Compiled by GLYNIS HART
April
Maple syrup producers said 2018 was one of their best years. A February weather and long spring made it an ideal season for sap production.
“I had the best year of my entire life,” said A-J Maranville III, who owns Sugar Bee Farm in Claremont. Maranville attributed the good sap flow to the warm weather early in the season.
“You had the perfect run and that’s why everyone had a pretty good season,” said Maranville.
Demand for maple syrup and maple products is growing and is expected to grow by at least 6 percent through 2023, according to industry experts.
While Canada leads the world in maple sugar production, Vermont leads the nation. Vermont produced 1.98 million gallons of maple syrup last year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture — that’s triple what it was 10 years ago when Vermonters produced about 640,000 gallons of syrup. New Hampshire produces around 90,000 gallons per year.
Claremont’s police department added a canine member, Maverick, a.k.a. “Ricky,” who became Officer Petrin’s K-9 partner.
The Message for the Week, once part of the Eagle Times/ Sample News Group, was purchased by Robert Miller of KMA Publications Inc., owner and publisher of The Vermont Journal and The Shopper. The sale merged several newspapers and was the end of the Message, which lasted 44 years.
Former Claremont police officer Ian Kibbe was arrested. New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald announded that Ian Kibbe (age 30) of Springfield, Vermont was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit perjury, one count of attempted perjury, two counts of unsworn falsification, and two counts of obstructing government administration.
May
Parlin Field Hangar in Newport was added to the register of historic places by the State Historical Council. Built in 1929, Parlin Field Hangar was nearly scrapped during the Great Depression. It is the only structure on the New Hampshire Historic Register related to the aircraft industry. Part of Newport’s Corbin Field, it is one of 12 municipally-owned general aviation airports in New Hampshire. The hangar is an example of a pre-fabricated metal utilitarian building that rose in use and popularity during the early days of airplane travel.
The new Claremont Farmers Market opened on May 26 at the Visitor Center Green. This year, the market ran every Saturday through September 8. The market was intended to include local farms, food, and crafts and feature fresh farm products, prepared foods and homemade crafts.
The Newport Tigers softball team took on the Vikings of Mascenic Regional High School, and snuck by for the win, 3-0. The game, which was originally scheduled for May 15th at Mascenic, was played in Newport, where the Tigers served as the away team. Newport narrowly averted disaster in the bottom of the first. With bases loaded and no outs, the Vikings’ cleanup hitter grounded back to Pitcher Lacey McNeel, who threw home for the first out. Two strikeouts later, and the Tigers found themselves out of the jam with no damage.
June
Claremont’s school board abruptly gave SAU#6 Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin the boot, although the departing superintendent’s severance and the cost of hiring an interim superintendent fell heavily on the cash-strapped district. The district required $90,000 to fund total transition expenditures, including costs to recruit the long-term superintendent, additional compensation for an acting superintendent, and their contract settlement with McGoodwin. The SAU only has $67,907 remaining in its fund balance, after approving $55,000 from the balance to offset costs in 2019-20.
School board members declined to give the reasons behind their 9-0 vote to remove McGoodwin, who had served six years. His contract was due to end in the 2020-21 school year.
McGoodwin’s record at SAU#6 included establishment of full-day kindergarten,expanding early childhood education programs in Claremont, renovation of Stevens High School and building of Unity Elementary School; passage of a state criminal background check law for school employees and clarifying academic expectations across subjects and grades.
An early-morning vehicle collision June 28 took the life of Laura Cody-McNaughton, a member of the Weathersfield School District Board of Education. Cody-McNaughton’s eight-year-old son was in the back seat of her Toyota Matrix and survived the crash. The other driver, Joshua Rondeau, who also had his children in his Chevy Silverado, apparently crossed the median on I-91 and struck the Toyota head-on.
Police said Joshua Rondeau, a father driving his two children to summer day camp, lost control of his 2008 Chevrolet Silverado truck while traveling south on I-91 around exit 9. The truck hydroplaned on the wet highway, crossing the median and colliding with the northbound 2007 Toyota Matrix Cody-McNaughton was driving. McNaughton was pronounced dead at the scene. McNaughton’s son Isaac, 8, who was in the backseat, was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center with minor injuries, police said.
McNaughton was known for her commitment to public health and community service. She was the district director for the Vermont Department of Health in White River Junction.
Rondeau and the two children who were in the vehicle with him were also transported to the hospital. Rondeau suffered a broken neck and a concussion. He was later charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and given a suspended sentence of two years. Rondeau will serve 2 ½ years of probation and must complete 400 hours of community service.
TLC Family Recovery Network announced plans to open a Recovery Center in downtown Claremont, filling the gap left by the departure of HOPE for N.H.
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