley and across New England after it claimed that story land was closing.

The satirical news organization New Hampshire News Network posted on Facebook that the Glen attraction was closing this fall. Many social media users, not realizing the page is satirical similar to the Onion, believed the post to be true.

Lauren Hawkins Marketing Director at Story Land said the post has caused them quite a headache with people calling concerned that the 60-year-old attraction was closing.

Hawkins said in a phone interview “It is absolutely not true. We don’t like to believe everything on the internet” Hawkins joked, adding “We will be open for many more years to come.”

Story Land was opened in Glen in 1954 by Bob and Ruth Morrell of North Conway, owners of the Eastern Slope Ice Cream Co. The Morrells sold Story Land in 2007. It is now owned by Palace Entertainment.