Due to rain, Laurie Chase KidsFest was postponed until Sunday, May 18. Almost all vendors scheduled for the event will be able to be in Haverhill on the new date, so Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce and Haverhill Downtown Association, which jointly sponsor the day, hope all will attend this fun festival just for children — and the inner child of adults.
A woman called the Gazette recently because she was concerned about policies at the Social Security office in Haverhill. She was concerned that when identity theft is a problem, officials at the office asked people to say their Social Security numbers out loud in a room of waiting people. She said that while she waited for a representative, she could have easily written down seven names, addresses and Social Security numbers. The woman said that she has also heard other people complaining about this policy, and wonders why the office hasn't changed it.
After reading last week's article about Priceless Prom Gowns — the nonprofit group that gives dresses to girls who can't afford them — Debbie Bowman, a hair stylist, called The Haverhill Gazette to get in touch with founder Carol Lanni to ask how she could help.
The front of the new condominium building on Washington Street, beside the Garibaldi Club, is looking spiffy these days with a bounty of spring tulip blossoms in a nice array of colors greeting motorists and pedestrians.
Basking in the sun: The small pond on Route 110 by Wally's vegetable stand has a tree branch sticking out of the water and a bunch of small turtles use it to take in the sun's rays quite regularly lately. On the other side of the road a crane tends to do the same in the early morning sun.
Penacook Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is raffling off a Nintendo Wii video game system to raise Monday for the Friends of Penacook Place Fund. Tickets are $5 each and the winner will be drawn on Friday, May 16 as part of National Nursing Home Week. For more information, call 978-374-0707.
Dr. Clyde Barrow, a gambling expert and professor who runs the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth, says that in a poll conducted last week, a majority of Massachusetts residents still favor the authorization of two or more resort casinos and support the presence of slot machines at race tracks as well.
Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital prepared for its official May 17 move from Summer Street to the new facility in Ward Hill with a tabletop drill on Wednesday. There will be a practice move Saturday.
Representatives from the Merrimack Valley Regional Transit Authority will be at the Citizens Center on Thursday of next week at 10 a.m. to talk about the EZ Trans service for seniors and the disabled. Applications and brochures will be available and questions will be answered. For information call Rita LaBella at 978-374-2390, ext. 11.
When the mayor announced his plan to merge school departments with the rest of city government, the Lamplighter asked what he was going to do with the city's fleet of vehicles, since some are for city use and others have been given to department heads. He said they are looking into it.
Last week the mayor walked during lunch time with employees at City Hall. It was local participation of a national effort for overall wellness promoted by Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The city kicked off Arbor Day last week with the planting of American elm trees and a walnut tree at Walnut Square School. This year, once again, Haverhill received the designation of Tree City USA. The city plans to plant 300 trees this year — 100 in the spring and 200 in the fall.
Letter carriers do their annual collection of nonperishable foods this coming Saturday, so if you want to participate, have the food in bags by your mailbox at delivery time so carriers can get the much-needed food to local food banks.
This first list of city streets to be paved this year is out and they include Hyatt Avenue, Edgewood Avenue, Eastern Avenue, Glenwood Circle, Wedgewood Drive, Amesbury Line Road, Old Amesbury Line Road, Merrimac Road, Inland Street, Plaistow Road, South Crystal Street, Washington Avenue, North Main Street and Booth Street. The state will also pave River Street from Maxwell Street to the Methuen line.
The Earth Day clean-up in the city went beyond April 19 to April 26 when many volunteers returned to clean the 12th Avenue field, Winnekenni Park playground and recreation area, Plug Pond recreation area, Riverside Park tennis courts, Portland Street playground, Christopher Columbus Park, Millvale Conservation Area and several city roads and streets.
On Friday of last week the city celebrated Polish Constitution Day. The celebration was held in City Hall.
The Council on Aging held a lovely volunteer appreciation luncheon in the Technolgy Center at Northern Essex Community College last week and it was a good time for all with musical and comdey for entertainment, plus a tasty lunch of fried chicken with all the fixings.
Quite an anniversary coming for St. James parish. Committees are hard at work and the church itself is being prepared inside and out for the occasion.
The medians on Ginty and Bailey boulevards are just about bursting into bloom from the thousands of bulbs planted in recent years under the auspices of the Haverhill Brightside group.
Oh, the irony of it. One political observer noted that former mayor John Guerin was not reappointed to his state job as a Civil Service commissioner, and suggested that if John had been in a Civil Service job, he would probably be working on it until retirement.
A resident of West Rochambault Street was able to determine when his mailbox, along with several others, was knocked over and damaged Saturday morning. He left for Logan airport at 5 a.m., and his mailbox was fine. When he got back an hour and a half later, the boxes on his street had been hit and damaged by "motorized" vandals.
The I-495 bridge over the Merrimack River, entering Haverhill, is seriously in need of repaving. And so is the Hilldale Avenue overpass.
The Petrou family name is well-known in the restaurant business locally, and another eatery combination from that family is emerging. Brother and sister Samantha and Chris Petrou are rounding up the permits to create a new eating place on Washington Street, where City Wicks and Hungry Lion recently closed.
The Haverhill Garden Club is seeking nominations for its Garden of the Month program. If anyone has an idea of a unique and interesting garden for the club to review, call Catherine at 978-374-4394 or Kay at 978-372-1748. The Garden Club would like to honor gardens in the community in June, July, August and September.
