Letter to the Editor

Last words (?) on the Bishop

It was amusing to read all six letters regarding Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson [Nov. 2005], five females, all negative opinions, and one male. Then there was the crusty conservative silly comment that New Hampshire has come to expect. Obviously the writer was clueless that the Granite State was the sole red state during the last presidential cycle to turn blue (liberal).

Albert Santerre
Salem

And this …

I was amazed that so many readers took offense at your article on Bishop Robinson. You didn’t praise him nor down him, you only wrote a very interesting story.

Ann F. Peterson
Gilford

Spreading the Word

I am a subscriber to your magazine and found the recent article on pellet stoves [“Pellet Power”] in the January edition very informative. I’d like very much to be able to e-mail it to my daughter. Is that possible?

Judith A. Von Feldt
Dover

Editor’s note: Starting with the January issue, we have begun posting our stories online for just such a purpose. Feel free to direct anyone interested to our site. We’ll also be creating a searchable archive of back issues to better serve our readers.

Lots of Learning

It was with great delight that I read the article “College Days Redux” by Martha Bauman in the December 2005 issue of New Hampshire Magazine.

The Elderhostel Institute Network (www.elderhostel.org/ein/intro.asp) hosts 350 of these lifelong learning institutes all across North America. Here in New Hampshire, along with the ILEAD program at Dartmouth and the CALL program at Keene State College that were mentioned in the article, there are also programs in Nashua at Rivier College (Rivier Institute for Senior Education, RISE) and Henniker (Learning Institute at N.E. College, LINEC).

Along with these four programs, New Hampshire has been fortunate to recently receive a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation that will enable even more older adults throughout the state to take part in these stimulating programs. Under the aegis of Granite State College, formerly the College for Lifelong Learning, several Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLIs) will be developed. The first is now up and running in Manchester.

After my husband’s retirement we moved from Boston to the hills above Newfound Lake. From this location, thanks to technology, I can direct the Elderhostel Institute Network, just as if I was still in Boston. The views, however, from my office windows here — wildlife on the meadow and the play of light and shadow on the nearby hills — certainly surpasses my old Boston views.

Nancy Merz Nordstrom
Director, Elderhostel Instit. Network
Boston, Mass.
Christmas Message

I read and reread the story about Tiffany Eddy [Dec. 2005] and the traditions she would like to pass on to her daughter. While they are all lovely, at no point does she mention what Christmas is really about. How about putting Christ back in Christmas?

I am not a fundamentalist Christian, just a plain old churchgoer who feels, as so many do, that Christmas has become much too secular. If in the future you are going to do a story about Christmas, it would be nice to include the true meaning.

Nancy Clark
(via e-mail)

Wrong Latitude

I am writing in response to [the letter] “What About Us” by Dorothy Duffy in the December 2005 issue of New Hampshire Magazine. I just felt the need to respond to her comment of “we in the north.” The center of the state is actually Ashland, so Laconia is in southern New Hampshire. I honestly feel that to be considered “in the north,” you need to be, at the very least, above Franconia Notch. The Lakes Region is most definitely not in the north.

Jan Corliss
Colebrook

Pssst, Over Here

This [Jan. 2005] is your best issue to date. I still wistfully search each issue for some focus on the Upper Valley area. There’s a lot of new life appearing in the arts and also reviving interest in the area’s history, immediately focusing on Lebanon’s nationally unique Civil War era Soldiers Memorial Bldg. (locally known as the G.A.R. Hall).

J.H. Baarson
Lebanon