REMINDERS!Nelson School District Meeting

is on Friday, March 5,7:00 pm

Polls - voting is combined with

Town Meeting voting on Tuesday.

Nelson Town

Meeting

Tuesday, March 9,

7:00 pm

Polls open 11:00 noon

to 7:00 p.m.

FIFTY YEARS & THREE GENERATIONS IN DOWNTOWN MUNSONVILLE

March 2010 Winter Issue Volume 27, No.1

by D. Asa Bennett

On the shore of beautiful GraniteLake in downtown Munsonville,declared the radio commercial forLakeview Restaurant on the east

shore of the lake, around the early 1970’s.The restaurant and cabins had been inexistence for many years, but new ownerswere raising the standards of the restaurantand advertising to grow the patronage.

Joe and Maxine Dobson managed theGranite Lake Country Store in 1959, andMaxine was the post-mistress. The Route 9by-pass had been rumored for ten yearsand the lake road not plowed all the wayaround the lake during winter since therewere few if any year-round residents on theg r a v e l r o a d . T h eChapel-By-The-Lake had asort-of cupola but no pointedspire with a cross on top.

One of our first visitors,after we moved into the “OldFisher Place” in September of1959 was a crusty old gentnamed Jack Sherrard. Hestopped by to warn us aboutcorrupt politicians and to tellu s t h a t w h e n w i n t e rapproached all the summer folkleft the town to the squirrelsand the natives.

Jack claimed to be the lastliving sailor to have crewed ona square rigger sailing aroundthe Horn and he probably was.He related first person stories

about daily life aboard one of these greatships and narrated officers barkingcommands to sailors setting sails tochange course while being violentlybuffeted by wind and thrashed by whitetopped waves crashing against thecreaking wood hull as they braved thewaters off Cape Horn.

Jack, in his raspy voice, sang some ofthe salty old sea shanties learned frommen of varying nationalities. Ron Lyonrecorded some of this narration and songand, I believe, they are filed in the Libraryof Congress.

The mill ruin at the outlet of GraniteLake was still dominated by the 100 footbrick chimney which stood as a silentmonument to the several owners andmany workers who had produced a variety

of goods and products for years usingGranite Lake waters as its power source.An iron water wheel still lay on its sidebelow the dam at the lake outlet. Brickedunderground waterways, even today, lay

under the site which probablyfed water turbines to drive themill machinery. It was alandmark of Munsonville, aswell as, a monument. Square incross section, tapering smalleras it rose to 100 feet tall withpanels and a rim near the top tolend some style. An estimated40,000 red bricks used in itsconstruction in about 1880,were probably produced mostlyin one or more brick yardswithin the town of Nelson.Many of these bricks were castwith the name “Keene” in arecess in one face of the brickand became collectors’ items.

(continued on page 9)Lakeview Lunch, Munsonville, NH, on the east side of Granite Lake.Picture from a postcard from late 1920s or early 1930. Car is a 1927 Buick.

GRAPEVINE-2 MARCH 2010 PAGE 2

“We’re lost but we’re makinggood time.”

- Yogi Berra

JANE KIRKService to the Town of NelsonDecember 1997 – January 2010

Most townspeople know her asthe Chair of the Board ofSelectmen, to which she hasdevoted twelve years of service.

First appointed to fill a Board vacancy inDecember 1997, she became Chair in2000 and attended over five hundredBoard meetings before her resignation inJanuary 2010.

The Town has seen numerousphysical improvements during Jane’syears on the Board, most recently theSafety Building and the Salt Barn, and herencyclopedic knowledge and organizationskills will be sorely missed by her fellowBoard members. Perhaps most of all, herconcern for the well-being of the Townand its residents has shaped her tenure,and her kindnesses to town employeesare legendary.

We wish her well in her retirementfrom what has truly been a “secondcareer”, though she’ll doubtless remainbusy – with her family, her philanthropicactivities and her many friends.

T h an k y o u , Jan e , f o r e v e ry th in g .

ROTARYSCHOLARSHIP

The Town would like to remindstudents about the scholarshipfund that has been established bya Nelson member of the Rotary

Club of Keene exclusively for residentsof Nelson, New Hampshire, who wish tofurther their education.

The criteria are:• You must be a Nelson resident for at

least one year.• You must be planning to attend a

co llege, techn ical schoo l o rcontinuing education class

• You must be a resident of Nelson ingood standing.

• You do have to be a high schoolgraduate; however, consideration willbe given to those who may not haveg r a d u a t e d . b u t , a r e n o w'non-traditional' students wanting toimprove their lives and opportunitiesthrough education.

An application is available by requestby phoning the Rotary Club Secretary,Peter Brnger , a t 358-3038, atwww.keenerotary.org or by writing to

Mr. Brnger354 Marlboro StreetKeene, NH 03431

Completed applications should besubmitted no later than Ju ly 1, 2010 tothe Marlboro Street address.

NELSON’SWEBSITE

Want to keep up-to-date withtown happenings? Visit theTown of Nelson website. It hasgreat information including a

town calendar, news stories, town officehours, and other town information. Thehome page of the website is:

http://www.townofnelson.comThere is now a section for the

Grapevine, too. So if you want to see theGrapevine in c o lo r check it out at:http://www.townofnelson.com/cultura

l-life/the-grapevine

“CUT THECARBON KITS”ARE HERE!

The Library is partnering withnhsaves, a collaboration of NewHampshire’s electric utilities, andthe NH State Library to educate

our patrons about their electricity use.Nhsaves has donated two Cut the

Carbon kits to the Nelson Library. Eachkit includes a Kill A Watt meter along withinstruction sheet, energy tips brochure,and a bookmark. Each kit can be checkedout at no charge for four weeks, just likeany book or movie you check out fromthe Nelson Library.

To use, simply plug the Kill A Wattmeter into a wall outlet and plug anelectric appliance (i.e., computer,television, refrigerator) into the meter.

Each kit comes with a worksheet youcan use to calculate the energy costsassociated with running each of yourelectric appliances.

WARRANTARTICLE BYPETITION

Nelson is one of twelve NewH a m p s h ire t o w n s w h e r eregistered voters have filed awarrant article by petition for a

vote on the town’s Spring warrant: “ShallN ew Ham p sh ire ’ s Co n gres s ionalDelegation be instructed to pursue a newand independent investigation to addressthoroughly all of the evidence andunanswered questions related to theevents of September 11, 2001?”

Information regarding this article maybe found at VoteForAnswersNH.com.

GRAPEVINE-2 MARCH 2010 PAGE 3

WE PASS

THE HAT

Unlike public radio and

television fund-raisers, we

don’t have a toll-free

number for you to call or a

nifty premium to offer, nor do we

have corporate sponsorship; but

we do need your financial support.

The Grapevine- 2 is supported

solely by donations from you, our

readers. Our only costs are

paper, printing, labels, and

postage.

If you enjoy receiving the

Grapevine, please use the

enclosed envelope to

send a contribution

to:

Grapevine- 2

830 Nelson Road

Nelson, NH 03457

Thank you in advance for your

generosity.

HOTEL NELSON REVISITED

POTLUCK & SING-A-LONG

Life is not a journey to the

grave with intentions of

arriving safely in a pretty

well-preserved body, but rather

to skid in broadside, thoroughly

used up, totally worn out and

loudly proclaiming ... WOW!

What a ride!

By Karen Tolman

It certainly was an eventful evening,Friday, January 29, 2010 — a potlucksupper followed by singing songsfrom the 1997 Hotel Nelson

production.As well prepared as we were for our

6:30 pm event — the musicians, thesingers, the PowerPoint master with ourLibrary’s new projector, the potluckorganizers, the Moving in Step sponsors— we were not well prepared for the callwe received at 5:00 pm.

“There’s no heat in the Town Hall!”“Brr,” I said in response to the news.

“Yikes,” I then added, just to expand myvocabulary a bit!

We were scheduled to meet in theTown Hall at 5:30 pm to set up thetables, to spread wonderful India Printtablecloths on them to liven up the placea bit, and to otherwise get ready.

Tom Buttrick, who had called me,suggested that I call the Church. “BetsyStreet,” he said. “She’ll know if theChurch might be available.”

“Betsy,” I said, “what’re you doing?”

She dropped the spoon that wasstirring up her potluck, made a fewphone calls, secured the Church for ouruse and then hurried down the hill fromher house to turn up the heat.

Meanwhile, back at the pond, Ifrantically began telephoning others.

Snippets of conversation are stillrattling around in my head, the recurringtheme of which was “What time is itnow?”

Miraculously, pulled together by allhands, the festivities began. At 6:30, thefood arrived, carried in by many bravingthe cold. It was cozy and crowded andwarm inside the Fellowship Hall.

When the food was gone, the songsbegan.

Hunt Smith made a stunningappearance in the guise of Lord HoratioNelson, singing the song written byGordon in 1997:

“My name’s Horatio Nelson and I sailedthe open sea

I’ve joined the royal navy to serve my count-er-y

I found my fame and fortune, andimmortality,

I hope that someday somewhere there’s atown named after me.”

And then we sang it again — theentire song projected onto the wall — alltogether.

We followed with two songs byKathy Schillemat: Sing Halleluia and TheBallad of the Road Agent, which sheproclaimed isn’t a ballad at all. She wasright. We sang the chorus (“Yes, I hadthat lovely job one year…” — actual wordsfrom Hope’s 1997 interview withLeonard Frazier) to a calypso beat,strummed out by Hunt on the guitarand percussed by others on a variety ofgourds and things that Tom Murray hadcollected from his travels.

Heather Bower led us through HotelNelson, a song written by Nelson’s lateJosephine Creamer Dutton Murdough(see note) and set to music by Heather:

Chorus:“Up the hill, and there you are!Hotel Nelson swings into view.Drive ‘round the Common, the door’s alwaysopen!Come set a spell — or two,And spin your yarns,There are many that’ll do.

N o te : Josephine Creamer (m1: Dutton) (m2:Murdough) was born into a large family wholived off Center Pond Road. In her Nelsonretirement years, she was an active member of theNelson Artists’ Coop, where she not onlycontributed valuable time, but watercolorpaintings and many crafted items. She possessedan artistic talent inherited from her father, HamCreamer, who carved wonderful sculptures fromwood.

(continued on page 6)

GRAPEVINE-2 MARCH 2010 PAGE 4

CHURCH NEWS

from Hope Lothrop

Ne ls o n Co n g re g atio n al Chu rc h

During February Vacation youthand chaperones from Nelson,Harrisville, and Keene went toCalifornia on a Mission Trip.

Upon their return they shared theirexperiences of the trip during worshipon Sunday, February 28. Ash Wednesday was February 17and was hosted at the Chesham Church.

Annual Meeting will follow worshipon March 10. There will be and electionof officers and committee members forthe coming year; and there will be agendaitems for discussion and possible votes.All church members and church friendsare urged to attend; however, onlymembers may vote.

Adult Education Classes are beingheld on Wednesday evenings throughMarch. Discussion is centered on videosby Dominic Crossan & Marcus Borg’s“First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom ofGod”. All are welcome to meet at BertWingerson’s home at 6:30 p.m.Wednesdays for these classes.

On Saturday, March 20, there will bea Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner. Wewill be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.Come wearing your green and enjoy agreat meal and warm camaraderie.Tickets are $8 and are on sale now.Contact Joy Birdsey-Smith for more info.

Holy Week will be celebrated with aPalm Sunday Service on March 28;Maundy Thursday on April 1 with asoup and bread supper. This will be ajoint service with members from TheChapel-By-The-Lake at the NelsonChurch. The supper will be at 6:00 p.m.followed by a Tenebrae service at 7:00p.m. Good Friday, April 2, will be anobservance of prayer and reflection. Thechurch will be open during the day.Easter Sunday, April 4, we will hold aSunrise Service on the church steps at

6:30 a.m., followed by a pancakebreakfast at 7:00 a.m. The family EasterWorship will be held at 9:30 a.m. All arewelcome.

Ch ap e l-b y -th e -Lake

Worship services are at 10:00 a.m.with Bible Study following theWorship service.

Knitting club meetsSaturdays from 10:00 a.m. til Noon. Formore information and to confirmmeeting dates, call 446-7857 or 847-3231.

Maundy Thursday will be a jointventure with the Nelson CongregationalChurch this year. There will be a soupand bread supper at 6:00 p.m. at theNelson Church followed by a TenebraeService at 7:00 p.m.. We invite all ourparishioners to share in this event withour brothers and sisters of the NelsonChurch.

LIBRARY NEWS from Kris Finnegan

The Olivia Rodham MemorialLibrary in the town of Nelson,with a population of 670residents, has become a kind of

town center. It provides educationalactivities for children, an informalgathering place for book clubs anddiscussions, as well as a wealth of booksfor all of its users and a wi fi internetconnection. The Library is dedicated toproviding materials and services to helpNelson residents obtain informationmeeting their educational, culturalprofessional and recreational needs. Aslibrarian Kris Finnegan says, “If we don’thave it, we can get it in a few days.” Special emphasis is in two areas: an

emphasis on supporting and stimulatingan interest in and appreciation forreading and learning, leisure along withrecreational needs will be recognized.The Library serves as a center to helppeople of all ages continue theireducation and add to their knowledgeand understanding of the world, its arts,sciences, religions and its people andtheir histories.

The library will be reading To Kill aMockingbird by Harper Lee at its bookgroup meeting in March of 2010. Thisprogram is sponsored by the NH BigRead, in association with The Center forthe Book at the New Hampshire StateLibrary which celebrates and promotesreading, books, literacy and the literaryheritage of New Hampshire, andhighlights the role that reading andlibraries play in enriching the lives of thepeople of the Granite State.http://nh.lib.overdrive.com.

For more information call the library at847- 3214 or emailnelsonlibrary@wivalley.net

RETRIEVING ME FROMWINTER

(A tribute to the power of

dogdom, in the name of Jackson,

our rescued black lab)

by Karen Tolman

Brown eyes tugging

at mine of blue — beseeching

Pink tongue wagging

‘neath a yellow tennis ball— teasing

Collared in purpleyet trusting my lead

— believing

Quiet by the hearth

as I in my chair

— healing

In stark contrast

to winter’s cold snow

— retrieving me

GRAPEVINE-2 MARCH 2010 PAGE 5

NELSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

STRINGS PROGRAMRAISES $650 OF ITS $1,500 GOAL

The Nelson Elementary School and Apple Hill Centerfor Chamber Music have combined their love ofmusic and teaching for the benefit of our youth.Creating a program called Nelson Elementary School

Strings. The seed that started this endeavor was a dream to see

Nelson youth learn stringed instruments, not only the usualclassical pieces, but the music of our local heritage which isstill played here in Nelson. How exciting it must be to learna piece of music, and then go to the Nelson Town Hall andhear it played by seasoned musicians watching as dancerslaugh, stomp and move to the beat!

By the time you have received this month’s Grapevine,Nelson’s school children will have experienced an Apple Hillconcert at the school. The Apple Hill String Quartet will haveperformed at the School on March 2 . The program wasnd

called “A young person’s concert, Travels with the Apple HillString Quartet through music history”.

And this is just the beginning! There will be an informational family night scheduled

later in the school year as well as other concerts.It is our desire to establish a program similar to the schoolband. The school currently owns band instruments, but nostrings. By purchasing and receiving donated instruments, itwill make learning affordable for children’s families.

Stringed instruments are “sized” and children aged 6-11

typically use ½ - ¾ sizes. This being the first year of theprogram, our goal is to have instruments available that fit thestudents. In subsequent years we will need to add largerinstruments as the children grow.

A goal of $1,500 will purchase five student violinscomplete with a case, rosin and bow. Decent student violinsstart at $300 and up.

Fund raising has just started and we’ve already reached30% of our goal! We have enough money to purchase twoviolins, but we need financial assistance from the communityto reach our goal with three more violins.

Keene schools have started a strings program which willguarantee our students the option to continue their musicalpassion once they graduate to middle school and beyond.

The story “Stone Soup” highlights donations small andlarge add up; please send what you can and “contribute to thepot”. Donations of $10, $20 and $25 will make a difference.

Please make checks payable to:Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music

Donations can be sent to: Nelson Strings Programc/o Apple Hill Center for Chamber MusicP.O. Box 217, Sullivan, New Hampshire 03445

Thank you,

Lenny Matczynski, Director Apple Hill (847-3371)Valerie Van Meier, Director, Monadnock Folklore Society (847-9931)Sheila Vara, Nelson Elementary School Teaching Prinicpal (847-3408)

THANKS, FROMJANE KIRK

What a lovely party I enjoyedin honor of my completingtwelve years as a NelsonSelectman. Thank you all

who came out on the beautifulSaturday afternoon, February 13.Rick Church did a fine job as masterof ceremonies. Gordon Peery andhis jazz trio, provided the perfectbackground music. The deliciousfinger foods furnished by a number

of people were both bountiful anddelicious. Joan Bosely and LindaBoyle worked very hard to coordinatethe reception.

I requested, rather than provideme with a gift, that donations bemade to Haiti relief through NHWest Chapter, American Red Cross.Executive Janet K. Warren waspresent to receive the contributionsthat totaled more than $1300. I willalways cherish the book in whicheveryone was asked to sign. Again,let me say that that it has been a deepprivilege and honor to render publicservice as a Nelson selectman.

Th ank y o u fo r y o u r s u p p o rt! Jan e S. Kirk

GRAPEVINE-2 MARCH 2010 PAGE 6

RABIES CLINICSaturday, March 20, 2009

(snow date: April 4)

9 a.m. to 12 noon

Nelson Town Hall

Dogs, cats, ferrets, & rabbits.

$10.00 per animal.

Pets must be on leashes or in carriers.

Town Clerks from Nelson, Sullivan & Stoddard will be available to do dog registrations.

Bring your current Rabies Certificate.

All communities welcome!

Nelson: A reminder that all dogs must be licensed annually by May

1. A certificate showing an up-to-date rabies shot must bepresented to the Town Clerk at the time of licensing.

Also, since 1995, Nelson has had a dog control law that basically

requires all dogs to be under the control of the owner and notwandering about getting into mischief.

Dew knot trussed yore spellchequer two fined awl yore

mistakes.

- Brendan Hills

PARENT YOUTH

MEDIATION AVAILABLE

TO RESIDENTS OF

NELSON

S ometimes holidays and vacations are not as peaceful as you had

hoped. If your family spends these times fighting instead of

enjoying each other, mediation may be helpful to you.

Cheshire Mediation in Keene provides free parent/youth

mediation services to all families in Cheshire County. Call Kate Kerman

at 357-9673 for more information, or visit us online at

www.cheshiremediation.org

Hotel Revisited(continued from page 3)

Allison Aldrich next led us throughtwo songs about food: My Mother’sCooking (Does anyone know who wrotethis?) and The Lemon Pie Song, written bythe late Cora Alice Tolman (see note),and which tonight was dedicated to MaxNunnemaker, who just so happened tobring a lemon pie to share! The songwas set to the music of a familiar hymn,so an automatic “Amen” (to lemon pie)concluded the song.

N o te : Cora Alice Tolman, came toNelson as a schoolteacher, and taught in the OldBrick Schoolhouse. She was a noted member ofthe WCTU (Women’s Christian TemperanceUnion), met and married Robert Tolman, andlived in the house that is now Bert Wingerson’shome.

We ended the evening singing thefamiliar Hills of Nelson, written andcomposed by Gordon Peery, and alsoplayed by him on the keyboard.

Being tightly seated in the vestrymade for wonderful sound. Severalsingers from the original productionwere scattered throughout the audience,so their knowledge of the songs helpedtremendously. I even caught a fewunlikely people singing along — sweptaway by the music — off-guard andpossibly off-key! But they didn’t care —they were enjoying the evening.

I’ve since accused one of them ofsinging. “I saw you,” I said.

“Oh, no, you didn’t,” he jokinglydenied my accusation!

Thank you all — and a very specialthank you to the Nelson CongregationalChurch community for coming to ourrescue on this bitterly cold Januaryevening.

And, stay tuned for more: On Saturday,March 27, we will incorporate the songs that welearned Friday, January 29 , with more originalth

songs and many of the stories (and perhaps evensome new ones!) from the original 1997production of Hotel Nelson, into another eveningout at The Hotel Nelson. Contact me at 827-3226 or Kathy at 847-9785 if you’d like tohelp. And log on to www.movinginstep.org formore information.