Clinton

Lancaster church hopes to ‘brighten lives’

September 15, 2023 by pkzadmin

LANCASTER — The upcoming annual Choose Wellness health fair is just one way the College Church of Seventh-day Adventists congregants interact with and serve the greater community.

The event on Sunday Sept. 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Central Park in Clinton will feature information on vegan and vegetarian nutrition, emotional well-being, lifestyle and exercise, and local artists and health-centric vendors including make your own smoothie.

There will also be blood pressure and Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings, a farmers market area with fresh produce from regional farmers, raffle prizes such as gift certificates and baskets from local businesses, and a children’s area with a bouncy house, face painting, arts and crafts, and a teddy bear vet clinic.

Longtime church member and Sterling resident Kari Radford is organizing the health fair she first launched in 2017 as a way to help spread the word about healthy living, one of the tenants of the Seventh-day Adventist church. She has been involved with the Lancaster church’s women’s ministries for a long time and for the past decade the leader of the dedicated group that quietly goes about doing what they believe is God’s work in the community.

“I enjoy being part of this ministry and seeing the faces of the people we have reached out to,” Radford said. “It feels very good to be able to brighten the lives of those around us and make a difference in the world, following the example of Jesus.”

Choose Wellness is one example of a long list of community outreach efforts the church is involved with. Many involved in the Women’s Ministries and other church members donate their time and talents to ‘Adopt a Family’ at Christmastime, assist with meals for homeless every month through WHEAT Community Connections in Clinton, provide meals on a regular basis to North Star Family Services homeless shelter in Leominster, and donate clothes, snacks, and lunch bags to Clinton Elementary School students.

In addition, they do monthly ministry at Sterling Village Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and an annual large-scale Thanksgiving basket food drive that results in boxes filled with food delivered to hundreds of families every November.

Radford said the Women’s Ministries team is integral in ensuring the success of these multifaceted outreach efforts.

“Many women pitch in with the various activities,” she said. “We have focused on outreach programs for our own members as well as our community.”

In the fall, they send care packages to their own first-year college students who are away from home for the first time.

“We pack up snacks, school supplies, and other miscellaneous items with a letter that lets them know they are in our thoughts and prayers,” Radford shared.

Last summer they joined forces with Glō Mom Initiative and organized and hosted a community baby shower at Central Park in Clinton where they provided baby clothes and essentials, information on available resources, and more to expecting and new moms. A certified car seat safety expert was on site and gave out some new infant car seats.

College Church of Seventh-day Adventists members at the annual Choose Wellness fair in 2018. Back row from left, Jeremy Malin and Scott Sassone, front row from left, Kristian Bae, event organizer Kari Radford, and Luis Gracia. (COURTESY KARI RADFORD)

This December will be the fourth year in a row the women’s ministries team is doing ‘Adopt a Family’ for Christmas. They typically endow a family upwards of $1,500 to $2,000 worth of items they need, such as gift cards for gas and groceries, as well as clothing for the whole family and toys for the kids. The first year they helped a family with then 2-year-old twins where one of the parents had cancer and was unable to work.

“We gave presents to the kids and gift certificates for gas, groceries, and stores,” Radford said. “We had a meal together when we brought them the gifts. They were so appreciative.”

The second year they adopted Inigo Vega and his Leominster family. The 10-year-old passed away in May of this year after a courageous 20-month battle with cancer and a celebration of his life was recently held at the church.

“Both parents quit their jobs to support their only child,” Radford said of their fellow College Church members that they were happy to help in their time of need.

Last year they focused their efforts on a family staying at North Star Family Services after finding out about them following the Glō Mom baby shower. The family had two small children and another on the way. When the family was able to move out of the shelter, Radford said they donated what they had collected including gift certificates to Market Basket, Target, and Walmart back to North Star.

“It was a success story for the shelter.” Radford said related to the family getting placed in housing, adding that when she delivered the gift certificates to the staff at North Star they were “very appreciative.”

The College Church has been providing meals for North Star families one week each quarter for nearly two years now. Church families sign up for a day of the week and bring the food directly to the shelter.

North Star President and CEO Jon Hogue said the Adventist church is one of 18 local organizations, businesses, and churches who are on a regular rotation to provide meals for a week every three months.

“It is the community helping the neediest of families, the whole community coming together to own that,” Hogue said of their loyal patrons. “Nobody deserves to be traumatized or sleep in an abandoned building, nobody deserves that. What these groups are saying is that this is not acceptable and by cooking they are ensuring that nobody goes hungry.”

Radford said the congregation “is very supportive of our efforts” and that church members regularly contribute monetary donations which enables them to continue “these various outreach programs.”

“We are very appreciative of this help and support,” she said. “Our church has a mission to reach out to others and show the community that we care.”

Leominster falls in championship series

August 7, 2023 by pkzadmin

LEOMINSTER — The Central Massachusetts Baseball League Senior Division season came to a disappointing close for Leominster on Sunday night.

Top-seeded Leominster saw its chance at a league title slip away thanks to a tremendous performance on the mound by second-seeded Clinton starting pitcher Brian Silvester. The Gaels took home the 2023 crown with a 12-1 mercy shortened victory in six innings under the lights of Pin Cannavino Field at McLaughlin Park.

After splitting the first two games of the best-of-three championship series, Clinton came out on Sunday and took care of business to bring home the title.

“The loss doesn’t diminish what this team accomplished this season,” said Leominster head coach Seth Aronow after Sunday’s win. “The Clinton pitcher was tough to hit tonight and you must tip your cap to him. He came in and did what he had to do.”

Leominster finishes the season with a stellar 13-4-1 overall record. Clinton finishes at 12-5. After a first-round bye, the Blue Devils defeated Narragansett in the semifinals to punch their ticket to the championship series. Following a 12-5 win over Clinton in Game 1 Leominster dropped a tough 8-7 decision in Game 2 to set up Sunday’s winner-take-all ballgame.

Clinton starting pitcher Brian Silvester, right, was dominant against Leominster Sunday night. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Michael James LeClair)

“We had a great season. Our bats went quiet tonight but to get to this point, we only had two losses during the regular season and won a couple of big games in the playoffs,” said Aronow, who was assisted by coach Chris Wilbur this season. “Narragansett played us tough all season long, they beat us early in the season. We knew they were a tough team entering the playoffs. They went up early on us in the playoff game but our guys battled back.”

Clinton did all its offensive damage in the second and sixth innings on Sunday as the Gaels batted around both times and plated six runs in each frame against Leominster pitching.

Trailing 6-0 entering the bottom of the second inning, Leominster plated its lone run in the game off Silvester.

A leadoff single by Dom Swaine followed by a pop out brought AJ Wozniak to the dish and he delivered an RBI double to right center field, plating Swaine to make it 6-1. Leominster was unable to cut into the deficit any further as Silvester got Nolan Tetreault to fly out to right field and Michael Beaulac to pop out to first base to end the threat.

Leominster used a plethora of arms on the mound Sunday evening. Stefano Penniman got the start on the bump and lasted just 1.1 innings before being lifted. Beaulac came on in relief followed by Alex Coco and Brendan Bail as the Leominster staff did its best to try to limit Clinton’s offensive opportunities.

Meanwhile, Silvester was dominant on the mound. Mixing a live fastball with a knee-bending curveball, the Clinton hurler limited Leominster to just three base runners on the night while allowing only two hits. Silvester struck out 12 hitters.

“That was their ace on the mound tonight for Clinton and he threw like it. We started our number two guy and he just couldn’t find it tonight,” said Aranow. “They had that big second inning and we were forced to play from behind all game long and against a good pitcher it’s really tough.”

Making up this year’s Leominster roster were Wozniak, Coco, Bail, Swaine, Tetreaul. Penniman, Beaulac, Carson Wilbur, Daniel Simons, Evan Frick, Cayden Ago, Ian Aronow, Josh Liebert and Max Parisi.

In the Junior Division, Ashburnham/Westminster locked up the championship on July 30 by defeating Narragansett 6-5 in the championship game. Ashburnham/Westminster finished the 2023 campaign with a 17-5 overall record.

Lori Trahan celebrates service academy nominees

April 26, 2023 by pkzadmin

LOWELL — Each June, U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan’s office begins the process of accepting, vetting and nominating 10 applicants each to four of the nation’s five U.S. service academies — West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy.

Monday night, Trahan recognized the 24 nominees from her office in a ceremony held in the venerable Hall of Flags at Lowell Memorial Auditorium, celebrating what she called, “this remarkable group of young adults.”

They ranged across the 35 3rd Congressional District communities, hailing from Pepperell, Lancaster, Acton, Clinton, Fitchburg, Lunenburg, Concord, Dracut, Carlisle, Westford, Lowell and Tyngsboro.

Trahan made her remarks standing at the front of a room lined with flags depicting Veterans’ Council organizations, early American history and the state flag. She cited the hall’s significance as a place of honor dedicated to the men and women veterans of Lowell, especially those who died during time of war.

“As your representative in Congress, my role in this process — nominating the students to our world-class service institutions — is one of my greatest honors, and it’s a responsibility that everyone on the team takes very seriously.” Trahan started her congressional career serving on the Armed Services Committee.

That team included Air Force veteran and Trahan’s Director of Constituent Services Jorge Morales-Lopez, who told the crowd that a service academy education is “rooted in leadership, discipline and the skills necessary to become an officer in the armed forces.”

The application season opens on June 1 and ends Oct. 31. Students must submit three letters of recommendation, a resume of extracurricular activities, an official high school transcript, SAT and/or ACT scores and a 500-word essay on attending a service academy.

“As officers in the U.S. military, you will form the ‘tip of the spear’ in that effort,” Trahan said. “Seeing the drive that got you here, and the courage you have shown in taking this step, reassures me that America’s best days are ahead.”

A nine-member Service Academy board of past and present military, recommended the nominees on behalf of Trahan’s office. Both U.S. Army Sgt. First Class (Ret.) John Moses, of Chelmsford, and former U.S. Naval Academy graduate and Marine David Cote, attended the event representing the board.

“We don’t just look at your grades or your SAT scores,” Trahan said. “We look for students rich in character and leadership, and with unwavering enthusiasm and determination, driven by the steadfast commitment to serve our country and our common good.”

The Air Force Junior ROTC honor guard from Lowell High School opened the ceremony, presenting the flags that flanked the stage and later became a backdrop for family photos with Trahan and military leadership.

Among that group was cadet and nominee Kaiden Man, of Lowell, who attended the ceremony with his family. He said his parents “nudged” him to join the high school’s ROTC program four years’ ago. Although he did not receive an appointment to a service academy, Man said he was going to continue a military path by enlisting upon graduation in June.

Six women were among the nominees, which Trahan said reflects the commitment of the Board to nominate students representative of the 3rd District.

Sophie Russell, of Chelmsford, received nominations to West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy. She’ll report to Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island. Service runs in her family, she said.

“My mother, my father and all of my grandparents were in the military, so I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” Russell said. “I was in the Air Force auxiliary for two years. I found out in January that I was nominated.”

Another legacy of family service was reflected in Elizabeth “Lisa” Fitzgerald’s decision to apply to and receive an appointment to the Air Force Academy.

“Both my parents went to the Air Force Academy, and served in the military,” the Concord resident said. “I found that inspiring. My three older siblings — two sisters and a brother — also went to the academy. That motivated me to pursue a life of service.”

Of the 24 nominees, eight received an appointment to a service academy, with Morales-Lopez noting that, “Receiving a nomination is in of itself an accomplishment.”

Lars Jansson, of Tyngsboro, knows both sides of the nomination process. Jansson was a nominee last year, but did not receive an appointment to a service academy. He enrolled in UMass Francis School of Engineering, and applied again this year, receiving an appointment to West Point.

“We nominate the students,” Morales-Lopez explained. “But the academy’s make the final determination on admission. He did not receive an appointment last year, but I encouraged him to come back and apply.”

After the speeches recognizing their accomplishments, Trahan, Col. Taona Enriquez and Chief Master Sgt. Alan Weary conferred the certificates upon the nominees. Afterwards, Trahan spoke again to highlight the impact the young people had on her work in Congress.

“We have a collective duty to secure our future and our children’s future by defending our values wherever they are challenged aboard or at home,” Trahan said. “As officers in the U.S. military, you will form the tip of the spear in that effort, and seeing the drive that got you here, and the courage you have shown in taking this step, reassures me that America’s best days are ahead.”

She wished the nominees the best of luck on their future endeavors, and thanked them for the honor of nominating them. “I’m so present for this moment, looking into your faces knowing that our best days are indeed ahead with you at the helm.”

The nominees who received appointments are:

West Point

• Adrien Lam – Groton, United States Military Academy Preparatory School.

• Lars Jansson – Tyngsboro, University of Massachusetts, Lowell – Francis College ofEngineering.

• Anthony Petracca – Lancaster, Trivium School.

Naval Academy

• Fiona Cullen – Andover, Austin Preparatory School.

Air Force Academy

• Zachary Aster – Fitchburg, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

• Elizabeth Fitzgerald – Concord, Austin Preparatory School.

•Keira Lonadier – Concord, Concord-Carlisle High School.

Merchant Marine

• Robert Baum – South Hamilton, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School.

Leominster’s Sky View Middle School targeted in ‘swatting’ hoax

February 15, 2023 by pkzadmin

LEOMINSTER — Reports of a person brandishing a weapon on the grounds of Sky View Middle School on Wednesday morning were determined to be unfounded.

At 11:50 a.m., the Leominster Police Department received a report that someone was on school grounds with an AR-15-style rifle. After the call was received, the school went into lockdown while police, fire, and emergency services swept school grounds.

“We were able to get in and get out and it went off without a hitch,” Police Chief Aaron Kennedy said.

After determining the threat was unfounded, the lockdown was lifted at 12:30 p.m. and the school day resumed. Kennedy said the false report at Sky View follows the “swatting” hoax seen at other schools across the state this week including Fitchburg High School and Clinton Public Schools on Tuesday.

Regardless of if it is a hoax or not, Kennedy said every situation had to be taken seriously.

“From our vantage point in Leominster, we treat everything as if it’s the real deal,” Kennedy said. “We don’t ever think of it as a lesser threat.”

Kennedy said police, fire and emergency management meet on a weekly basis and work in conjunction with Leominster Public Schools, as they did Wednesday. He said all parties train for scenarios like this so the disruption for students and their ability to learn is minimal. Although he could not speak for other communities, he felt they would share the same belief.

“As soon as you let your guard down, that will be the time where there will be the mistake you can’t take back,” Kennedy said.

When situations like this occur, Kennedy said he understood the worry and panic parents may feel. However, he said that the city’s emergency personnel and the school department were committed to keeping students safe “in school and on the streets.” He said today was a good training exercise that could be reviewed for ways these situations can be handled in the future.

“We want to make sure that we never have the real deal happen in the city,” Kennedy said.

The investigation into the threats is ongoing and Kennedy said he would not comment on the particulars of the case.

As “swatting” threats are made against schools across the state, the State Police “Fusion Center” has played a role in disseminating timely information to local police departments. Kennedy said the threat made against Sky View Middle School were similar to the threats made against Fitchburg High School and Clinton Public Schools on Tuesday.

Additionally, Kennedy added the lessons learned from the situation at Sky View would be shared with other area police departments to ensure they had the information needed to respond should threats be made against schools in their communities.

An investigation into the threats is ongoing, Kennedy said.

“Swatting” refers to the practice of calling in a fake report in order to bring a significant presence of armed first responders to a particular place as report. The phrase has been recognized as a criminal phenomenon by the FBI since at least 2008.

‘Swatting’ hoax targets Fitchburg High School, Clinton Public Schools

February 14, 2023 by pkzadmin

Fitchburg High School and Clinton Public Schools were targeted in what appears to be a statewide “swatting” hoax on Tuesday.

According to Fitchburg Police Capt. Christopher Garcia, the State Police “Fusion Center” issued an alert Tuesday stating local school districts and police departments across Massachusetts were receiving phone calls stating an individual was threatening to show up with a weapon.

Garcia said shortly after the alert was issued, an individual threatened to show up at Fitchburg High School with a weapon and a pipe bomb.

“We sent some officers up to Fitchburg High School,” Garcia said. “They did not put the school into a lockdown because according to the ‘Fusion Center,’ there have been multiple schools across Massachusetts in the last two days that have received the same threat.”

While the school was not put into lockdown, Garcia said officers did a full search of the building and “didn’t find anything out of the norm.” He added every situation is given a response and the department would act accordingly in each scenario.

Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent Bob Jokela said the district conferred with the police department to assess the threat level to the school community and safety is always the top priority.

Jokela added the district is committed to building a “culture of safety” and the district’s safety taskforce will hold a meeting after February vacation. Additionally, he said the district is working to improve security systems and is pursuing safety focused grants.

“We’re trying to build that culture because it will really come down to the students, the staff and the parents,” Jokela said. “That’s something we’re trying to be very clear and consistent on in our task force meetings and meetings with our staff and students — that if you see something, say something.”

Nearby, the Clinton Police Department received a phone call stating a person was seen near the middle and high schools with a weapon and possible explosives. A joint statement by Clinton Police and Clinton Public Schools said all schools went into lockdown around 10:20 a.m.

Clinton and State Police did a sweep of all of the town’s schools, but did not find anything. The lockdown at the elementary school ended around 11 a.m., while the lockdown ended at the middle and high schools just before noon.

“All schools will address this situation with students tomorrow, Wednesday, February 15, and provide support to any student in need,” the statement read.

In an email to parents, Clinton Elementary School Principal Meghan Silvio recognized the lockdown was a scary experience. She said most students did not know the details of the incident.

“Tomorrow, when they come to school, we will remind them that we practice drills to keep us safe. We will tell them that we remained in our classroom for some time, and had indoor recess to be sure that there was nothing dangerous inside or outside of our building,” Silvio wrote. “Some of them might have seen police officers walking around our building to make sure everything was safe. We will remind them that if they feel nervous they can always talk to their teacher, or their guidance counselor.”

The threats made against Fitchburg High School and Clinton Public Schools follow a pattern on threats made against several schools across the state on Monday including: Amesbury, Braintree, Charlestown, Chelmsford, East Boston, North Attleboro and Westfield.

According to the Boston Herald, state police spokesman David Procopio characterized the threats as “hoax ‘swatting’ calls,” referring to the practice of calling in a fake report in order to bring a huge police response to somewhere as a prank.

The Herald also reported the State Police “Fusion Center” — where state, local and federal authorities can combine resources — is “assisting in the investigation into the source of the calls.”

In an email to reporters Tuesday afternoon, Procopio said, “Thus far every call has been determined to be a hoax.”

Correspondent Sara Arnold contributed to this report.

Blue Devils ground Rockets

December 23, 2022 by pkzadmin

FITCHBURG —The Leominster girls hockey team hit the ice Friday evening looking to string together back-to-back wins heading into the Christmas break.

The Blue Devils continued their strong play as they found the back of the net four times en route to a 4-1 victory over visiting Auburn at the Wallace Civic Center.

Leominster improves to 2-1-1 overall on the season and hands Auburn its first loss of the campaign. The Rockets drop to 2-1-1.

“I saw solid play from our girls for the entire game. We came out a little sloppy early on in our last game but tonight, from the opening faceoff, I thought we passed the puck well and we had some greats shots on net,” said Leominster head coach Nancy LeBlanc, now in her sixth season at the helm for the Blue Devils. “This was a true team win, everybody contributed to this one tonight.”

For Leominster, Friday night’s result came on the heels of a 3-0 win at home against Brookline on Wednesday.

As for Friday night’s contest, Leominster dominated the opening period as it peppered Auburn goalie Tori Horne (32 saves) with 12 shots on goal. Despite carrying the play for the majority of the opening stanza, the game remained scoreless until the final minute.

Carissima Heinis fires a shot for Leominster during Friday's win over Auburn. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier) — Carissima Heinis fires a shot for Leominster during Friday’s win over Auburn. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier)

A pair of Auburn penalties gave the Blue Devils a 5-on-3 advantage with a minute left on the clock and Leominster took advantage as it netted a pair of power-play goals to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room for the first intermission. Carrismas Heinis and Rachel Simkewicz each lit the lamp for the hosts at 14:14 and 14:47 of the first period, respectively.

“That was huge,” said LeBlanc. “We told them in the locker room that we can’t let up because Auburn is a good team and strike quickly.”

That’s just what the Rockets did as they cut the deficit in half 7:06 into the second period when Izzy Spencer beat Blue Devils goalie Carina Eshbaugh (11 saves) to make it a 2-1 game.

Leominster answered in the second period with a goal from Madison Salovardos with 2:16 remaining in the middle frame to put Leominster up 3-1 through two periods.

In the final 15 minutes, Leominster refused to let Auburn chip away as it maintained the upper hand. The Blue Devils outshot Auburn 11-3 in the final period and 36-12 in the game.

Leominster one more insurance goal for good measure with 3:18 remaining when Heinis netted her second of the game to make it 4-1.

Leominster is a co-op team with Lunenburg, Ayer-Shirley Regional, Clinton, Sizer School, West Boylston, North Middlesex Regional and Groton-Dunstable Regional.

“This is a great group. We have a ton of new faces, it’s a bigger team than we’ve had in the past and they’ve just clicked,” said LeBlanc. “They work really hard and they’ve come together as a team both on and off the ice.”

The Blue Devils return to action on Dec. 28 when they travel to the Salem Ice Center in Salem, New Hampshire, to take on Central Catholic High School.