w w w . a m h e r s t c i t i z e n . c o m • M A R C H 6 , 2 0 1 4 • THE AMHERST CITIZEN • 1

Election Issue – Vote March 11

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INSIDE THIS ISSUELetters ................. 2, 3, 12-14, 16

Town News ........................... 4

Library ................................. 5

Ballots for Amherst ............... 6-7

Arts & Entertainment ............ 9

Schools ............................... 11

SportsFolio ........................... 15

Mont Vernon ........................ 16

B R I E F S

Next Issue: March 25, 2014

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Amherst CitizenTHE

MONT VERNON POLLS OPEN • TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 7 A.M. – 7 P.M. AT MVVS • TOWN MEETING - MARCH 15, 9 A.M.

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“The Grand Resort Hotels of NH”Free Talk on March 19 All are invited to hear not-

ed authority Bryant F. Tolles, Jr., speak on Wednes-day, March 19 at 9:30 a.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church, 303 Rt. 101 in Amherst, N. H. This free event is hosted by Nipmugs Questers of Amherst. Refreshments will be served.

Junior Women’s Club 3rd Annual Night of Comedy

3rd annual Night of Comedy and silent auction, sponsored by the Amherst Junior Women’s Club on March 8th at the Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Val-ley in Milford.

Doors open at 6pm for appetizers from the Union Street Grill along with a cash bar. There will be a silent auction running as well, with some fabulous items donated from local businesses and great sports memorabilia too. The comedy show will begin at 8:00pm.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Tickets are available at Moulton’s Market in Amherst, The Toadstool Bookshop in Milford, at www.amherst-juniors.org or from an AJWC member.

SV Republican Women MeetingThe Souhegan Valley Republican Women will hold

their monthly meeting on Monday, March 10, at 10:00 AM in the Amherst Public Library, Johnson Meeting Room. The guest speaker will be State Representative and 2nd Congressional District Candidate Marilinda Garcia. For more information, please contact Donni Hodgkins at 249-5476.

Democrats Plan St. Patrick’s Day Dinner

The Amherst Democrats’ are planning another great St. Patrick’s Day dinner to be held on March 17 from 6pm – 9pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Milford (UUCM). This years’ Irish-themed dinner will be prepared by Chef Deb Malo-ney, whose menu will include delicious Irish stew, Colcannon (Irish vegetables), Irish soda bread and desserts. Our featured speaker will be Terie Norel-li, the Democratic speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving the Rockingham 16th District since 1996.

Entertainment provided by musicians Amy Conley and Katrine Dickau. Tickets for the event are $25/person or two for $40. Proceeds will help local dem-ocratic candidates. For more information, wesite: amherstnhdemocrats.org or call 673-6629.

Absentee BallotsElection Day for voting is March 11, 2014. The

polls will be open from 6AM to 8PM at Souhegan High School.

Absentee ballots are available to registered voters of the town. NH law requires that you vote in person at the polls unless you declare one of the following absences:

1) You plan to be absent on election day from the town where you are domiciled.

2) You cannot appear in public because of obser-vance of a religious commitment.

3) You are unable to vote due to a disability.4) You cannot appear at any time during polling

hours at the polling place because an employment obligation requires you to remain physically at work or to be in transit to or from work from the time the polls open until the time the polls close.

Any person who votes or attempts to vote using an absentee ballot who is not entitled to vote by ab-sentee ballot shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. RSA 657:24

Absentee ballots may be requested in person at the town clerk’s office from 9AM to 3PM, Mon-day through Friday and Tuesday night from 4:30 to 6:30 and up to 5PM on Monday, March 10. They must be returned by 5PM on Monday, March 10th if returned in person or by 5PM on Election Day if re-ceived by mail. No absentee ballots will be accept-ed in hand at the polls. Absentee ballots may be requested by mail by submitting a request in writing with the signature of the requestor.

V O L U M E 2 2 – N U M B E R 1 3 M A R C H 6 – 2 4 , 2 0 1 4

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Friends of the Amherst Town Library Trip

Boston Flower & Garden Show Wednesday, March 12

AMHERST – Romance in the Garden is the theme for the 2014 Garden Show, which will take place at the Seaport World Trade Cen-ter. Exhibitors will express the theme in a showcase of floral fantasy, while also sharing many realistic ideas for creating intimate spaces and celebration in the home landscape. This year’s show will feature 20 vibrant, idea-packed landscaped gardens, 250 vendors selling plants and garden-related mer-chandise. A lively amateur competition area produced by the Massachusetts Hor-ticultural Society and the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts as well as

the Professional Florists’ In-vitational will feature hun-dreds of plantings and ar-rangements by the region’s top amateur and profes-sional florists and designers.

Cost: $40 (Bus $22, Ticket $16, Driver Gratuity $2)Depart: 1:30 p.m. - The Meeting Place (Rte. 101)Return: 9:00 p.m.Check Payable to: Friends of the Amherst LibraryMail to: Jane Cosmo, 12 North Meadow Road, Am-herst, NH 03031Note: Please include your telephone and cell phone number. If you have any questions, please call Jan Madigan 673-8718 or Jane Cosmo 673-3192.

Wilkins School

“Tikki Tikki Tembo”

Amherst Town Library

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Celebrating Her Books and All Her Lives

AMHERST – The Am-herst Town Library pres-ents, “Hank Phillippi Ryan: Celebrating Her Books and All Her Lives,” on Tuesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. in the Main Reading Room of the Library. Hank is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s NBC affiliate. She has won 30 Emmys, 12 Ed-ward R. Murrow awards and dozens of other hon-ors for her groundbreaking journalism. A bestselling au-thor of six mys-tery novels, Ryan has won multi-ple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: the Agatha, Antho-ny, Macavity, and most recently, for The Other Wom-an, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews have called her a “master at crafting sus-penseful mysteries” and “a superb and gifted storytell-er.”

How does an Emmy win-ning report-er become a best-se l l i ng author of fast-paced mur-der myster-ies? And, how does a just-the-facts jour-

nalist add mystery fiction to her resume? How does she juggle being a report-er, author, wife and grand-

mother? Hank will talk about mixing the worlds of fact and fiction—her career that goes from radio report-er to Rolling Stone maga-zine, to the U.S. Senate to undercover investigations at Boston’s Channel 7. She will explore the obstacles and rewards, the challenges as a newbie reporter in 1971, as well as the challenges of an experienced senior report-er—mentoring and taking risks. Also covered will be

the craziness, the fun, and the stress—and how she ended up where she is at age 63. Making a career change at mid-life, Hank poses the question, “Can you really follow your dreams?”

All programs in the March month long series for adults are free and open to the public. However, reg-istration is REQUIRED for each program due to space limitations. Other upcom-ing programs for adults in the Celebrating the Book and All Its Lives series in-clude: “Pen to Paper: James Thurber—Cartoon, Char-acters, and Calamities,” a two part series on Wednes-days, March 19th and 26th at 1 p.m.; and, “Feasting from Literature,” on Tues-day, March 25th at 6:30 p.m. You can register for all these events by calling 673-2288, emailing library@amher-stlibrary.org or by visiting our website at www.amher-stlibrary.org and selecting the “Community Services” tab, then click on drop down “Sign-Up for Programs.”

Wilkins School 4th grade music performance was “Tikki Tikki Tembo.”It was adapted and directed by music teacher Robert Allwarden with his original music and lyrics. The life size puppets and T shirt designs were created by Mary Prescott-Ninness, art teacher. The students used voice, recorder and percussion instruments to tell the story in three scenes. Congratulations to all the students for a wonderful performance which was enjoyed by family, friends and other students.

Author, Hank Phillippi Ryan

FY15 Tax Calculations Amherst School District

Article 12 –Operating budget $24,327,452 – Tax impact $0.08/$1,000 valuation

Default budget $23,967,200 - Decrease of $0.15/$1,000 valuation

Article 13 – Collective Bargaining Agreement with Amherst Education Association – Tax impact $0.21/$1,000 valuation

Article 15 – Capital Reserve Fund for Education Stu-dents with Disabilities – Tax impact$0.03/$1,000 valua-tion

ASD Tax impact if all articles pass = $0.32/$1,000 Valu-ation

Souhegan Cooperative School DistrictArticle 2 – Operating Budget $18,058,502 – Tax impact

$0.32/$1,000 valuation $0.69/$1,000 Mont VernonDefault budget $17,864,643 – Tax impact $0.22/$1,000

valuation, $0.58/$1,000 valuation Mont VernonArticle 3 – School Maintenance Trust Fund

$65,000 from undesignated fund balance – Tax impact $0.03/$1,000 valuation, $0.04/$1,000 valuation Mont Ver-non.

SCSD Tax impact if all articles pass – Amherst $0.35/$1,000 valuation. Mont Vernon $0.73/$1,000 valu-ation.

Town of AmherstArticle 22 – Operating budget of $11,774,356 – Tax im-

pact $0.09/$1,000 valuationDefault budget of $ $11,532,439 – Tax impact Article 23 – Contingency Fund - $100,000. Tax impact

$0.00 undesignated fund balance

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Polls Open Tuesday, March 11, 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. at Souhegan High School