News from the Hampton Beach Village District
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(Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of articles provided by members of the "Precinct Pen" Newsletter Committee of the Hampton Beach Village District.)
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PRECINCT COMMISSIONERS'
MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC
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| The Hampton Beach Village District is embarking on a new year of exciting activities. We are celebrating our 100th anniversary, and we have organized a variety of festivities to commemorate this important event. We invite all Precinct residents to join us in the celebration and to participate in Precinct-sponsored programs. |
| This will be a year marked with special events and ongoing beautification projects. We continue to need volunteers for the volley ball competition in August and the Beautification committee. |
| We are looking forward to a successful 2007 season for all business owners. It is our goal to foster an atmosphere of cooperation and communication among all who are involved in making Hampton Beach a great community. |
| We express our deepest thanks to all residents, business owners and tourists. We would also like to thank past Precinct commissioners for their contributions to Hampton Beach. |
| It is our hope that the Precinct Pen will serve as a tool to inform and build awareness concerning activities and issues facing the Precinct. We will continue to support programs that make Hampton Beach a family-oriented and safe coastal destination. We wish everyone a profitable and enjoyable summer season. |
| Precinct Commissioners |
| Maureen Buckley, Chairperson |
| Gary Kubik |
| Chuck Rage |
BEACH COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS
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| _ Precinct monthly meeting: The monthly business meeting is the second Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Hampton Beach Precinct Building/ Fire Station on Ashworth Avenue. After our business meeting there will be opportunity for public input. Look for the televised meeting under the School Board/ Special Events time-slot category on Channel 22. |
| _ Tops in Blue, US Air Force's Entertainment Band celebrating 60 years of the USAF in concert on Sunday August 19. The world-renown musical review is performed by active duty men and women providing 90 minutes of non-stop entertainment for the entire family. Tops in Blue brings a touch of America and the pride of the U.S. Air Force to all of their audiences. Activities at the Sea Shell start at 7 pm.; the show starts at 8 p.m. and is followed by a spectacular "fireworks display of the century" at 9:45 p.m. |
| _ The Hampton Beach Children's Festival concludes on Friday August 17 with a Costume Parade and prizes for all contestants. Meet at the Hampton Beach State Park at 10:15 a.m.; parade starts at 11 a.m. Be there for the Grand Finale at 12 noon, when the parade ends at the Sea Shell Stage with an awards ceremony. For more information about the parade call the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce (603) 926-8717 or visit www.hamptonbeach.org. |
| _ Knitting for Peace. This group was started spring 2007 for the purpose of knitting projects and donating them to diverse charities. Recently the group donated 22 prayer shawls and three baby blankets to the Dover Hospice. All are welcome, both experienced and beginner knitters. The group will resume meeting in the fall at the Coffee Break CafÇ at Patriot's Corner. For more information call Linda Gebhart at (603) 929-3850 |
| _ 100th Anniversary Hampton Beach Village Precinct Gala Celebration, Friday, September 14. Ashworth by the Sea Hotel, with music by the Continentals. Save the date, and plan to come and have a great time. More details will follow. |
| _ Planning Board Public Hearing, Wednesday, September 19. Public input session on zoning changes to be made at the beach. Your concerns or suggestions are important. |
| _ Hampton Beach Volleyball Tournament, Saturday, August 18-19, starting at 9 a.m. The tournament will take place on the beach, south of the Seashell, between "G" and "M" Streets. There will be both women's and men's AA & A divisions. |
| _ Hampton Beach IDOL Competition, Friday through Sunday, August 24-26 at 7 p.m. nightly. Friday - Junior Competition on Friday, Senior Competition on Saturday, finals in both categories on Sunday. |
| "No one person has to do it all, but if each one of us follows our heart and our own inclinations, we will find the small things that we can do to create a sustainable future and a healthy environment." |
| - John Denver |
RETURN OF THE KING
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| BY AUBRY BRACCO |
| BEACH NEWS STAFF WRITER |
| SEACOAST | They spend their summer days resting on flowers and looking glamorous before heading south to Mexico when the weather gets chilly. |
| It may sound like the Monarch butterfly's existence is akin to the carefree life of a Hollywood celebrity, but surviving is no walk in the park for the Danaus plexippus. |
| In the past week, Monarch butterflies have descended upon the Seacoast region and all of New England. |
| "That last heat wave we had came in with the same jet stream that brought [the butterflies]," said Fred Gagnon, curator at Magic Wings, a butterfly conservatory and garden located in South Deerfield, MA. "All of a sudden, they're flying north." |
| The recent arrivals have been working feverishly to mate and lay eggs that will hatch into larvae, grow into caterpillars and metamorphose into butterflies before temperatures drop and it's time to head south again. |
| The summer butterflies you see now won't live longer than a couple of months. They will, however, breed the migratory generation of butterflies that will go south, live eight to nine months and begin to breed again when temperatures rise next spring, thus, beginning the northern migratory and generational reproductive cycle all over again, Gagnon said. |
| It's not just the 2000-mile-plus journey to Mexico or the convoluted reproduction cycle that makes the Monarch's continued survival remarkable. Monarch butterflies also have to battle unpredictable winds, temperature changes, deforestation, pesticides and disease. |
| "Every year there is something," said Gagnon. |
| Terry Terbush, who served on the International Butterfly Breeders Association Inc.'s board of directors and works at the Monarchy Butterfly Farm in Monson, MA, said butterfly population can fluctuate from year to year. |
| "It's a cyclical thing," Terbush said. "[There's] no doubt several things have affected the butterflies." |
| An estimated 250 million Monarchs died in central Mexico at the El Rosario sanctuary in the winter of 2002 due to freezing temperatures and a lack of natural protection from trees, caused by illegal logging in the region. |
| "What's happened is development," said Cornelius du Plessis of the Rainbow's End Butterfly Farm and Nursery in Pawling, NY, citing deforestation of Monarch habitats and development as the "number one" reason for population declines. "We lose 3000 acres [of land] a day in the United States [to development]." |
| While butterflies can subsist on a number of different plants, including clovers, butterfly bush, verbena and cone flowers, larvae necessitate a specific host plant to "fatten up" into caterpillars before forming a chrysalis and metamorphosing. |
| "The Monarch butterfly needs milkweed [to reproduce]," du Plessis said. |
| And during development, he explained, patches of milkweed - which often grow on abandoned farm land - are lost. |
| Du Plessis recommended people plant milkweed plants to assist Monarchs and keep them around. |
| Pesticides can also diminish the Monarch butterfly population. Mosquito repellents and DDT can pose a risk to butterflies, Terbush explained. Even medication used on dogs to "treat for ticks" can jeopardize butterflies, du Plessis noted. |
| "It whacks them," he said. "It's terrible." |
| While many butterflies in the southern states such as Florida and Georgia are diseased with a "naturally occurring" parasite called Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, Terbush said most butterflies in the New England region are infection-free. Since the "O.E." parasite can cause weakness which inhibits a butterfly's ability to make long distance journeys, natural selection has bred the disease out of northerly migrating Monarchs. |
| The infection hasn't been bred out of butterflies that live in the southern United States because they don't have to make migrations to warmer climates in the winter. They just "sort of coexist with the disease," Terbush explained. |
| Though the Monarch has coped with the disease in its population just as it has with other obstacles, the presence of the illness makes the Monarch's survival that much more extraordinary. |
| Today, Gagnon said, Monarch butterflies are "big business." Magic Wings hosts weddings and parties in its conservatory. Terbush's Monarchy Butterfly Farm and du Plessis' Rainbow's End Butterfly Farm and Nursery specialize in butterfly releases for weddings and other special events. |
| "Everyone can find something in a butterfly," Gagnon said. While those with a more scientific outlook view butterflies as part of the evolutionary process, others may feel they have spiritual or religious implications. Many see them as representations of beauty, freedom and often find meaning in the Monarch's cycles of reproduction and metamorphosis. |
| According to Native American Indian lore anyone who wants a wish to come true can whisper his wish to the creature and release it to the heavens. Once there, the butterfly will relay the message to the Great Spirit, who, in turn, will make that wish come true. |
| Whatever your view, just remember; when you meet a Monarch, there is more than meets the eye. |
| For more information on Magic Wings, visit www.magicwings.com. The Monarchy Butterfly Farm and more on the Native American Indian legend can be found at www.themonarchy.com. Visit www.rainbows endfarm.biz for more on Rainbow's End Butterfly Farm and Nursery. |
