Mary Wenzel
A bucket brigade, created by the youth of St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, was formed to collect and fill 40 buckets with essential cleaning supplies for the clients of the Hudson-based Fresh Start Furniture Bank. Not only the youth and their families, but also other parishioners of St. Stephen Lutheran Church chipped in and dropped off cash donations, along with supplies including paper towels, all surface cleaner, toilet brushes and cleaners, dishwasher soap, glass cleaner and disinfectant wipes. Pleased to be able to gather, though distanced and masked, a dozen teens put together the buckets of cleaning supplies over two recent Saturdays. Youth leader Sarah Maston said 12 youth worked each weekend. The full buckets will be given as housewarming gifts to the Fresh Start clients.
Mary Wenzel
The Sweats for Vets organization met its goal for the year 2020 by collecting and distributing 2,100 sweatshirts to homeless veterans in the New England/New York area.
Homeless veterans all over New England were gifted with Boston sports team hooded sweatshirts for Christmas.
Some 40 organizations participated in the Marlborough-based Sweats for Vets efforts including the St. Stephen Lutheran Church, the Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club, the Rotary Club of Marlborough and others.
The founder of Sweats for Vets, Mark Vital, started this mission with the belief that a sweatshirt from a New England based team brings more than just warmth but also pride and hope to a homeless veteran.
KEYNOTES: Hudson native becomes mayor of Arizona town
Rosemary Rimkus
Hudson native Brigette (Brown) Peterson was installed as mayor of Gilbert, Arizona, at ceremonies on Jan. 12, 2021. A 1982 graduate of Hudson Catholic High School, Mayor Peterson has been an Arizona resident for the past 25 years. The city has a population of 250,000 and Ms. Peterson received 70,426 votes over her incumbent’s 53,121. She was employed by the State of Mass. and Raytheon Mfg. Co. before moving to Arizona. Long active in the Gilbert community, Mayor Peterson served on the city’s Planning Council for 14 years, and as a Town Councilor for five years. She is the wife of Mark Peterson, who is employed by General Dynamics. “Although we were married in 1995,” she said, “restrictions of COVID-19 kept us from celebrating our 25th anniversary.” The Petersons have a married daughter, Jenn, who resides in Arizona; also two dogs and two cats. The new mayor is the daughter of Hudson resident Barry Bro