ORANGE Do you want to know a secret? Well, you’ll have to be at Gale Farm in Orange on June 26 to find out what it is. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, registration will be required. The event has been planned to commemorate the Mount Grace.
Conservation trust celebrating 35 years, time of transition, with June event
The land across from 87 Old Wendell Road in Northfield was acquired by the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust in 2018. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
Bees, bugs and a butterfly inhabit the land across from 87 Old Wendell Road in Northfield that was acquired by the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust in 2018. STAFF FILE PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ
The boulder on the Tully Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Orange that was installed in 2002 to commemorate the inauguration of the North Quabbin Bioreserve. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
ORANGE Do you want to know a secret?
Well, you’ll have to be at Gale Farm in Orange on June 26 to find out what it is. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, registration will be required. The event has been planned to commemorate the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust’s 35th anniversary.
Man pleads guilty to Athol church fires
Trevor J. Defrancesco stands before Judge Mark Mason (unseen) during his arraignment in Franklin County Superior Court in January 2020. On Tuesday, Defrancesco, now 23, stood before Judge Karen Goodwin to plead guilty to charges stemming from an October 2019 incident in which he intentionally set three fires inside Our Lady Immaculate Church in Athol. STAFF FILE PHOTO
Our Lady Immaculate Church on School Street in Athol. Trevor J. Defrancesco, 23, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge stemming from an Oct. 19, 2019, incident in which he intentionally set three fires inside the church. STAFF FILE PHOTO
The entrances to Our Lady Immaculate Church on School Street were posted with signs on Oct. 20, 2019, to inform parishioners weekend Mass would be celebrated at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Main Street in Athol after three fires were set inside Our Lady the day before. Trevor J. Defrancesco, 23, stood before Franklin County Superior Court J
Athol Public Library to celebrate National Library Week
Nadine Willey and Melia Hopkins stand near the display of taxidermied birds provided by the Athol Bird and Nature Club. The Athol Public Library will celebrate National Library Week with events and activities for the community. Contributed photo Staff Writer
Modified: 4/4/2021 12:11:07 PM
National Library Week (April 4-10) is a time to celebrate our nation’s libraries, library workers’ contributions, and promote library use and support.
First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and observed in libraries across the country each April. All types of libraries school, public, academic, and special participate.
Review of Athol downtown zoning under way
Published: 4/4/2021 12:13:35 PM
Modified: 4/4/2021 12:13:34 PM
ATHOL Meagen Donoghue of the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPS) recently updated the Downtown Vitality Committee on the start of a review of current zoning regulations affecting downtown Athol.
“The Downtown,” Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said, “for some reason, key parts of it are two zoning districts: central commercial and general commercial. Everything from Island Street the YMCA and that area down toward Exchange is all part of central commercial, and everything that kind of wraps around that is general commercial. And there are significant differences. One of those is that parking requirement inside of central commercial are waived outside of that you have to meet all the requirements, and the only way to get a waiver would be a variance. So those are the kinds of things that need to be looked at.”