1994 To ensure a turkey for every basket on Thanksgiving, Pete’s Tire Barn and Kimball-Cooke Insurance Company furnished a turkey and a 10-pound bag of potatoes for each of the 162 baskets provided by the Community Thanksgiving Committee.
Marc Dedinas held the keys to the kingdom and he used them to lock up a 25-21 victory over Mahar in the 37th renewal of the Thanksgiving Day football rivalry. Dedinas scored a touchdown, passed for another and set up the winning touchdown with two completions in the final four minutes of play. Most valuable player trophies were presented to Athol’s Adam Verock and Mahar’s Nate Geise.
The Athol Daily News Santa Toy Fund opened with a goal of $10,000. The employment situation has not improved much in the North Quabbin region and Santa Fund workers have already received over 150 appeals for help.
Veterans Park in Orange was crowded with families as the holiday season opened with a live nativity scene and entertainment by the Orange Community Band led by Robert Ellison. Santa arrived atop a fire engine, and the crowd cheered as he turned on the Christmas lights in the park. Children lined up to meet Jolly Old Saint Nick and whisper their Christmas list to him.
At the recent 122nd session of the Massachusetts State Grange meeting in Worcester, Mr. and Mrs. J. Wesley Blackmer of Orange, were named “Mr. and Mrs. Grange” and received honorary regalia from the youth committee chair, Roland Vaudry of Rutland. They were selected for their devotion to North Orange Grange and Franklin-Worcester Pomona Grange, and for community activities.
Cub Scout Pack 40 of Orange spent an afternoon recently raking and cleaning Veterans Park in Orange. The scouts volunteered to clean the park in preparation of the Veterans Day ceremony. After the cleanup the scouts made apple cider with a cider press.
Massachusetts fourth- and eighth-grade students scored higher in reading, but lower in writing, than they did two years ago on standardized tests, state education officials say. The rise in reading scores continues a six-year trend. Education Commissioner Robert Antonucci called those results “encouraging news.” “However, the results in writing are a cause for concern,” he said, adding that the tests overall showed the continuing need for improvement in education in the state.
1969 Members of the Tri Hi-Y Club packaged 1,000 boxes of candy for Santa’s upcoming visit to Athol. The project at the YMCA is an annual one with Tana Divoll and Sharon Desreusseau as advisors.
Stan’s Sooper advertised Butterball Turkeys: young hens 10-16 pounds for 55 cents a pound and toms 18-26 pounds for 49 cents a pound.
The “School Night for Scouting” designed to add 200 boys to the roster of the units in Monadnock Council got a big boost from the Athol-Orange area when 76 boys were registered at meetings held in Athol at the Riverbend School and in Orange at Butterfield School. Scouters were present to explain the program and aid in the signing of registration forms. The breakdown of new registrations is as follows – Cubs in Athol: Pack 18 – 22; Pack 38 – 12; Pack 28 – 1. Scouts in Athol: Troop 16 – 7; Troop 17 – 1; Troop 18 – 1. Cubs in Orange: Pack 44 – 30. Scouts in Orange: Troop 40 – 9.
The movie, “Silent Night, Lonely Night,” filmed in New Salem and surrounding towns in February, will be shown Dec. 16 at 9 p.m. on TV Channel 4. The movie, starring Lloyd Bridges and Shirley Jones, contains scenes of the Country Kitchen restaurant in New Salem, also a manger scene taken in front of the automotive shop of New Salem Academy. Appearing in the movie is the Everett Ricketts family of Wendell.
The state Pesticides Control Board banned the use of DDT and four other pesticides unless special permits first are obtained. Dr. Alfred Frechette, commissioner of public health, said he expects the move will “severely limit” the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Gov. Francis W. Sargent told the New England Governor’s Conference that DDT was “biological dynamite.” He said he wanted to outlaw the outdoor use of DDT in Massachusetts, and he urged fellow governors to follow suit.
Apollo 12’s moon explorers Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. and Alan L. Bean blasted off the bleak lunar surface and began the complex chase to catch and link up with their mother ship for the long journey home.
1944 Patrolman W. Ray Horrigan, 49, for the past 17 years a member of the Athol Police Department, has resigned to accept a position with the Federal government in military construction work at Pearl Harbor for the next 18 months, and will leave for that place in about two weeks. He is a Navy veteran serving in World War I and has made his home at 40 Marble Street, with his wife. Mrs. Horrigan is to be in Detroit, Mich., for a time.
Joseph L. Wall, 28, of Athol, will appear in First District Court on two charges: breaking, entering and larceny in the nighttime and on an additional charge of attempted larceny. It is alleged that he took the sum of $91.14 from the cash register at the Thompson Smoker, $1.81 from the Main Street Market, and also attempted to enter the rear of the Athol Daily News Office, all on Main Street. These were all made during the early hours of Thanksgiving morning.
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Blaser of Athol received a telegram from the War Department stating that her son, Pfc. George F. Blaser, 20, who was reported missing in France since Aug. 17, was a prisoner of war in Germany.
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Sibley of Orange received word from the Army Medical staff somewhere in France a postal card signed by their son, Franklin L. Sibley. Sgt. Sibley has been wounded twice and recently his parents received word, through a comrade, that he has been wounded a third time. There were no details on the card.
George B. Piper, manager of the Orange Theatre, announced that the theatre has been designated as an issuing center for the sale of individual bonds of the series “E,” “F,” and “G”. He also announced that a Bond Premiere will be shown at the Theatre sometime next month.
General Eisenhower declared his plan for future operations is to increase pressure steadily all along the western front until the Germans are crushed. To do this, greater supplies are necessary. “To get peace, we have got to fight like hell for it,” the Commander said, “Now let’s do it.”