A Lion of Main Street

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LACONIA — Two
men allegedly stole
a blue 2012 Nissan
Versa while it was
warming it up in front
of a house on Dixon
Street at 6:45 p.m.
Saturday.
The owner reported
he saw two men jump
into the car and drive
it away.
Police found the car
within an hour on Isabelle Street.
Lt. Rich Simmons
said yesterday the
investigation into the
most recent car theft
is still ongoing.
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theft of a car left runZLL*(9WHNL
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BY MICHAEL KITCH
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LACONIA — Unlike his
grandfather and father, both
watchmakers, Robert Sawyer
readily admits he cannot fix
a timepiece, but for the past
33 years he has run Sawyer’s Jewelry like clockwork,
sustaining one of the longest
running family businesses to
operate from its own down-
town property.
Sawyers’s
father
Jack
learned watchmaking apprenticed to his father Alexander,
who ranked among the finest
craftsmen at the Boston Jewelers Building. Sawyer recalled
that when his father grew restless confined to a small workshop in a big city, his brother,
a traveling salesman, told him
that Myer Kassner was seeking
a buyer for his jewelry store in
Laconia.
“In 1945 my father took the
train to Laconia and bought the
business at 628 Main Street,”
he said. “He was an entrepreneur,” he continued, describing
his father as equally willing
to take risks and work hard.
Sawyer said that his father kept
shop during the day, returning the profits to the business,
and repaired watches in the
evening to support his family
while becoming one of the first
gemologists in New Hampshire
certified by the American Gem
Society. By 1952, the business
had outgrown its space and
moved to new quarters twice
the size across the street at 633
Main Street.
Sawyer, who as a schoolZLL:(>@,9WHNL
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BY ADAM DRAPCHO
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LACONIA — Several years ago, beginning with the fiscal year ending in 2007,
City Council decided to establish a special
account for Motorcycle Week. The reason
was to provide a clear accounting of the
9-day annual event, a way to prove whether
or not the fees collected from vendors were
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OIL & PROPANE CO., INC.
Laconia 524-1421
enough to match the expenses incurred by
the municipality in putting on, and cleaning up after, Bike Week.
With six years of Bike Week in the books,
the event has shown itself to be a profitable
venture for the city. Revenues, primarily
realized through license fees paid by vendors and the rental of city-owned property,
have exceeded the costs of police, fire and
3.49 99**
Fuel Oil
10 day cash price*
subject to change
public works services in each year, leaving
the city with a windfall of anywhere from
$54,618 in 2007 to $6,858 in 2011.
On average, the city has earned about
$30,000 each year from Bike Week. The
account does not consider the broader economic benefits of the many thousands of
motorcycle enthusiasts that make their
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WELCOME
BOB
SALOME
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To the editor,
I am writing to say what should
have been said when I was awarded
the 2012 Debra Bieniarz Memorial
Award from the City of Laconia. I am
43 years old and have lived all but
about a year of it in Laconia. During
that time I have been involved with
many organizations, none closer to my
heart then the Rich Velasquez Youth
Sports Equipment Foundation. I was
lucky enough to have been a friend of
Rich Velasquez. I saw firsthand how
he enjoyed seeing youth involved in
sports. For that reason and for my own
love of doing for others, and for youth
is why I do what I do. This award was
a total surprise to me. The night was
kept from me and planned mostly be
my wife, Shelly. I want to thank Randy
and Sue Bullerwell for submitting
my name for this award. Randy and
Sue have always been there supporting me and RVYSEF from the start.
There support and support from my
family make it possible to be involved
and help others.
When receiving the award and
being tricked to attend the City Council meeting, many thoughts were running through my mind. Then Mayor
Seymour asked me if I wanted to say
a few words. As with most anything
asked from me I said sure. Then I said
to myself, what, NO! Too late, there I
was in front of the microphone. I had
to make it quick so no one would see
my soft side. I do need to thank everyone that has ever been in my life. They
are what set the roots and foundation
for me as an individual. From coaches
in Little League and Lou Athanas
Basketball to my school teachers,
they all had an influence on me. I
was given the chance to play youth
leagues despite having epilepsy. I was
given the chance and for that reason I
want to make sure every child has the
same kind of chance regardless of any
circumstances. Thank you to the Dunleavys, the Arrudas, the Achbers, the
Joyals, and every other family that
has been involved with youth sports
in Laconia. A few others not to forget
for me are Mr. Colby (RIP), Charlie
Stafford, Coach Red Charland, and
Tom O’Shea. This certainly does not
include everyone. Laconia has always
been lucky when it comes to youth
sport support. Like some things in this
great area we live in, we kind of take
for granted and not realize what we
have. I hope future generations allow
the youth to play sports for the fun and
not the stress that sometimes brought
on by winning. Thank you Laconia for
allowing me to be involved.
Jack Batchelder
Laconia
Free Information Sessions
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To the editor,
In Tony Boutin’s letter of December
20, 2012, he mentioned that solar is
not very effective on cloudy days. He
is an update on solar power: they are
called batteries. They seem to work
very well at storing power.
That’s my short letter for the month.
Charlie St. Clair
Laconia
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boy worked in the store, remembered
walking downtown after school with
others his age, whose families also
owned and operated businesses downtown. “Everyone knew everyone,” he
said. “Business was local and all about
people to people.”
After graduating from Laconia High
School in 1964, Sawyer spent six years
at the University of New Hampshire,
first earning a degree in business
administration and then a master’s
degree in education counseling, and
two in the United States Army as a
community service officer at Fort Lee
in Petersburg, Virginia. In 1972, he
returned to Laconia to find that his
father, who was diagnosed as diabetic
when he sought to enlist within days
of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was
losing his eyesight.
“It was a difficult time for him,”
Sawyer said, explaining that his life
was so closely entwined with the business that he was naturally frustrated
by the prospect of having to leave
it. Sawyer, then a young man of 33,
acquired the business from his father
in 1979 in a transaction he called “bittersweet.”
At the time, the company operated
stores in Wolfeboro and Plymouth
as well as Laconia. At once, Sawyer
moved the store in Laconia, purchasing the property at the foot of Main
Street where the firm has been headquartered ever since. A year later he
opened a store at the Mountain Valley
Mall in North Conway and in 1984
closed the store in Wolfeboro to accept
the offer to become “the” jeweler at the
newly developed Mill Falls Marketplace in Meredith.
At its peak, the company operated
four stores and employed nearly 50
people. The Meredith store was the
last to close in 2009 when, Sawyer
said, “we right-sized.” Much of the success of the business he credits to his
“team,” all with at least 15 years in the
industry and most of those with the
firm. “My job is to manager the assets
of Sawyer’s Jewelry — the people and
the money.” he said, remarking that
he long thought of himself as the chief
financial officer.
Not long after taking ownership of
the business Sawyer began acquiring property downtown. In 1983, he
purchased four storefronts at 50-62
Canal Street and later in partnership
with Kevin Sullivan, then the owner
of Melnick’s Shoe and Athletic Center,
took an interest in the block housing
the Empire Beauty School, Funky
Monkey and Family Dollar. Sawyer is
also among a group of investors who
own the properties between the jewelry store and beauty school.
“I believe it is the best interests of
downtown to have people who are in
business here own the real estate,”
Swayer said. “They are invested in the
community.”
Sawyer chaired the Planning Board
when the South Down Shores project
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was being designed and developed and served a term
on the City Council in 1990-1992. “I had unrealistic expectations,” he confessed, adding that he has
not hankered after public office since. A longtime
member of the Laconia Rotary Club, he played a
major role in the capital campaign to fund construction of the addition to the Laconia Public Library
and was among those instrumental in establishing
the Main Street Program.
While others wring their hands at the adverse
effects of urban renewal on downtown, Sawyer
said that “complaining about urban renewal is like
regretting the mistakes you made when you were
16. We have to accept what we have and do the best
we can with it.” He would like to reopen Main Street
to two-way traffic, from one end to the other, as well
as the Colonial Theatre, stressing that “arts, entertainment and food are three important things for
downtown.”
Despite a wavy shock of grey that betrays the
challenges of operating a business and managing properties through two severe recessions in a
business district that’s a shadow of what it once
was, Sawyer’s broad smile, flashing eyes reflect the
energy, resilience and intensity he has applied to his
enterprises, with which he said he has begun to “add
some balance to my life.”
TILTON — Two days after a truck caught fire in
one of the service bays at the Tilton AutoServ, General Manger Andrew Hosmer said everything is
back to normal.
Hosmer said a pickup that was inside the bay
apparently caught fire around 2:23 a.m. on December 29. He also said one of his long-time parts
department employees was in building checking in
an early morning parts delivery and was there to
call emergency responders immediately.
“He heard a loud bang,” Homser said, noting the
fire triggered the sprinkler system in the shop and
the damage was largely contained to the lone pickup.
Hosmer said Fire Clean Up Services of Belmont
were there the next morning and did an “extraordinary job” cleaning up the smoke smell that permeated the building.
He also wanted to thank the Tilton-Northfield
Fire Department and the Tilton Police Department
for their quick response.
“I want people to know how important it is we
have the Tilton-Northfield Fire Department led by
Chief Brad Ober,” Hosmer said.
“The fire was contained almost immediately and
could have been catastrophic had it not been for
their quick response,” he continued.
In his media statement about the event, Ober said there
were no injuries and although the fire remains under investigation, he said it doesn’t appear to be suspicious.
Firefighters from Franklin and Bemont assisted
at the scene and Sanbornton provided station coverage for Tilton-Northfield.
— Gail Ober
*(9MYVTWHNLVUL
ning in a week. The first time a man took a car that
was warming up on High Street and crashed into two
vehicles on Parade Road just over the Meredith line.
In that case, the man who stole the car was taken
to Lakes Region General Hospital and later taken to
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.
The two people who he struck suffered minor injuries.
Simmons said police want people to remember to
lock their cars, even when they are in the driveway,
and to use a second key to lock them while they are
warming them.
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