ORFORD—Citing a potential “unconscionable” spending increase, Rivendell Interstate School District board members last week asked administrators to prepare a draft 2022 budget that would eliminate as many as five full-time equivalent staff positions.
After approximately two hours of discussion during a regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 5, board members deferred finalizing a figure to put before community members at a budget hearing later this month. They instead scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 12, after this edition’s press deadline.

NEWBURY—Newbury residents will remain part of Oxbow Unified Union School District, the school district formed with Bradford in 2019.
A special town meeting, with polling held on Dec. 29, concluded with a total of 310 votes cast, according to Newbury Town Clerk Nikki Tomlinson. Residents voted 140-169 on the question “Shall the Newbury School District withdraw from the OUUSD?” There was one blank ballot. There were 152 absentee ballots cast, while 158 people voted in person.
In contrast, 1,172 Newbury residents voted for either Joe Biden or Donald Trump the previous month.
Although Newbury and Bradford have long partnered in a unified school district to operate the 7-12 Oxbow High School, the towns maintained separate school districts to operate elementary schools in each town until Act 46.

NORTH HAVERHILL—A local wood pellet company is mulling a possible manufacturing plant in the town-owned industrial park next to Dean Memorial Airport.
Morton Bailey of Lyme Green Heat told selectboard members on Jan. 4 that his company is still drawing up engineering plans, but that the business has identified the North Haverhill site for a possible $7 million facility that would convert wood chips into wood pellets for heating fuel. Haverhill Town Manager Brigitte Codling said Bailey first approached the town several months ago about the proposal.
The two lots are located on either side of Business Park Drive. Conceived decades ago, the business park was developed by the town, which funded a lengthy sewer system extension from the Grafton County complex to make the lots more marketable.

NEWBURY—Newbury residents have until Dec. 29 to vote on whether they want the town to withdraw from the Oxbow Unified Union School District.
On Dec. 21, nearly 75 people listened to an informational meeting held via Zoom to hear different perspectives on the single question on the ballot. Hosted by the Newbury Selectboard and facilitated by Monique Priestley, speakers presented their cases. A recording of the session can be found at https://youtu.be/pz5csclcifg.

“Whether great or small, a post office was the visible form of the Federal Government in every community and to every citizen. Its hand is the only one that touches the local life, the social interests, and business concerns of every neighborhood.”—John Wanamaker, Postmaster General, 1889-1893.
In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service delivered 143 billion pieces of mail to 160 million addresses, including 46 million rural destinations. Additionally, it operated 31,000 local post offices.
That year at least 1.3 billion of those pieces of mail were Christmas cards, and many of the packages held Christmas gifts. In 2020, about 64 million were ballots, representing a pivotal role in the recent General Election.
This column, the first of two on the subject, explores the development of the postal system, including its impact on local communities. The information comes from newspapers, books and online sources on the history of both the national postal system and those of our two states.