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Gardner

Nonprofit donates ‘calming kits’ for kids in emergencies

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GARDNER — Local nonprofit Empower Children for Success has kindly donated 100 Calming Kits to Heywood Hospital’s Handle with Care First Responder Initiative. Among the recipients include 10-plus local area police departments, over six local area school districts and Heywood’s Athol and Gardner emergency department locations.

Heywood’s HWC Assistant Program Manager Renee Eldredge had met the Fitchburg nonprofit’s president and founder Marites MacLean at an event a year ago and began working toward a goal.

Since receiving the calming kits, the Handle with Care Initiative’s police departments and emergency rooms have successfully utilized the kits to provide children with positive reinforcements to remain emotionally regulated during a traumatic time.

The calming kits, which come with an informational flyer and a link to a step-by-step how-to video, are a welcomed resource for children when police arrive on the scene of a traumatic event, or provided while youths await services in the emergency room.

“It is a great resource to have in the cruisers for youth in crisis,” said Gardner Police Lt. John Czasnowski, who is also a Handle with Care Program Manager.

“The Heywood Athol Hospital’s emergency department (ED) staff are very thankful to Empower Children for Success; the 35 calming kits donated are used with children who come into the ED. The kits help soothe and distract children, and provide a better perception of their ED visit,” said Jessica Johnston, a Heywood Community Health worker at Athol Hospital Emergency Department. “The calming kits show children compassion for their emergent needs and how to self-regulate during a stressful, trauma inducing time. The kit also teaches the youth to reach out for help in the future if needed. Additionally, a few parents were so thankful, one parent even cried!”

In either case, the multiple sensory items provide the ability for the child to self-regulate, while providing the opportunity for the caregiver to co-regulate with their child.

Some items include a stuffed animal, bubbles, coloring items, a reading book, a pinwheel to work on breath control and more. Heywood’s Handle with Care team is fortunate to have been the recipient of this amazing resource to share with youth in our communities.

(Courtesy Empower Children for Success)  

Theatre on the Mount presents ‘Elf the Musical’

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GARDNER — Based on one of the most beloved holiday films in recent years, “Elf the Musical”, transforms the story of Buddy the Elf into a lavish musical opening Thanksgiving weekend at Theatre at the Mount, located at 444 Green St.

The holiday-film-turned-musical features songs by Tony Award nominees, Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (Disney’s “Aladdin”, “The Wedding Singer”), with a book by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan (“Annie”, “The Producers”, “Hairspray”) and Bob Martin (“The Drowsy Chaperone”).

After mistakenly crawling into Santa’s toy sack as a young orphan boy, Buddy is raised by elves at the North Pole. Unaware of the fact that he is human, Buddy’s enormous size and lack of natural toy-making skills that the other elves possess eventually forces Buddy to face the truth.

With Santa’s blessing, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, Walter Hobbs, a cynical non-nonsense workaholic. Buddy also discovers that most New Yorkers no longer believe in Santa and the spirit of Christmas. The problem is Santa’s sleigh will only fly if people believe in him. Buddy’s unrelenting sunny disposition and profoundly ingrained love of Christmas not only creates hilarity amongst the cynicism of New Yorkers but may save Christmas.

“Remembering the innocent understanding of Santa through Buddy the Elf’s eyes will help children and adults renew their Spirit of Christmas in ways they cannot imagine,” said Gail Steele, director of Theatre at the Mount.

“Elf the Musical” features David Allen Prescott as Buddy. Prescott was last seen as Felix Unger in Theatre at the Mount’s production of The Odd Couple. The show also features Meagan Dame as Jovie, Becky Ruccio as Emily Hobbs, Xavier Cormier as Michael Hobbs, Jeremiah Riordon as Santa, and Jon Simmons as Walter Hobbs.

“You certainly don’t have to be a fan of the movie to enjoy the musical version of ‘Elf’,” said Steele. “Each song in the show adds depth and detail to the characters and the story – reminding us about the incredible magic of Christmas and its message of generosity toward all people.”

“Elf the Musical” will be performed Nov. 24, 25, Dec. 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. with matinees on Nov. 25, Nov. 26 and Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. A special sensory-friendly performance of “Elf the Musical” takes place on Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are on sale at the Theatre at the Mount Box office by calling 978-630-9388 or online at https://mwcc.universitytickets.com/

Local Notebook: Resilient Falcons victorious in home opener

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As far as home openers go, Saturday’s game against Anna Maria is unlikely to go down in annals of Fitchburg State hockey as one that should be studied on how to win.

Still, a win is a win and despite play being heavily controlled by the visiting Amcats and facing a huge deficit in shots for most of the contest, the Falcons were indeed able to pick up a victory to kick of their slate of games at the Wallace Civic Center.

It was a showcase of the Falcons’ resolve and put a spotlight on a young netminder, shining in his collegiate debut.

The guests often pinned the Falcons in their own end for decent spans of time and held advantages in shots of 15-5 after 20 minutes and 38-17 after two periods, but the figure that truly mattered was the 3-2 final score as Fitchburg State held its own in the third period and took control in overtime.

Even though they were outshot throughout, the Falcons (1-1-1, 0-0-1 MASCAC) never trailed. Samuel Rennick gave FSU a 1-0 lead in the second and after the Amcats pulled even in the third, freshman Nicklas Millhorn put the Falcons ahead with a power-play marker.

Though Anna Maria tied things midway through the final frame, the Falcons never wavered. Their effort was rewarded with just over a minute left in the extra frame as freshman Kristopher Zapata used an exceptional burst of speed to get around a defender and snapped the game-winner past Anna Maria goalie Matthew Hennessey.

It gave freshman netminder Frederick Soderberg his first collegiate victory and it was certainly deserved. The first-year goalie from Harrison Township, Michigan, stopped 46 shots and kept the Falcons in the game even when the ice seemed tilted against them.

Bernardians put it all together

In a renewal of a Thanksgiving Eve rivalry game on Friday night, the St. Bernard’s football team put together a strong effort in a 38-8 road victory over Lunenburg.

St. Bernard's Jarius Williams had a pair of rushing touchdowns in Friday's win over Lunenburg. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)
St. Bernard’s Jarius Williams had a pair of rushing touchdowns in Friday’s win over Lunenburg. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

After making their way through a season of close games that they came up on the wrong end of, the Bernardians (2-7) left no doubt in the non-playoff consolation game. After a scoreless first quarter, the guests took a 20-0 lead into halftime after a trio of touchdowns in the second.

They visitors never relented, scoring the first touchdown of the second half and rolling to win No. 2 on the season.

As it had been in the past, the ground game was the key for St. Bernard’s. Keegan Rose racked up 131 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, while Jarius Williams had 118 yards on 11 touches, scoring twice.

The Bernardians will host Quabbin Regional on Friday night and close the campaign on Nov. 22 with St. Paul visiting on Thanksgiving Eve.

Week 10 football schedule set

While the football postseason rolls on, the non-playoff slate for Week 10 has been announced.

Westboro will visit Doyle Field to take on Leominster, while Fitchburg heads to Assabet. North Middlesex Regional will host Tantasqua, Oakmont Regional faces old rival Gardner and Algonquin Regional will travel to Bolton to play Nashoba Regional.

Rounding out the locals, Lunenburg plays at Narragansett and Ayer-Shirley hosts Worcester Tech.

MWCC students visit Gardner District Court

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GARDNER —  Mount Wachusett Community College students spent the morning observing proceedings at the Gardner District Court earlier in October, where their professor, Judge Mark Goldstein, presided over 60 cases ranging from restraining orders to traffic and probation violations.

In between sessions, Judge Goldstein spoke with the students, who are all taking Litigation and Introduction to Law courses, about what they had observed during the proceedings, alongside fellow professor and attorney James Korman.

Students also heard from Assistant District Attorney Emily Lombardi, Clerk-Magistrate and former State Representative Sheila Harrington, Chief Probation Officer Diane Massouh, and Chief Trial Court Officer Calvin Lopez before court resumed for the second part of the morning session.

The Gardner District Court facility serves as both the Gardner and Winchendon District Court home.

The Gardner District comprises Gardner, Hubbardston, Petersham and Westminster. The Winchendon District serves Ashburnham, Phillipston, Royalston, Templeton and Winchendon.

The Gardner District court typically handles a variety of legal matters, including civil, criminal, and traffic cases. Goldstein was appointed first presiding justice at Gardner District Court in January 2021. He has been an adjunct instructor in the college’s Paralegal program for 15 years.

(Courtesy of Mount Wachusett Community College)

Police still seeking info on Aaron Pennington’s whereabouts 

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GARDNER —  State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office, and the Massachusetts State Police are continuing to work on locating Aaron Pennington, who is wanted on a murder warrant in connection with the death of his wife, Breanne Pennington.

Police continue to encourage members of the public to be on the lookout for Pennington, who is a white male with blonde hair, blue eyes, 6-feet, 2-inches tall and is approximately 175 pounds.

Any hunters, people with trail cameras around Camp Collier, and any members of the public who see suspicious activity are asked to contact authorities. Anyone who sees someone matching the description of Pennington is encouraged to call 911. Police are warning the public not to approach Pennington as he is believed to be armed and dangerous.

Anyone with any information about this case is encouraged to contact the State Police Detectives assigned to Worcester County District Attorney’s Office at (508) 832-9124 or the Gardner Police at (978) 632-5600.

(Courtesy Massachusetts State Police, Media Relations Unit)