Brief thoughts on some of the events making news in Franklin County and the North Quabbin area:
It was heartening to see a young millennial injecting his energy into local governance in the North Quabbin Region.
William Caldwell, a 26-year-old Athol native is running unopposed for selectmen in today’s annual town election. The 2008 Athol High School graduate now teaches history there after earning his degree from Fitchburg State University. And this isn’t his first time giving to his hometown. He also served on the Athol-Regional School Committee while in college and has been on the Planning Board and Capital Planning Committee.
In a Recorder interview before the election, Caldwell noted “right now we have a lot of good things going for us.”
Including people like him.
Speaking of young people, we could all probably take a lesson from 15-year-old Kyle Nitzsche of Deerfield, who has spent the past year sleeping outdoors as a personal challenge.
He reported sleeping through thunderstorms and sounds of gunshots and the satisfaction of “sleeping through all the conditions and feeling how different they are — a really, really cold night, a rainy, warm, muggy night, and the soothing call of spring peepers, with visits from deer and turkeys.”
An outdoorsman who encouraged Nitzsche in his quest, noted afterward, “So many young people these days are deprived of the outdoors … deprived of the opportunity to wake up and hear night sounds around them — the owls, the wind, and just being able to reach out your hand and touch the ground.”
Greenfield’s fire officials, who last fall broke the bad news that Franklin County Fair food booths would need expensive fire prevention upgrades, this month are putting finishing touches on a compromise they hope will allow the local charities back to the annual fair to sell their wares and support their causes.
Vendors like Hager’s Farm and several charitable groups from around the county thought they would have to end their years-long involvement at the fair because they could not afford thousands for a once-a-year fundraiser. Their fans were disappointed, too.
But Fire Chief Robert Strahan and others have explored other options with the State Fire Marshal’s office and found what they hope will be an affordable alternative that still provides the appropriate safety in areas where foods are cooked over grills and deep fried. Because there are fire trucks and firefighters stationed at the fair, the range hoods requirements might be relaxed, dropping costs into the $1,000 range.
Needless to say, the fair association and local fairgoers will be thrilled.
You know you live in a good town when your local enforcement officials go out of their way to help those they serve comply with the law.
The Finance Committee in Whately is proposing a spending plan for the coming year that rises just 1 percent over the current year. In a time when so many people are still trying to recover from the Great Recession and costs for public education aren’t tracking trends of shrinking enrollments, this is good news.
We are hoping it’s a harbinger ofsensible budget proposals to come this spring for other towns.