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Year in Review

January

John Bachman’s family and friends gather at a memorial for the retired Amherst fire chief, who was struck and killed at his mailbox by a 20-year-old driver texting on his phone.

Tracy Hutchins is chosen to be executive director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce.

A group called Friends of Cemetery Fields organizes a forum to talk about the future of the Merrimack Road playing fields.

All Amherst town offices are back in Town Hall after the 19th century building’s renovations are complete.

John Ferraro, of Amherst, is identified as the victim of a fatal crash on Route 101A in December.

County sheriff deputies and Lyndeborough’s animal control officer return a horse boarded at Feel Good Farm to its owner, who said the small bay horse was underfed.

Customers worry about the status of Fred Fuller Oil and Propane Co. as some receive only a partial supply of fuel.

The Frame Depot mats and frames for the Milford Historical Society a sampler done by an 11-year-old Milford girl in 1822.

The Cemetery Fields “logjam” continues in Amherst. Cemetery trustees say all recreation use must stop in September.

Milford plans zoning changes to expand the town’s commercial area between South Street and Ponemah Hill Road.

Owners at Milford’s Great Brook Condominiums say three bills in the state House of Representatives would help them in their dispute with Great Brook’s management.

Milford High School’s Constitution team wins the state We the People contest for the 12th time in 16 years.

One of the Great Brook Condominium’s owners files suit to prevent the property’s manager from interfering with a recall election of condo board members.

A $720,000 bond for building improvements to the Mont Vernon Village School will be on the ballot this year.

February

Debate about small expenses, like the Pumpkin Festival and Fourth of July fireworks, took up much of the Milford town Deliberative Session.

Free pony rides, dog teams rides and ice skating are part of the Amherst Winter Festival.

Amherst and Souhegan school districts’ budgets sail through their Deliberative Sessions with little comment.

Russell Monbleau III. formerly of Milford, is in jail after he alledgedly attacked the Mason police chief.

Adrienne Valdez, of Amherst, is found guilty of criminal mischief and resisting arrest in an incident in October involving her father. In 2010 Valdez assaulted two local EMTs and the charges were eventually dropped on condition that she seek psychiatric care.

Alex Philbrick, of Mont Vernon, passes the first round of American Idol audition trials.

Owners of the Great Brook Condominiums remove three members of its board of director, part of their efforts to remove an unpopular manager.

Energy upgrades to the Mont Vernon Village School will be on the ballot this year.

Sherri Finch, Lyndeborough’s animal control officer, has stories to tell.

The state Senate approves a bill creating a new crime of domestic violence named after Joshua Savyon, of Amherst, who was killed by his father at a Manchester YWCA.

The Milford School Board votes unanimously to reject a factfinder’s recommendation on a teachers’ contract dispute.

Brad Knight pitches a plan to lease his Amherst playing fields to Milford selectmen.

March

The new board of directors for the Great Brook Condominiums fires Cardiff Management of Brookline, marking the end of a four-month effort to improve governance of the 96-unit complex.

Chantal Alcox is named the new principal of Milford’s Heron Pond Elementary School.

St. Joseph Hospital plans to demolish its Milford facility and build a new medical center.

Milford’s Fletcher Paint Superfund cleanup is delayed another year.

All Amherst warrant articles relating to Cemetery Fields fails, so the continuation of recreation use becomes highly unlikely.

Wilton voters approve a new elementary school and the purchase of the Frye Farm.

Milford has one of the highest fire insurance rankings in New Hampshire.

Kermit Williams, a write-in candidate, wins a seat on the Wilton Board of Selectmen.

April

A memorial playground will have to be removed from Cemetery Fields, because of Cemetery Trustees’ order that all recreation use stop.

Great Brook Condominium owners hire a new management company for the Milford complex.

Milford hosts a tour of vacant buildings.

Souhegan Valley Rides extends its bus service into Wilton.

The Amherst Conservation Commission tells selectmen it doesn’t want responsibility for Bragdon Hill after EMTs perform a difficult rescue on the icy sledding spot.

Amherst Fire Chief Mark Boynton is leaving for Townsend, Mass.

Suzanne Fournier, of Milford, objects to a zoning board reappointment she says violated the “spirit and intent of the zoning codes.” Selectmen disagree.

Milford plans new athletic fields on its town-owned Brox property.

Residents of Amherst’s Foundry Street fill the selectmen’s meeting room, upset about plans for waterline replacement and road paving.

Karen Goddard is moving her M&C Clothing and Gifts from Nashua to Amherst.

Milford High School students are “young companions” to nursing home residents.

May

One of the last of Milford’s neighborhood school houses will be torn down to make way for a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.

Tracy Hutchins, executive director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce, is honored as one of the most influential women in Greater Nashua.

Plans call for Wilton’s Harwood’s Market to become a year-round farmers market.

Milford’s Peter Bragdon will end his 12 years in Statehouse politics, announcing he will resign from the state Senate.

Amherst firefighters urge selectmen to appoint Deputy Chief Matt Conley as chief to replace Mark Boynton.

Alex Preston makes it to American Idol’s top four.

Baboosic Lake homeowners object to a new rowing club, including plans to build a boathouse.

Scott Brown campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat in Milford.

Gov. Maggie Hassan attends a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Milford marking the opening of Airmar Technology’s new building.

A Lyndeborough man is in jail after he is accused of seriously injuring another man at a party. Timothy S. Sullivan allegedly caused serious harm to John Hyde, also of Lyndeborough. The community raises money to help Hyde with his medical bills.

Milford’s Heritage Commission and Historical Society are resigned to the impending loss of the former Pine Valley schoolhouse, more recently the Santos Dumont coffee shop.

A Dollar General discount store is planned for the lot across from the new Pine Valley Mill apartments.

June

Amherst selectmen say they will look into the town center’s traffic problems, and homeowners say Nathan Lord Road is a mess.

The South Lyndeborough Common is 100 years old and is undergoing a revitalization.

Karen Johnson, Cabinet advertising representative for almost 25 years, retires.

Sisters mourns death of John Paul Young, of Milford, who died of a heroin overdose.

Milford school district’s Advisory Budget Committee asks a superior court judge to disallow an emergency meeting to resolve a teachers’ contract stalemate, saying more concessions from teachers are needed. The court allows the special meeting.

Longtime Cabinet columnist William Ferguson dies at 95. He wrote The Rambling Reporter column for 50 years.

Tenants begin moving into the Pine Valley Mill’s affordable apartments.

Cars that resemble Mars Rover vehicles are in Milford, collecting data on roads and road conditions.

Milford’s Rick Lyndon publishes a book on his work with at-risk teenagers.

Milford and Souhegan high schools graduate their seniors and Emily Hutchins, of Milford, and Trysten Bewersdorf, of Amherst, are featured in The Cabinet.

July

Milford raises $190,000 to buy 5.8 acres adjacent to Keyes Park.

Milfoil is found at Amherst’s Baboosic Lake, and local volunteers and divers from the state Department of Environmental Services work to eradicate the invasive weed.

Local family foils car thief.

Peter Bonaccorsi retires and Chantal Alcox takes over as principal of Milford’s Heron Pond School.

Homeowners on Grand Hill in Mont Vernon tell selectmen that sightseers are trespassing and loitering on their property. Town officials say signs saying no loitering and no through traffic would be unfair to people who just want to admire the view.

Homeowners near the Manchester Road Bridge in Amherst are concerned that its eventual reopening will mean more traffic.

Workers at the Milford Market Basket supermarket hang tough as a conflict between the company’s directors and its employees goes into its second week.

Milford Police Sgt. Matthew Fiffield talks to an overflow crowed at the library about the increasing use of heroin and other opioids.

Selectmen say a small part of Milford’s Osgood Pond will be dredged to rid it of weeds that block recreation use.

Milford’s historic Green Bridge is off-limit to pedestrians, and town officials say it could fall into the river.

August

Market Basket assistant manager Mark Sturzo talks about his loyalty to the supermarket and its president.

Amherst selectmen reject a plan from Brad Knight to rent his Stearns Road fields for recreation, calling the cost unreasonably high.

Amherst removes the Sarah Jeanne Roy Memorial playground from Cemetery Fields.

Vandals hit athletic field’s concession stand and town pool in Milford.

Gary Crooker, who has helped plan Wilton Old Home Days for more than three decades, is named Citizen of the Year during the week-long celebration.

Shelves at Milford’s Market Basket are almost empty and the supermarket doors are covered with receipts from Shaw’s and Walmart, posted by customers as a sign of solidarity in the month-long boycott.

Milford’s town administrator, Guy Scaife says he is leaving to take a similar job in Connecticut.

At a public hearing on a revised master plan for Milford’s Brox property several people say they the town should do more to protect it from development.

John Schuttinger is the new principal of the Mont Vernon Village School.

September

Market Basket supermarket gets back to normal after a six-week
company-wide boycott.

Milford saw one of its best crowds in recent memory for the Labor Day parade.

Cemetery Fields in Amherst is now official off bounds to the public as the 48 acres revert to Cemetery Trustees.

The Milford Horseshoe Club is 30 or 40 years old and still going strong.

Milford rededicates its World War II park and gold stars are attached to the names of the 13 men on the monument who died in the war.

Voters reject a Milford teachers’ contract and pass a ballot item to buy nearly six acres at 127 Elm St. to expand Keyes Park. The two local questions were on the primary election ballot.

The mother of a heroin addict talks about the difficulty in finding treatment for her Milford son.

Brox Environmental Citizens say town should not have breached beaver dam at Heron Pond.

David Wheeler wins the Republican nomination for the state Executive Council and Gary Daniels is the GOP choice for the state Senate seat being vacated by Peter Bragdon.

Amherst selectmen say a draft agreement between their board and the Cemetery Trustees is unfair to taxpayers.

Elizabeth Trombly is remembered at a memorial service. Trombly was killed by her son John in a murder-suicide.

Gary Williams, chaplain for Milford’s emergency services, and Capt. Chris Nervik are honored in The Cabinet’s Best of the Souhegan contest.

October

Heritage apples are making a comeback.

Amherst police open a satellite office at Walmart.

Milford Police Sgt. Matthew Fiffield and Allen Peck, a local paramedic, talk about heroin use at the Wadleigh Memorial Library.

Milford selectmen say the old green bridge at Jones Crossing is not worth repairing.

John David of Amherst is remembered as a thinker and a scholar.

The Wilton Fire Department’s 19th century hand pumper is installed at the fire house.

Milford’s bridges should be the spending priority this year, says the Capital Improvement Plan Advisory Committee.

The Amherst Garden Club and Recreation Department host a program on Lyme disease.

The three-day Milford Pumpkin Festival draws big crowds.

Three “Beaver Deceivers,” devices that protect dams, are installed at Milford’s Rotch Wildlife Preserve, while residents complain that the breaching of a beaver dam at Heron Pond harmed wildlife.

Ocean State Job Lot will move into the old Stop & Shop supermarket building in Milford, and a new Cumberland Farms store opens.

Share Outreach celebrates the opening of its new addition.

The Southern NH Expo attracts thousands to the Hampshire Dome.

November

Andrea Gage of Milford dies in a car crash on Route 101A in Amherst. Police say she was speeding.

Plans for a new Milford public library are unveiled.

David Wheeler recaptures his seat on the Executive Council and Gary Daniels is elected to the state Senate.

Milford is considering a 54-lot development in the Mile Slip Road area.

Plans to install new stop signs in the Amherst Village bring sharply divided opinions, and selectmen decide to keep the four-way stop at the intersection of Middle and Main streets.

Young culinary arts students at Milford High School learn how to run a restaurant.

Milford’s Historical Society and Heritage Commission say leave the two Souhegan River dams alone. The town had been studying whether to dismantle the 19th century Goldman and McLane dams.

In the general election, Amherst votes straight Republican, while Wilton and Lyndeborough elect two Democratic state representatives.

A fire at the Milford Motel might mean its demise.

A coffee shop opens on South Street in Milford.

Milford selectmen consider opening Jones Road from Route 101A eastbound to allow easier access to Market Basket and other businesses.

Morris Avery is the self-appointed street and parking lot sweeper for downtown Milford.

Two former police officers reach settlements with the town of Lyndeborough.

The Milford teachers’ union and the School Board reach an agreement that gives teachers 2 percent raises for each year of the three-year pact. Health insurance changes are expected to save the school district $192,000 in the contract’s first year.

Travis Hobbs, 21, is found not guilty on all charges in the 2013 death of John Bachman. A jury finds that Hobbs was not criminally negligent when he hit Bachman as the retired fire chief was getting his mail at the end of his driveway.

Milford High School students Kayla Bullwinkel and Megan Hammes win The Telegraph of Nashua’s Constitution Day essay contest.

Brox Environmental Citizens say test pits have caused “unnecessary damage” to Milford’s town-owned Brox property. Selectmen say the pits are justified.

December

Milford selectmen decide the river dams will remain standing, a decision that dismays the Souhegan River Local Advisory Committee’s George May who says they are bad for the town and bad for the river.

The new preferred natural gas pipeline proposed by energy company Kinder Morgan follows existing power lines through Milford and Amherst and goes through tunnels under the Souhegan and Merrimack rivers.

The Milford Lions Club holds it annual Santa on the Oval event.

Democrat Roger Tilton wants to be his party’s next National Committeeman.

Peter Bragdon, Milford’s longest serving School Board member, decides not to run for a board seat next year.

Amherst selectmen solicit opinions about the future of the Village.

The man who built the Milford Drive-In theater is remembered. Sidney Goodridge, 87, died in Florida.

Amherst continues its half-century tradition of a tree-lighting party on the town common.

Mark Bender is named Milford’s new Town Administrator.

Six years after his release from prison after serving time for the 1973 murder of a Nashua boy, Raymond Guay is arrested in Florida on armed robbery charges.