Seabrook police Sgt. Robert Granlund was sworn in as a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association last month, culminating three years of work and study to get his law degree and pass the bar exam.
A 20-year veteran of the department, Granlund attended law school at the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, graduated in January 2007, passed the bar exam in November and was sworn in at ceremonies at Faneuil Hall on Dec. 17.
Although happy to fulfill the dream of becoming an attorney, Granlund said he has no plans to leave the Seabrook police force to take up law full time, although he is thinking of starting a "small civil practice" in his spare time.
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As the new year begins, Seabrook selectmen have some interesting New Year's resolutions, but they have nothing to do with the usual options of promising to lose weight or exercise more or even getting re-elected.
Selectmen Bob Moore, Brendan Kelly and Aboul Khan said getting important town projects completed are their resolutions for 2009. In particular, they want to complete the town's water treatment plant, which will take more arsenic out of the town's water supply, as well as the metals that cause its cloudy color.
Also on their list is getting rid of the nasty odor at the town's wastewater treatment plant. The plant has always had an odor that occasionally bothers those living around it. After all, Moore said recently, "think of what you're dealing with there." But since the town's gotten involved with its new microbiotic sludge reduction system pioneered by PMC BioTec, the odor has increased. Selectmen have issued a stern warning to the company to work to reduce the odor or the town will have to remove the new technology.
Selectmen are hoping solutions can be found, for the sludge reduction system can save the town money in sludge disposal fees once installation costs are paid off.
A third major project to get resolved this year, they say, is to repair one of the town's three major water mains that run under I-95 carrying the town's water supply from the well fields on the west side of town to the more populated eastern sector of Seabrook.
Asked if any had any personal resolutions, Khan said he'd accomplished a big personal goal by achieving his 2007 resolution.
"I stopped smoking," Khan said. "I used the best medication ever created to do it."
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Seabrook fire Chief Jeff Brown said now that the ice storm of 2007 is behind them, he, Emergency Management Director Joe Titone and other town officials are planning to sit down and go over the town's response to the crisis.
Brown said the town's departments worked together beautifully in handling the portions of the crisis under their control, but there's always room for improvement.
"There are things we can tweak," he said.
Seabrook's biggest problem during the ice storm's power outages was the lack of response in manpower to restore service and lack of communications from the town's electric provider, Unitil, he said. The state's Public Utility Commission will holding hearings on the issue, and Brown plans to be there, he told selectmen.
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On Jan. 15 at 3 p.m., Seabrook Library will host "Banjos, Bones and Ballads," with Jeff Warner.
The program offers traditional songs, rich in local history and a sense of place, which present the latest news from the distant past, according to Seabrook Library Director Ann Robinson.
The songs help interpret present-day life with an understanding of the working people who built America. Tavern songs, banjo tunes, 18th-century New England hymns, sailor songs, and humorous stories about traditional singers and their songs highlight this informative program.
Warner has performed at festivals and schools throughout America and abroad and toured nationally for the Smithsonian Institution. A "Folklorist and Community Scholar" for the New Hampshire Council on the Arts, he was named a "2007 State Arts Council Fellow." He has recorded for Flying Fish, Appleseed and National Geographic Records, as well as his own Gumstump label.
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Since 1988, FPL Energy Seabrook Station employees have donated food, clothing, toys and pet supplies during the holidays to local families in need. This holiday season, employees gathered and delivered thousands of items during the plant's annual "Operation Celebration" drive.
This year, more than 4,300 items of food and clothing were donated by Seabrook Station team members. The food items were donated to St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry in Hampton, the Seabrook Lions Club and the Seacoast Church of Christ Food Pantry in Seabrook.
"Seabrook employees have always displayed the true spirit of giving throughout the entire year, but especially during the holiday season," said Gene St. Pierre, FPL Energy Seabrook Station Site vice president. "Our donations hopefully provide some measure of comfort to those most in need."
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The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services has received 11,000 new children's books to be given to families with preschool children enrolled in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program. First Book, a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., donated the books.
The book distribution will take place at WIC clinics across the state during January and February. Approximately 9,300 children from 1 to 4 years old will receive the books.
WIC is a public health nutrition program for low- to moderate-income pregnant women, new mothers and preschool children. Anyone interested in applying can call 1-800-WIC-4321 to see if they meet income guidelines.
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Angeljean Chiaramida covers Seabrook for The Daily News and can be reached at 978-462-6666 ext. 3271, or via e-mail at achiaramida@newburyportnews.com.
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