d ec mb r 2019 the sturbridge times town countryliving · herein report views of the authors and...

Town&CountryLivingTHE STURBRIDGE TIMES

DECEMBER 2019

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Town&CountryLivingThe Sturbridge Times

Magazine


The Charm of a December Evening in New England

There’s something a bit magical about acold December night in the North, espe-

cially after the evening meal and conversationhave come and gone. The hours to follow, tome, are special times to share, or even to bealone in.A winter evening is an exceedingly quiet

time, often filled with the wonder of beingdrawn to a window during a gently fallingsnow. Outside that window the earth haschanged from the gray naked trees and brightwhite fluff of day to the inky blackness, crys-tal stars, and ghostly drifts of shimmeringnighttime snow. Standing still outside on such a night, away

from the warmth and sounds of the home,you can see and hear only what the snowwishes you to, and that is not a lot. This win-ter blanket covers the land, demanding theworld’s attention as it hides every earthly de-tail and muffles every sound. I once observed that a windless rain land-

ing on the fragile leaves of fall sounds exactlyas does bacon frying; likewise, a windlesssnow drifting straight down to deepen that

pristine blanket sounds like nothing at all. It is a picture of perfect silence, especially

at this time of night, and somehow even moreso at the edge of a forest in the bright light ofa full and frozen moon.A solitary walk on such a night reveals

much more about this Vermont Decemberevening. Tiny lights twinkle from decoratedneighborhood homes. Cars pad down newlysoftened streets, the red and green trafficlights themselves taking on fresh meaning inthis magical month. And, along the walk, thescents of evergreen branches, evening coffeebrewing, and wood fire chimney smoke aresimply wonderful. If you’ve never been to our fine state, or if

it’s been a while since you’ve visited in win-ter, I invite you to treat yourself to a trulyheartwarming experience. Dress warmly anddrive safely when you come up here. Watchout for deer on the road and moose at the treeline. They will not watch out for you.

I wish everyone on earth the peace ofthis holiday season and the joy of knowing atleast one Vermont December evening.


By Richard MorchoeBOOKREVIEWPermanent RecordBy Edward SnowdenMetropolitan Books, 2019Hardcover, 352 PagesISBN-10: 1250237238ISBN-13: 978-1250237231List: $30.00 Amazon: $17.99

In June of 2013 revelations were publishedin the Guardian newspaper of the im-mense and pervasive surveillance of theAmerican people by the intelligence appa-ratus known as the National SecurityAgency or NSA. The information seemedto come out of nowhere and shocked thoseAmericans who were paying attention andthe NSA itself.The story would be told by journalist

Glenn Greenwald in the Guardian and thebook, No Place to hide: Edward Snowden,the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (re-viewed in the July, 2014 issue of this maga-zine). With Greenwald was documentaryfilmmaker Laura Poitras and her film, Citi-zenfour, would also tell the story.The sheer volume of material collected by

the NSA on everyone was mind boggling.One might have expected that Snowden'sexposé would have made him a hero insome circles and it did. In others, he can ex-pect jail time if he ever returns to the UnitedStates. After all, he did take files that were

considered government property. It workedfor Daniel Ellsberg, but won't for Snowden.The Greenwald book came off as an ex-

planation of how it all took place and is fa-vorable to the man who blew the whistle.There would be pushback and part of thatwas Edward Jay Epstein's How AmericaLost Its Secrets: Edward Snowden, the Manand the Theft (reviewed in the April, 2017issue). The last word of the subtitle tells youwhere Epstein is coming from.Epstein has little proof of damage and

much speculation. Others have averred thisas well, but so far little can be shown of adisaster. The writer does characterize Snow-den as a nerdy gamer. Whether or not it ismeant as an insult, your reviewer had thatimpression as well after reading No Place tohide.In Permanent Record, Edward Snowden

gets to tell his story. The book is more thanmemoir or explanation. It is nothing shortof autobiography, albeit with the assistanceof writer Joshua Cohen.

That nerdy gamer epithet is not untrue.Snowden did grow up playing computergames and the picture of him on his book'scover has that look, at least kind of. Thestory is much more than of a hacker (thoughhe does admit to hackerdom) who went offthe reservation.He was not only a gamer. His was the

first generation to grow up with the web,but also what came before it, AOL; messageboards and chat rooms. It was a vast learn-ing experience for him, as rough as it was.He remembers it fondly:"I am not going to pretend that the com-

petition wasn’t merciless, or that the popu-lation—almost uniformly maleheterosexual, and hormonally charged—didn’t occasionally erupt into cruel andpetty squabbles. But in the absence of realnames, the people who claimed to hate youweren’t real people. They didn’t know any-thing about you beyond what you argued,and how you argued it. If, or rather when,

Edward Snowden: Gone for Good

Page 7

THE STURBRIDGE TIMES TOWN& COUNTRY LIVINGMAGAZINE THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING6

THE STURBRIDGE TIMES TOWN& COUNTRY LIVINGMAGAZINETHE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING 7

Page 8

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one of your arguments incurred some onlinewrath, you could simply drop that screenname and assume another mask, undercover of which you could even join in themimetic pile-on, beating up on your dis-owned avatar as if it were a stranger. I can’ttell you what sweet relief that sometimeswas."That he loved the freedom of it all comes

shining through in the chapter.Snowden grew up in a government fam-

ily, much of it in the "Beltway" named afterthe highway that rings D.C. Lon, his dad,was in the Coast Guard and had a tech po-sition as an electronics systems engineer. Hecomes off as a loving and patient man,mostly. When computers came into thehouse and Edward was furtively watchinghis dad late at night, he was not admonishedand told to go to sleep, but initiated into themysteries. Elizabeth, his Mom, was always setting

him math problems and if he could figurethem out, would reward him with books ortoys. Illness and being a little bit differentled him to an alternative path in school. Ed-ward would most often turn out as thesmartest kid in class or training, even whenhe was slacking.For my generation, where you were when

President Kennedy was shot is etched inmemory. Also, for mine and subsequent agecohorts, where one was on 9/11 cannot beforgotten. So it is for Snowden, but he wasmuch closer to it all.Snowden was attending community col-

lege and doing freelance tech stuff when thenews came out. The experience in Beltwayland was more intense than here in CentralMass, as a plane would hit the Pentagon. He would drive by the NSA headquarters

as it was evacuating, "At the moment of theworst terrorist attack in American history,the staff of the NSA—the major signals in-telligence agency of the American IC wasabandoning its work by the thousands, andI was swept up in the flood."In the wake of 9/11, Snowden wanted to

be part of the effort against terrorism. Notbeing degreed made him ineligible for theCIA or NSA where his technical abilitieswould have been, he thought, most useful.Wanting to be part of something, and as heput it "show that I wasn't just a brain in a jar;I was also heart and muscle." he joined thearmy. Techie he might have been, but he was

physically fit and had enlisted on a track tocome out of training as a Special Forces ser-geant. A fall that led to a couple of stressfractures put an end to Snowden's military

career.Still with the urge to serve, it would have

to be with the brain. He went through theprocess of getting a clearance and workingwith government contractors. Eventually,he would be a CIA man.Through all his assignments, he would

shine. He would be a star briefer and helpdesign and implement programs. What wasinescapable to a man as intelligent as Snow-den was that the system he was part of wastrashing the Fourth Amendment of the billof rights.Of course, some will retort, so what, what

do you have to hide? Even such folkswould not like to have everything abouttheir lives exposed. The author referenced an ancestor in the

Continental Navy during the RevolutionaryWar. He and other navy men protested themalfeasance of a superior officer by utilizingthe chain of command. It worked and themalefactor was dismissed.The chain of command responding as it

should was not available to Snowden, be-cause his "superiors were not only aware ofwhat the agency was doing, they were ac-tively directing it—they were complicit."So, he determined to blow the whistle.

The author distinguishes between

Edward Snowden bookFrom Page 5


leakedand whistleblowers. Leakers, in hisopinion are out for "self-interest or in pursuitof institutional or political aims." Snowdenis not that, as his multi-year odyssey makesclear.Resolving on his course of action, he

closed out as much as he could of his lifeand sought out Poitras and Greenwald. Hisdisappearance and contact in Hong Kongwith the two was cloak and daggerish.Scary, however is the only way to describethe risks he took to get the files out withoutgetting caught.One of the odds and ends he could not

clear up was with his girlfriend. LindsayMills and he had been sharing homesthrough all his moves for his work for years.Then one day, he is gone without a trace.Needless to say, though she was aware of his

thoughts on the omnipresent surveillanceregime, Lindsay could not have beenamused.Though nothing worked out, in a way it

did. He had no desire to end up in Moscow,but it has been a safe haven. Lindsay re-united with him and they are two yearsmarried now. He was awarded the GermanWhistleblower prize and has become presi-dent of the board of the Freedom of the PressFoundation.The USA Freedom Act was passed at least

partly in recognition of abuses that Snow-den revealed. That the government erreddoes not mean Edward can come home inthe near future or probably the far future forthat matter. In the long run, will it meananything for us, for whom he sacrificed somuch? n

“We are humbled to be recognized by thepublic for our work,” says CEO Sheryl Blan-cato. “I am so proud of all we have accom-plished. We have the most dedicated andpassionate team of volunteers and staff. Forover 20 years we’ve been improving thelives of pets in Massachusetts. This yearalone, we will help over 40,000 pets.”Second Chance began as a small, volun-

teer animal shelter in 1999 and has growninto a dynamic animal welfare organiza-tion that includes three full-service Com-munity Veterinary Hospitals in NorthBrookfield, Worcester and Springfieldwhere they offer a wide range of care in-cluding routine wellness, care for chronicmedical conditions and lifesaving surger-ies. These hospitals are open to all andoffer subsidized rates for qualified house-holds to help keep pets in their homeswhenever possible.Second Chance has won the Best Pet

Services title every year since the contest’sinception. This is the third year they’vebeen named Best Veterinarian and the sec-ond nod for Best Nonprofit. The organiza-tion’s Halloween Barktacular fundraiserwas a finalist in two categories this year.Contest organizers report that over288,000 votes were cast in this year’s con-test. Second Chance is a nationally recog-

nized organization that provides innova-tive programs and services to helpanimals. They are on track to help over40,000 pets this year through adoption,low cost spay/neuter, veterinary care,community outreach, educational pro-grams, training, a pet food pantry, andother services.

Second Chance Animal Services volun-teers and staff are taking a moment tocelebrate after winning three titles at the Bestof Central Mass awards ceremony at theDCU Center in Worcester last night. The or-ganization once again garnered top honorsin the Best Veterinarian, Best Nonprofit andthe Best Pet Services categories of the annualawards sponsored by the Telegram & Gazette.

From Page 7

Snowden book

Second Chance awarded three top honors in Best of Central Mass.


Gateway Players Theatre, Inc. will kickoff Season 45 with auditions for "Bare-

foot in the Park", by Neil Simon, on Dec 11and 12, at .6:30 p.m inside Elm Street Con-gregational Church, Fellowship Hall at 61Park Street in Southbridge. There are parts for men and women, ages

18-plus. The show will be presented to thepublic in February 2020. Show management includes: Mary Gaha-

gan as Director, Barbara Day as Producerand Erin Morin as Stage Manager. Auditionsconsist of cold readings from the script.

Synopsis: Paul and Corie Bratter are new-lyweds in every sense of the word. After asix day honeymoon, they get a surprise visitfrom Corie's loopy mother and decide toplay matchmaker during a dinner with theirneighbor-in-the-attic Velasco, where every-thing that can go wrong, does. Charactersinclude the newlywed couple, mother,neighbor and repairman.This production is presented with permis-

sion of Samuel French Inc. Gateway Playerswas located at the Arts Barn of Ruth WellsCenter for the Arts, until structural damagerequired a change in venue. The group hasrelocated to the Elm Street CongregationalChurch. Auditions are open to all and newmembers are always welcome.

Wings of Song—formerly theQuinebaug Valley Singers—inaugu-

rates its new name with a program of Amer-ican Christmas favorites from colonial timesto the present. The chorus’s concerts willtake place on Saturday, December 7 at 7:30at St. Joachim Chapel, St. Anne/St. PatrickParish, Fiskdale (Sturbridge), just up fromwhere routes 20 and 148 meet; and on Sun-day, December 8 at 3:00 pm at Elm StreetCongregational Church, just outside thecenter of Southbridge. A freewill offering will be collected at

both concerts; and, as always, the music willbe followed by tons of yummy refresh-

ments. Both venues are handicap accessible.The program will feature a variety of

Christmas music — from 18th-century “fug-ing tune” settings of “While shepherdswatched their flocks by night” to the origi-nal version of “Jingle Bells” For more information on the concerts, or

on joining Wings of Song (note that a specialprogram about climate change, with projec-tions, readings, and rock-band accompani-ment, is planned for Spring 2020), contactNym Cooke or WoS President KT Therrien(Nym is at [email protected] or 978 7243438; KT is at [email protected] or 508 4108575).

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By Elisa Krochmalnyckyj A different snow-clearing strategy that

aims at cleaner roads this winter is on tap forSturbridge.“It uses different technology, where we

focus on pre-treating and on calibrating ourmachinery very carefully to use just the rightamount of salt,” said Butch Jackson, the newdirector of the town’s Department of PublicWorks, who learned of the strategy at his

previous job and wants to implement it inSturbridge.The new strategy is win-win — or more

like win-win-win-win.“It uses the absolute minimal salt, which

is good for the environment and good forthe budget, plus we get out ahead of thestorm so everything is clearer faster, whichis good for drivers,” he said. “And it’s goodfor our guys, because they all went to ‘snow

and ice school’ to learn this technology, andthey’re thrilled to use it. And they get homeearlier!”That, combined with the town’s two ad-

ditional plow trucks and the usual help fromoutside contractors hired during storms,Jackson expects it to be easier to keep theroads clear and safe this year.There are several components to the new

strategy: no more sand, a more effective useof salt, and getting out ahead of the storm.“In the training we took, they talk about

pre-treating,” Jackson said. “In the past, thecrews weren’t called in until the snow beganbefore they started plowing and puttingdown salt and sand.”Now, the trucks will head out two or three

Clearer roadsmay be aheadfor Sturbridgethis winter

l New technology with minimal-salt strategy promises to improve road-clearing performance on our roads. Of course, the proof will be found when the rubber hits the road.


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hours before the storm and lightly salt theroads then. “That does two things: it keeps the snow

from sticking initially, and serves as a bond-breaker so we don’t get hard-packed ice,”Jackson said. “Then, if it’s a four- or five-hour storm, we go over it lightly with salt inthe middle of the storm, and again towardthe end.”Jackson said the system ends up using

less salt but leaves roads clearer and safer.“I don’t want people to think that because

we’re not using as much salt, the roads willbe slippery,” he said. “This avoids the hard-packed ice that is formed when you don’tput salt down ahead of the storm. It takestwo or three times more salt to get rid of thatice than it does to prevent it.”The town will continue to provide salt

and sand piles outside of the DPW buildingon the New Boston Road extension.“It’s for resident use,” Jackson said.

“There’s a pile of just sand, and a pile of salt-and-sand mix. We provide the shovels, butnot the buckets.”

Got Shovels?

In a Tom-Sawyer-ish move, Fire ChiefJohn Grasso Jr. has found a way to getkids to shovel out the fire hydrants aftersnowstorms: giving one of them a ride toschool in a firetruck.“What generally happens when snow

starts to pile up is we lose the hydrants,”Grasso said, adding that about half thetown is equipped with fire hydrants.While the department has GPS technol-

ogy to locate every hydrant, it still takestime to shovel it clean and hook up to it.“When you have snow and it freezes

then it snows again and freezes again, it’sa big block of ice,” Grasso said. “There’sno two ways about it, it’s going to take ustime to chip through that ice.”So last year, the deal Grasso made was

that any kid who posted a picture onFacebook of him or herself in front of ahydrant they had shoveled out would beentered into a contest at the end of eachstorm.

Each winner, picked at random, wasdriven to school in a firetruck.The kids loved it, especially because

they got to bring two other people in thetruck with them, Grasso said.The sameoffer will stand this winter.“Hopefully we get some snow!” he

said. — Elisa KrochmalnyckyjPage26


By Elisa Krochmalnyckyj The bountiful food, gifts and other holiday

essentials collected at Burgess ElementarySchool every year do more than give a boost todozens of school families. They fill the hearts

of those who are doing the giving.“I makes me realize how lucky I am to

have landed at Burgess,” said school nurseLisa Meunier, who organizes the collection.“Burgess is just a microcosm of the Stur-

bridge community. People care somuch. I have seen support, but never tothis level.”

Burgess Elementary SchoolBurgess will be taking care of 48 fam-

ilies — all of whom have children atBurgess — through the holidays.“We’re looking at 250 people,” Meu-

nier said. “That’s the most we ever had.Last year we had 36, which is our usualnumber.”Throughout the fall, staff look out for

things that may indicate a student’sfamily could use a little love and care.“We work so closely with our chil-

dren, and sometimes we pick up on lit-tle things that may show a student’sfamily may be struggling,” Meuniersaid. “The families change, and the rea-sons change, but what doesn’t changeis how it makes them feel when theysee how much everyone cares aboutthem.”There’s a village making it happen.

That includes the major organizationsthat give the Thanksgiving and Christ-mas meals — and dozens of othergroups, families, students, teachers andstaff members who donate, whether itbe a can of food, pair of gloves, orchild’s Christmas gift.“It takes a lot of people putting

things together,” she said. “One mombrings wrapping paper. Every year, sheasks how many I need, and she bringsit to me.”Among the most meaningful sup-

porters are those who were once recip-ients. That’s what really chokesMeunier up.“One year one mom brought me a

book to add to a family’s presents,” shesaid. “It meant so much. So sweet.”

At Burgess Elementary School and Tantasqua Middle School

Students, community share the joys of giving and receiving


Those donations also reach down intoPrincipal Kathleen Pelley’s heart.“These parents who were recipients in the

past are calling Lisa, asking if they can giveback — that’s just beautiful,” Pelley said,adding that while the holiday collections isone of the most satisfying parts of her job, thecredit is all Meunier’s.Meunier shakes off accolades.“I am the lucky one,” she said. “I’m lucky

when I get to see them come to pick up theboxes — boxes and boxes — and when I getto give the thank-you cards they send to thepeople who contributed.”Another woman who came to contribute

was the mother of a family once on the re-ceiving end of the giving, which was a tem-porary situation, as many are. She went tothe school to ask for a family to “adopt” forthe holidays.“She said ‘my daughter has been nagging

me, and will continue to nag me unless I

adopt a family!’” Meunier said, adding thatthe daughter is now in high school.“Adopting” a family is one of the ways to

give, which means the person adopting,often a staff member, provides everythingbut the Thanksgiving and Christmas din-ners. They provide the gifts and clothes forthe children, and additional food — all with-out knowing which family they are helping.“All they know are the family members

sizes, and if they’re a boy a girl,” Meuniersaid. “I have my regulars who adopt everyyear, but every year, it is a little different.”Big help comes from some of the commu-

nity’s larger organizations. The Tri-Commu-nity Church Collaborative, and Rotary andExchange clubs, through the St. John Paul IIfood bank in Southbridge, deliver Thanks-giving and Christmas dinners for all 48 fam-ilies.Burgess supplements that with all of the

food gathered in the classroom collections, aswell as donations from Burgess families,

Next page


From previous page

staff, retired staff, local stores and businesses,sororities, Town Hall employees, Rotary andExchange Club members, the TantasquaHigh School Student Council, SturbridgeSenior Center and many other friends ofBurgess who call every year to see what theycan give.And every year, Pelley, whose only com-

ments during the conversation were mur-murs of “beautiful” and “just amazing,” isoverwhelmed by the generosity.As is Meunier.“People in this town care so much,” Meu-

nier said. “The families change, but whatdoesn’t change is this town is amazing.”

Tantasqua Junior High SchoolThe holiday giving at Tantasqua Junior

High School starts with a Thanksgiving“food war” between the 7th and 8th grades,and ends with enough donations for foodand gift baskets to carry 30 TJHS familiesright through the new year.

“It’s so rewarding, especially when yousee the kids’ involvement, and when you seethe teachers coming in and writing checks —it’s just amazing,” said Kayla Korch, whohelps run the collection of things from foodand presents to gift cards and even schoolsweatshirts.

The food collection starts with a “FoodWar” between the 7th and 8th graders, witha point system that tracks donations andgives in-demand items — things for Thanks-giving baskets — extra points. Whichevergrade gets the most points is treated to an ice-cream social.“It starts out as a competition, but as it

goes on, the kids start realizing that a lot ofthe stuff they are bringing is helping kidswho don’t have enough food at home,”Korch said.The food collected for the Thanksgiving

and Christmas dinners, as well as the pres-ents, clothing, gift cards and just about every-thing else collected for gift baskets, is farmore than Korch ever imagined when shewas first hired as a guidance counselor atTJHS. It is shared between various recipients.Some items are destined for the Worcester

Public Schools Backpack Program, and therest given to local food pantries and toy col-lections within the district’s five towns.

Burgess and Tantasqua Jr. High giving

7

Page 16

The TJHS Student Council, along with staff members,

did some fundraisers last year, and with that money, bought hats, mittens and sweatshirts.


First, though, the school setsaside what is needed to fill thebaskets it makes for the school’sown families who find them-selves in need of a helpinghand. This year the school willbe supplying 30 families witheverything it can think of tomake the holidays complete.“A lot of things go home in

those baskets,” Korch said. “Wegive them to the parents, so theparents can decide whether togive them as their own gifts.”No matter how many baskets

the school has been asked tomake, there are always plentyof donations to do far morethan ex“Micknuck’s donates allof the fresh produce — they’vedone that for years — we getgift cards from Walmart and ahuge discount from Shaw’swhen we go to buy theturkeys,” Korch said. “So manypeople and places help us.”Some groups or people give

cash, which can always be putto good use.“We had someone donate

money, and we went andbought 30 pairs of gloves for the

kids,” Korch said.The TJHS Student Council,

along with staff members, didsome fundraisers last year, andwith that money, bought hats,mittens and sweatshirts.“It’s stuff from our school

store,” Korch said. “It’s the samesweatshirts our staff is wearing,and all the kids are wearing, soyou don’t know that it’s from thegift baskets.”The school also makes it a

point to add some food to thebaskets that would be usefulwhile the kids are home on thetwo-week winter vacation.“We put together snacks and

easy kid-friendly meals that fam-ilies can use,” Korch said.One of things that makes or-

ganizing the holiday collectionsso worthwhile is being able to de-liver the baskets.“I did home visits and brought

the baskets to families whoweren’t able to make it to theschool,” Korch said. “It’s reallyamazing to be able to do that.Amazing.”n

From Page 14

School giving


By Elisa Krochmalnyckyj What’s the best way to get the kids out-

side with you, and have them love it?Take them to the “Winter Tree Scavenger

Hunt” at Heins Farm, where they can trackdown any of a dozen decorated trees, take aselfie with the tree, and post it on the town’sFacebook page — or, as organizers put it,“Find it! Snap it! Post it!”“It is the most awesome thing,” said

Leslie Wong, who helps plan the hunt andhas hiked it many times with her daughters.“I always look at it as a great way to get out-side with your kids, and it’s free — a freefamily adventure.” Leisurely walkers or hard-core hikers

with or without kids, can walk the HeinsFarm trails, and search for the whimsicaltrees decorated by various families, clubs,

businesses, groups and almost every towndepartment.Those ages 12 and under can take a selfie

next to a tree, and submit it along with aguess as to which department, organizationor business decorated the tree for a chanceat the grand prize.Spotting the decorations are always fun,

said David Barnicle, who was — and still is— the Conservation Commission’s liaisonto the Trails Committee and along withWong, organized the first Scavenger Hunt.“One year the Lions Club put eyeglasses

all over a Christmas tree,” he said. “The po-lice Department put badges all over theirs— each group decorates however they feel.”It is fun, said Melody Joy Paine, who goes

every year with her children, who are now5, 2 and 6 months old.

“What’s nice about it is you don’t have toput effort or time into it for it to be great,”she said. “It’s a simple thing that we canlook forward to doing with the kids.”Paine goes to help decorate the MOMS

Club of Sturbridge tree, and walks the trailafterward.“We usually are only doing the small little

loop,” she said. “As they get older, we’ll domore, but we usually end up carrying chil-dren the whole way, so we don’t last verylong.”The decorated trees are spread out

through the trails, which are all mapped outin the guide available online, at the HeinsFarm Kiosk on Leadmine Road, and at theConservation Department, which sponsorsthe Scavenger Hunt.

Get on the trail and ‘Find it!, Snap it!, Post It’ at Heins FarmFind the decorated trees during the annual ‘Winter Tree Scavenger Hunt’


r MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL s

BY RICHARD MORCHOE

SMARTEST GUY IN THE ROOM

LEGALBRIEF

M O N T H L Y L E G A L A D V I C E

F O R R E A D E R S O F

T H E S T U R B R I D G E T I M E S M A G A Z I N E

STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY

ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.

Our official Think Tank, The Long HillInstitute for Educational Integrity has

come to the conclusion that much of theAmerican school system has, as an over-used, but apt phrase has it, "jumped theshark." The Institute spent only a short time in-

vestigating the problems of the day toopine as they did. Merely watching the in-quiry put on by Congressman Schiff's com-mittee sufficed to allow a verdict ofbankrupt on the upper levels of the intel-lectual establishment.This is not to be taken as a blanket con-

demnation of every institution in the land.Vocational schools still seem to be doingthe job so you need not worry about yourair conditioning going on the blink in sum-mer or leaky plumbing at any time of year.This is, of course, of far more import to thecitizenry, as it should be, than some func-tionary telling us how important he is in ahearing roomColleges specializing in STEM subjects

(Science, Technology, Engineering andMath) seem to be chugging along wellenough. It is oft said that our infrastructureis old and needs repair, but when thetechies get around to fixing a bridge, we

Distributing your property after you die, aprocess called probate, can take years and coststhousands of dollars. The trick to avoiding it is todistribute all your stuff before you die, while keep-ing it at the same time. It’s easier than it sounds: You create and control

the entity that you give your stuff to. A living, orrevocable, trust is about 10-pages long, has its ownsocial security number - called an EIN number - andonly does two things while you’re alive.First, it owns property. You’ll deed your house to

the trust. You’ll transfer your bank count into an ac-count owned by the trust. You’ll distribute to thetrust just about anything that would end up in yourname when you die.Secondly, while you’re still alive the trust does

whatever you tell it to do. Tell it to give me back myhouse and it gives it back. Sell it, and it sells it. Casha check and, presto, it’s cashed. Once it’s set up andrunning, you control your property just as you didbefore you put it in the trust.Here’s the tricky part. Because you generally

only have to probate property owned in your namealone, everything you put in the trust simply goesto the beneficiaries you named in the trust. If you’remarried, it would go the beneficiaries after the youboth die.The trust also allows you to put conditions on

how and when your beneficiaries will get the prop-erty. For instance, no one gets it until they turn 23,or finish college.The downside is that a trust costs more money

than a will. It’s still a lot cheaper than going to pro-bate. Then again, you’ll be dead when that billcomes due.

can be relatively confident it won't col-lapse under us. Granted, Boeing is hav-ing a few problems keeping some of itsaircraft from falling out of the sky, but let'shope that is an aberration.No, the problem is with the people

who believe that they are better than usand are willing to tell us so. Most of thetime, they work behind the scenes, butsometimes they come before the camerasand hold forth and say what is expectedand those who can stand to be bored willhear the wisdom of the anointed.Case in point is Mr. George Kent.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State forEuropean and Eurasian Affairs. Mr. Kentcame before Congress because theywanted to get to the bottom of whether ornot the president had done somethingwrong. How much light was shone onthat is hard to say, but that did not stopGeorge from saying a lot about himselfand foreign policy.The Deputy Assistant Secretary began

his testimony with an overlong paean tohis ancestors and how they had servedtheir country in wartime and one hadeven known a hall of fame football quar-terback. Conspicuously, one of the family

Living Trust


was not on the list of military men,but that might have been out of mod-esty.After that, he went on to speak of

all that is going on in the Ukraine tobring about a beautiful democraticfuture and how the American nation,though its policy and representatives,is working to bring it about.Indeed, he equates the struggle of

that nation to the men of Lexingtonand Concord: "They were the 21stcentury Ukrainian equivalent of ourown Minutemen in 1776, buyingtime for the regular army to reconsti-tute."Is this so? There might be a few qualitative

differences in the men who left theirfarms on that April day to confrontthe Redcoats and the Ukes. For ex-ample, it is not likely that our citizensoldiers carried Nazi symbols intobattle, something Mr. Kent must havefelt not worth mentioning.The Azov militia flies the Wolfsan-

gel neo-Nazi banner and espousesthat philosophy. Now, in all proba-bility, somewhere in the deep re-cesses of his memory, Mr. Kent isaware of the fact that there is oneheck of a lot of fascist leaning folkssupporting the Ukrainian war effort.If he claims to not be aware of this,there might be some slight prevarica-tion going on, as the Neo-Nazis havenot been shy about where they arecoming from. The only other conclu-sion is Kent is kind of an unawareguy.This is hardly the only place Mr.

Kent is doing some overselling. Hetells us that, "Ukraine’s popular Rev-olution of Dignity in 2014 forced acorrupt pro-Russian leadership toflee to Moscow." Part of that is true,and some is a little off. PresidentYanukovych was corrupt and not

popular and was overthrown. However, hisgovernment had been duly elected. Not mentioned by George is the hand our

own government had in pushing the "Revo-lution of Dignity." Most notorious was Vic-toria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of Statefor European and Eurasian Affairs. In a Cato 2017 article, "America’s Ukraine

Hypocrisy," Ted Galen Carpenter wroteabout her machinations with the Ambassa-dor Pyatt as they were deciding who wouldrun Ukraine:"Nuland and Pyatt were engaged in such

planning at a time when Yanukovych wasstill Ukraine’s lawful president. It was star-tling to have diplomatic representatives of aforeign country—and a country that rou-tinely touts the need to respect democraticprocesses and the sovereignty of other na-tions—to be scheming about removing anelected government and replacing it with of-

ficials meriting U.S. approval." Lots of dignity in that revolution, eh

George? It is beyond belief that he did notknow of all this if he was working at State.Assuming that he was at all awake.Where The Deputy Assistant Secretary of

State for European and Eurasian Affairs re-ally goes over the cliff, he does so with therest of the foreign policy establishment lem-mings. According to George, "The UnitedStates has clear national interests at stake inUkraine. Ukraine’s success is very much inour national interest, in the way we have de-fined our national interests broadly in Eu-rope for the past 75 years." As used above, "broadly" is the operative

word as in a bit of a stretch. Everyone in gov-ernment seems to be asserting our nationalsecurity depends on Ukraine. No one asksthe question, why?


By Tom ChamberlandAssociate Member, Sturbridge Trail Committee The Year in ReviewAS WE WIND DOWN ON 2019, TIME FOR A QUICK REVIEW OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TRAIL COMMITTEE ALONG WITH THEFRIENDS OF STURBRIDGE TRAILS (FROST), IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION. 2019 HAS BEEN A

VERY BUSY AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR IN MOVING FORWARD ON BUILDING TRAILS AND MEETING THE GOALS OF THE TRAILS MASTER PLAN. HERE ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

GRAND TRUNK TRAILProgress on the TEAgrant continues, withMASSDOT signing a design/build agreementthe Eastern FederalLands Highway Division,located in Virginia. Wehave a signed agree-ment with engineeringwork resuming, and bythis time next year,hopefully, constructionwill be starting.

RIVERLANDSThanks to a DCR Grant,work can now start on a3500-foot section of theGrand Trunk trail andthe main parking lot tobe located at 52 StallionHill Rd.

HEINS FARMADA grade adjustmentsusing the fine hardpacked gravel weremade to the Pond Looptrail, otherwise trailwork now consists ofthe twice a year trailmowing and routine inspections and maintenance.

LEADMINEWith the dam removalproject completed sections of the CampRobison Crusoe, Mor-gan and Arbutus Parktrails had the final finegravel surface applied,with a few hundred feetmore remaining to beaccomplished next year.The trail committeecompleted work on theMt Laurel trail, now fully restored from the 2011tornado.

PLIMPTON FORESTWork on the trails continued thru the yearand are currently undergoing environ-mental reviews.

THE FRIENDS OF STURBRIDGE TRAILS (FROST)The Friends of Sturbridge Trails: FROST, a group of in-

terested area residents, focusing on supporting our trails,will hold its 6th annual meeting on Wednesday Jan 15,2020, 7 PM, warmly hosted by the Public House. Thefriends group continues to grow and true to its purpose, ishelping the Trail Comm maximize its volunteer effort andin promoting events on our open space lands. Their mostrecent project was a donation of $500 to the town’s TrailCommittee to purchase several much-needed trail tools.In addition to their annual meeting on Jan 15th, their nexthike event will be a First Day Hike, on Wednesday, Jan 1,2020 at 1 PM. Meeting at the 10 OSV Rd. Parking lot. Theirdues start at just $10/year. Please consider joining themand supporting our trail efforts.FROST Facebook Page: One can also keep up to date

on events and current news and trail programs by liking uson Facebook: https://www.facebook.com /Friends-of-Stur-bridge-TrailsSturbridge Trails Websitehttp://www.sturbridgetrails.org/index.html. The site is

being maintained by volunteers, please bookmark this ad-dress and visit it often, up to date trail maps, a selection ofthese Sturbridge Times articles, a calendar of events andmore to keep up to date on what’s happening with the TrailCommittee and FrOST!

HUNTING SEASON NOTICEDeer hunting season by Archery opened in November,and shotgun season starts December 2nd thru the 14th,followed by black powder season, thru the end of De-cember. Wearing a blaze orange hat, vest, or pack coveris strongly recommended. Also, if hunters are in the area,call out "Hikers on the trail!" to let them know that it's aperson rustling down the trail, not wildlife. If you like totake your dog along on these walks, keep them on ashort leash (NOTE: Required on all open space property!)and dress them in Orange too! Remember hunters havejust as much right to be on our open space lands as you!And they are a part of our State’s overall wildlife manage-ment plan in controlling various wildlife populationswhich benefit us all. Although hunting is not allowed onthe Heins Farm lands, adjacent property is open tohunters, so they may be walking thru this property too.Hunting is not permitted on Sundays.


For the tenth consecutive year the Stur-bridge Conservation Commission is sponsor-ing its winter tree scavenger hunt on theHeins Farm Conservation Lands. The objectof the hunt is to find all the decorated treesand take your photo with each tree and emailall photos to the Conservation Commissionbetween Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.Submit photos with the decorated trees tothe Conservation Commission which then willbe entered in a drawing for the GRANDPrize. All participants (teams or individuals)will receive a certificate of participation. Allthe decorated trees will be located on theHeins Farm Conservation Land trail system,located at 197 Leadmine Rd. All the trails areuniversally accessible, well-marked and aneasy walk for families, grandparents andstrollers.

This is a great event to highlight one of ourbeautiful open spaces in Town, as it is anevent that is family friendly, easy trails thateveryone can enjoy at their own pace. It is afun and unique way to promote the town;you get some good exercise, as well as pro-viding an opportunity for our children to getoutside and learn a bit about the outdoors.

Have a great outdoors holiday season!

Tom Chamberland is a retired Park Rangerwith over 18 years’ experience in trails andtrail development. He is certified in UniversalTrail Assessment, an associate member of theSturbridge Trail Committee, and a member ofthe State of Massachusetts Recreational TrailsAdvisory Board. Email your trail questions toTom at [email protected]

Winter TreeScavenger

Hunt


YARDWORKSBy Tom Chamberland, ISA/TRAQ Caring for what grows in your yard

As part of the upcoming holiday season,many people are using “native” or “natural”plant material to decorate their homes or busi-nesses. Here are a few suggestions on plantsto avoid.

The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife(Mass Wildlife) recommends avoid-

ing the use of certain exotic, invasiveplants such as Oriental bittersweet(Celastrus orbiculatus) and multiflorarose (Rosa multiflora) in holiday decora-tions. Though these plants are attractive,it is best not to use them. Birds eat andcarry away the fruits from wreaths andgarlands and the digested but still-viableseeds sprout where deposited. Exotic, in-vasive plants create severe environmen-tal damage, invading open fields, forests,wetlands, meadows, and backyards, andcrowding out native plants. Bittersweetcan even kill mature trees through stran-gling. Both plants are extremely difficultto control once established: when cut off,the remaining plant segment in theground will re-sprout. Both plants arereadily available, growing wild along ourroad sides and in recently abandonedfields. Bittersweet has those bright or-ange/yellow and red berries, multiflorarose, once you get by the thorns have nicegroups of red berries. Another invasive plant growing lo-

cally is the Autumn Olive, Elaeagnusumbellate, a rapid growing shrub, withgreen/silvery leaves and red berries. Atthis time of year, I routinely see folksstopping along the side of the road totake cuttings of this plant for decorations,only, I’m sure, to be disappointed whenthey see the berries quickly drop off. Theberries on the Autumn Olive plant lookvery similar to our native winter berry,and excellent winter wildlife food plant.

And you have now spread that plant whenyou do not properly dispose of thoseberries!It is illegal to import or sell Bittersweet,

Autumn Olive and Multiflora Rose in anyform (plants or cuttings) in the state ofMassachusetts. However just this past Oc-tober I observed a vendor at a local craftfair selling bittersweet wreaths! More ed-ucation and effort still needs to be done to“get the word out” on these problemplants.An excellent book to learn more about

invasive plants is the Mass Wildlife’sGuide To Invasive Plants, authored byDFW's former State Botanist Paul Somers,Rachel Kramer, and Karen Lombard of TheNature Conservancy and Bill Brumback ofthe New England Wild Flower Society. Inthe Guide, each invasive plant descriptionincludes a photograph, the plant's regula-tory status, key identification characteris-tics, habitats where the plant is likely to befound, type of threat the plant poses to na-tive species and habitats, and its currentdistribution and place of origin. Similarplant species are also briefly described toaid in plant identification. The Guide in-cludes definitions of three categories of in-vasiveness, brief explanations of howinvasive plants are introduced and spread,why invasives are a problem, how to learnmore about controlling invasive plants,and the state agricultural regulations re-garding their importation, sale and propa-gation. Useful invasive plant websites arealso referenced. The Guide is $5 a copy. Topurchase a guide from MassWildlife, senda request to “Invasive Plant Guide,” Mass-Wildlife Field HQ, NHESP, 1 Rabbit HillRd, Westborough, MA, 01581, and includea check payable to: Comm. of Mass.--NHESP. Sorry, but credit cards are not ac-

cepted. For more information from DFW about

invasive plants, visit www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/conservation/invasives/invasive_species.htm Or visit the New England Wild Flower

Society website at http://www.newfs.org/protect/invasive-plants.And a few words on “Princes Pine”The princess pine, (Lycopodium obscu-

rum) or as some would call them “miniChristmas trees” is among a group ofplants known as lycopodiums, an ancientplant, dating from the Paleozoic era about340 million years ago.The princess pine's growth itself is prim-

itive; it is dichotomous, meaning it doesnot have a single stem as such, but forksinto equal divisions as it grows. Like ferns,club mosses reproduce with spores, tinyorganisms that once had a variety of uses.Because they ignite with a flash, for exam-ple, they were used for firecrackers. Ly-copodiums grow -- slowly -- along a rootthat may be above or below ground, run-ning horizontally. In many varieties, theplant will send up an evergreen shootevery foot or so. It is these shoots that arepicked -- though often the whole plant ispulled from the ground, wiping out yearsof growth. I have been told a single 12”wreath can represent 10 or 20 years ofgrowth of Princes Pine. Also, ripping therootstock from the ground can kill theplant outright. Let’s avoid picking PrincessPine, and instead leaving it and admiringits ancient heritage.For more information on Princess Pine

visit: http://www.seashoreto forestfloor.com/princess-pine-lycopodium-obscu-rum/There are so many other plants that can

be used for Christmas greens and color,

Invasives to avoid


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Morchoe columnFrom Page 19

What answer could they give? Would itbe that the US would collapse if Ukrainecame under Russian domination? When theRussians take Kiev, obviously, the next movewould be to take the tank army to the At-lantic, embark it on the fleet and invade theUS mainland. Even George doesn't believethat, at least we should hope.There are all kinds of reasons that are

given to make Russia the bogeyman. TheRussian takeover of Crimea is always seen asan evil act, but there are two sides to that.The Crimean population is mostly Russiaand the peninsula had been Russian for cen-turies, and only transferred to Ukraine in1954. Does it matter to us? Can't we just ignore

the Ukraine?Yes and no. In the discussions before the

committee by functionaries and solons, oneaspect has been left out. That is that in all thevilification of the Russkies, no one pointedout, they are a nuclear power. In his book, War with Russia, Professor

Stephen F. Cohen makes the case that we arein danger of an accidental nuclear engage-ment due to our continuing confrontation.Maybe attempting conciliation is a wisercourse. No one in Schiff’s hearing room gavethought to that.Finally, let us finish with the distinguished

Mr. Kent. In his opening remarks, he madethe analogy that our help for Ukraine wassimilar to the aid given to "Washington'sArmy and Admiral John Paul Jones' navy."The analogy itself is thin, but he made a

historical error that is more than a little em-barrassing. It would be understandable ifcommitted by a high school student, but ismost egregious by a man with three diplo-

mas.John Paul Jones was never an admiral in

the US Navy. That rank did not exist in ourservice until the Civil War. Though Joneswas the most famous officer and a brilliantsailor, it was not his navy.Jones, however, did become an admiral

but in someone else's navy. Empress Cather-ine the Great gave him that rank to serve Im-perial Russia. Ironic that, given Mr. Kent'sbloviating. Worse, Catherine was the sover-eign that first annexed Crimea to Russia.Members of our aforementioned official

think tank, the Long Hill Institute for Aca-demic Integrity have, as an act of mercy, de-cided not to contact Harvard, where Kentreceived his bachelors in Russian History &Literature. They wish to spare the man andthe institution any further mortification, buthint that they may not be as kind in the fu-ture if such degree holders are unleashed on

like Hemlocks, spruces, Mt Laurel, WinterBerry, Box wood and Arborvitae, acorns,pinecones ... those plants that are commer-cially raised or very native. Over the years wehave learned many a “hard lesson” from in-troductions of non-native plants in our land-scape, now each one of us who cares for ayard must take on the responsibility in con-

trolling and eliminating these past mistakes.If you routinely like to make decorations outof native plant material consider plantingthose plants in your yards, then all you haveto do a go outside and harvest at this time ofyear, and what you do not harvest may pro-vide good food for wildlife through the win-ter. To all I wish a very Happy Holiday Season

and a Merry Christmas!

Tom Chamberland is the retired Tree Wardenfor the Town of Sturbridge and a Certified Ar-borist. He enjoys caring for plants that grow in hisyard and welcomes reader suggestions for futurearticles. Email him at: [email protected]

YardWorksFrom adjacent page

greater sturbridge’s fitness expert

By Julie GerrishPERSONAL TRAINERJULIE GERRISH FITNESS, STURBRIDGE

HEALTH&FITNESS

Find the perfect gift in every price rangefor the fitness junkie on your list!

Under $25Lo Rox Aligned Life Mini Infinity Roll, $14.95,

optp.com. This mini foam roller is great formassaging spots like the thoracic spine,neck, feet, and shoulders, or wherever youneed to loosen up. Its small size canget into some of those tight spotsbetter than a larger foam roller,and also makes it ideal fortravel. Leggings: It is definitely a

challenge to find workout leg-gings under $25 that are goodquality. The 90 Degree By ReflexWomens Power Flex Yoga Pants ($24.99,amazon.com) fit the bill, with an opaquefabric that doesn’t stretch out after a fewwashes, a high waist that doesn’t fall down,and 36 different color/pattern options.

Under $50S’well Water Bottle: This bottle, while

pricey, looks great and keeps beveragescold for up to 24 hours and hot for up to 12.It is also great for the environment, andstaying hydrated is good for everyone!About $35 for a 17 oz. bottle, swellbottle.com.ThighMaster: The original Suzanne

Somers Thigh Master is still available andpromises to get you “rock hard thighs,”$54.99,suzannesomers.comLeggings: Aerie Play Shine High Waisted

Leggings come in either short or longlengths which is hard to find in a lowerpriced legging, and the high shine is defi-nitely in style right now. They also have

other styles with large pockets, aplus for runners who want to bring theircell phone with them. As I write this, allstyles are on sale for $35! (aerie.com)

Under $100A reflective vest is a thoughtful gift for the

runner in your life. Noxgear offers a wrap-around reflective garment that lights fromthe front and back with a battery pack.$69.95, noxgear.com. Leggings: This price point offers more

styles and different fabric options. I like theAthleta Ultra High Rise Elation Tight,$89.00, athleta.com or Lululemon’s AlignPant, $98, shop.lululemon.com.

Any AmountA gift certificate to your loved one is al-

ways a great gift, and I am hoping to getsome to my favorite fitness clothing storesthis year (hint hint if anyone in my family

is reading this!). Virtually any store or fit-ness studio/gym offers gift certificates inany denomination. I sell a lot of these at mystudio this time of year.

The Sky’s The LimitHealthy Meal delivery: Sakara delivers

healthy, pre-made meals using ingredientsfrom sustainable, organic farms. Five daysof breakfast, lunch and dinner deliverieswill set you back $239/week. The menuoptions feature such meals as theSakara Earth Bowl, which containshemp, avocado, sprouts, radishes,quinoa, lentils and mustard sesamedressing and the Sakara SuperfoodMac and “cheeze” which is creamy car-

rot cheese, chickpeas and baby watercress.sakara.com

The Mirror home workout system, $1495,mirror.co. This home workout systemcomes with a full length mirror-size moni-tor that goes on your wall and streams a va-riety of live and on-demand workouts. Youcan also connect with other participants,and the package comes with a Bluetoothheart rate monitor. The price: $1,495 plus$39/month subscription.

Peloton: The Peloton home workout sys-tem offers either a bike or treadmill plus on-line live or pre-recorded fitness classes youcan do by yourself or with an online groupwhen you purchase the equipment and theapp. The bike packages run from $2,245 to$2,694.00 and the treadmill packages costbetween $4,295 and $4,844. The monthlymembership are $39 each, onepeloton.comThe holidays are right around the corner!

What better gift to give a loved one than thegift of fitness?

Fitness Holiday Gift Guide: What to Give (And Get)



Heins Farm Scavenger HuntFrom Page 17What’s best about it is that gives people a

glimpse into Sturbridge’s wealth of trails,Wong said.“It is a good way for everyone to know

where our trails are,” Wong said. “You’d besurprised at how many people don’t knowabout our trails.”That’s exactly why the Heins Farm Scav-

enger Hunt got started, Barnicle said. Wongremembers it well.“I was the trails coordinator at the time,

and Bob Briere came to the ConservationCommittee and brought in a news clippingabout a similar event in another town,”Wong said. “Dave Barnicle looked at it andsaid ‘what do you think?’ and we ran withit.” The timing was perfect, Barnicle said, be-

cause the fact that Heins Farm was a “hiddentreasure” was on his mind.“Right about that time — 12 years ago

now — I was dropping something off at theChamber of Commerce, and while I wasthere, a couple came in and said ‘Where isHeins Farm?’” Barnicle said. “The person atthe Chamber didn’t know, and suggestedthey ask at Town Hall.”But nobody at Town Hall knew where it

was either.“I knew we had to come up with some

way to get people in town to go there,” hesaid. That’s where the decorated-tree Scavenger

Hunt came in.“Leslie said ‘I can get every single one of

the departments in town to do a tree,’ andthat’s how it all started,’” Barnicle said. “Weknew there would be a contest for kids, typ-ically under 12, and they would win some-thing, but we weren’t even sure what itwould be.”As the years went on, the number of peo-

ple who were posting kids’ pictures was stillonly in the dozens, so Barnicle was skepticalwhether the Hunt was meeting its goal ofbringing more people to Heins Farm.“I was at a meeting that was televised, two

or three years ago, and made a comment thatwe really weren’t getting attendance at theScavenger Hunt,” he said. “A few days later,someone came up to me and said ‘I saw youon television. You know you made a big mis-take — my family goes out there all the time,but we just don’t take pictures and sendthem in. A lot of people go!’”In fact, Heins Farm’s popularity has

grown so much, the parking lot needs to beexpanded from 20 spots to 30, Barnicle said.It seemed logical that since the Scavenger

Hunt had fulfilled its mission to draw morepeople to it, the hunt was no longer neces-sary, Barnicle said.“We figured we’d end it, but then we

found out the people who decorated thetrees really liked it — so now we’re doing itfor them!” he said.That’s good, Barnicle said, because the

event is such a great one.“I think it is entertaining for the kids to

have the decorated trees instead of plain oldtrees without any leaves, and it’s a great wayto celebrate the holidays — Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year’s,” he said.The contest ends New Year’s Day. After

that, the people who decorated the trees areasked to take the decorations down.That can be harder than putting the deco-

rations up.“Sometimes they have to go out with

snowshoes,” Barnicle said, and laughed.“But that’s a good way to groom some of thetrails.” n


There are ways residents can make thetown’s job easier, most importantly by keep-ing their cars off of the roads whenever thetown is plowing.“If people would not drive during storms,

when there’s an option, that would be veryhelpful,” Jackson said. “We have to cover 200miles of roadside — 100 miles in each direc-tion — and we try to get it done as fast aspossible.”It is also important for residents not to

park on the street, said Town AdministratorJeff Bridges.“This time of year, there is a parking ban,

and we ask people to be respectful of that,”Bridges said. “If there are things in the wayof our plows, we can’t do our job.”There are no hard-and-fast rules about the

parking ban— the town just asks that peopleuse common sense.“When there is bad weather coming, make

sure that your car is not on the road,” Bridgessaid. “It’s all storm-dependent.”Another important thing residents can do,

Jackson said, is to help plow-drivers by put-ting reflective property markers along theedge of their yards.“If you think you are going to have a problem

with plow damage, putting out property mark-ers is a great thing to do,” he said. “We can’t seewhere the road ends because of the snow.” Having markers in place also helps avoid

having snow-covered mailboxes damagedby plows.Even with property markers, Jackson

knows there are times that plows will dam-age mailboxes. In those cases, the town willtake responsibility for it, Jackson said.“If the mailbox is knocked over because the

plow hits it — not just because the snow is onit — we’ll come out and replace it,” he said.That’s exactly what happened last year,

when the Bellezza family’s mailbox on FiskeHill Road was knocked over by a passingsnowplow. The Bellezzas were pleasantlysurprised that the town was so responsive.“At first there was so much snow we were

able to just kind of stick the mailbox backinto the snow bank,” said Mary Bellezza.

“But eventually, that didn’t work anymore.”Bellezza remembered reading that some-

one else had their mailbox knocked over bya plow, and that the town had been helpful.“So I called the DPW and let them know,”

she said. “They were very nice. They askedmy address, and I told them. That was all.”A couple of days later, a new mailbox had

been installed.“A few days later we came home, the old

mailbox was gone and there was a new onethere, all in the ground and ready to roll,” shesaid.Bellezza still doesn’t know how they got

the mailbox in the ground. “When it first happened, I remember

thinking ‘this time of year the ground is com-pletely frozen — how on earth are we goingto do this?’” Bellezza said. “We were totallyamazed.” n

“If peoplewould notdrive duringstorms, whenthere’s an option, thatwould be veryhelpful.”— Butch Jackson, Director

Sturbridge DPW

From Page 11

Snow removal

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$7,500 AS LOW AS 7.99% APR*

UP TO

F A - L A - L A - L A - L A

CASH IN A JINGLE IS BACKA 3 6 - M O N T H H O L I D A Y L O A N

*APR = Annual Percentage Rate. Offer valid on loans new to SCU. Rates are determined by your personal credit history. Payment based on $7,500.00 for 36 months is $235.04 and nance charge is $961.10. Offer may be withdrawn at any time and rates may change at any time without notice. Rates as low as 7.99% require automatic payments from a Southbridge Credit Union account. The rate for non-automatic payments is 8.24%. In the event of cancellation of automatic payments from SCU account after loan consummation, SCU may increase your loan interest rate by .25% APR. Risk based pricing does apply to this par rate. Membership to SCU requires a one-time interest-earning deposit of $5.00 in a prime share account. Equal Housing Opportunity. Equal Opportunity Employer. Federally insured by NCUA. NMLS #616673.

Let’s talk. 888.599.2265 | southbridgecu.com

SCU IS A SPONSOR OF THE SOUTHBRIDGE COPS ‘N’ KIDS/ LIONS CLUB TOY DRIVE. Please help us bring smiles to the faces of the deserving children in our area this holiday season by donating new, unwrapped, non-violent toys. All our branches are drop off locations.

give smilesbigger

ALL TOYS GO TO LOCAL KIDS.

We’ve got you.

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