ATHOL — The North Quabbin Garden Club will host the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Kristina Bezanson on Thursday, Oct. 20, for a talk covering proper tree and shrub pruning practices, as well as what constitutes a professional arborist.
Guests and new members are welcome to attend the free talk, set to begin at the Millers River Environmental Center at 100 Main St. at 7 p.m.
Bezanson is coordinator of the associate’s degree program in arboriculture and community forest management at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture. She teaches and consults on tree risk assessment, landscape design and sustainable maintenance.
An affiliate of the Millers River Environmental Center, the North Quabbin Garden Club formed in 2006 to encourage interest in all phases of home gardening. Monthly meetings are typically held the third Thursday evening of each month, featuring informative speakers and workshop sessions.
NEW SALEM — Tax Collector Kathryn Soule-Regine is transitioning to a new tax collection software to improve integration with other town departments. This will result in new formats for bills, receipts and reports.
Residents can still click the “Online Payments & Bill Lookup” link on the town website’s homepage (newsalemma.org) to make online payments using a credit/debit card or bank account. This link will ultimately lead to bit.ly/3fYZQcZ, where residents can pay bills and review their billing history. After placing their bills in the cart and proceeding through checkout, residents will be taken to UniPay to process their payment as before.
In the new “Online Payments & Bill Lookup” system, residents can search for their bills and billing history online by name, address or bill number. In addition, all tax payments — whether made by mail, the 24-hour dropbox, online or in person — will be updated weekly and reflected in the online balances. Residents will also have direct access to reports, including payments by calendar year, for preparing their income taxes.
NEW SALEM — The Friends of the New Salem Public Library will sponsor Ciderfest on Sunday, Oct. 16, at New Salem Cider, located at 67 South Main St.
This outdoor program begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes a talk by cider maker William Grote, sampling hard cider, a full glass of hard or sweet cider, and a raffle of local products. Tickets for Ciderfest are $20 and can be purchased online at bit.ly/3yxhZVK. Tickets for the raffle are available in advance at New Salem Public Library or at the event. All proceeds benefit the library.
Email questions to the Friends at nsfriendsoflibrary@gmail.com.
NEW SALEM — The Friends of the New Salem Public Library will host a remote forum for the state House of Representatives race between Republican Chip Harrington and Democrat Aaron Saunders from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
The forum will be livestreamed on Zoom and recorded for later viewing. The event is free, but registration is required at bit.ly/3MpwhgO to receive the Zoom link and submit questions.
Candidates will answer prepared questions as well as those submitted by viewers, as time permits. Participation is limited.
Harrington and Saunders are vying to represent the 7th Hampden District. After being reconfigured in the wake of the 2020 U.S. census, the 7th Hampden District will now include the towns of Belchertown, Pelham, Shutesbury, Ludlow, New Salem, Petersham and Wendell. The general election is Nov. 8.