RYE CRISP
'Queen' sails on … Youth honored … Saunders stays open … Beach/Swim Club set back … Goss Farm … Roker to rescue … Andy, the entrepreneur … Rye firefighter treated … Veteran reps step aside … Women ride high at Fenway Park
THE QUEEN IN HER COURT …
For more than 30 years the 80-foot M/V Atlantic Queen II has been the principal vessel out of Rye Harbor for large-group deep sea fishing and whale watching. Here she heads out on an early-morning trip. The 80-foot vessel has 300 feet of rail space. (Jim Cerny photo)
By Jack Driscoll
Judging by recent honors bestowed on area youth, the future will be in good hands.
Three Rye Junior High students and their teacher were winners of a national eCYBERMISSION competition, sponsored by the U.S. Army, for showing creativity in using a scientific approach to solve a local community problem.
The students, who each receive a $2,000 U.S. EE Savings Bond and a U.S. Army certificate of appreciation, are Elle MacAlpine, Hannah Blockis and Elizabeth Steucek and their teacher is Robin Ellwood. Their team is called the Sandman Apprentices.
The judges chose the Sandman team over thousands of competitors for an innovative approach to calming dogs in animal shelters at night. The next step is to work with a local area shelter on implementation.
eCYBERMISSION, whose website is at www.eCYBERMISSION.com, is a web-based science, math and technology competition for 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th grade teams, who are tasked to take on a real problem.
Meanwhile, eighth-graders Phoebe Collins of New Castle and William Nee of Rye were recipients of the Scholar Leader Award from the New Hampshire Middle Level Educators for meeting numerous criteria that include academic achievement, attitude, influence on their peers and upholding school ideals (click here for a full listing of criteria). They were presented their award at a dinner on June 3 at the Center of New Hampshire Radisson Hotel in Manchester where they received personal congratulations from Gov. John Lynch.
And lest we forget, as reported in the June edition of Rye Reflections, the Rye Elementary School's seven-member Destination Imagination team, coached by Peggy Balboni, exceeded all expectations by winning the state championship and turning in its best performance all year at the Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn.
Congrats to all.
(The following items are by members of the "Rye Reflections" staff.)
KRISPY KRISPS …
- The lead item of Rye Crisp started off as follows:
"Saunders Restaurant is likely to remain open until Labor Day, but owner-operator Doug Zechel has confirmed that the Rye Harbor restaurant is under a sale agreement." The article went on to state: "The 2.72-acre site has been on the market for about two years and is listed at a price of $3.9 million … "
The process that began in 2007 continues to play out, and the restaurant remains open with Zechel saying again this year that it will stay open until Labor Day.
The present proposal by Rye Harbor Realty LLC calls for four homes to be build on the land split by Harbor Road. Passed by the Zoning Board of Adjustment after numerous revisions, the proposal is now under review by the Planning Board which is dealing with numerous complexities that come under its jurisdiction. How long it will take for this last step in the regulatory process is anyone's guess — whether it is approved or disapproved. - Rye's Zoning Board of Adjustment has turned down a rehearing request by the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club seeking to build a Beach & Swim Club on the southwest corner of Route 1-A and Wallis Road, presently the site of a commercial building and summer cabins. The 3-2 vote was taken on June 10.
- The Conservation Commission still has a few more months of tying up loose ends before the Town of Rye can purchase the Goss Farm at 251 Harbor Road, but there is hope among some that the 10-acre property can be the site of a community agriculture project.
- The Seacoast Science Center may have been bailed out just in time from an unusual source. NBC's "Today Show" weatherman Al Roker dropped in on Friday, June 25, on the fifth and last stop of his ninth annual "Lend a Hand Today" trip laden with an estimated half million dollars worth of usable goods from wet suits to kayaks, refrigerators, water heater, toys, games, a Toyota Sienna mini-van and cash. Wendy Lull of the Science Center said that donations have been falling off in recent years, and Roker's timing couldn't have been better.
Flower box along railing on Saunders' front porch looking toward Rye Harbor. (Jack Driscoll photo)
HANGING IN THERE …
June was busting out all over with fog and mist at dawn on most mornings in June at Rye Harbor. Calmly waiting it out are the Madrigan on the left with the Uncle Oscar behind it and the Colleen Kathryn on the right. (Jim Cerny photo)
PEOPLE IN NEWS …
- Julia "Andy" Anderson Eaton has entered the harsh world of business, even though she still has a year left at Concord Academy. Andy has formed a company called JAE Designs and is selling hand-dyed clothing and accessories from her Cable Road home. The 17-year-old daughter of Betty Anderson and Bob Eaton learned fabric arts techniques at the Massachusetts academy from "a fabulous teacher", according to her mother.
As late-morning rain begins, Andy manages to smile at neighborhood garage sale. (Jack Driscoll photo)
Now Andy is learning the details of running a business from obtaining insurance to getting rained on after she had hauled her wares up the street and hung them neatly at a Cable Road neighborhood garage-sale site. Periodic downpours didn't help.
Anticipating better days ahead, Andy has set up shop outdoors in front of her house where she is displaying her works that include dresses,tank tops, skirts, scarves, accessories, etc. She also takes special orders, enabling buyers to suit their own color tastes. - John Klanchesser, a Rye firefighter and EMT, required treatment from heat exhaustion at Portsmouth Regional Hospital after the June 2 fire at the Beechstone Apartments off Lang Road in Portsmouth. "Our crew was in there right behind the Portsmouth guys, and they all took a beating trying to stop the fire from spreading to other units," said Rye Chief William Sullivan. A total of 19 communities responded, and about 20 tenants were displaced.
- Susan Kepner of Hampton was among several area notables who have decided against running for re-election to the state House of Representatives. Others included James Splaine and Paul McEachern of Portsmouth as well as former Speaker W. Douglas Scamman and his wife Stella of Stratham and Marjorie Smith of Durham, who held the difficult position of Finance Chairwoman. Scamman had served 13 terms, his wife three.
- Cancer survivors Leanne Spees-Purdy of Rye and Elizabeth Fregeau of New Castle got the thrill of a lifetime when they were among 31 who road their bicycles around the warning track at Fenway Park, receiving an standing ovation from more than 37,000 fans as well as Red Sox and Dodgers team members. And Fregeau's daughters, Emily and Caroline, were on-field flag catchers. The ceremony promoted the Pan-Am Challenge, which raises money for the fight against cancer. See story that appeared in the Portsmouth Herald.
Elizabeth Fregeau (left) and Leanne Spees-Purdy at Fenway Park. (Portsmouth Herald photo)
SEA OF UMBRELLAS …
Bright sun on Friday afternoon, June 25, saw Wallis Sands State Beach clogged. (Jack Driscoll photo)
Quick index to last two years of Rye Crisp …
July, 2010
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