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Quabbin Visitor Center Remote Programs
Sunday, March 19, 2-3 p.m.
A day in the life of a DCR Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife biologists are the rock stars of
any land management agency! Loons or gulls, spiders or snakes, bears
or moose, learn what DCR wildlife biologist Jillian Whitney expects
to deal with every day when she heads to work.
Register at:
Sunday, March 19, A day in the life
of a DCR Wildlife Biologist Remote program (smartsheet.com)
Sunday, March 26, 2-3p.m.
Understanding
Forest Fire Ecology in Massachusetts.
For decades we have been
urged to avoid forest fires by Smokey Bear but did you know fire can
play a beneficial part in the health of a forest? In this
presentation, explore how carefully controlled prescribed burns can
restore habitat, support endangered flora and fauna and reduce the
risk of wildfire.
Register at:
Sunday, March 26 Fire for
Diversity: Understanding Forest Fire Ecology Remote program
(smartsheet.com)
Corned Beef on the Go
The Orthodox Congregational Church will hold its Annual Corned Beef
Dinner as a To-Go meal, with pick-up starting at 5:30 p.m. on
Saturday March 18 at the Church, 21 N. Main St. Menu includes:
corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, more veggies, and a dessert. Cost is
$15 per meal, proceeds to help repair weather damage to the Church.
Reservations required, call 978-724-3362.
Petersham Art
Center ~ Spring Classes 2023
BASKET WEAVING Saturday,
April 1, 9-1pm ~ with Sue Morello, Gather spring flowers & herbs in
your own handmade basket. Choice of styles. Cost: $20 members / $40
non-members. Materials Fee of $18
CREATE A FLORAL SWAG.
Saturday, April 15, 10-Noon ~with Rachel Gonzalez. The long, lovely
swag uses locally grown flowers and fragrant herbs. Perfect for your
door or wall. Cost: $10 members / $30 Non Materials Fee $20
BUILD A SUCCULENT AND HERB
DISH GARDEN. Saturday, April 22, 10 Noon~ with Lynn Hartman. Lynn
supplies all materials, including a beautiful terra-cotta pot, and
shares all her gardening skills to help you create a perfect dish
garden for patio or deck. Cost: $10 members / $30 non-members.
Materials Fee of $35
FROM SHEARING TO WEAVING.
Sundays, April 30, May 7, May 14, May 28. 1-3PM ~ with Deb Bachrach
and Chris Eaton. Beginning with a shearing demonstration at the
farm, participants will follow the wool from raw material to
handwoven project by learning how to card, spin, dye, and weave on
handheld looms. Cost: $40 members / $60 non-members. Materials Fee
of $15
MAKING COLOR, MIXING MAGIC!
Saturday, May 20, 9-12Noon~with Elaine Griffith. In this workshop,
you’ll learn the secrets to getting exactly the colors you want and
learn how to use a palette knife to make them clean and brilliant.
You’ll make color charts and learn the skills to make all the colors
in the world around you! Cost: $15 members / $35 non-members.
Materials Fee $10
To enroll in a class, email
Chris at chrisoutdoors71@gmail.com
UU March Services Listed
Here's the schedule for March services at the
Petersham UU. During March, we will continue to meet in the Davis
Memorial Building at 10:30 Sunday mornings:
March 5 - Dana Tomlin - "Own Your Mind Business"
March 12 - Don Inglis - "States' Rights" with Cathy Tyng,
musician
March 19 - Heidi Strickland - "Growing Up in a Religious
Community"
March 26 - Women's History Month Observance with Marc Erwin,
musician
And the first two services in April:
April 2 - Katja Esser - "Experiencing the Presence of God"
April 9 - Katherine Parcell, Emily Anderson - "Joy" with Cathy
Tyng, musician, Easter egg hunt for children. Service in the
church sanctuary.
It Is Brush Burning Season
Burning Permits are
available: January 15, 2023 thru
May 1, 2023
Phone: 508-867-1066
Web: C8burnpermits.com

Lasagna on Tap
Petersham Orthodox
Congregational Church will hold its annual Lasagna Dinner as a
To-Go meal, with pick-up from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday
February 25 at the Church, 21 N. Main St. Options are Veggie or
Meat. Cost is $25 for a half-pan. Proceeds to help repair
weather damage to the Church. Reservations required by Saturday
February 18, call 978-724-3362.
Unitarian Upcoming Events
February 19 - Rini Kilcoyne will read "What the Black Man
Wants" by Frederick Douglass, a speech he gave before the
Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, April 1865
February 26 - Katja Esser, "It takes a Life to Feed a Life."
All services at 10:30 each Sunday morning in the Davis Memorial
Building:
Two Church ProgramsThe church is providing
Adult Christian Education on various topics at the Church's Andrew
Hall, 21 N. Main St (Rt. 32), on the Second and Fourth Wednesdays
starting at 6:30 p.m. The current series is “What's the Difference?
Christian Church Edition” exploring the difference between the
various types of churches. Programs simulcast on Zoom and Facebook
Live, details and links on our Facebook page.
The church announced
revised semimonthly Friday Funday Programming at the Church's Andrew
Hall, 21 N. Main St (Rt. 32) starting at 7p.m. First Fridays of the
Month will feature a Family Movie Night where a selection of options
will be provided and the attendees will vote on which movie. Third
Fridays of the Month will feature a Games Night for all ages and all
types of games, and attendees may bring their own games to share.
Light refreshments will be provided at both programs. Attendees
may bring items as well. Details and updates on our Facebook page.
Free Remote and Hybrid Quabbin Programs
Quabbin Reservoir will offer several
free remote programs this winter. All ages are welcome.
For more information email
QuabbinVisitor.Center@mass.gov, or visit
https://www.mass.gov/locations/quabbin-reservoir
Sunday
February 26, 2-3
Bats of Massachusetts
Learn about the different bats that live in Massachusetts and where they
go during the winter. Join Elise Stanmyer,
a wildlife biologist with the DCR-DWSP to discover where and how bats
hibernate or migrate and about current threats bats face in
Massachusetts, including White-nose Syndrome.
Register here:
Sunday February 26, 2-3 Bats of Massachusetts Remote Program
(smartsheet.com)
Food Pantries Serving Petersham Residents
Orange, MA Food Pantry
118 East Main Street (across from the Armory)
Open Thursdays 10-3
Evan Manning - coordinator
978-544-2149
Salvation Army Athol
Food Pantry 107 Ridge Ave.
Open Tuesday, Friday | 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This food pantry is available twice a month or on an emergency basis.
Please call 978.249.8111 for details.
Take out meal program Tuesday nights.
Nichewaug Video Tour
1993
Just for the Fun of It... click here
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Get Some Free Stuff
You Can't Beat These Prices
At the Dump
Transfer Station (DUMP) Fees
Calendar of
Town Committee Meetings

Selectboard Office Hours
Monday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Tuesday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Thursday
8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Friday Closed
Sen. Anne Gobi
617-722-1540
Rep. Susannah Whipps
978-895-9606

Official Town Website -
www.townofpetersham.org
Committee meeting notices and minutes are posted at
www.mytowngovernment.org
LOCAL CHARITIES
Colorful Fish
If only the river were this blue...
Photos from
Petersham, Surrey, England
and A Place to
Stay the Night
Harvard Forest - Fisher Museum
"Great Plates, Eat Out."
.
|
A PETERSHAM Phone Book
Ecologist to Speak on Forest Carbon Research
Harvard Forest will to host Dr. Susan
Trumbore for a free public lecture in the Fisher Museum on Friday, March 31,
from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The presentation will also be
live-streamed online and recorded. This is the postponement date for an
event that was originally scheduled for October 2022.
Trumbore is recognized as the
leading authority in applying radiocarbon dating to environmental science.
She is the Director and Scientific Member at the Max Planck Institute for
Biogeochemistry and Professor of Earth System Science at the University of
California, Irvine.
Trumbore is the inaugural presenter of
the Harvard University’s Charles Bullard Lectures. The lecture series was
established by Harvard Forest in 2022 to honor and learn from renowned
scholars of forest ecology and conservation. Every autumn, the lecturer will
present in
both
Cambridge and in Petersham.
This year’s lecture in Petersham will
focus on the amount of time carbon remains in ecosystems before it is
returned to the atmosphere. The answer tells us how we might be able to
better manage forest plants and soils to store carbon. Dr. Trumbore
will use data from the new International Soil Radiocarbon Database to
demonstrate how carbon transit times change globally, suggest how we can use
this information to test global carbon cycle models, and what we can learn
about better managing soils to take up carbon.
Trumbore’s honors include election to
the Academia Europaea and the US National Academy of Sciences, and election
as a Fellow of the Geochemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and
the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has been
awarded the Marsh Award for Climate Change Research, the Balzan Prize in
Earth System Dynamics, the Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Medal of the EGU,
and the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Earth and Environmental Science.
This event, March 31 at 11:00 a.m. in
the Harvard Forest Fisher Museum (324 North Main Street, Petersham), is free
and open to the public. No RSVPs are required. The Harvard Forest welcomes
individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities.
If you require accommodations, or have questions about the event, please
contact Clarisse Hart, Director of Outreach, at 978-756-6157,
hart3@fas.harvard.edu.
To attend the event online, to access
the recording after the event, and to learn more about Trumbore’s
presentation in Cambridge, visit environment.harvard.edu/bullard-lectures.
Life in the Valley Before the Quabbin
Thursday, April 6 at 6:00 pm
Author J.R. Greene will present a narrated slide program about life
in the Swift River Valley towns before the creation of the Quabbin
Reservoir. Books by the author will be available for sale and signing.
J.R. Greene has written more than a dozen books on the history of the
Quabbin Reservoir and the towns disbanded to create it. He is also the
author of several works on President Calvin Coolidge, Massachusetts
railroads, and Athol, Massachusetts, and has been the longtime chair of
the board of the Friends of Quabbin Inc.
Free and open to the public. Register
online or by telephone, 978-249-9515
Annual Election of Town Officials
123 voters turned out - 11%
Moderator - Bart Wendell - 111
Selectboard - Susan Dougherty - 83
Treasurer - Dana Robinson - 113
Board of Assessors - Ellen Anderson - 102
Board of Health - Stephen Loring - 109
Petersham School Comm - 3 yrs - Lynne Feldman - 77
Petersham School Comm - 1 yr - Aaron Kessman - 59
Planning Board - John Lawson - 110
Planning Board - Fraser Sinclair - 112
Trustees of Public Library - Kent Byron - 114.
Town Offices Will Return to Normal Hours on March 1
The Selectboard voted Feb. 16 to restore
normal access to all town offices on March 1. The brick building
has been operating a patchwork of various open times and
different times and days for different offices for more than a
year. No mention was made of the more than 50 heated comments
about limited access to town services posted recently on the
internet,
Chair Nancy Allen said the staggered hours and locked front door
were an attempt to protect part-time employees during the
Covid-19 emergency. She said the "hybrid approach has been
functioning pretty well" and said previously that the board had
heard no complaints from residents.
Several weeks ago Jennifer Dejackome and Tina Leslie attended a
board meeting to let board members know that the arrangement was
inconvenient and upsetting to residents. Documents for town
committees were dropped in a collection box. Residents picking
up paperwork could find them in envelopes taped to the outside
front door. Departing board member made a motion too
"fully open" the building effective March 1. The vote was 3 to 0
in favor.
Quabbin Retreat Committee
The Board said it plans to revitalize a
Quabbin Retreat citizen committee and Allen said the fire and
police chiefs should be members to monitor 911 calls coming from
the facility. Member Annette Ermini suggested asking a nearby
neighbor. Allen said volunteers have become difficult to find
for town posts. Despite such statements, three candidates sought
a single selectboard seat in the last election. More than 85
residents have seats on about 25 boards and committees.
Roy Nilson, who publishes this website and is a member of
the earlier Quabbin Retreat committee told the board he would
volunteer to serve. Nilson said he knows this town and has lived
here for 48 years. Because his family lost both a parent and
an adult child to substance abuse, he is familiar with the
impact of alcohol and drug abuse on communities and families.
Allen replied she would favor "new faces" on the new five member committee.
Three Blanks on the Ballot in March
There will be three blank spots on the March ballot
to elect town officers. No one took out nomination papers to replace
Becky Legare on the Selectboard. She is not running for re-election.
Nancy Allen, Selectboard Chair, announced Jan. 18 that new resident Susan
Dougherty of 6 West St. has agreed to run for the post as a write-in candidate.
Dougherty said, she
became a resident of Petersham the summer of 2022. "I live at 6
West St; the field adjacent to the house was planted up with
Christmas trees (but they are all harvested now). I am a
geologist, recently retired from a major oil company in Houston
Texas. I grew up in the Bay Area, California and received
degrees from UC Santa Barbara and Montana State University
(Bozeman). My work at the oil company involved
collaborating with engineers, chemists, lawyers, and regulators.
I was lucky to live and work in several US cities and abroad
(Germany, Indonesia).
There will also be two open positions on the school committee for the
March election. One will be for a 1-year term and the other for a 3-year
term. You must be a Petersham resident to qualify, but do not need to have
students in the school system. Lynne Feldman of town is seeking one seat as
a write-in.
Anyone seeking any one of these spots can be a write-in
candidate
Food Stamp Benefit Cuts Are on the Table
State House News Service
BOSTON — Residents all over Massachusetts are scheduled to absorb a
significant decrease in food assistance aid in just over two weeks, with
more than 630,000 households facing a loss of about a third of what they
have received in SNAP benefits over the past two years.
As low-income families and individuals who rely on the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to put food on the table and make
ends meet prepare for the reduction, the state Legislature has before it
a proposal to continue, at least in part, the pandemic-era emergency
SNAP allotments. But with the federal declaration that assistance tied
to COVID-19 will be phased out this spring, the state has before it an
aid cliff and slowing revenue growth to fill those gaps after several
years of elevated spending.
Massachusetts residents have received extra SNAP dollars to help
combat the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.
A Possible Tax Windfall From
Quabbin Retreat
New Program Planned
Petersham could realize
some $100,000 in new annual tax collections due to the transfer of ownership
at Quabbin Retreat, 211 to a for-profit owner. The Board of Assessors
recently voted to send the new owners a bill for $45,000 to cover the last
half of the current tax year and to seek cost estimates for having the
property assessment updated for the following year.
Heywood Hospital, a
non-profit, was making a $30,000 annual payment in lieu of taxes but
the new owner, Waterstone Properties Group is a for-profit taxpayer. The
complex is presently assessed at $5.6 million and the new owner took a $5.4
million mortgage to cover the sale and renovations according to Ellen
Anderson, assessor's chair. A revised assessment in that range could produce
an annual tax bill of nearly $100,000.
Renovations are complete on
a building at the Quabbin Retreat on North Main Street. The plan is to house
12 to 24 mothers and children participating in a new substance abuse recovery
program. The Gardner Athol Area Mental Health Association plans to operate
the program. Heywood bought the property in 2017 and sold it last year.
Dawn Casavant, Heywood
Hospital vice president of external affairs said previously that two other
substance abuse programs currently operate at the former Catholic nuns
residence. Heywood recently transferred ownership of the facility to
Waterstone Properties Group, Inc. of Needham in August of 2022. The facility
houses – Heywood’s Dana Day Treatment Center and
Belmont-based McLean Hospital’s Addiction Treatment Center at Naukeag.
Petersham town officials
have expressed private concerns that children whose parents are in the
planned residential program could be enrolled at and bring new expenses to
the Center School.
ACO Call Log Summary November
Report
November 2022
11/2 @10a Call from resident
regarding dog to dog attack that occurred on their morning walk, familiar
route. Injured dog on way to local veterinary facility
@10:15a Call to owner of attacking
dog, dog placed under quarantine with instructions regarding strict
confinement
@11:30a Owner of injured dog called
to update their pet is to be transferred to the emergency facility at Tufts
@2p Owner of attacking dog called for
update, discussion with this resident regarding contacting her home
insurance company
@5p Owner of attacked dog updated the
dog is heading into surgery and will likely be hospitalized for several days
@4:45p Resident call regarding loose,
unfamiliar dog staying in yard, description of dog given. Call placed to
likely owner of dog, family member to area to pick up dog
11/3 @1p Several conversations
with owners of injured dog from 11/2
11/8 @1p Call from resident
regarding raccoon damage and concern about undermining accessory structures,
explained other wildlife that could be caused problem, info given for PAC
agents
11/9 Conversations with owners
of both dogs from 11/2 incident
11/12 @11a Dog under
quarantine released after meeting with owner and Q dog
11/13 @8p Resident call for
lost cat, FB posts and PAWS notice sent, suggestions given to owner
11/14 @6a Owner of above cat
reports the feline came home
11/18 @9p Resident call
regarding barking dog, to area, nothing found @9:10p
11/19 @11a Resident request
for info regarding MA hunting seasons by species, website info provided
11/23 @5:45p Motorist call for
HBC skunk on Rt 32, to area, deceased animal removed
11/28 @6a Motorist on 122
called to state a vehicle in front of their vehicle had an owl strike,
calling motorist attempted to move owl to side of road and requested follow
up, to area, owl alert and no action taken
@10a To area for above owl, seen in different location
@5p Injured owl located near pond
behind Highway Department
@6:30p Contact made with birds of
prey licensed rehab specialist in Leverett, suggestions were given and
monitoring instructions
11/29 @10a To area referenced
above for injured owl, avian seen moving on ground
@12p Contact made with ACO from North
Quabbin Regional Animal Control for assistance in crating owl for arranged
transfer to Tufts Wildlife (Tufts suggested a specific method)
@1p w/ACO from
NQRAC, set up with capture equipment established…..owl flew!! Thanks to
NQRAC for assisting. Area monitored for the afternoon.
Note for Residents:
-
The litter of kittens born 9/21,
were all adopted as of 11/13.
-
Always call when injured wildlife
of any species is seen. The protocol varies. (For the owl situation, the
motorist was spot on with correct response!)
Food, Fuel - What Next? Property Taxes.
Meeting Was Jan. 18
Twenty five people attended a
Joint Public Information Meeting of the Selectboard, Advisory Finance
Committee, and Board of Assessors To Review the Current Property Tax
Bills, Provide Information and Answer Residents' Questions. Here is a
LINK to the official explanation for a large
increase in many or most real estate tax bills.
The short answer is that in 2022 someone left $477,533 out of the
approved town budget. To make up for that shortfall, the town took money
from its stabilization fund and
other accounts. Now that money has to be replaced. The stabilization or
"rainy day" fund normally contains a sum equal to about 8 percent
of the annual $4-plus million budget. Today the emergency fund has been
drawn down to about 2 percent.
The document says in part,
"It
is a common misconception that Prop. 2½
restricts the amount your property tax bill
can increase to 2½%."
It also says, "As
some residents are aware, but not all and likely not those who are new
to town in the
past year or so – at Annual Town Meeting of June 2021 an accidental
error created a shortfall in
the amount appropriated for the Center School operating budget. The
shortfall – which accidentally
occurred when voters were not requested to appropriate the annual State
funds specifically allocated
for the Center School (called “Mass. Chapter 70 funding” and allotted to
all public schools) – caused a
lower total budget appropriation for Fiscal Year 2022 by $437,533 less
than the School budget needed
and was thought to be approved by the voters. That lower appropriation
was then used in the the recap
process with the DOR as described above to create the town's Tax Rate;
the
new rate decreased by
$1.77; going from $15.31 to $13.54
and the tax bills were calculated and
decreased
using that rate
(see chart on page 4).
As the year went on, the School was spending and still needed their
requested
budget. When the error was identified in early Spring 2022, plans were
made by the Selectboard and
Finance Committee to recommend using available funds to fix it at June
2022 Special Town Meeting.
A recent
survey of statewide property tax rates shows that most towns reduced
rates between one and 20 percent. Petersham is an outlier with an
increase of 16.2 percent.
The Selectboard held an information meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday January 18 to answer residents' questions about new, higher
property tax bills.
Map of
Massachusetts property tax rates.
Individual property tax bill increases will vary depending on
assessments.
The Commonwealth has approved the town's fiscal 2023
property tax rate at $15.79 per thousand of assessed valuation.
That is an increase of $2.25 per thousand from the 2022 tax
rate. A home assessed for $350,000 paid $4,739 this year and
will pay $5,526 when taxes are due in April, an increase of
$787.00. Any increase in assessed values would also increase
taxes due along with the value of any property improvements.
Nichewaug Demolition Cost Total Nudges $1 Million
The Selectboard added another $29,000 of
Covid-19 relief cash to the Nichewaug demolition account on
December 15 and closed the project's accounts. The board added $30,000 of
Covid-19 relief cash to the Nichewaug demolition account on
November 17.
Chair Nancy Allen said the final cost of the
project, now at $840,000 plus interest, won't be known for some
time. The town has borrowed $610,000 for the project and
augmented that with $230,000 in Covid relief money, Loam has been spread but cold weather dictates waiting
until spring before seeding the area. Repairs to a right of way
driveway along the north side of the property are also pending,
cost unknown. Allen said the cost of interest for the $610,000
loan for the project is never included in project cost
calculations. Projected interest cost is $155,000 over the term of the
loan for a total project cost of $995,000 plus the lawn and driveway
repairs
The board approved John Muhr of Phillipston as a one-year
part-time police officer and named Ronald Dejackome of
Amidon Drive as Veteran Graves Officer.
Apply
for Fuel Assistance Here


Stamford Wrecking has removed the heavy
equipment used to demolish the Nichewaug buildings.
Cellar holes have been filled and loam has been
spread across the now flat lot.
How Shall We Honor the Flag?
You can find Bill Berry on the common each day
around dusk. He is there to lower the American flag that
graces our town common as he has done almost every day for the past
34 years. Unless a flag is illuminated, the rules say it should be
raised at the start and lowered at the end
of each day.
Now Berry and Bill Purple, a long-serving former
selectman, are proposing to light the flagpole with a solar lighting
system.
They presented their proposal to the Selectboard on
Oct. 22.
Board member Becky Legare
asked whether the proposed system would change the amount of light
in the center of town at night. Chair Nancy Allen suggested that
forming a volunteer group to take care of raising and
lowering the flag might be a better solution and said the board
members would spend the next several days informally seeking public
opinion and possibly visiting some lit-up flagpole sites in other
towns. "I like the ritual of raising and lowering the flag," she
said.
Purple said the lighting
would be beautiful. "This is not going to be a blast of light at the
top of the flagpole. Lights would be pointed downward, he said.
"This is not going to cost the town anything. I am going to pay for
it. It will allow the flag to fly 24 hours a day." he said.
The board will revisit the issue at their October 6 meeting.
How Petersham Spent Its Covid Aid Money
When President Biden announced the $4.3 trillion
federal Covid assistance plan, he said the money would "... put food on
people's tables." Guidelines directed assistance to "disadvantaged
families, small businesses and non-profits" with subordinate
beneficiaries. The same guidelines then offered cities and towns "broad
discretion" in allocating the money.
Permitted uses include "Health and safety of the
public and town staff... Upgrades improving remote access to Town
business and Upgrades and support for recreational activities for
healthy living." The guidelines then offered cities and towns "broad
discretion" in dispersing those funds.
Like many other communities, the Petersham
Selectboard is taking full advantage of that additional language. There
is no process that allows individuals, small businesses or non-profits
to apply for Covid assistance.
The town has so far received $376.632 in Covid
relief according to an official review of its own ARPA spending plan. It
has not announced the availability of any funds for families, small
businesses or non-profits. There is no mention of aid to families,
businesses or local charities in the end of July overview. Only one
501c3 charity has directly applied for funds and that application has
not been discussed by the board.
Several of the first-promised allocations are being
reworked to provide a second round of Covid money for the Nichewaug
demolition. The largest appropriation from the Covid funds
( now $200,000) will pay part of the cost of demolishing the Nichewaug
complex. Other spending is being reduced as a result, including a
planed $63,500
for the fire department including a commercial drying system for
protective gear, $35,638 for police department equipment, $18,000 for
new elementary school playground equipment, $32,000 for fire department
building painting and upgrades. $13,000 to upgrade assessors' software,
$11,000 for a walk-in freezer at the school, $6,000 for a nature program
at the school $9,500 for a transfer station roll off container and $5,000 for the Memorial Library.
Should Petersham Take Online Payment for Taxes?
More than 300 small and large communities across
the state have easy systems to accept online payments for town fees (dog
licenses and dump permits, etc.) and for tax payments (excise and property
taxes).
Should Petersham offer this convenient service to residents? Tell us
what you think.
Send an email to
roynilson@verizon.net with a subject line "E-Payments" stating simply
Yes or No or include more thoughts.
Covid Updates from the State Dept. of Public
Health
Link to town by town data
The
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Monthly Foot Screening for Seniors
The Council on Aging now offers monthly “Foot Screening” for
seniors. The treatment will
be provided by Melinda Powling, owner of “Nails
to Envy”
in Orange. Treatments will include a
15-minute
foot soak, then clipping toenails (no polish). Melinda will then
inspect your feet, and let each person
know if they should consult a doctor about anything.
The Foot Screenings
will be available on the first Thursday of each month in
the lower town hall.
Each person will pay $5.00
directly to Melinda when the appointment occurs, with the
balance of $10.00 being paid by the
COA. Appointments are required. Appointments will be available
from 8:15
a.m. until 10 a.m.
Clients must bring their own towels.
Melinda will follow Petersham Board of
Health approved guidelines. For Questions or Appointments:
Contact Marilyn Fisher at: 978-724-3223.
The Memorial Library Is Open
The Petersham Memorial Library welcomes
patrons back for in-person browsing with no appointment
necessary. The library would like to thank the community for
bearing with us as staff adjusts to providing
service during this complicated time. 
Hours::
Tuesday 10-5 p.m.
Wednesday 2-7 p.m.
The library requires everyone over the age of two to
properly wear masks or face coverings in the building at all
times in order to help ensure the health and
safety of our
patrons, community, and staff. Without vaccine coverage for
our youngest patrons, a large indoor footprint for people to
really spread out, or an HVAC system, masking remains a
useful and important health and safety tool at the library.
The staff looks forward to continuing to safely serve the Petersham community.
LOCAL CHARITIES
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