‘Honoring Local Elders’ series to kick off Tuesday

WENDELL — Organizer Gail Mason will convene the first event in the 2024 Honoring Local Elders series at the Wendell Meetinghouse on Tuesday.

April’s honoree will be Everett Ricketts, former Wendell fire chief, Boy Scouts leader and committed community volunteer. Community members are invited to share stories, memories and appreciations of Ricketts’ contribution to the region.

The free event is slated to start at 6:15 p.m. After expenses, any donations will go to the Wendell Meetinghouse to support ongoing renovations and programming.

The “Honoring Local Elders” event organizer, Mason notes that elders are the backbone of their communities. This series began in the fall of 2023, with attendees at those events noting how much they learned and how good it felt to come together to recognize those who have contributed so much to local communities.

Ricketts grew up in Boston, where he graduated from a trade school before moving to Wendell in 1955 to work with his brother on a pig farm. Soon after, Ricketts found work at Union Twist Drill Co. in Athol, where he worked for many years. Married with four children, Ricketts still found time to dedicate considerable time and energy to his work as a volunteer firefighter. He began volunteering for the Wendell Fire Department in 1956, and retired in 2014. He served as chief for 38 years. At his retirement party, he received awards from then-Gov. Deval Patrick, then-President Barack Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office for his service.

In addition to his work with the Fire Department, Everett helped bring scouting to Wendell, serving as a Scout master and Cub master of Troop 344 in Wendell, and working as committee chair of the Orange Boy Scouts.

Ricketts’ other community service included being a member of the Franklin County Technical School Planning Committee, an advisor to the school’s Curriculum Committee, a member of the committee that eventually created Wendell’s Finance Committee, and a charter member of the Orange Lions Club.

Contact Mason at rushingwaters01@gmail.com for more information about this event. The Honoring Local Elders series is scheduled to take place roughly every six weeks from spring into late fall. The next dates include May 21, June 25, July 30, Sept. 10 and Oct. 15.

Orange Community Band to perform 43rd Pops Concert

ORANGE — The Orange Community Band’s 43rd Pops Concert will be held in the Ruth B. Smith Auditorium at Orange Town Hall on Sunday, April 21, at 2 p.m.

Stephanie Parker, starting her 22nd year as the band’s conductor, will direct the program. Donations will be accepted at the door for band expenses, including rental of the auditorium. No tickets will be sold.

The concert will be slightly different from most of the past concerts, as seating will be concert-style, in rows. The band has been rehearsing for several weeks, and will perform some of the new music purchased using donations from the Trustees of New Salem Academy, past season concert sponsors and individual donors.

The concert will open with the national anthem, followed by “Tenth Regiment March” by R.B. Hall. The overture will be “Highlights from Exodus” by Ernest Gold and arranged by Alfred Reed, followed by “Two Moods” by Clare Grundman. Dick Tandy will perform a trumpet solo, “The Magic Trumpet” by James Burke and arranged by Harriss Hubble. Burke once performed in Orange in the 1960s.

“What Was I Made For?” heard in the recent movie “Barbie,” by Billie Eilish and arranged by Michael Brown, is one of the new selections purchased by the band. Another new selection is “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin and arranged by Charles Booker. “Tipperary March” arranged by John Edmondson will close the first half.

Intermission will be followed by a performance of “Novelette No. 1” in F Major by R. Schumann, a piano solo by Michael Ploof. “Stevie Wonder in Concert” arranged by Paul Murtha is another new selection. The concert will close with the John Philip Sousa favorite “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” The program, however, is subject to change.

The band will also perform its usual free summer concert series on Fridays, beginning June 21 in Butterfield Park. Concert sponsors will include Orange Lions Club, the Trustees of New Salem Academy, Witty’s Funeral Home, Orange American Legion Post 172, the Perkins family, the John Marsh Howe family, and Dottie Verheyen and Miffy Sirois in honor of those who have carried on the tradition of band concerts in town.

TED Walk set for school vacation week

WENDELL — This year’s TED Walk will be held the week of school vacation, April 14 through April 20.

Participants can pick up litter along the roads in town any time and a crew will pick up the bags of litter on April 20, from 9 a.m. until noon.

If you choose to bring the bags of litter to the Wendell Recycling & Transfer Station, you can put them in the hopper at no charge. If you leave the bags on the roads, leave them safely by the guardrails or a utility pole. Call Maggie Houghton at 978-544-7773, Deb Lewis at 978-544-7102 or Anne Diemand Bucci at 413-522-4453 to report which roads you have cleaned.

Volunteers are advised to wear gloves and bright colors so drivers can clearly see them. Houghton will leave bags at the Wendell Country Store and there will be bags available at the Diemand Farm Store for participants to use. There will be trash pickers and neon vests at the Wendell Free Library to borrow.

The event is named after Ted Lewis, who participated in the cleanup for decades, driving the town’s dump truck and picking up litter. He died in June 2021, at the age of 91.

Shirley Page Award nominations due May 1

ORANGE — Nominations for the Shirley Page Community Pride Award are due May 1.

The awards recognize people who make Orange a better place to live. Nominations should be submitted to the Selectboard’s Office.

Forms can be found at tinyurl.com/ShirleyPageAward.

Orange Food Pantry in need of volunteers

ORANGE — The Orange Food Pantry at 118 East Main St. is in need of volunteers to help on Monday and Friday mornings.

The pantry needs helpers from 9 a.m. to noon on Mondays to sort and stock donations and it needs help packing groceries for deliveries on Fridays. Drivers to support the household delivery model in Orange and Athol are also needed. Volunteers for this position should be comfortable driving a transit van for about 1½ hours, able to lift up to 50 pounds and able to walk up stairs or inclines.

The Orange Food Pantry is a program of the Franklin County Community Meals Program. To join, email volunteer@fccmp.org.