WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2011
VOL. 20 NO. 60
BERLIN, N.H.
752-5858
Mayor predicts resolution in biomass stalemate BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
Some of the descendants of Abraham Abramson gathered at the Berlin/Coos County Historical Society’s Moffett House Saturday as part of their first family reunion. Those in the photo include: Phyllis Yawitt, Dr. Hilary Reich, Lisa Pemstein Krantz, Liz Evans, Susan Evans Ray, Jon Serbin, Jolie, Todd, Asher (2) and Noalil(5) Helmbrecht, Kara Faust, Ken Kutner, Madison and Jason Faust, Mindy and Kandy Budgor, Philip, Sue, Jeff,and Lezlie Brant, Jon Abramson, Irving Morrison, Art Bildman, Harriet Young, Barry and Karen Miller. Attending the reunion were 23 people in all, according to Yawitt. Art Bildman prepared an exhaustive genealogy for the group. The Memory Book committee included Dan Abramson, Phillip Brant, Elisabeth Evans, Samuela Evans, Kim Karcher, and Phyllis Yawitt. (GAIL SCOTT PHOTO)
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BERLIN — Mayor Paul Grenier said he believes a deal between Public Service of N.H. and the wood-fired Independent Power Producers will be reached soon. Such a deal would allow construction of the Laidlaw/Berlin biomass plant to get underway by late July or early August. “I’m hopeful a deal is imminent,” he said yesterday. Last week, the Public Utilities Commission denied the IPPs motion for a rehearing of its decision to approve a
20-year power purchase agreement between PSNH and Berlin Station. The IPPs have 30 days to decide whether to file a threatened appeal to the state Supreme Court. Gov. John Lynch has played a direct role in attempting to broker an agreement between PSNH and the IPPs and a meeting between the parties was scheduled to take place yesterday. Four of the IPPS are pushing for shortterm deals with PSNH to replace their expiring agreements. They are also concerned about competing for wood. see STALEMATE page 8
Far-flung Abramson family holds reunion at Moffet House BY GAIL SCOTT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — The old saw, “A rolling stone gathers no moss,” doesn’t apply to the Abramsons. In just four generations in America, the family has grown and spread across the country and abroad, launched from a welcoming Berlin, which gave the family its start in the new world, as one descendant put it Saturday. Thanks in part to the hard work of the folks at the Berlin/Coos County Historical Society, today the family has found some 460 descendants from the original family that settled in Berlin. On Saturday, a group of these descendants gathered at the Moffett House to look at old pictures of their forebears and see mention of these enterprising people in yearbooks, bulletins, and news articles during the first reunion of the Abramson family. Following the gathering at the Moffett House, they visited the two Jewish cemeteries in Berlin, each leaving a small stone in remembrance at the family plots. Then, they toured the city to identify the houses or locations where their ancestors lived and worked. Before they left the Moffett House, Abramson descendant Phillis Yawitt presented a copy of “The Abramson Reunion Memory Book” to Jackie and Walter Nadeau and Odette and Don Leclerc. She said they couldn’t
have prepared the book or found so many descendants without the help of BCCHS. “When we started, we had just 75 descendants that we knew about,” said Yawitt. “They were so helpful. They were wonderful to us.” Since its founding BCCHS organizers and volunteers have computerized (and continue to do so) an exhaustive and meticulous record of Berlin people: births, deaths, mentions in publications, noted down to the exact page. With grace and good cheer, they make these records available to all comers, helping researchers discover long lost information about their forebears and the Berlin of days gone by. Yawitt said that she and other reunion organizers had been working with BCCHS for the past year in preparation for the grand reunion. The Abramson’s Berlin saga began in 1893 when Nathan Abramson, 18, emigrated from what is now Vilnius, Lithuania — then in the Empire of all Russias — to New York. The old country held no promise for such young people but more poverty, draft into the Czar’s army, and, for Jewish families, anti-Semitism and vicious pogroms—a Russian word that means “to demolish violently” and refers mostly to a mob attack and “organized massacre” of helpless people. According to Wikipedia, quotsee REUNION page 20
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Neighborhood Stabilization Program has recently been awarded an additional $1 million to continue renovating the city’s housing stock in three specific neighborhoods. As part of the effort, New England Family Housing has completed 11 buildings and has three building currently undergoing rehabilitation. Company Co-owners Tim and Kim Coulombe and project manager Tony Smith stand on the porch of one of the properties the company has renovated. (BARBARA TETREAULT PHOTO).
NSP a success for Berlin BY BARBARA TETREAULT THE BERLIN DAILY SUN
BERLIN — By all measures , the Neighborhood Stabilization Program has been one of the city’s biggest success stories. The public-private partnership between the city and New England Family Housing is in its second year and has just be granted another $1 million to renovate more dilapidated buildings. That is on top of the $4.3 million the city and NEFH originally received. City Housing Coordinator André Caron, NEFH co-owners Tim and Kim Coulombe, and project manager Tony Smith discussed the program with the Berlin Daily Sun last week. In just over a year, 11 blighted build-
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ings have been completely renovated and the count will be up to 14 when the original money is expended. There are 29 available rental units now and all but two are rented out. When the remaining three buildings are completed by early August, there will be a total of 39 rental units. Under the terms of the program, NEFH purchased the 14 buildings — all were either abandoned or foreclosures — with its own money. NEFH then used $3.2 million in grant money to completely renovate the buildings and install new appliances. All the buildings go through a rigorous inspection process to ensure they meet energy efficiency standards see NEIGHBORHOOD page 8