Wendell Post Collection

1977-2001
1 box (1 linear foot)
Call no.: MS 762
rotating decorative images from SCUA collections

From 1977 through 2001, the Wendell Post newspaper was published by and for the residents of Wendell, Mass. With its distinctive local perspective, the Post covered local politics, people, and events, but also issues with national implications, including the anti-nuclear movement, environmental concerns, recycling, and peacework.



The Wendell Post collection contains nearly every issue of a community newspaper produced in a small, rural New England town. Most issues include reports on town meetings and elections, the schools, and public works, but the Postalso carried news of the stuff of daily life such as births and deaths, high school graduations, anniversaries and Old Home Day, profiles of town residents and town history, and the crime report.

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Background on Wendell Post


An image of: Wendell Post. Photo by Ed Judice

Wendell Post. Photo by Ed Judice

In April 1977, a group of young residents of the small hill town of Wendell, Mass., published vol. 1, no. 2 of a local newspaper, the Wendell Post, eschewing the usual route of beginning with issue number one. In the premier issue, the editors stated that the Post was "an attempt to broaden our ability to communicate the workings, activities, and concerns among the Wendell community," and although the paper evolved over its twenty-four year life in format and schedule, it kept true to its roots as a sounding board for community issues and community values.

Beginning with a small staff of five (Kathy Becker, Lewis Becker, Michael Idoine, Gary Neilson, and Karen Pierce), the Post soon gathered a core group of committed contributors, editors, and distributors, most notably Anne Diemand and Jonathan von Ranson. Although each issue featured a fairly standard diet of Wendell news -- reports on town meetings, elections, the schools, and public projects -- the Post also carried a full slate of letters to the editor along with articles on nearly any topic that caught local interest. Next to a record of typical daily events such as the crime report, records of births and deaths, high school graduations, anniversaries, Old Home Day, profiles of town residents and town history, the paper carried full coverage of current issues affecting the predominantly left-leaning community. Articles on the anti-nuclear movement, environmental concerns, recycling, and peacework run side by side with reports on the 1984 tornado in neighboring New Salem, music and restaurant reviews, and notices of missing pets. The paper was always produced locally, cheaply, using simple printing technologies and, often, hand-lettered column headings, and its price never surpassed the fifty cents is sold for in 2001.

Staff Memories of the Post

Several members of the Post staff submitted their memories of the newspaper.

Joseph Coll:

I remember how much fun the layout sessions for the Wendell Post could be. The large format portfolio would be spread out on a table and everyone there that day or evening would look at the big empty spread and collectively take a breath and sort of say, "Well, here it goes..." That's when watching the creativity flowing would be fun to watch as each issue came to life. Lead stories, the artwork scrolling around the spaces between articles, gauging the reader's responses to letters to the editors. Creative writing peices, Wendell history stories, remembrances by citizens of Wendell, obituaries - which inevitably lead to funny anecdotes we remembered about the deceased or kind memories of things they had done, etc.

I guess thinking about this forces one to remember that the Wendell Post was as alive as our town is.

Karen Copeland:

I wrote a brief column about the music scene in Wendell when I first came to town....there were and still are so many diverse musical people that there was a real need for this and no shortage of information or great music of all kinds... From outerspace to rock and roll to folk to African to reggae to...anything in between... and all awesome!

Anne Diemand Bucci:

As for my memories. . . wow!!... so many years we worked and played at the Post.

My involvement in the Post started when Louie Becker asked me to deliver them, if I wanted to be involved in a local paper that several community members had gotten together to create.

My first reaction... yep, I want to be involved. I thought it was a great idea and wanted to help in whatever way I could.

That led to monthly meetings to decide what topics we wanted to cover... what would be timely... voting, old home day, etc... what was going on in our town... we tried to make sure people would be aware of things that normally just made their way through the grapevine. Then there were the phone calls. Asking folks to write articles, prepare copies of the selectboard's minutes, the town clerk's notes, the typists to type the articles once they were gathered. Then we would gather. In the beginning it was at the "purple house". Myron and Kathy's home. We would come together after working all day at our jobs, make a meal together and start on what many times was an "all nighter"! Then bring it to Highland Press in Athol and wait for the days it took to be printed and put together. I remember with almost parental pride going after the paper and looking over each pages... remembering how much fun it was to create.

Many years, many jobs that I did or was a part of on the Wendell Post, from the first delivery on my road, calling volunteers to come to the meetings, writing stories, putting the paper together, deciding on policies, it was over two decades of our lives that I am so happy I had the chance to be a part of. It helped me grow not only as a community member but as an person.

Jonathan von Ranson:

It was the spring of 1978, and I'd just gotten divorced and arrived at my remote land in Wendell for a summer's respite, planning to build a summer cabin with my kids. Basically burned out from a dozen years of newspapering, I'd also just sold the pair of community weeklies I'd published for five years in the Hartford area. Each time I emerged from my woodsy getaway I met somebody interesting, learned something cool, got invited to another pot luck or was given a new dog (well, that only once). Each time I gained a further sense of the gem of a community I'd landed in. As a small-town businessman, I'd been extremely drawn to the '60s counterculture. There was a vein of clear thought-water Wendell seemed to draw on that permitted -- even enabled -- subversive imagination. Civilization re-screwed, renewed and back on beat -- a slightly earthier, less escapist version of sex, drugs and rock & roll.

Very soon I joined the staff of the two-year-old Wendell Post. What a patchwork of quirky editors' notes and handwritten headlines -- it stretched my tidy ideas about layout almost to the breaking point! I had no trouble with the content, though. It elicited idiosyncratic sharings from the community relating to matters of community interest both big and little, often written with an openheartedness that a chest surgeon isn't likely to see, let alone a reader of one of my issues in Connecticut. The hair was let down, writers were experimenting with the topical and emotional boundaries of community. It was the perfect newspaper for a tribe, I gradually realized, that was helping itself along a more promising survival path. I became a reporter and part of the group that gathered every other month, often at Brenda Vincent's house, for an assignment session.

I must have been one of the Young Turks of the endeavor, because after many years, one of my story offers was not acceptable to other members of the staff. I wanted to report what I'd describe as a particularly emotionally tearing incident for the town involving a local family's misfortune, and I felt strongly enough about its importance to make the disagreement a matter to quit on. Today I have mixed feelings about my decision, feeling, generally, that bloody, messy, free discussion is more useful than safer or more considerately-bounded speech. But aware that, sometimes, I can be absolutist, that easy does it in the commons of a newspaper, indirection can be more effective, a paper must not unnecessarily alienate or take sides, etc. An older Turk talking here.

There was probably a genius to how this was handled... or the genius may be that this community is strong enough to handle just about anything, including overzealousness, disgruntlement, missed opportunities, new (digital) media, whatever... I'm proud to have been a part of the Wendell Post through staff changes for many eventful years. It was a feat to do it all those years, and Kathy Becker and Anne Diemand, who were with it throughout, deserve a giant thanks.

Scope of collection

The Wendell Post collection contains nearly every issue of a community newspaper produced in a small, rural New England town. Beginning in April 1977 with volume 1, number 2 (there was no number 1), the Postpublished continuously for 24 years, covering local events from a local perspective. Most issues include reports on town meetings and elections, schools, and public works, but the Postalso carried news of the stuff of daily life such as births and deaths, high school graduations, anniversaries and Old Home Day, profiles of town residents and town history, and the crime report. A concern for preserving the unique rural quality of life in Wendell runs throughout the Post, appearing in letters to the editor, coverage of environmental issues, the siting of Route 2, or the spraying of herbicides by the local utility company.

Inventory

1977 Apr.
Box 1: 1

First issue of the Wendell Post, includes articles on:

  • the various candidates running for Selectboard, Board of Health, Highway Surveyor, Planning Board, Treasurer, Library Trustee, Cemetery Commissioner, Tree Warden, Assessor, Moderator, Constable, Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Auditor and School Committee
  • town fires
  • a ballot question on whether to keep using the old dump or have garbage trucked 50 miles away
  • fishing in Wendell
  • Annual Town Meeting election of officials
  • ballot questions and articles.
1977 June
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the new police chief
  • church dedication
  • a memorial for Mary Puckey
  • Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant
  • town elections
  • firefighters attending classes
  • Ladies Aide meeting and minutes from the Selectboard meeting.
1977 Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Selectboard member Anthony Kavolius resigning
  • Old Home Day
  • proposed Route 2 relocation rejected
  • opinion pieces on holding public office in Wendell and speeding
  • the storage of Wendell's records
  • Wendell Fire Department practice drills
  • Selectboard candidates and risky traveling on roads under construction.
1977 Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Selectboard candidates Scott Hunter
  • Anne Zak and Maurice Cole
  • property taxes
  • Route 2 construction
  • the transfer station
  • firefighter training
  • the use of the Center School
  • frequently asked questions to the Office of the Town Clerk
  • recycling
  • the fire station study committee
  • Wendell Old Home Day
1977 Oct.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a ballot recount
  • election results
  • Selectperson Ted Lewis
  • Historical Commission for Wendell
  • property tax assessment
  • grant awarded to the Wendell Library
  • rural arts program
  • use of theschoolhouse
  • and the Coon and Turkey Supper.
1977 Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Town Treasurer Barbara Kavolius resigning
  • a mouse overpopulation problem
  • Quabbin District CoonHunters Association
  • a letter to the editor from School Committee member Anne Perkins
  • a commentary on the Clamshell Alliance
  • the future of the Center School
  • the origin of the town name Wendell
  • a rural arts program update
  • library and school news.
1977 Dec.-1978 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a tax reduction overturn
  • Route 2 extension project controversy
  • an interview with Selectperson Don Ellis
  • an article about icy roads reprinted from a 1924 newspaper and a biographical sketch about Wendell resident Harry Thayer.
1978 Feb.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • awaiting the tax rate announcement
  • a meeting with the DPW and the National Wildlife Federation on the Route 2 extension plan
  • frustration with statements made by Selectman Donald Ellis regarding the sentiment of Wendell voters on the Route 2 extension
  • free cash and the tax rate
  • letter to the editor regarding a Recorder article about the National Wildlife Federation's objections to the Route 2 extension plan
  • Town Meeting low turnout and tax rate reduction
  • legislation filed to establish a Municipal Assistance Bureau
  • explanation of Maple Valley School
  • wood stove regulations
  • Rufus Sibley's gardens (reprinted from a 1924 newspaper),and an interview with Wendell resident Juanita Read.
1978 Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the distress caused by the tax bills
  • a new pre-school planned for Wendell Center School
  • an historical inventory of Franklin County landmarks and structures
  • tax bills going up
  • local music news
  • Wendell's oldest resident Annie Burnham
  • a well-attended meeting with the Town Assessor regarding the recent rise in taxes
  • an opinion piece about the new tax assessments and an interview with Wendell resident June Lewis who was a lottery winner.
1978 Apr.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Annual Town Meeting and the articles to be voted on
  • statements from the various people running in the May election
  • another meeting between Wendell town residents and the Town Assessor Joseph Hartjens regarding the new tax rate.
1978 May-June
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a new administrative assistant Michael Noble
  • a new horseshoeing business run by Wendell resident Tony Diemand
  • a letter to Jimmy Carter against transporting nuclear waste within town limits
  • town election results
  • a report on Annual Town Meeting
  • suicide death on Stone Road
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • music news
  • fishing in Wendell
  • senior services available
  • and an obituary for town resident Arthur Taylor.
1978 July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Old Home Days
  • taxes and a special Town Meeting
  • a new resident's first impressions of Wendell
  • the Wendell Energy Conservation Committee report
  • new appointments announced
  • nutrition committee formed
  • Wendell Historical Society's display in Town Hall
  • anti-nuclear demonstration at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant
  • Route 2 relocation update
  • Selectboard minutes and local music news.
1978 Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • citizens fighting high taxes
  • Town Meeting decisions on spending
  • Wendell Concerned Citizens letter opposing the transport of radioactive fuels through Wendell
  • pre-school to open at Center School
  • proposed Route 2 path
  • music scene news
  • suggested activities during the hot month of August
  • Wendell Depot Station
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • Wendell Energy Conservation Report and photographs from Old Homes Days as well as a State Primary Ballot for the September election.
1978 Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Connecticut River Watershed Council's purchase of ninety acres of wetlands
  • general election results
  • Wendell Energy Committee report
  • overcrowding at Mahar Regional High School in Orange
  • outdoor activities in Wendell
  • local music scene news
  • special Town Meeting actions
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • Wendell-New Salem Head Start open house invitation
  • and Head Start parents meet.
1978 Dec.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the controversy over the Route 2 relocation plan
  • Mahar Regional School overcrowding
  • Administrative Assistant dismissed after six months
  • outdoor activities in Wendell
  • DPW plows
  • holiday healthy eating advice
  • local music news
  • maintaining the land around power lines
  • Selectmen's minutes and the Ladies' Aide annual Christmas party.
1979 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the tax rate
  • Swift River School budget
  • transportation of nuclear waste through Wendell
  • maple syrup sugaring season
  • a history of the Wendell Inn
  • Klondike Sound Company news
  • the health costs of eating sugar
  • Community Development Corporation formed
  • local music news
  • Swift River School's report on Australia
  • Selectmen's minutes
1979 Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the future of the church
  • controversial herbicide use to maintain the land around power lines
  • Dog Officer's concerns
  • Wendell Free Library news
  • concerns about the Route 2 extension brought before Planning Board
  • special Town Meeting scheduled because of dissatisfaction with previous votes
  • obituary for Wendell resident James W. Thompson
  • interview with residents Herbert and Josephine McAvoy
  • Selectmen's minutes.
1979 Dec.-1980 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • freedom and zoning issues
  • an opinion piece on commitment to small towns
  • Wendell Concerned Citizens opposition to construction of Route 2 through Wendell
  • questions and reservations about the proposed Northfield Water Supply project
  • report from the special Town Meeting
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • Erving residents' views on Route 2
  • restaurant reviews
  • music news
  • occupation of Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant
  • suggestions for taking family pictures during the holidays
  • and visiting Mt. Mineral Springs in Shutesbury.
1980 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the planning of Old Home Day
  • freedom and zoning laws
  • the Metropolitan District Commission's proposed tunnel through Wendell
  • neighborhood meeting planned for zoning input
  • Nuclear Moratorium Day
  • recollections of Alvin and Mabel Fisk
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • outdoor activities in Wendell
  • chimney fires
  • restaurant reviews
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • major house fire and local music news.
1980 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • gypsy moths
  • Head Start registration
  • an interview with Town Moderator Emma Cappelluzzo
  • opinions on the Route 2 construction
  • a call to ban herbicides
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • statements from people running for office
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • fishing
  • Wendell's Bicentennial
  • local music news and a restaurant review.
1980 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Northeast Utilities rethinking their herbicide spraying
  • the future of secondary education at the Mahar Regional School
  • the debate over Laurel Drive Gate access
  • an explanation of accreditation and how it effects Mahar Regional School and it's students
  • town pounds used to contain livestock
  • Wendell Free Library news
  • the District Attorney's Victim/Witness Assistance Program
  • the gypsy moth problem
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • fishing and local music news.
1980 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • drought tactics
  • the upcoming special Town Meeting
  • Wendell women who attended the Women's Pentagon Action, an opinion piece about the school study committee meetings
  • letters to the editor about a cultural exchange with Russia
  • digging a well and supporting the women's action in DC
  • a report on the family who was effected by the Stone Road fire
  • Franklin County Energy Project's solar tour of Wendell
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • update on the Northfield diversion tunnel project
  • plans for Wendell's Bicentennial
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • an interview with Mitchell Kosh co-director of Maple Valley School
  • emergency water sterilization plan
  • Wendell resident Byron Ricketts chosen to speak at Boston's 400th birthday in the year 2030
  • East County company supports a series of foreign and domestic feature films
  • Northeast Utilities voluntarily stops herbicide spraying
  • local music news and a listing of the special Town meeting articles.
1980 Dec.-1981 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the special Town Meeting in December
  • Wendell Planning Board zoning by-laws
  • new phone service
  • Attorney General's office rejects Wendell's by-law to regulate the use of herbicide spraying
  • an opinion piece about guns and John Lennon's death
  • the Finance Committee prepares their report
  • a report from the Swift River School
  • hunting and fishing in Wendell
  • local music news
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • and the Ladies Aide group celebrate Christmas.

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Bicentennial quilt
  • Wendell budget
  • plans for the Bicentennial
  • an opinion piece on working together
  • Wendell Study Committee's visit to local schools
  • Franklin County planning Department's idea to burn trash to make steam
  • recollections of Wendell
  • fishing and stocking the rivers with fish
  • proposed dams on the Millers River and designating it a "scenic natural landscape"
  • benefit to raise money for the church
  • Swift River School notes
  • local music news.
1981 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the upcoming Town Meeting
  • recollections of Wendell including Indians
  • railroads and religion
  • tax revaluation
  • a listing of articles for Town Meeting
  • control over local herbicide spraying
  • proposition 2 1/2
  • campaign statements
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • local music news
1981 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Bicentennial
  • an opinion piece on change in Wendell
  • gypsy moths
  • Bicentennial offerings and souvenirs
  • ancient history of Wendell
  • recollections of Wendell including home life
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • a volunteer position with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering
  • honoring a departing Town Moderator
  • a play about Indians and English settlers in Deerfield
  • a gymkhana event on the town common and a Wendell town directory.
1981 Dec.-1982 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • special Town Meeting
  • a new look for the Town Hall
  • an opinion piece on the Wendell Bicentennial events
  • obituaries for two town residents
  • Leo A. Jones and Romeo Caron
  • Wendell backs nuclear referendum petition
  • Wendell history
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • New Salem planning board
  • book review about the Quabbin Reservoir
  • hunting and fishing and health and minerals in the body.
1982 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a new fire tanker
  • acid rain
  • New Salem-Wendell school budget
  • a letter from the local postal service
  • Board of Assessors proposal to establish a tax map
  • bridge repair
  • Wendell Democratic Committee selects delegates
  • programming at New Salem Academy
  • obituaries for town residents Grace Gagnon and Harry Thayer
  • health
  • local music news
  • New Salem special Town Meeting
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • modesty of Wendell in comparison to other more notable towns in the region and a fictionalized tale of a Native American Indian.
1982 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • tax revaluation
  • town budget cut because of House Bill 581
  • Finance Committee report
  • letter to the editor regarding anti nuclear movements and the Traprock Peace Center
  • Mahar Regional School accreditation regained
  • Wendell-New Salem School Committee report
  • a fictionalized tale of a Native American Indian
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • local music news
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • health and diet
  • candidate statements and the Wendell town warrant.
1982 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the preparations and schedule for Old Home Day in Wendell and New Salem
  • a letter to the community about wind power
  • an opinion piece about bickering
  • reports on the New Salem and Wendell Town Meetings
  • a proposal for a new co-educational day school program at New Salem Academy
  • State Forest news
  • a warning about a Town Hall use policy that is being drawn up
  • the Wendell directory
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • local impressions of a New York anti-nuclear arms race rally
  • State Democratic Convention in Springfield
  • health and diet
  • theater in New Salem
  • an historical vignette about Silas Wilder who settled in Wendell in 1755
  • and a Peace Pentecostal service at Central Church.

Special Edition of the Wendell Post includes:

  • stories and images from the Bicentennial and Old Home Day specifically including Wendell's modesty
  • a fictional story about a Native American Indian
  • and stories about Silas Wilder
  • Hetty Green
  • David and Joseph Blair and Alvin Fiske.
1982 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the policy for Wendell Town Hall use
  • Selectman Edward Boland resigns
  • letter to the editor about town politics
  • new activity in the church
  • Planning Board report
  • Wendell special Town Meeting
  • report from New Salem Academy
  • the Commonwealth Forest
  • student and teachers unite to prevent nuclear war
  • report from the town Administrative Assistant
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • local music news
  • New Salem Old Home Day and a review of "Small Town Life" a musical performed in New Salem.
1982 Nov.-Dec.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the election of new Selectman Jim Slavas
  • Post Office update
  • a report from the town's administrative assistant
  • Highway Department status report
  • New Salem special Town Meeting
  • New Salem Friends of the Library group
  • firefighting mini-course
  • New Salem Academy to open as an alternative junior and senior high school
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • optometrist's column
  • health and digestion and local music news.
1983 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the new Town Accountant position
  • special Town Meeting
  • Route 2 relocation issue resurfaces
  • letters to the editor concerning Maple Students burning the Putnam cabin and opposition to Route 2 rebuilding
  • rural arts program
  • an overview of the soon to open New Salem Academy
  • new trash pick up service announced
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • author Diana Cobbold to visit Town Hall in New Salem
  • fishing
  • local music news
  • health and digestion
  • health and fitness facility to open in Orange and the special Town Meeting warrant.
1983 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

This issue includes articles on:

  • the Finance Committee report
  • Wendell and New Salem town elections
  • New Salem fire and police chief resign
  • book review of "North of Quabbin"
  • a photo essay about the Quabbin
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • campaign statements
  • Swift River School notes
  • New Salem Academy news
  • obituaries for Annie Burnham and Juanita Read
  • fishing
  • letter of resignation from the New Salem Chief of Police and the Wendell town warrant.
1983 June-July
Box 1: 1

This issue includes articles on:

  • Wendell Democrats
  • New Salem declared nuke free zone
  • Wendell church continues services
  • Town Meeting explained
  • New Salem library news
  • fourth annual summer film festival
  • Route 2 update
  • acid rain monitoring program
  • Wendell directory
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • health
  • local music news
  • obituaries of Virginia Bradshaw and Thomas Devine and the Old Home Days schedule.
1983 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

This issue includes articles on:

  • the Route 2 construction
  • highway commission study committee
  • property tax map
  • Swedish massage
  • local music news
  • town jobs need to be filled
  • notes from the administrative assistant
  • Town Meeting
  • New Salem and Wendell Old Home Days photo spread
  • a new musical called "Quabbin"
  • obituaries for Harold F. Bezio
  • Ella Hebert and Marsha Nute and Selectmen's minutes.
1983 Nov.-Dec.
Box 1: 1

This issue includes articles on:

  • hikers visiting the proposed path for Route 2 through Wendell
  • a guest editorial about politics in Wendell and Erving
  • obituaries for Lorie Diemand and Robert T. Lowell
  • Wendell Board of Health notes
  • advertising sign by-laws
  • a poem titled 'Wild-Side Hiker's Lament"
  • New Salem Academy news
  • Wendell tax map
  • Firemen's Association news
  • Wendell Church news
  • New Salem Town Hall renovations
  • new pre-school for Wendell and New Salem
  • Wendell Free Library notes
  • a report on the vitality of the Wendell Depot Post Office and store and New Salem Town-Academy town line.
1984 Jan.-Feb.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the support of Frances Crowe and other anti-nuclear arms protesters
  • Route 2 construction update
  • lawyers secured to represent the town in the Route 2 debate
  • Rural Peace Coalition
  • school committee report
  • Ground Zero Pairing Project
  • Christmas pageant at Wendell Church
  • Democrats to caucus
  • a tale about sand people
  • Swift River pre-school
  • Metropolitan District Commission diversion project
  • deer hunting
  • New Salem special Town Meeting
  • obituaries for Marvin Ellis and Rollin Moon
  • local music news
  • Board of Health news
  • health and napping and Wendell Town Meeting notes.
1984 Apr.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a management plan for the Wendell State Forest
  • a tragic house fire with casualty
  • Avian Influenza
  • Wendell Primary results
  • restocking the Millers River with salmon and how the Route 2 relocation could affect the fish
  • homing pigeons
  • a Great Grey Owl in Hadley
  • local music news
  • University community joins opposition to Route 2 relocation in Wendell
  • the Pairing Project public outreach event
  • Wendell Church news
  • the Route 2 relocation and its possible effect on the natural resource of the area
  • Highway Commission vote
  • School Committee report
  • new arts council
  • and Selectmen's minutes.
1984 May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • voting etiquette
  • Hazardous Waste Coordinator's annual report
  • campaign statements
  • Assessors Office certification process
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • and the articles for Wendell Town Meeting.
1984 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Frances Crowe discussion
  • new Highway Surveyor approved
  • Highway Surveyor Tom Bardsley resigns
  • fundraiser for Route 2 lawyers successful
  • Wendell Concerned Citizens receive Conservation Award
  • war tax resistance
  • health and the weather
  • New England fat-tire race
  • New Salem and Wendell Old Home Day schedule
  • Mormon history in Wendell
  • the Wendell directory
  • local music news
  • Wendell and New Salem annual Town Meeting
  • Russell Johnson supports Pairing Project
  • star gazing and the Selectmen's minutes.
1984 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a tornado in New Salem
  • fire at Camp Anderson
  • biologists inspecting the Millers River
  • dinner and concert to benefit Route 2 Environmental Coalition
  • Wendell and New Salem Old Home Day photo spread
  • Wendell's fight against pesticides
  • agent orange herbicide to be sprayed along railroad tracks
  • a sentimental tale of a country road
  • artist grant money available
  • an obituary for Arnold Charters
  • a review of the book "Ez
  • Or
  • Lovemaking Horsetrading and Fighting in Swift River Valley" and the Selectmen's minutes.
1984 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the success of the Route 2 fundraiser
  • a plea for drivers to slow down
  • marijuana arrests
  • pesticide update
  • Wendell Church news
  • Hazardous Waste Coordinator's report on pesticides
  • illegal use of space heaters
  • Marion Herrick
  • herb gardening
  • Wendell building boom
  • Halloween
  • wolves
  • behind the scenes of the Fall Harvest Dinner and the Selectmen's minutes.
1984 Dec.-1985 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Oxfam seeking donations for the hungry
  • success of Road Boss
  • Fire House Study Committee
  • housing repair grants and loans available
  • Dukakis fundraiser
  • history of the Town Hall stage curtains
  • Harry Jennison's cabin
  • recreational activities at New Salem Town Hall and Selectmen's minutes.
1985 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • growth at Maple Valley School
  • State Supreme Court prepares ruling on pesticide case
  • new custodian encourages neighbor to neighbor recycling program at the dump
  • first aid training in Wendell
  • church hosts a talk on Nicaragua
  • snow
  • Full Moon Coffee House
  • herbs for the winter and the Selectmen's minutes.
1985 Apr.-1985 May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Wendell State Forest zoning map
  • dams and hydroelectric power
  • Valley Land Trust
  • Peace Tax Fund Bill
  • Pledge of Resistance
  • School Building Committee
  • housing rehabilitation loan program
  • women's group gathered
  • campaign statements
  • Town Warrant
  • March Full Moon Coffeehouse
  • controversial banners on Wendell Church
  • renovations at the Wendell Country Store
  • tapping maple trees
  • local music news
  • herb gardening
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • profile on Mormon Hollow Auto
  • town computer study and Wendell man beaten.
1985 July-Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Postmaster retiring
  • Town Meeting approves budget and buys police cruiser
  • repair of Arch Street Bridge
  • letter to taxpayers
  • suburbanization threatens Wendell
  • town will appeal tax valuation of land
  • Wickett Pond Road development
  • Wendell and New Salem Old Home Day schedule of events
  • Celebration of Growing Older
  • Maple Valley School renovations
  • Wendell directory
  • forestland taxes
  • local buying clubs
  • profile of town resident and wreath maker Marilyn
  • obituary for Herman Hanson
  • local residents protest money sent to Nicaraguan contras
  • pamphlet for landlords offered
  • anti-Route 2 hay graffiti
  • pesticide update
  • arts council news and local man free of drug charges.
1985 Sept.-Oct.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Shadow Project in response to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings
  • police procedure policy
  • Swift River School report
  • church reorganization
  • police gun use incident investigated
  • letters to the editor regarding the Shadow Project
  • obituary for resident Steve Maynard
  • reincarnation study
  • new chiropractic office in Orange
  • blueberry picking and anti-nuclear arms
  • controlling development in Wendell
  • Erving highway plan draws state attention
  • voices urge Wendell to curb its growth
  • Guatemalan political refugees talk at the church
  • commemorative events on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  • farming and cows
  • local music news
  • Wendell Old Home Day
  • Wendell Recording Studio and the Self Help home building program.
1985 Dec.-1986 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Swift River School improvements
  • population explosion in Wendell
  • an alternative low profile plan for Route 2 construction
  • marijuana search and several complaints
  • three wheeler accident and laws
  • Town Clerk Harry Williston departs
  • Wendell's revaluation
  • stream chosen for acidification experiment
  • Council on Aging
  • Wendell's first police cruiser
  • the Wetherby family
  • Adam Drowdowski's family
  • letter to the editor from a family living abroad in Sweden
  • letter to the editor about a possible list of local communists
  • Shadow Project charges
  • Hurricane Gloria
  • Route 2 fundraiser
  • Bob Weiner opposing Conte for Representative
  • spraying by-laws
  • search for waste oil receptacle
  • resident preserving steam engines
  • local music news
  • Hannukah and Selectmen's minutes.
1986 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Selectboard responding to development problems
  • state moving forward on low profile Route 2 plan
  • state grant helps boost teacher salaries
  • Fire Department report
  • gas pumps idled
  • plea to dog owners
  • Selectmen Ted Lewis opposes Swift River School expansion
  • Avian Influenza alert
  • letters to the editor concerning dogs shot by hunters and dogs let loose
  • Temple Israel has a new Rabbi
  • Bob Weiner comments on coffeehouse theme
  • development problems as seen by Michael Idoine
  • the smallpox cemetery
  • Wendell's oldest families
  • Town Meeting report
  • Girl Scout cookie sale
  • dog laws
  • utility rights of way and snowmobilers
  • Wendell's dump custodian
  • King Sing restaurant review
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day lesson for first graders
  • and Selectmen's minutes
1986 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the objection to the installation of new sodium-vapor lights
  • Board denies Arch Street Bridge item
  • legal action considered for helicopter searches
  • School District news
  • the land and houses that are accessed by the Arch Street Bridge
  • letters to the editor about slower driving and town building projects
  • rehabilitation of the New Salem Meetinghouse and Town Common
  • short season for tree tapping
  • obituaries for residents Mary Fortune and Agnes Telling
  • Millers River water diversion plan
  • stone walls in the woods
  • church seeks help renovating
  • Swift River School notes
  • school building group meets with an architect
  • some alternatives to solve Swift River School overcrowding
  • draft of the warrant for Town Meeting
  • Town Moderator up for re-election
  • Candidate Jim Slavas comments on local government
  • campaign statements
  • local family travels to Florida
  • a country lawyer's notes on meetings
  • Wendell's oldest families
  • the fate of a collapsed modular home
  • human race cause of earthquakes
  • safety in the schoolyard and the Selectmen's minutes.
1986 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • an amusement park roller coaster derailment
  • Arch Street Bridge repair
  • plan for a highway maintenance facility and fire station
  • Meetinghouse Preservation Committee update
  • assault of a meter reader
  • county interfaith council formed
  • new auto salvage business proposed
  • report from Town Meeting
  • fishing and water quality
  • rumors of PCBs in the Millers River
  • an hour in the life of a telephone customer
  • Wendell Old Home Day schedule
  • trail adoption proposal
  • candidate Bill Benson comments on preservation of rural character
  • letters to the editor about bad phone service and the contra dance in Town Hall
  • review of Captain Ben's Chowder House Restaurant
  • New Salem Academy closes
  • the back to the land movement
  • anti-nuclear film screened at Wendell Church and local music news.
1986 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • missing building permits
  • the low profile study
  • Arch Street Bridge construction
  • support for stronger town planning
  • fire truck out of service
  • Wendell-New Salem Boy Scouts
  • Selectboard jailed in 1933
  • letters to the editor about littering
  • building growth and town cleanup
  • computer bulletin boards
  • Quabbin Reservoir
  • Bear Mountain
  • Selectmen's minutes.
1986 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Swift River School addition
  • problems seen in the proposed garage site
  • radioactivity across the country
  • Wendell Arts Council
  • Chevy/GMC truck meet
  • Route 2 task force
  • building fee checks turned over
  • special Town Meeting warrant
  • biographical sketch on resident Linda Facey and the Selectmen's minutes.
1986 Dec.-1987 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • special Town Meeting highlights
  • letters to the editor commending the Postmaster
  • thanks to the Highway Department
  • subscriber feedback and seeking a Hazardous Waste Coordinator Alternate
  • Wendell Highway Department and Fire Department looking for land
  • New Salem Meeting House
  • Massachusetts Friends of Midwives
  • Diemand Farm
  • New Salem Historical Society meets
  • New Salem Public Library
  • harvesting wild greens in the winter
  • Route 2 task force
  • vote to curb helicopter searches
  • Wendell Ladies Aid and Selectmen's minutes.

Includes articles on:

  • enforcement problems
  • Swift River School addition
  • special Town Meeting
  • editorial on the growth of Wendell
  • recycling
  • open space program
  • Treasurer's report
  • Arts Council programs
  • Route 2 task force
  • landfills
  • the Country Store
  • biographical sketch of residents Alexander Hamilton
  • Broadus Mitchell and Burt Goddard
  • local music news and Selectmen's minutes.
1987 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • plans for the new garage and fire station
  • Selectman Jim Salvas resigns
  • tax payments late
  • war tax refusal
  • bonding and borrowing
  • changes at Maple Valley School
  • fundraising at Wendell Church
  • paper company facing suit over Millers River pollution
  • bargain truck rejected
  • campaign statements
  • Route 2 task force
  • Planning Board report
  • Wendell town warrant
  • dandelions
  • retreat from backwoods cabin
  • letter from Guatemala
  • waste disposal planning
  • restoring New Salem's Meetinghouse and the Selectmen's minutes.
1987 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Wendell and New Salem's Old Home Day schedules
  • Wendell Church closes
  • Route 2 task force
  • license application hearing
  • Farley Bridge
  • air traffic increase
  • Polaroid photo exhibit
  • New Salem church pastor honored
  • Wendell tornado
  • solid waste committee formed
  • peace march
  • Wendell town directory
  • Swift River School notes
  • drummers and dancers
  • local music news
  • pet dogs
  • New Salem's Selectboard reorganizes
  • motor vehicle by-laws
  • zoning regulations
  • building inspector Harold "Tilly" Burnett resigns and the Selectmen's minutes.
1987 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Wendell land eyed for development
  • rumors of Route 2 relocations decisions
  • interview with Wendell Town Assistant
  • fishing
  • townspeople urge Planning Board to control development
  • historic stones
  • recycling
  • book on the Quabbin Reservoir
  • Friends of Quabbin collection and matching grant
  • stones and crystals used in school
  • compost and the Mayan Calendar.
1987 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Community Meeting House
  • work begins on new town garage/fire station
  • Wendell Country Store
  • Wendell's open space character versus Stillwater land sale
  • conservation easements
  • Planning Board update
  • Route 2 relocation politics
  • Citizens Against Wrongful Searches meets with commissioner on helicopter searches
  • war tax resistance
  • Herkimer Diamond Mines
  • school bus drivers
  • herbs
  • Wendell town warrant.
1987 Nov.-Dec.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • wetlands
  • Wendell released from threat of Route 2 relocation
  • old excise tax bills explained
  • Town Meeting highlights
  • Planning Board update
  • the Farmer's Home Administration funds new houses
  • open space and recreation plan for Wendell
  • Conservation Commission report
  • Wetlands Protection Act
  • opinions on Route 2 debate
  • restaurant reviews
  • Wendell Recording Studio
  • town warrant
  • lice and obituaries for residents Jack Ellis and Muriel Addison.
1988 Jan.-Feb.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • tax collections
  • Swift River School construction update
  • Wendell Meetinghouse
  • Planning Board update
  • Wendell's future
  • Building Inspector Anne Perkins returns
  • Wendell Country Store news
  • unconventional living situations and the Full Moon Coffeehouse
1988 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Road Boss resignation
  • Post Office looks for new home
  • hazardous waste collection
  • land conservation trust
  • Mahar Regional School's Project Reach
  • report from the Planning Board
  • Wendell Arts Council
  • Salmon Revival Run
  • herb gardening
  • book titled "Millers River Reader"
  • creativity in Wendell
  • letters to the editor about the cost of growth in Wendell
  • living simply
  • environmental regulations and property damage
  • campaign statements
  • annual Town Meeting warrant and Wendell Meetinghouse.
1988 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the new Road Boss
  • new volunteer fire fighters
  • Salmon Revival Run paddlers
  • Wendell town directory
  • state forest news
  • TMJ therapy offered
  • low impact living update
  • neighborhood meetings on zoning by-laws
  • new minister
  • Wendell's growth stress
  • Town Meeting and Planning Board update.
1988 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Farm Animals Welfare Bill
  • peace walk
  • obituary for Jackie Ricketts
  • report to taxpayers
  • budget problems
  • barn fire
  • tribute to Broadus Mitchell
  • conservation notes
  • Old Home Day photos
  • Dukakis for President
  • Salmon Revival Run
  • anti-private fireworks
  • greenhouse effect
  • solar rollers and goldenrod.
1988 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the budget
  • Selectboard Jim Slavas resigns
  • dangers of glow sticks
  • health of the forests
  • hydro-geologic study
  • Planning Board update
  • Wendell Arts Council
  • Board of Health notes on protecting wells from herbicide sprays
  • radon
  • lead in water and recycling
  • space and materials report for Mahar Regional School
  • Swift River School enrichment program
  • Town Meeting report on articles 4 and 5
  • Wendell Country Store anniversary
  • Footbag Peace Initiative
  • recycling
  • planning for building permits
  • building on Old Farley Road and Solar Rollers support Question 4.
1988 Dec.-1989 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Town Meeting debating development in Wendell
  • tribute to Gladys Powling
  • Jonathan von Ranson elected to Selectboard
  • residents offer opinions on zoning debate
  • video workshops
  • missing pets
  • herbs for health
  • collecting used motor oil
  • proposed demolition landfill
  • Peace Tax Fund
  • penalty fund for tax resisters and volunteering for Wendell.
1989 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the zoning by-law package approved at Town Meeting
  • recycling
  • obituary for Jacqueline M. Ricketts
  • Whetstone Brook Project concerning acid rain
  • winter in New England
  • ice skating
  • plastics
  • fishers
  • local music news
  • Swift River School expansion update
  • Wendell Arts Council news and Selectmen's notes.
1989 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Footbag Peace Initiative
  • stinging nettle
  • open letter on the possible seizure of a war tax resister's home
  • maple sugar season
  • recycling
  • candidate statements
  • draft of warrant for annual Town Meeting
  • hemlock woolly adelgids
  • Edward Abbey and his book "Desert Solitaire"
  • a resident's view on taxes and life in Wendell
  • a war tax resister speaks up
  • state dairy specialist appointed
  • Housing Committee update
  • open letter from Assessors Office
  • history of Wendell
  • Wendell applies for National Historic Register status and new fire fighters.
1989 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a vandalized sign
  • Building Facilities Committee
  • Finance Committee report
  • notes on the State Democratic Convention
  • recollections of Wendell by Bert Goddard
  • Wendell town directory
  • bikes and wildflowers.
1989 Sept.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the town budget
  • regional support for war tax resisters
  • having children and overpopulation
  • recycling and landfill news
  • landfill closed by order of the Board of Health
  • Wendell policeman's death
  • recollections of resident Lucille Lewis
  • observations on Florida and a hypnotherapy seminar to quit smoking.
1989 Dec.-1990 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the relocation of the Post Office
  • ridesharing
  • residents respond to poll on paying per bag at the dump
  • background on Maple Valley School
  • Wendell Cub Scouts
  • Erving paper mill and river clean up
  • letters to the editor about local schools and war tax resisters the dump and recycling and a traveling school helps at homestead.
1990 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Michael Idoine of the Selectboard
  • group supports war tax resisters
  • questioning the American flag at Swift River School
  • survey on what makes Wendell a special place to live
  • recycling
  • Wendell Free Library news
  • freeze damages Center School pipes
  • free box clothing
  • workshop on backwoods emergency medical treatment
  • murder in Montreal
  • maple tree tapping
  • Wendell Country Store expands
  • Wendell Church
  • Millers River monitoring project
  • trout habitat in the Millers River
  • special Town Meeting
  • restaurant reviews and a review of Scott Smith's album "The Way It Is"
1990 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the results from the Places of the Heart survey
  • Building Facilities Committee report
  • Earth Day festivities
  • resident's missionary brother killed in Lebanon
  • Swift River School receives a grant from new Salem Academy
  • campaign statements
  • a view on the School Committee
  • annual Town Meeting draft warrant
  • Patriot's Day
  • Arts Lottery Council
  • living in Wendell
  • Visions Workshop
  • protecting trees and scenic roads
  • Wendell's newest water dowser
  • local music news
  • ridesharing
  • new landfill and violets.

Includes articles on:

  • resident Lydia Ellis
  • a car accident involving two residents
  • reflections on Town Meeting
  • Wendell roads
  • a view on the School Committee
  • senior citizens in Wendell
  • recycling
  • letter to the editor on Town Office votes
  • the Village Cooperative's building plan
  • election results and uses for milkweed.
1990 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the misuse of fireworks
  • an economic summit in Houston
  • Wendell Arts Lottery Council
  • Village Co-op new building
  • summertime activities for kids
  • recycling
  • Old Home Day photographs
  • solar box cooking
  • ridesharing
  • Full Moon Coffeehouse and an urge to residents to slow down on town roads.
1990 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Wendell Community Works
  • helicopter surveillance
  • heavy metal recycling facility proposed for Franklin County
  • none of the above voting movement
  • unregistered vehicle laws
  • Audubon Expedition
  • new town cemetery proposal and concept plan
  • loans for the self-employed
  • report on truck accident and the Selectboard minutes.
1991 Jan.-Feb.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a proposed hazardous waste dump
  • living lightly on the land
  • the condition of Morse Village Road
  • new Postmaster Charles O'Dowd
  • ridesharing
  • a letter about the visiting Rainbow Family
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Thornton W. Burgress books donated to the library
  • winter birds of Wendell
  • introduction to the early childhood program
  • war tax resisters penalty fund
  • catering business expands
  • solar electricity
  • edible seaweed
  • Carroll's Corner Market
  • Library Club volunteers and the Fullmoon Coffeehouse.
1991 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the revaluation of taxes
  • override or budget cuts facing Wendell
  • road conditions
  • helicopter surveillance
  • food buying club
  • Iraq and American relations
  • road rage
  • a barn and woodlot offered
  • student apprentice
  • sewage sludge experiment
  • US and earth flags
  • Town Hall forum on war
  • anti-war demonstration
  • aquifer study completed
  • demolition landfill survey results
  • annual Town Meeting warrant
  • school restructuring questions
  • Finance Committee report
  • Selectboard minutes
  • deer tick advisory
  • warblers
  • campaign statements
  • FY 1992 budget
  • profile of a nurse at Athol Hospital and a performing arts update.
1991 June-Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the investigation of two town residents
  • final override vote
  • Fire Department appreciation and recruitment
  • letters to the editor concerning slander on two town residents
  • override warrant
  • budget cuts at Wendell State Forest
  • forest taxes legislation
  • protecting open space
  • the return of Memorial Day activities
  • library news
  • Stamp Collecting Club news
  • Meetinghouse update
  • first annual Peace Day
  • Wendell town directory
  • Selectboard minutes, volunteering
  • Cree Indians and hydroelectricity and seaweed.
1991 Sept.-Oct.
Box 1: 1

Includes two issues of the Wendell Post with articles on:

  • a Harvest Festival
  • the Meetinghouse
  • an anti-nuclear letter
  • deliberate pollution in Twin Ponds
  • hazardous waste facility
  • house fire
  • library news
  • sea vegetable recipes
  • bicycle helmets
  • Rosh Hashannah readings
  • Selectboard news
  • changes at Maple Valley School
  • Full Moon Coffeehouse and spiritual environmentalism.
1991 Nov.-Dec.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Full Moon Coffeehouse
  • fire at the demolition landfill
  • Community Vision of the Future wins an award
  • interest rates for overdue taxes
  • a letter to the editor about Wendell
  • 911 emergency response service
  • lead poisoning guidelines revised
  • herbs for winter health care
  • a letter from Wendell residents in New Zealand
  • Selectboard minutes and a performing arts update.

Includes articles on:

  • Whetstone Wood Wildlife Sanctuary, volunteering
  • Route 2 relocation issue resurfaces
  • violations at the hazardous waste facility
  • fire at the demolition landfill
  • local Boy Scout honored
  • Klondike Sound Company moves
  • rabies alert
  • Selectmen's minutes
  • masonry heaters and controversy over town officials involved in war tax resister support.
1992 Mar.-Apr.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a local barter system
  • war tax resistance
  • alternative currencies
  • candidate statements
  • demolition landfill
  • Orange Arts Center insert
  • anatomy of a chimney fire
  • maple syrup season
  • property taxes
  • unrest at Maple Valley School
  • Selectboard minutes and the Full Moon Coffeehouse.
1992 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the upcoming Town Meeting and votes
  • Old Home Day
  • the annual Town Meeting report
  • property taxes
  • Wendell town directory
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Swift River Association thanks volunteers
  • Wendell Council on Aging
  • philosophies of the left and right
  • Good Neighbors community group and an update on events at the Meetinghouse.
1992 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • fundraising for an artesian well
  • Street Numbering and Naming Committee
  • Harvest Festival
  • Tree of Peace planting
  • Selectboard minutes
  • rabies prevention
  • Brick by Brick project started by Vietnam Veterans
  • and a report from a Maine Town Meeting.
1992 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Town Administrative Assistant
  • moose sightings
  • fundraising for artesian well
  • Harvest Festival
  • rats
  • Selectboard minutes
  • fundraising for Fire Station
  • special Town Meeting
  • Swift River School news
  • footbag and the Full Moon Coffeehouse
1992 Dec.-1993 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • rabies
  • the Highway Department report
  • finishing the highway garage
  • freedom of speech
  • report of special Town Meeting
  • tributes to D. George Sherman
  • Selectboard minutes
  • alternative greywater options
  • tribute to Doug Johnson
  • animal tracks and library news.
1993 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Finance Committee and the budget
  • Deputy Chief of the Fire Department resigns
  • a letter about gays in the military
  • election preview
  • herbicide spraying on the power lines continues
  • teacher contracts
  • school regionalization
  • well fund update
  • new town assistant
  • Selectboard minutes
  • local Boy Scouts honored
  • Wendell Arts Lottery changes its name
  • fire destroys Wendell home
  • library news
  • remodeling loan pilot program
  • new building contractor laws
  • owls in Wendell
  • house fire and Cultural Council news.
1993 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Town Hall well
  • local sound company hired for Presidential Inauguration
  • the free box
  • unrest at Lake Grove School
  • praise for road crew
  • Wendell State Forest news
  • Cultural Council news
  • candidate statements, volunteering at Swift River School
  • Selectboard minutes
  • computers for use at the library
  • tributes to Josephine McAvoy and Anita Oliver Tenney and winter.

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Country Store changing hands
  • town vote on budget
  • the Wendell Town Hall well
  • Swift River teacher negotiations
  • Wendell citizens speak out to protect the State Forest
  • Good Neighbors Food Project
  • Town Meeting report
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Mahar Regional student awarded honors
  • Boy Scout honored
  • being a man
  • feasting on wild foods and Wendell Old Home Day schedule.

Includes articles on:

  • the Good Citizen of the Year Rosalie Rosser
  • illegal dumping in Wendell State Forest
  • Good Neighbors Food Project
  • Enchanted Forest Summer Arts Camp
  • Selectboard minutes
  • recycling center update
  • Full Moon Coffeehouse news
  • insert with Harvest Festival Schedule and information
  • library news and Cultural Council news.
1993 Oct.-Nov.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day
  • street and house numbering project
  • illegal dumping and cleanup
  • tribute to Eugene Witham
  • library news
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Harvest Festival
  • Town Hall well
  • country doctors
  • rabies information and Wendell Cultural Council.
1993 Dec.-1994 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • donations to the Town Hall well fundraising auction
  • Small Towns Against Repression
  • repeated robberies at the Wendell Recycling and Transfer Station
  • Christmas candy house at the Post Office
  • Meetinghouse restoration planned
  • Selectboard minutes
  • art show in Greenfield
  • news from Swift River School
  • library news
  • special Town Meeting results
  • ugliest mailbox contest
  • new partnership at Wendell Country Store
  • resident's paper mȃché animals
  • and a non-violent war tax resister in jail.
1994 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Wendell Post Birthday and origins
  • tribute to Raymond Avery
  • local man drowns
  • letter from Senator Stan Rosenberg
  • town elections
  • candidate statements
  • cob building
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Cultural Council grants
  • Fire Station news
  • walk planned to honor contributions of Native American cultures
  • Swift River School news
  • environmental books and stone wall repair.
1994 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • an upcoming special Town Meeting
  • a tribute to resident Julian Wadleigh
  • missing pets
  • Cultural Council news
  • Scenic Roads Act delays stone wall project
  • Brownie Troop news
  • library news
  • Memorial Day observance
  • Wendell town directory
  • solar eclipse
  • Boy Scouts
  • Twin Pond update
  • Town Hall well water test results
  • State Forest news
  • road safety grant received and community volunteers are thanked by Swift River School.
1994 Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Good Citizen of the Year Daniel Bacigalupo
  • historic documents found
  • demolition landfill
  • a witness speaks of harassment in Wendell
  • Selectboard minutes
  • tent caterpillars
  • Local Partnership Program grant
  • Old Home Day
  • news from the Swift River School
  • Tai Chi and stone wall repair.
1995 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Town Hall stage curtain
  • town elections
  • Wendell bandstand
  • an account of police harassment
  • community policing efforts
  • Old Fire Station remodel
  • news from the Swift River School
  • celebrating diversity
  • Wendell State Forest news
  • rebuilding the dam at the Book Mill on the Sawmill River
  • community effort to rebuild the stone wall
  • local practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method
  • Hospice Care
  • local herbalist
  • Route 2 discussion renewed
  • Selectboard minutes and a policing program resident survey.
1995 May-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the salt shed
  • library accessibility project
  • speed survey results
  • celebrating diversity
  • Selectboard minutes
  • interview with shiatsu practitioner Shunji Morimoto
  • candidates statements
  • Local Partnership Grant Program and Cultural Council grants.
1995 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • fire ban at Wendell Town Hall
  • new police station
  • Selectboard minutes
  • report on the annual Town Meeting
  • Economic Partnership begins project
  • Wendell town directory
  • community policing project survey results
  • Pennsylvania Governor signs death warrant for Mumia Abu-Jamal
  • salt shed to be built
  • Town Hall stage curtain restoration
  • spring bird sightings
  • coyotes in Wendell
  • Swift River School thanks volunteers
  • Mahar Regional School news
  • Swift River School news and potential reduced services at Swift River School.
1995 Aug.-Sept.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Ted Lewis' 25 years of service
  • Citizen of the Year
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Tree of Peace Society
  • Quabbin Mediation
  • Metacomet-Monadnock Trail
  • news from the State Forest
  • Theravadin Buddhism
  • microwave tower and cancer and straw bale house construction.
1995 Nov.-Dec.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • playground renovation
  • protest of Department of Environmental Management purchasing more land for the State Forest, volunteering at Swift River School
  • town warrant
  • Selectboard minutes
  • midwives
  • mediation
  • economic development news and a film series.
1996 Jan.-Feb.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • winter recreation at the State Forest
  • public thanks for EMT assistance
  • fire truck repairs
  • Swift River School update
  • demolition landfill
  • homeschooling
  • Selectboard minutes
  • tribute to resident Bert Damon
  • celebrating diversity and the internet comes to the library.
1996 Mar.-Apr.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a fire at an historic home
  • local educator honored
  • demolition landfill
  • a snapping turtle at the State Forest
  • restructuring at Mahar Regional School
  • celebrating diversity
  • Riders in the Sky performance
  • Selectboard minutes
  • no more gas at the Country Store
  • Senator Stan Rosenberg and Swift River School Committee news.
1996 May-June
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • local band Loose Caboose
  • microwave radiation and cancer
  • homesteading
  • comets
  • the Town Hall well
  • D.A.R.E. Program
  • Swift River School news
  • changes coming to Lake Grove Maple Valley School
  • Selectboard minutes and candidate statements.
1996 July-Aug.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • stage curtain restoration
  • Wendell's lamplighter
  • police harassment
  • radioactive waste disposal
  • bicycles
  • tributes to resident Jessie Wetherby
  • Swift River School Committee news
  • parenting workshop
  • restructuring Mahar Regional School
  • Selectboard minutes
  • fundraising for replacement windows
  • flora and fauna at the recycling center and a profile of resident Lucille Lewis.
1996 Sept.-Oct.
Box 1: 1

>Includes articles on:

  • a town flag design contest
  • safety classes
  • Wendell Country Store robbed
  • Fire Department training
  • teen soccer team
  • playground update
  • Cultural Council grants
  • Wendell town directory
  • Citizen of the Year Anne Diemand
  • history of Mary Parsons of Northampton accused of witchcraft
  • whitewater rafting
  • Selectboard minutes
  • bears
  • and a resident's 4,100 mile bike ride.
1996 Dec.-1997 Jan.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Citizen of the Year Albert Diemand
  • Yankee Magazine article about local homestead
  • customers rally to support Wendell Country Store
  • road work
  • Selectboard minutes
  • winter recreation in the State Forest
  • septic systems
  • harvest moon eclipse and celebrating Mexico at Swift River School.
1997 Spring
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Memorial Day activities
  • a letter to the Zoning Board of Appeals
  • candidate statements
  • tributes to William Trousdale and Harry Morey
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Community Council
  • business roundtable
  • celebrating diversity program and Wendell Country Store support and fundraiser.

Includes articles on:

  • local elections
  • public hearing on the Town Common
  • resistance to DARE program at schools
  • Wendell Community Council minutes
  • gardening
  • Selectboard minutes
  • internet training at the library
  • Wendell town directory
  • the Zoning Board denies application for comprehensive permit
  • Memorial Day in Wendell
  • new playground and playground safety.
1997 Fall
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Citizen of the Year Chief Ed Chase
  • artist Bob Ellis' Canadian trip
  • obituaries for William Fisher Sr.
  • Elizabeth Thompson and Lorna Wilder
  • littering at Fiske Pond
  • Swift River Community news
  • seeking support for a sick resident and her children
  • Selectboard minutes
  • softball
  • tribute to Rupert Goddard
  • helicopter surveillance flights
  • Wendell Country Store news
  • writer's workshop
  • Community Council news and bridge work.
1998 Winter
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • Regina Curtis' going away party
  • open Selectboard seat
  • tribute to resident Mary Jane Brol
  • history of Wendell
  • helicopter surveillance
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Franklin Regional Council of Governments
  • obituaries for Josiah Milton Wilder and Joshua Whitmore
  • student athletes
  • Swift River School news and voter information.
1998 Spring
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • saving an historic home
  • candidate statements
  • artist Kaymarion Raymond's slide show at Town Hall
  • obituaries for Evelyn Fisher and Tammy Skerry
  • Selectboard minutes
  • self-defense classes and acupressure.
1998 Summer
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Scenic Road Act and residents response
  • Selectboard member Anne Zak resigns
  • food pantry needs volunteers
  • Town Hall wastewater system
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Wendell town directory
  • Community Council notes
  • aikido and boxing
  • Recreation Committee
  • musings on Town Meeting
  • conflicting claims of polluted well water and thoughts on Memorial Day.
1998-1999 Winter
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • residents, volunteers and local company honored
  • upgrades to roads
  • Route 2 debate
  • retiring Selectwoman roasted
  • aikido classes
  • Wendell history night
  • peacemaking circle discusses policing
  • Town Common reconstruction project
  • bridge work on hold
  • Mumia Abu Jamal
  • Swift River School studies South Africa
  • Selectboard minutes
  • self defense classes for women and girls
  • Bill Clinton and morality
  • mediation
  • boxing classes
  • recycling
  • local poet talk
  • illegal dumping of asbestos
  • Wendell Recreation Committee
  • Good Neightbors food distribution
  • tribute to resident Gilbert Farmer
  • Thurston Munson and Wendell's stage curtain.
1999 Feb.-Mar.
Box 1: 1

Issue includes articles on:

  • dog license laws
  • Town Hall Septic Advisory Committee
  • Lake Grove School expansion
  • introduction to new Selectboard members
  • landfill public forum
  • demolition dump closure
  • Route 2
  • Y2K preparedness
  • poetry readings
  • history of Wendell
  • deer proofing your garden
  • Athol Memorial Hospital background
  • Swift River School studies South Africa and the Selectboard minutes.
1999 Apr.-May
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the cell phone tower ballot question
  • Superintendent Lubinsky leaves position after 25 years
  • library expansion
  • politics of regulating telecommunication developments
  • wireless communications and public health
  • candidate statements
  • wood stoves and Y2K preparation
  • tributes to residents Bradley Merchant and Odessa (Maclean) Oliver
  • local wrestling champs
  • Selectboard minutes
  • closure of the landfill and information about Hungary.
1999 June-July
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the Lake Grove School expansion
  • fundraiser for library addition
  • a resident thanks the community and Swift River School
  • Wendell Community Council
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Wendell town directory
  • opera singer Bidú Sayão
  • Good Neighbors food distribution update
  • Swift River School news and tributes to resident Bradley Merchant.
1999 Aug.-Oct.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the closure of the Wendell Depot Bridge
  • historical event with descendent of Judge Oliver Wendell
  • road crews struggle with effects of Tropical Storm Floyd
  • Citizen of the Year Marge Lewis
  • special Town Meeting outcome
  • Selectboard minutes
  • news of Wendell Recreation Committee
  • taxpayers' payment options and opera singer Bidú Sayão.
1999-2000 Winter
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • regionalization of schools
  • coping with taxes
  • Selectboard minutes
  • Planning Board seeks two members
  • police training
  • Mormon Hollow Auto changes hands
  • herbal first aid and news from the Wendell Country Store.
2000 June
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a tribute to town resident Ted Lewis
  • issues at the landfill
  • tax liens
  • final closure of the demolition landfill
  • Wendell town directory
  • tribute to Albert Joseph Diemand and recycling.
2000 Fall-Winter
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • the continued problems at the Mormon Hollow Landfill
  • the future of the Meetinghouse
  • Lake Grove School's interest in buying the Fiske Pond property
  • Leonard Peltier's relevance in Wendell
  • a healing center proposed for the Fiske Pond property
  • landfill receives Toxic Action Center award for being an environmentally hazardous site
  • report from Wendell Regionalization Committee
  • news about the Meetinghouse
  • Selectboard minutes
  • tributes to residents Louis Traub and Joe Drozdowski
  • rate increase at the recycling center
  • an interview with Postmaster Anna Hartjens
  • low impact alternative cooking appliances
  • review of Ronzo's Bistro and local women publish a book about the recurrence of breast cancer.
2001 Apr.
Box 1: 1

Includes articles on:

  • a tax collector found guilty of stealing money
  • Town Hall Septic Advisory Committee receives grant
  • policing in Wendell
  • petition against full time police officer position
  • candidate statements
  • former Franklin County man dies in a New Hampshire climbing accident
  • community policing update
  • Selectboard minutes
  • news about the Meetinghouse
  • library survey on computerization
  • Meetinghouse structural report
  • letter from one of the new owners of the Fiske Pond property
  • Open Space and Recreation Plan and the Mahar Regional School budget controversy.

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Gift of Kathy Becker, 2012.

Digitized content

All extant issues of the Wendell Posthave been digitized and are available through the Internet Archiveand through SCUA's digital repository, Credo.

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Sept. 2013.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Wendell Post Collection (MS 762). Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Antinuclear movements--Massachusetts.
  • New Salem (Mass.)--History.
  • Wendell (Mass.)--History.

Genres and formats

  • Newspapers.

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