(508) 943-4800 Newsstand: 75 cents www.auburnnews.net Friday, September 4, 2015 THIS WEEK’S QUOTE Lending an “Discretion in speech is more ear to local than eloquence.” farms Sir Francis Bacon MCGOVERN ‘FARM TOUR’ SEEKS OPINIONS, INFORMATION INSIDE CALENDAR .............12 OPINION ................A6 Jason Bleau photos School and state officials, students and more participate in the official ribbon cutting for SENIORS ................A9 the new Auburn Middle School on Aug. 29. OBITUARIES ............12 SPORTS .............. A10 EDITOR’S A proud day for AMS OFFICE HOURS MONDAYS 12-5 DISTRICT OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW MIddLE SCHOOL WEDNESDAYS 1-5 FRIDAYS 1-5 BY JASON BLEAU tution for Auburn students and result- NEWS STAFF WRITER LOCAL ed in a brand new 100,395-square-foot Olivia Richman photo AUBURN — It’s been 4 1/2 years building replacing the previous facil- U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and other politicians and members of since the concept of a new middle ity that was constructed in 1959. With the USDA visited farms and met with farmers on McGovern’s school in Auburn came to light, and over 550 students annually attending fourth annual agricultural tour. almost 500 days since the groundbreak- the school, the new facility is expected ing took place as the first step to mak- to be the next era of education for not BY OLIVIA RICHMAN West Brookfield, Spencer, ing it a physical reality. only Auburn, but the region as well. NEWS STAFF WRITER On Saturday, Aug. 29, citizens and During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Leicester, Rochdale, taxpayers gathered to see the results many officials and volunteers close On Monday, Aug. 24 Sutton and Northbridge of all that hard work and anticipation to the project discussed the signifi- and Tuesday, Aug. 25, over the two-day tour. with the ribbon cutting for the brand cance of the new school and the hard U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern The agricultural new Auburn Middle School on West work, manpower and sacrifice that traveled all over the area, tour acted as a way for Street. went into making the school a real- visiting farms and meet- McGovern and members The $41.6 million project, which was ity. Superintendent Dr. Maryellen ing farmers for his annu- of the U.S. Department funded in part by tax dollars and a Brunelle opened the ceremony touting al agricultural tour. of Agriculture to discuss maximum grant of up to $20,715,999 the support that the community and McGovern visited the issues that rise when There and back contributed by the Massachusetts state officials put behind the effort. towns of North Brookfield, owning a small farm, School Building Association (MSBA), “All of us should be very proud of Hardwick, Hadley, and make sure farmers again was highly touted as an attempt to pro- North Amherst, South Page A3 vide a state of the art educational insti- Please Read AMS, page A13 Deerfield, Greenfield, Please Read FARMS, page A16 LOCAL Residents battle Ready to Relay to end Common LOCALS AIM FOR $1M FOR RELAY IN AUBURN Core BY OLIVIA RICHMAN intense,” said Johnson, Celebrating agricul- NEWS STAFF WRITER “But worth it. Every As the new school person I talk to … their ture, 4-H Fair a suc- year begins, there is a children didn’t like the cess in 66th year group of parents, teach- Common Core test. It’s ers and Massachusetts horribly written, horri- Page A4 residents who are fight- bly worded. And nobody ing for something to end. is working on changing It’s a group formed to that.” SPORTS create a ballot question, Common Core was the goal being to end brought to schools in the newly implemented Massachusetts in 2010. Common Core standard. According to Johnson, File photo According to the group’s the U.S. Constitution Media Coordinator stated that there should The Survivors’ Lap makes its way around the Lemansky Park track during last year’s Bonnie Johnson, the be no federal role in edu- Relay. This year’s event is slated for Friday, Sept. 11 and Saturday, Sept. 12. ballot question has cation, but this seemed been submitted to the to be completely ignored Attorney General’s when the federal govern- BY JASON BLEAU ever as they return to the track to Office. On Sept. 2, the ment began to put grant NEWS STAFF WRITER group will find out if the money towards districts join the fight against cancer as one of Stonebridge Press question was accepted. to implement Common AUBURN — It’s that time of year many Relay for Life events in South “We are confident she Core. again, as the Relay for Life of Central Central Massachusetts and northeast- Sports Summer in will,” added Johnson, “The standards South County returns to Auburn for ern Connecticut. According to event and at that point End are inferior by a 12th year with a landmark mission leader Julie Norberg, the Auburn Review Common Core would Massachusetts stan- in mind, reach $1 million total raised Relay is unique not just for it’s late Page A10 have to work on collect- dards,” said Johnson. through the event. year event date, but also because it ing 100,000 signatures “They are untested, Touted as the “Million Dollar offers a wide variety of fun activities between Sept. 16 and untried and unproven. Year,” organizers of this year’s event for all to enjoy and embrace. are hoping to see more support than Nov. 18. A group of non-educa- Please Read RELAY, page A16 PINION “It’s very, very O Please Read CORE, page A16 GET YOUR POINT ACROSS PAGE AX Club seeks to continue growth of railroad museum BY JASON BLEAU organization name on to tour the facility on cars. Its members would a collection of rare and NEWS STAFF WRITER David Street in Webster Wednesday, Aug. 26, like the club and muse- aging artifacts from the WEBSTER — For 38 in the process. where President and um to become a major history of American years, the Providence With hopes on expand- CEO Bill Radcliffe, who part of Webster’s Main railroads from drills and Worcester Railfan ing and making the pub- has led the organization Street area and a much and tools used to install Club has worked hard lic aware of the muse- throughout it’s entire larger and more appre- the tracks to maps and to spread their love and um and the nonprofit existence, said that the ciated draw for tourism models used to represent appreciation for railroad 501(c)3 group, members club hopes to make the and education in South the history and culture 6 5652510391 9 history, putting together of the organization invit- museum more than just a Central Massachusetts. a museum sharing their ed the Webster Times collection of historic rail Radcliffe showed off Please Read RAILROAD, page A14 2 • THE AUBURN NEWS • Friday, September 4, 2015 Charlton Orchards Farm Updates on bear, fishing seasons Pick Your Own Blueberries & Apples Visit our Farm Store THE GREAT Tomatoes • Cucumbers OUTDOORS Sweet Corn Blueberries • Apples RALPH Pears • Peaches • Plums TRUE Apple Cider The Uxbridge Rod & Gun Club will host its second 3-D 44 Old Worcester Rd. • Rt. 20 • Charlton, MA shoot this year at the club 508-248-7820 • www.charltonorchard.com grounds on Sept. 5-6. The event Open Thurs-Sat 9-5 • Sun & Mon 10-4 • Closed Tues& Wed is open to the public, which is a fun shoot. Chairman Noel Rabidor did an outstanding job setting up the course and the lifelike 3-D targets should make the event a lot of fun. Full-size targets that include bear, elk, deer, mountain lion, turkey, and more, will make the shoot exciting for all in attendance. 8x7-9x7 Steel Liftmaster 1/2 hp Breakfast and lunch will be 2 Sided Insulated Chain Drive available for the two-day hunt. Garage Door After walking the course per- Courtesy photos r-value 9.65 Inc, standard hardware & 7ft Opener sonally with my two dogs, track, 8 color & 3 panel design options Twig and Molly, I wish that I $270 still shot a compound bow or The annual Motorcycle Ride and Chicken BBQ was held at the VFW in inc Installation $570 recurve bow. During a walk Uxbridge recently in memory of the late Bob Boucher of Uxbridge. He is fondly inc Installation price matching available on all written quotes through at the new range, my remembered by his many friends and family members. Bob loved the outdoors two dogs encountered a full- hunting and fishing. This week’s picture shows Bob holding a summer fluke size bear target that got their caught while fishing aboard this writer’s boat a number of years ago. immediate attention. The hair on the back of both dogs was standing up as they maneu- Island opened this past is hooked up on light tackle. vered around the life size tar- Tuesday allowing a recre- Bonito are also a favorite game RONNIE’S SEAFOOD get, staying a good distance ational angler to retain seven fish for fly fishermen. They do from it. Do not miss this great fish daily. Last week this not provide very good table RT. 31 CHARLTON DEPOT event! Brushing up on your writer and my fishing buddy fair, and most are released to marksmanship now will cer- Harry Salmon caught and fight another day! “Proudly serving the community for over 40 years” tainly have you ready for the released numerous sea bass in Striper fishing has slowed upcoming bow season, which the 4-pound-plus class while in both Rhode Island and will commence on Oct.