Here are some brief thoughts on recent happenings in Franklin County and the North Quabbin region.
Three days in a row last week, readers were introduced to neighbors who are making our county a better place to live:
As Anita Fritz put it in her Neighbors column last Monday, it is humbling when one of our younger neighbors sets the bar high, living an example to which we can all aspire.
Kaleb Reipold, 8, of Greenfield has always loved cleaning, picking up trash and recycling, according to his mother, Faith Reipold. Outdoors, you can often find Kaleb leading his parents on his favorite walk along Hope, Main, Federal and Mill streets as he pulls a wagon his grandparents gave him. Wearing special gloves and a yellow reflective vest his father bought him, he carries a “trash grabber” to pick up trash. In the wagon, he places two milk crates so he can separate recyclables. “I like doing it,” Kaleb said. “It helps the Earth. It makes me feel good, like I’m doing something.”
Kaleb hopes some day to craft inventions that help dispose of trash in a better way — he even builds prototypes with his LEGOs. From such hands-on beginnings spring ideas that may one day solve our recycling woes and save the planet.
In the meantime, we can all emulate Kaleb by bringing a trash bag and grabber with us on our walks.
On Tuesday, Rachel Hayes, 14, of Charlemont, shared her project to protect the local bee population from decline. Hayes’ research began at the Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield, where she learned about the connection between bees and plants and how chemicals used on the plants can harm them. From there, she garnered support from a local church, solicited flower donations from area shops, and received permission to plant a garden in the Veterans Mall.
Hayes’ “Saving the Bees” project earned her the Girl Scout Silver Award, a significant moment in a Girl Scout’s life. Now a freshman at Franklin County Technical School, Hayes said she has her sights set on earning the Girl Scout Gold Award with a project she hopes will be on the subject of racism. And, we say, not a moment too soon for our country.
Finally, on Wednesday in these pages, we met Aleks Kajstura, 37, one of 133 women across the state to receive recognition from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, a state group that serves to advance women and girls toward equity in all areas of life.
Kajstura serves as the legal director of the nonprofit Prison Policy Initiative, where she has highlighted the ways in which women are treated differently than men in the criminal justice system. State Rep. Natalie Blais, who nominated Kajstura for the honor, said, “She is a real champion, not only for her community, but also for people who are too often ignored. It made her an excellent choice for the Commonwealth Heroine award.”
Kajstura, who was born in Krakow, Poland before immigrating to the United States in 1992, has served for 10 years on Sunderland’s Finance Committee, volunteers with the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and is a member of Pioneer Valley Multisport, formed to serve athletes of all abilities. Kajstura said, of her award, “It was such a great honor to see my name among all these women doing wonderful work for the commonwealth.”
One conclusion we can draw from these stories is that heroes can be any age. Another is that heroes are everywhere. As the hymn goes, “There’s not any reason, no, not the least, why I shouldn’t be one, too.”