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Fast News for Aug. 16

Aggressive sales

MILFORD – Police are altering residents of recent reports of aggressive salespeople for the Kirby Vacuum Company offering rebates.

Police are asking residents to report any suspicious or aggressive behavior to 673-7742.

Kindergarten follow-up

MONT VERNON – The Mont Vernon Village School will hire a second kindergarten teacher. School officials have asked for Amherst parents to volunteer to send their kindergarteners and first grade students to Mont Vernon to alleviate class size problems in both the Village School and Amherst’s Clark-Wilkins School, both part of SAU 39.

In an Aug. 10 Tweeter message, Superintendent of Schools Adam Steel said with “enrollment increasing, several new houses under construction and Amherst kids signing up to attend, we need the extra classroom!”

Until recently, Mont Vernon had 20 kindergarten signed up, not enough for two kindergarten classes, but too many for one.

Clark-Wilkins School had an average of 21 kids for its six kindergarten classes and would like to have 17. Grade 1 had an average of 20.8

Steel told parents that many families moved to Amherst since the school budget was created last fall.

Fill the grill

MILFORD – Rymes Propane & Oil will hold a Labor Day Parade fundraiser this Saturday morning from 8 a.m. until noon.

During the “pump-a-ton,” at 419 Nashua St., Rymes will fill a 20 pound grill tank for $10, with all proceeds going to the Milford Labor Day Parade Committee. “Our Home Town” is the theme of this year’s parade, the town’s 70th.

Rained out

MILFORD – Predictions of rain over the next few weeks have prompted the Milford Drive-In Theater to revert to its end-of-season schedule earlier than usual. Beginning this Sunday, Aug. 19, the theater will be open only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The outdoor movie theater’s 2018 season, its 50th, ends Sunday, Sept. 30.

High school rankings

Souhegan Cooperative High School came in sixth, Hollis-Brookline High School fifth, and Milford High School 22nd in rankings of public New Hampshire high schools recently published by the website Niche.

The rankings are based on “rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education , along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users,” according to the company.

Coming in first, second and third were Hanover High School, the Academy for Science and Design and Bedford High School.

More conservation land

AMHERST- The Amherst Conservation Commission and Board of Selectmen both voted unanimously Monday night to buy the 15-acre Sky Meadow property from John H. Arnold.

Commission Chairman Rob Clemens said they needed to have a public hearing and take a formal vote on the restrictions that come with the purchase.

The property abuts the Betty Arnold Forest, and the Arnold family has been active in conservation for decades, Clemens said. The purchase price is $65,000 and “Mr. Arnold offered to sell for what remained on the mortgage. He had good memories of it and ideas on how it could be used in the future.”

The property is northeast of the town transfer station, and the restrictions include no trails through the meadow, no utilities, including cell towers, and no dirt bikes or snowmobiles that are not required for conservation purposes.

Halloween road closings

AMHERST – Main Street and the secondary roads around the town common will be closed to vehicle traffic on Oct. 31 for trick or treating. Only Boston Post Road will remain open. On Monday night, selectmen voted unanimously in favor of the closing.

There is what amounts to a big party in the Village that evening, with families from all over town coming to trick or treat and many children and parents crossing streets in the dark.

“For 20 years we been talking” about this, said Selectman Reed Panasiti.

Police Chief Mark Reams said there have been some close calls over the years. The highway department will use signboards and there will be uniformed police to let drivers know of the closings, between 6 and 8 p.m.

Some selectmen favored closing Boston Post Road as well, and John D’Angelo called the plan a good compromise.

Drivers on Christian Hill Road are the only ones who will face a dead end and have to turn around, he said.