2023 Was Quite A Year for Winchendon

by Inanna Arthen
After two years of COVID, 2023 dawned with renewed hope for Toy Towners, our North Central Massachusetts neighbors and our Northeast region, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. But how did things actually turn out?

So far from the normality we looked forward to, we have had a rather tempestuous year in Winchendon. We've had high turnover in Town Hall and on town boards and committees. The school district went through what School Committee Chair Karen Kast called "the Winchendon Public Schools tornado of 2023." Mother Nature decided we hadn't gotten enough rain and snow over the past several years and she better make up the deficit--all at once. So much happened in the last 12 months, we're still looking for our equilibrium. As we wait to ring in 2024 and all it will bring, let's review the sometimes wild and bumpy ride that was 2023 in Winchendon.

JANUARY

The first day of 2023 kicked off with an armed robbery at Mr. Mike's convenience store, part of a crime spree the perp carried off around the area before he was caught. We had a number of exciting such incidents during the year. Fortunately, no one at Mr. Mike's was physically injured.

We said our final goodbyes to retired K9 Clyde, who succumbed to the cancer he'd battled for years, and welcomed a new and very youthful K9 officer, Blitz.

We welcomed a new Chief of Police, Daniel Wolski, who took the reins from retiring Chief David Walsh.

The Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee was working hard to develop the framework for Winchendon to adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA). At the cost of a 3 percent property tax surcharge (low income taxpayers were exempt), the town would be able to tap into a pool of state funds for certain community improvements. Town Manager Justin Sultzbach was strongly in favor of adopting the CPA.

Voters (at least a few of them) went to the polls to approve the debt exclusion for the Fire Department to borrow money to pay for "shovel ready" plans for the Fire Station upgrade.

Winchendon was hit by three snowstorms within seven days, leading to schools closing, town-wide power outages, blocked roads and (let's look at the positive side) beautiful winter landscapes in all directions.

FEBRUARY

The School Committee approved Superintendent Thad King's plans to reorganize the school district, moving 5th Grade into the Middle School, making Memorial School Grades 1 through 4, moving Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten to Toy Town Elementary and making Toy Town Elementary a dedicated Early Childhood Literacy Center with concentrated reading instruction. Parents were very unhappy with this plan, as were many staff. This launched months of School Committee meetings with public comment periods running for an hour or more. Other parent concerns involved the sudden and never explained disappearance of popular Murdock Middle School principal Jessica Vezina and ongoing issues with Special Education.

Despite turmoil in the school administration, and record-breaking cold temperatures that weekend, Murdock High School students and staff pulled off their usual triumph with the school musical, a bouncing performance of Matilda: The Musical, based on the story by Roald Dahl.
Public hearings on the Community Preservation Act brought up...questions. Many questions. A Special Extra Town Meeting was scheduled to vote on whether to place the CPA on the ballot in May.

Beals Memorial Library continued its Town Wide Community Read (of the graphic novel/memoir Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett Krosozcka) with its Social Issues panel series. In February the panel discussed Trauma Informed Care.

A 23-year-old alumnus of Murdock High School, Jasmine Colon-Randolph, and her friend Nikolas Guzman were killed in a tragic accident on Green Street in Gardner, as they drove to work in pre-dawn hours and sub-freezing weather.

With work on the Robinson Broadhurst Performing Arts Amphitheater in the Winchendon Community Park soon to resume, new Parks and Recreation Coordinator Tiffany Newton appeared before the Board of Selectmen with ambitious plans for entertainment and events at the facility.

After some weeks of negotiations, the Board of Selectmen ratified Town Manager Justin Sultzbach's contract for the next three years.

MARCH

Mr. Sultzbach brought the Whitney Pond Dam before the Board of Selectmen, explaining that the dam has...issues. Many issues. Two options for repairing the dam were discussed: fixing it without raising the water level (expensive) or fixing it and raising the pond's level about three feet to where it once was before the dam was damaged by winter ice (very expensive). The decision was left for voters to make.

Voters at the Special Extra Town Meeting on March 13 rejected adopting the Community Preservation Act and, in a non-binding referendum, indicated a preference for the cheaper solution to the Whitney Pond Dam.

Mother Nature decided there had not been enough snow and dropped a two-day-long monster storm on Winchendon (and everyone else, of course), beginning just as the Special Extra Town Meeting ended. School was cancelled for two days in a row, DPW crews worked around the clock for some 48 hours, and some spots in town reported over 30 inches of snow. The National Weather Service stated that the storm dropped the largest amount of snow in a single storm since the Blizzard of '78. Power outages were lengthy and widespread. The town opened a warming center for residents in the Murdock High School gymnasium. According to Winchendon's Director of Emergency Management, James Abare, most rugged (or stubborn) Toy Towners toughed it out at home or went to stay with friends or family.

Possibly to help cheer us up, the contractors for the Dollar Tree corporation finally began their long-awaited renovation of the old IGA space for a new and expanded dollar store.

Beals Memorial Library's third Town Wide Community Read Social Issues panel focused on Mental Health.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued an advisory against eating fish caught in local waters, including area lakes and the Millers River, due to unsafe levels of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) and mercury in the local water system.

APRIL

Murdock High School students put on the annual Morton E. Converse Tournament of Plays, the longest continuously running play competition in the state.

Progress moved forward on Mr. Sultzbach's vision of a waterfront "gateway park" to the town on Spring Street, with the demolition of the dilapidated former 4 Cs garage at the corner of Beech Street and Spring Street. The town had negotiated the exchange of the property in lieu of back taxes with the out of state owner. Site remediation and removal of contaminated soil and waste had been ongoing for some time.

The town scored on a "Hail Mary" major grant application with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and won a $9.5 million loan to help pay for the replacement of the town's primary water line from Ashburnham. We all celebrated this major coup by Mr. Sultzbach, Department of Public Works Director Brian Croteau and their whole team at Town Hall. Staff had met with the grantors to appeal when it appeared Winchendon might not make the short list for the loan, and this extra effort paid off. The loan is a fixed 2.4 percent interest 30 year loan with more than 19 percent forgiveness on the loan from the state.

Beals Memorial Library's final Town Wide Community Read Social Issues panel focused on Substance Abuse. Following this, the Beals hosted a visit and talk from celebrity author Jarrett Krosozcka himself.

Work resumed on the Central Street Reconstruction Project, with curbs, sidewalks and lamp posts being installed.

MAY

Many Toy Towners were saddened to hear that Mr. Sultzbach was resigning as Town Manager as of July 7. He accepted a position in a community very close to his home.

The third annual Taste of Winchendon festival was held around the Beals Memorial Library on May 13, with perfect weather and good attendance. Little did we know that Taste of Winchendon was the last event that would be so lucky with its weather.

All articles passed at Annual Town Meeting, most of them with no discussion at all.

The Murdock High School robotics team, "Devil Bots," led by computer science teacher Andrew Collins, brought home the Championship Trophy from the regional VEX Robotics Competition held at Oakmont High School.

As renovations continued on the former IGA space, including major work on the roof, the old Family Dollar closed its doors on May 27. With the former Walgreens closed and replaced with the "Smallgreens" mini-store and drive-through, general food and sundries shopping options in Winchendon hit a new low. No estimated date for the new Dollar Tree store's opening was available.

The Beals Memorial Library, which had been operating out of a single basement room for months as "Phase II" renovation work was done on the first and second floors, finally moved back into the main building after several delays.

Superintendent Thad King cancelled plans to reorganize the school grades and create an Early Childhood Literacy Center at Toy Town Elementary, saying, "I have heard the voices of community members who have recently attended school committee meetings and, equally important, the voice of the Winchendon Teachers Association regarding the district reorganization." Those voices had been continuous for the past several months.

Repair work began on the Town Hall cupola.

JUNE

55 members of the Murdock High School Class of 2023 graduated in the Murdock High School Gym, due to rain.

After four years of plans, public feedback, delays and construction, the Robinson Broadhurst Performing Arts Amphitheater held its Grand Opening on June 10. Besides the amphitheater itself, the Community Park had been completely transformed with new sidewalks, parking, and lighting, a pond, a pollinator garden, picnic tables and benches, broad lawns for games, trails, art installations and a new disc golf set-up. The Grand Opening lasted almost 12 hours and included performances by singers, a student theater group, dancers from The Dance Center and numerous rock bands. At the end of the evening a fireworks show was launched from barges out on Whitney Pond.

Then it started raining. For weeks.

The annual Solstice Fair, hosted by the Clark Memorial YMCA and Athol Savings Bank, was held on June 17. Pouring rain cancelled the parade, which would have been the first Solstice parade since before COVID, and forced almost all vendors indoors. Only a few food trucks and a couple of stalwarts at the Unitarian church lawn fair stayed out in the downpour. Needless to say, vendor receipts took a hit on what is usually an important fundraiser for town organizations.

A week later, the Food Truck Festival was a bit luckier with its weather, but it was still damp for the thousand or so attendees who came to hear the Battle of the Bands and check out the many food truck offerings.

After several hours of interviews, the Board of Selectmen hired Bill McKinney as interim Town Manager. A Search Committee was formed to manage the search process for a permanent Town Manager.

School Committee member Alicia Jordan resigned, and the Committee, after interviewing eight applicants for the vacant seat, appointed Murdock High School athletic coach Anthony Findley.

The Board of Selectmen and Board of Health jointly appointed Monique Connor to fill a vacant seat on the Board of Health.

Lead Youth Changemaker Abby Bradley and Mollie Velasco appeared before the Board of Selectmen to propose a "Civic Engagement Committee" to educate, recruit and support town residents and youth in participating as volunteers with town committees and boards. The Board voted in support of the proposal.

JULY

The shrink wrap finally came off the clock tower at Old Murdock Senior Center, replaced by scaffolding and a shroud of green netting as repair work commenced.

The rain continued non-stop. Winchendon was not affected as badly as some parts of the state, where flooded fields devastated farms already impacted by February's bitter temperatures and a very late hard freeze in the spring. For Toy Town, planned outdoor events, including many at the new Community Park, were postponed, rescheduled or cancelled weekend after weekend. Lake Dennison was closed due to flooded roads and beaches.

On July 14, the School Committee announced that the district and Superintendent Thad King had "come to a mutual separation agreement." No further details were ever revealed. The tumult at the School Committee meetings public comments periods had continued, with the non-renewal of some teachers and staff, and the resignation of others, creating considerable concern. Murdock High School Principal Mary Jane Rickson departed. The district had posted 14 job openings, including interim Superintendent, Dean of Students, Director of Pupil Services, Middle School Principal, Athletics Director, Middle School Music Teacher and Elementary School Music Teacher, among others. Winchendon Public Schools would be starting the next academic year with an almost complete turnover of administrative staff (some positions were filled in-house by people already working for the schools).

On July 25, School Committee member Greg Vine walked out of the School Committee meeting convening at that time, and submitted a letter of resignation. School Committee Chair Dr. Ryan Forsythe also walked out of the meeting but finalized his resignation at a later date.

The Winchendon CAC sold its building at 273 Central Street to Ahimsa Haven Animal Rescue, and moved into the former bowling alley at 5 Summer Drive.

Just to lighten things up, Boston Big Media (NBC Channel 10) visited North Central Mass Flyover Country to report on the theft of a cow skull from Murdock Farm. The skull was safely recovered from a neighboring yard, with the sticky fingers belonging to some young persons.

AUGUST

After a four-hour marathon of candidate interviews, the School Committee hired Dr. Ruthann Petruno-Goguen as interim Superintendent. In what is definitely a keynote for our times, Dr. Petruno-Gogeun had applied for the position on very short notice while she was on vacation, and interviewed via Zoom from Portugal. She started work almost as soon as she returned home, and she had a very full plate for her first course, with many positions to fill as fast as possible.

Ahimsa Haven Animal Rescue vacated both its former locations--in Templeton and on Central Street--and moved, cats and cages, into the former CAC building at 273 Central Street. Volunteers put in countless hours assisting with remodeling the building, which has two sides, one for "intake" of new animals and one for adoptions of fully vetted animals.

The 4th annual fundraiser concert for the Winchendon CAC, "Winchenstock," organized by LaPlante Law Offices and The BIG RanDom, was held for the first time at the Winchendon Community Park. The event raised over $5,000, and to everyone's surprise, it did not get rained on.

The final layers of paving were added to Central Street.

Charlotte King, Dean of Students at Toy Town Elementary, was named to the crucial job of Director of Pupil Services, which supervises Special Education.

The School Committee appointed Adam Leblanc to one of the vacant Committee seats.

In the most ambitious of the new plans for the Community Park being announced almost weekly by the Parks and Recreation Department, a two-day-long Renaissance Faire was proclaimed for April, 2024. The Faire Committee put out the first of many calls for volunteers.

The new school year began with many new staff on board and some still to be hired. Along with Ms. King, Craig Murdock is interim Principal and Heidi Bevacqua is Interim Dean of Murdock Middle School; Bobbi French is interim Principal of Memorial Elementary School; Laura Lambert is interim Dean at Toy Town Elementary School; David Fredette is interim Principal of Murdock High School.

SEPTEMBER

The School Committee appointed Jake Catlin of Smith Country Cheese to fill the final vacant seat on the Committee. All of the appointed Committee members will be running for election next May.

The Beals Memorial Library celebrated its 110th birthday.

Just so we wouldn't get all complacent, Mother Nature hit us with some more deluging rains, causing flash flooding around the area. In Leominster, the commuter rail tracks were left hanging in midair after the bank beneath them completely washed away. Winchendon residents shared stories of being unable to get home due to closed roads, but the town itself did not experience damage.

OCTOBER

The 2023 Fall Festival, expected to be the biggest ever, changed its date from Saturday, October 7 to Sunday, October 8 due to forecast--wait for it--heavy rain. The rain did not turn out to be as drenching as predicted, but it was still a wise move, even though a small number of vendors had other commitments on Sunday and had to cancel.

The closest hospital to Winchendon, Heywood Health Care, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy "reorganization." Heywood insisted that services would continue without interruption.

One of the oldest businesses in town, Winchendon Furniture, announced that it was closing for good, and began going-out-of-business sales.

The Winchendon CAC, which is calling itself the Community Hub, discovered that the bowling alley was in very good condition. With some expert assistance, all twelve lanes were gotten up and running, and the Community Hub began opening for bowling nights on Fridays and Saturdays. The bowling alley had not been open since 2020 and the community has been very pleased to have a fun place to go.

Things were definitely getting too quiet and peaceful. On October 23, representives from Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust and Mass Audubon appeared before the Board of Selectmen to ask the town to convey its Right of First Refusal on the sale of some 1,100 acres of forested land that was slated to be developed into a very large "solar campus." This was a project that had first come before town boards in November, 2022, but the sale had not been arranged until September, 2023. Representatives of the solar company, Longroad Energy, also appeared. Tremendous citizen interest in the Right of First Refusal campaign hit the ground running.

On October 27, a threat made to a student on social media resulted in all school buildings being closed and all students sent home with parents "in an abundance of caution." The originator of the threatening message was found and Winchendon Police determined that the threat "was not credible."

We all enjoyed Halloween and trick-or-treating on the 31st as usual.

NOVEMBER

After several long meetings and public hearings with the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee discussing warrant articles for the Fall Special Town Meeting scheduled for November 13, Special Town Meeting was postponed a month to December 11. Free Cash had not yet been certified and the articles funded from Free Cash could not be voted on until it was.

The Town Manager Search Committee narrowed down the candidates to their top three, and a meet-and-greet gathering with all the candidates was held at the Winchendon History and Cultural Center.

All three candidates were interviewed on November 6. On November 13, interim Town Manager Bill McKinney was interviewed, and he was offered the position.

After a strong push to hold the required public hearing on the town's Right of First Refusal on the property sale, the Board of Selectmen scheduled a hearing for November 27. The hearing was then rescheduled to December 12 to conform with rules about advance notice for the hearing. Longroad Energy, both conservation organizations and citizens attended the Board meeting on the 27th and all spoke at length.

An urgent call went out for people to volunteer for the Zoning Board of Appeals, which had lost members and was having difficulty getting a quorum. Several people stepped up and the ZBA is well-filled.

And just because things were really too quiet, a oil-fired water heater at Murdock Middle High School "malfunctioned" on Thanksgiving Day, belching out large amounts of oily smoke and soot, along with carbon monoxide. The building was empty at the time. As a massive professional cleaning immediately got underway, classes were cancelled for the entire week after Thanksgiving. For the first three days of the following week, students were bused to Cornerstone Church on Rte 140 and Elm Street School in Gardner for a shortened school day to meet Department of Elementary and Secondary School (DESE) requirements. The building was completely cleaned and tested for safety before students returned to classes on December 7, with only the gym still closed for cleaning.

DECEMBER

Fall Special Town Meeting convened in the Murdock High School Auditorium (with no evidence of soot anywhere) on December 11. Voters were surprised to hear that Free Cash was still not certified, and all articles except one specifying Free Cash were passed over. Past year's bills were amended to be paid from the Stabilization Fund. Most articles passed, but a proposal to change the name of the Board of Selectmen to "Select Board" did not get a high enough majority to pass (it required two thirds).

On December 12, what may be a record-breaking crowd had the floors creaking in Town Hall as it was standing room only for the hearing on the Right of First Refusal. After three hours of presentations and comments, the Board of Selectmen voted to convey the Right of First Refusal to Mass Audubon so the property will be conserved and not developed for solar.

At Town Meeting, a non-binding referendum asking voters whether they wanted to town to pursue a moratorium on new solar developments passed. Solar may be a theme for Winchendon in 2024.

We were shocked, yes, shocked, when heavy rains raised the water level of the Millers River at Tannery Hill Bridge past the hazard mark, and MassDOT closed the bridge. Winchendon drivers were detoured around the stretch of River Street between School Street and Waterville Plaza for about a day and a half. Residents on Lake Monomomac put out plaintive requests on social media to anyone who spotted their missing docks or floats, as the lake had gone up several feet.

Long-time Director of the Senior Center Sheila Bettro has retired; her successor has not been announced.

And so went another year in Winchendon! Along with Winchendon Furniture, we lost the Carriage House restaurant and Ruschioni's Cruisin' 12 Diner; Lickity Splitz was taken on by new management. Two Christmas tree vendors moved to new locations. Auntie Jordan's pet grooming moved here from Greenfield, and two indoor winter markets have begun for local makers, farmers and crafters who up to now have only been able to sell at holiday craft fairs between November and May. Along with the popular music concerts at the Amphitheater and G.A.R. park, Winchendon has enjoyed classical and concert band music at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Winchendon History and Cultural Center and Beals Memorial Library.

Who knows what 2024 will bring? Let's all make a wish or two at midnight this Sunday, and look forward to a new year of growth, discovery and yes, "working together" for Toy Town.

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