New Salem Academy reunion coming up
ORANGE — A New Salem Academy reunion is planned for Donald J. Hurtle Post 172 of the American Legion in Orange on Saturday, Sept. 12.
The event, which is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. at 40 Daniel Shays Highway, is for anyone who ever attended New Salem Academy. There is no graduation requirement.
It costs $20 to attend, and there will be a meal catered by Carr’s Affordable Catering. Anyone interested in attending should contact Chet Lubelczyk at 774-823-0945 to make reservations by Aug. 25.
The reunion is sponsored in part by the Trustees of New Salem Academy and is organized by the reunion committee.
Gov. Samuel Adams signed the original legislation creating New Salem Academy on Feb. 25, 1795. It served as a prominent regional preparatory and high school until closing in 1968. The school’s home economics and dormitory building has since been transformed into the New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art.
Town Clerk’s Office closing at noon on Aug. 20
ORANGE — The Town Clerk’s Office will close at noon on Thursday, Aug. 20, according to the town website.
Town Clerk Rachael Fortier will not be in the office that day, and Assistant Town Clerk Andrew Smith leaves at noon.
Mahar 50+ Reunion set for Sept. 19
ATHOL — The Mahar 50+ Reunion is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 19, at the American Legion E.H. Phillips Post 102 in Athol on Sept. 19. Muriel Holden (Class of 1959) and Maureen Riendeau (Class of 1967) are general chairmen.
Doors open at 12:25 p.m. for a “Meet and Greet.” The event is open to anyone who attended Ralph C. Mahar Regional School, with the graduating classes of 1957 through 1976.
Members of all graduating classes will have the opportunity to socialize and enjoy a meal together, while helping to raise money for scholarships for Mahar graduates. Michelle LaBelle is catering the meal, which includes stuffed chicken breast, baked stuffed haddock, Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, vegetables, tossed garden salad, rolls and butter, coffee, cookies and brownies.
Last year, the Mahar 50+ Club raised $10,606 for the Orange Scholarship Fund, bringing the total contributions from past reunions to at least $61,731. The club will accept donations until Dec. 30. Riendeau is accepting donations of gifts for the tabletop auction until Sept. 16. There will also be a raffle of lottery tickets and cash.
The Mahar 50+ Club is an alumni organization for graduates of Ralph C. Mahar Regional School. Membership is open to anyone who graduated at least 50 years ago. Anyone with suggestions (or additional donations to the Scholarship Fund) should contact Holden or their class representative.
Walk for a New Dawn participants hold ceremony in Wendell
WENDELL — The Walk for a New Dawn participants, who walked across Massachusetts to demand the state change its flag and seal, stopped at the Wendell Town Common on Aug. 2, with a ceremony held at 6:30 p.m.
The walk resumed the next day, despite rain, taking participants to the Seeds of Solidarity Education Center in Orange. Walkers departed from Williamstown, which touches the New York state line, on July 24 to begin a trek to the state capital, arriving in Boston on Aug. 13.
Calls have steadily increased in recent years to alter the state flag and seal. The seal portrays an Indigenous person on a shield. The crest above it, which is also the state’s military crest, features an arm holding a sword. The motto is roughly translated from Latin as “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.”
Two events set for Swift River Valley Historical Society
NEW SALEM — Dennis Picard will present his lecture, “Dragoon, Musketeer, Prisoner: The Hessians of the Revolutionary War in Western Massachusetts,” at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23, in the Prescott Church building at the Swift River Valley Historical Society, located at 40 Elm St. Admission is free.
Folklore holds that the Hessian soldiers of the Revolutionary War period were bloodthirsty mercenaries purchased by King George III of England to fight in the rebellious colonies. But is that a truthful depiction of these people? Even though there were no American Revolution battles in western Massachusetts, there were, in fact, Hessians here.
Maria Beiter-Tucker, of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, will then be at the Prescott Church building at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30, for a virtual hike of the road to Dana Common.
Along the old road to Dana Common are foundations, fields, walls and trees that tell the story of Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott, the four towns that were disincorporated for the Quabbin Reservoir’s creation.