Hooksett
Wham it, and you'll feel
better
Hooksett woman's doll
business relieves stress around the world
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Margie Sherman does not fit the stereotype
of today's e-commerce whiz kid.
The 67-year-old grandmother's Web site is a simple affair, the
logo hand-drawn by her grandson. No flashy headquarters, just
an unassuming house tucked away in a quiet Hooksett neighborhood.
And Sherman doesn't sell books, computers or fancy gadgets.
Her product line is simple homemade "Cakes-In-a-Jar"
and a line of hand-sewn stress dolls. The dolls, dubbed "Dammit
Dolls," are simple, clothespin-shaped bundles of cloth and
cotton.
But Sherman, unlike
many of her e-commerce comrades who have seen their high-flying
Web sites fall by the wayside, is prospering, to put it lightly.
"I just shipped 150 dolls to a nurse's convention in Georgia,"
she confides. "I ship them all over even to Canada."
Sherman has been making the dolls for years. Originally she sewed
up the first simple prototype for her then-teenage daughter.
The doll's design is perfect for what its made for grabbing
by the legs and giving a good whack when you're frustrated.
The doll worked so well for her daughter that Sherman ended up
sewing more for her daughter's friends. Word spread of the therapeutic
benefit of Sherman's handiwork, and soon she was turning them
out for friends and family on a regular basis.
In 1993 she began marketing the dolls, and her cakes, around
the Florida retirement communities near where she lived. After
returning to Manchester, where she was born and attended school,
to marry her husband Ben, Sherman launched her Web site, www.MamaCeda.com.
Now Sherman estimates she ships over 1,000 dolls a year
not to mention cases of cakes. And Sherman, who owned four restaurants
up and down the east coast in her years away from New Hampshire,
showed her marketing savvy by expanding the line. |
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NO WORRIES Margie Sherman of
Hooksett makes dolls that are meant to be whacked in order to
relieve stress. Her "Dammit Dolls" and "Whammit
Dolls" are hot sellers through her Web site, www.MamaCeda.
com. (Russ Choma Photo)
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Now there are Whammit Dolls (inspired by her grandchildren, who
she thought would be better saying "Whammit!" than
"Dammit!" when they whacked their dolls) and the new
Purrit and Woofit dolls (for when your pets are feeling stressed.)
Stitched in her basement "factory" from whatever fabric
with interesting designs she has recently picked up, Sherman
said she makes the dolls as personalized as clients want.
There are male dolls, female dolls, blonde dolls, brunette dolls
and even dolls for the Red Hat ladies with stress (purple dolls
with red trim, of course.) The stress management counselors who
purchase from Sherman urged her to stop drawing faces on each
doll though.
"They would rather have each of their own patients draw
their own faces," she said with a grin.
For a product as simple as the doll, which Sherman says take
approximately 15 minutes to sew up, the response has been incredible.
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"There are people who have a
lot of stress and just have to get it out," Sherman said,
explaining nothing fancy is needed to help them. "The simpler
the better."
And it's not just the buying public who has found a peaceful
release through Sherman's dolls.
Sherman said the most rewarding Dammit
Dolls she stitches are the ones she doesn't sell.
For instance, the waitress at Sherman's
favorite Suncook restaurant looked perpetually at wit's end every
Sunday when she and her husband went for lunch.
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A REAL HIT Dammit Dolls come in
an endless variety of colors, personalized for customers in Sherman's
basement sewing "factory" in Hooksett. (Courtesy Photo)
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One particularly stressful Sunday, Sherman said she slipped the
waitress a doll, and now is greeted by a smiling server every
outing.
"Every Sunday she's got it tucked in her pocket," she
said. "I couldn't tell you how many I give away. I keep
them in my car just to do that."
"I have many, many people who I get little notes from, saying
'I have no idea how I made it without it,'" Sherman said.
So, the question arises Does everyone really need one?
Are there times when even Hooksett's own Dot-Com Queen have to
reach for a doll to whack and yell "Dammit! Dammit!"?
Sitting in her kitchen headquarters, showing off her wares and
talking sales, Sherman grins wryly.
"Do I have one? Of course I do!" she laughs. "Everyone
needs one! Everyone needs a Dammit Doll!"
Voting
Rights vs. Health Concerns
Fluoride vote
Hooksett to vote on removing fluoride
from water, Auburn denied a vote
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
No one is smiling about an upcoming vote
on water fluoridation.
On Tuesday, Sept. 14, every Hooksett resident will have the chance
to vote on behalf of the approximately 6,000 residents drinking
Manchester's fluoridated water.
A recent lawsuit by area residents will allow the Hooksett community
what they were initially denied a vote about what goes
into their municipal water.
However, the roughly 250 Auburn residents drinking water from
Manchester Water Works will not be allowed to vote, because there
are fewer than 100 direct connections to Manchester's water supply.
Who gets a say?
Close to 165 million people in America are drinking fluoridated
water, including nine other New Hampshire communities, according
to Rich DiPentima, the deputy public health director of the Manchester
Department of Public Health. Manchester's water has been fluoridated
since December of 2000.
Until now, laws have required that only the main city or town
that owns the water system vote on fluoridation. That has now
been overturned in Manchester, but nowhere else.
The process and history of fluoridating Manchester's water system
dates back to 1998 and is complicated because of the changes
in legal requirements. Other towns that drink Manchester's water
are Bedford, Londonderry, Auburn, Hooksett and Goffstown.
Risk or benefit?
Health officials and dentists say fluoridated water prevents
tooth decay. Other residents are concerned that there may be
adverse effects to fluoride, or that it may interfere with medication.
Some residents just want the chance to vote on adding it to their
water.
Auburn resident Jim Phelan is concerned there may be medical
risks associated with fluoride, but said he is more outraged
that he doesn't get a say.
"Could you imagine not having a say in what your child eats
or drinks?" Phelan said. "They haven't proven that
it's beneficial. There is a risk."
DiPentima said fluoride does have many proven benefits and it
is the single most effective way to prevent tooth decay and preserve
oral health. It is especially beneficial to children, of whom
60 percent have tooth decay, said DiPentima.
"We know that fluoridation is the single most important
thing a community can do to improve oral health," DiPentima
said. "It's not only beneficial to kids but to adults as
well if they still have teeth."
Hooksett resident Ed Groves Sr. said he doesn't believe there
are so many benefits, but said that isn't the biggest problem.
"How many things in life are there where Big Brother likes
to tell us what to do?" Groves asked. "That is a bigger
issue than the fluoride. Why did this just get arbitrarily thrown
into my water? I pay for this water."
Groves is worried about being denied a vote, but he is also concerned
about the negative effects of fluoride, saying he has read too
many bad things. Other additives, like Vitamin D, which is added
to milk to prevent rickets, don't concern Groves.
"I've just read too many things bad about fluoride,"
Groves said. "My teeth are fine. Brush and floss, and your
teeth will be fine. If Mrs. Jones next door wants to give her
kids fluoride, go ahead. Don't give it to me."
DiPentima said the problems with fluoride supplements are dosage,
consistency and expense. The fluoride in the water is at the
optimal levels, and that fluoride is best delivered through water.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Dental Association
support fluoridated water, DiPentima said, among many other organizations.
Hooksett resident and dentist Doug Catz is the president of the
Greater Manchester Dental Society. Catz said it is unacceptable
to take the fluoride out of the water because it has so many
benefits to so many people, adding that he loves fluoride.
Further, Catz said inner-city Manchester children will be the
ones to suffer most if fluoride is removed from the water because
they have the least access to care.
"The surrounding towns are going to affect inner-city Manchester
youth and put them at a severe disadvantage," Catz said.
"This is free access to health care. These people don't
care about the welfare of inner city kids if they oppose fluoride
in their town."
Cost
Fluoride will cost approximately 27 cents a year for each person
receiving the water, said Dave Paris from the Manchester Water
Works. Paris said they put the CDC's recommended amount of one
milligram per liter through the recommended process used by other
communities.
The only difference: "We purchase a higher grade with a
very low impurity rate," Paris said.
The low cost of fluoridated water is important because the cost
of care and fluoride supplements can be so high, Catz said.
"Supplements cost $15 a month," Catz said. "For
27 cents a year you have community fluoridation benefits that
give access to a preventative measure that is going to affect
thousands of people. This is access to care."
Cavities spur action
DiPentima said that two dentists working with the department
of public health went to Manchester elementary schools each year
for 20 years. Their data indicates that 60 percent of children
have tooth decay.
This report caused the department to spring to action in 1998.
At that time, the Manchester Department of Public Health teamed
up with the Healthy Manchester Leadership Council to get a petition
signed by 10 percent of Manchester's registered voters.
Following other communities that voted on water fluoridation,
the petition would enable the question to be put on the ballot.
Since Manchester is the owner of Manchester Water Works, only
Manchester residents needed to sign the petition and vote.
In November of 1999, Manchester voters approved water fluoridation
by a very slim margin.
Customers demand a say
In 2001, a lawsuit was filed in Superior Court asking that Manchester
be barred from fluoridating the water because outlying communities
did not get to vote.
The court ruled that all affected communities should vote, but
because the law was unclear, it gave the city of Manchester until
June 2005 to remedy the situation with new legislation.
Manchester filed Senate Bill 449 in response, which would have
established that only the community that owns the public water
supply gets to vote. The Senate amended the bill, adding that
everyone in any outlying communities that receive water from
Manchester gets to vote.
The House further amended the bill to say that communities with
less than 100 direct connections to the water supply do not get
to vote. Auburn is one of those communities. Manchester is also
required to revote. The date set for each community is Sept.
14.
We're looking for reader's opinions
on this topic. E-mail your thoughts to editor Ginger Kozlowski
at editor@hooksettbanner.com.
Allenstown
Loses State Funding
Time running out
By RUSS CHOMA
Staff Writer
rchoma@yourneighborhoodnews.com
When school districts around the state
developed their operating budgets last fall, they thought they
knew how much state aid they'd be receiving.
Though nothing was set in stone, school officials felt confident
in a proposed education funding plan known as the Gatsas Plan.
When it came to budgeting for state aid, most districts were
wrong. Some were very wrong.
The final plan poured money back into the state aid formula and
added funds for many districts, providing windfalls ranging from
several thousand dollars to several million.
For towns gaining money, it was a nice surprise, but for towns
like Allenstown, which are losing aid, time is running out to
file for a special election if the school board decides to ask
voters to make up the difference.
Allenstown loses
Ironically, Allenstown, one of the five original "property-poor"
towns that inspired the creation of the state adequacy aid system,
was hurt by the last-minute funding change.
SAU 53 Superintendent Thomas Haley, who oversees Allenstown,
estimates the already cash-strapped school system will come up
around $91,000 short this year.
Haley said Allenstown's primary options are to cut operating
costs, or hold a special election asking local taxpayers to give
the money the state won't be sending this year. That decision
would have to be made by the end of July.
Other towns benefits
Epsom, a school district that for the first time in several years
is not operating under a default budget, was one of the "winners."
Haley said if no further changes are made, Epsom could collect
possibly as much as $259,000 more in state aid than was expected.
Under the education bill approved, Senate Bill 302 (SB302), Epsom
may hold a special election to consider spending the extra money,
said Haley. The legislation allows districts to offer the question
to voters without first asking a judge to approve the election.
"There can be a special (school district) meeting without
court approval to allow a district getting extra money to actually
spend the extra money," Haley said.
To date, he said, the Epsom School Board had not discussed the
possibility. If no action is taken, the money automatically returns
to the taxpayers in the form of a lower tax rate.
Hooksett, Candia and Auburn are also expecting more aid.
No real numbers
Allenstown's situation is exacerbated because Haley has not received
any official notice from the state about funding.
State funding estimates for SAU 53 school systems are just that,
Haley said estimates.
"We're still waiting for absolute numbers," Haley said.
"At this point, I'm stressing that my numbers are coming
from the newspapers. They're not coming from anything I've been
given of official nature. And that's an awful way to make final
decisions."
Until Allenstown receives more solid information, Haley said
he is hesitant to begin considering budget cuts or special election
plans.
"I don't feel comfortable in saying I have this $90,000
figure (definitely,)" he said. "Because that's only
what The Union Leader or Concord Monitor or Hooksett Banner said."
"I want to have a definite number," he said. "But
if it goes much longer, we're going to run out the time line."
To change budget numbers, whether adding or reducing, changes
must be submitted by Oct.1, when town officials begin to calculate
this year's tax rate.
Pembroke unscathed
If Epsom and Allenstown represent the extremes of how districts
fared, Pembroke is firmly planted in the middle.
Technically, according to Haley's estimates, Pembroke will receive
approximately $3,700 less state aid than was budgeted.
Pembroke School Board Chairman Clint Hanson dismissed this amount
as marginal.
"We'll probably have that (much of an unplanned change)
or more in tuition revenue adjustments," Hanson said. "So
from our point of view there wasn't a big deal."
Hanson said he was not particularly confident the final education
formula would remain final.
"The biggest thing is if there is a court challenge,"
he said, referring to a lawsuit filed by the cities of Rochester
and Manchester in an effort to overturn SB302. The cities have
argued the latest system is unconstitutional. Both stand to lose
significant state aid if SB302 remains in place to the
tune of $4.5 million for Manchester and $1 million for Rochester.
Hanson said he does not expect a quick court action, and expressed
cynicism that a ruling would significantly affect thinking about
state education aid.
"Even if there were (an expedited court response), the guess
is the Legislature would find some other way to dodge the issue,"
he said. "If they would spend half the energy solving the
issue as they do dodging it, we'd all be better off."
Hooksett
Many new buildings planned
for Hooksett
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Town Planner Charles Watson
said he isn't surprised about the recent surge in residential
and commercial development in Hooksett, but he sure is busy.
"I think that as a community we are anxious to see commercial/industrial
development because it's a good balance to housing being built,"
Watson said.
The Monday, July 19, planning board meeting led to a few approvals,
but there will be a lot to keep up with at the Aug. 2 meeting.
The University of Southern New Hampshire now has approval to
enlarge its international center by about 4,000 square feet,
Watson said. There will be a public hearing on the matter.
The Irving Oil station on Route 3-A by Exit 10 was approved to
do a rearrangement of their convenience store and gas pumps.
The convenience store will be moved back and enlarged. The public
hearing for that will be at the next meeting.
A public hearing will also be held about the Berry Hill proposal
from Equivise. The site is proposed to have 107 units of housing
for people 55 and older. The public hearing was scheduled for
the July 19 meeting initially, but was not heard.
The Northview Condominiums proposal was also slated for the July
19 meeting, but pushed back to Aug. 2. Watson said they have
some concerns about drainage and other problems. The proposal
is for 76 units of elderly housing.
The planning board will discuss the University Heights proposal.
The proposal is for 83 homes behind the Hooksett library. Watson
said they are still having some trouble with conservation easements,
however.
North East Records Retention will also be back for a final public
hearing to discuss their proposal for a self storage unit and
record retention facility.
Huttig has been approved to move into the Manchester Sand and
Gravel land on Lehoux Drive. Blue Ribbon Fence Company has approval
to move into the lot next to it. There will be a public hearing
Aug. 2.
Bedford Management Company has received all approvals from the
planning board to construct a 59-room hotel, a convenience store
with a donut drive-through and a gas station with a car wash.
The development will be at the corner of Route 3 and West Alice
Avenue.
Construction has begun on the Carriage Hill development of 65
homes.
A Dunkin' Donuts was approved to be built at the next site north
of the Irving station opposite Kohl's on 3-A.
Hooksett
Library closes Thursdays
to stay within its budget
By DEVON CORMIER
Staff Writer
dcormier@yourneighborhoodnews.com
Now there is new meaning
to hitting the books.
Forced to operate under a default budget for the third time in
five years, the trustees of the Hooksett Public Library decided
to close the library on Thursdays beginning Aug. 1.
The decision came at their last meeting on Tuesday, July 13.
They also decided that to stay within the $25,000 budget, they
will have to cancel magazine and database subscriptions and buy
fewer books.
The new library director, Amy Lapointe, said it was a tough decision
for the trustees, but that Thursday is the slowest day.
"Logistically, it just worked best," Lapointe said."There
isn't as much programming or as many meetings. It's one of our
slower days. The staff and trustees are saddened by the reduced
schedule."
By cutting out Thursday hours, the library no longer needs to
fill an open position they had, Lapointe said. But the impact
goes further than cuts. It disappoints the residents.
"A town library represents a significant investment for
a community, and it is of no value when it is not open and accessible,"
Lapointe said.
Chairman of the trustees, Mary Farwell, said she is very disappointed,
but doesn't expect that residents will be surprised by the cuts.
Farwell said there has been a large population increase, but
the budget has remained the same, making it impossible to fund
programming and keep the doors open.
"We just don't have enough resources," Farwell said.
Farwell is looking for volunteers to help out at the library,
and asks that anyone interested call Lapointe at 485-6092. She
is looking for people with expertise such as computers or crafts.
"We've had volunteers in the past," Farwell said. "We
are now at the point where we can't pay for programming, but
that doesn't mean we aren't going to try to do it."
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