Steering up to the Challenge

Mailed free to requesting homes in Douglas, Northbridge and Uxbridge Vol. V, No. 13 Complimentary to homes by request ONLINE: WWW.BLACKSTONEVALLEYTRIBUNE.COM Friday, January 22, 2016 THIS WEEK’S QUOTE The great “If only life could be a little more bird count tender and art a little more robust.” WEST HILL DAM Alan Rickman PARTICIPATING IN ANNUAL CORNELL EVENT BY GREG BARLOW INSIDE NEWS CORRESPONDENT UXBRIDGE — Be part A2-3 .................LOCAL of a global bird count phe- nomenon on Feb. 14, at A4-5 .............. OPINION 2 p.m. by joining 25-year A7 ............ OBITUARIES Courtesy photos Park Ranger Viola Bramel at West Hill Dam John Ferguson’s fraternity at UMass Dartmouth. A9 ........ SENIOR SCENE at 518 East Hartford Ave. A11 .............. SPORTS in Uxbridge, as a part of Cornell University’s 18th B2 ............. CALENDAR Annual Great Backyard B4 ...........REAL ESTATE Bird Count event. Steering up to Each year for a single B5 .................. LEGALS weekend, Cornell asks people of all demograph- EDITOR’S ics from around the world Greg Barlow photo to explore their back- Viola Bramel and other Park OFFICE HOURS yards, woods, or local Rangers welcome all to the the challenge annual Great Backyard Bird National Parks in search MONDAYS 12-5 of different bird species. Count event at West Hill WEDNESDAYS 1-5 The goal is to track migra- Dam in Uxbridge on Feb. 14. LOCAL COLLEGE STUDENT EMBARKS ON tion patterns and popu- FRIDAYS 1-5 lation density. Cornell TREK FOR CANCER has been researching and in the bird count event. analyzing which birds are Exploring four different LOCAL habitats, the park serves BY GREG BARLOW omore year of high sticking around in specif- NEWS CORRESPONDENT ic areas during the winter as a prime spot to capture school. Although his a glimpse of various birds DOUGLAS — Five mother has now recov- and finding reasons why particular birds might that like to stay in the years ago, Douglas res- ered, Ferguson recalls Blackstone Valley around ident John Ferguson that this time period was want to migrate. Last year, roughly 19 this time of the year. would never have imag- “the most frightening “Let’s do it with all the ined he’d be riding experience of his life.” million birds were record- ed, consisting of 5,090 dif- different habitats we have a bicycle 4,000 miles Since then, helping can- here,” said Bramel. “Let’s across the country. cer patients has been a ferent species. About 150 countries participated. engage people to be scien- A member of the passion for Ferguson. tists and be a part of the Douglas Class of 2013, Now entering For the past 11 years, West Hill Dam has study.” Ferguson’s mother was his junior year at John Ferguson’s friend, served as a Central Birds will stay in colder diagnosed with breast the University of Zachary Boyer, who partici- cancer during his soph- pated in UCF’s 4K event in Massachusetts branch Please Read CHALLENGE, page A13 Please Read BIRD, page A14 previous years. for people to participate The benefits The year in of goats Spartans hold on to Page A3 preview defeat Southbridge LEARNING VALLEY TOWNS LOOK AHEAD BY JON GOUIN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT TO WHAT’S TO COME UXBRIDGE — In a matchup of two IN 2016 Southern Worcester BY GREG BARLOW aid has not kept up with County League boys’ NEWS CORRESPONDENT inflation. The increases varsity basketball in state aid have reached squads on Friday night, As we enter the Jan. 16, Uxbridge High New Year, Douglas, less than 1 percent over the past seven years. It hosted Southbridge Northbridge and High. After building Uxbridge officials are has been difficult for the town to maintain its ser- a big early lead, the looking to maintain. Spartans struggled to With the annu- vices while at the same time, we’re struggling hold off the Pioneers al Massachusetts who made it a game Municipal Business with fixed costs and items that we can’t con- late, before falling, Meeting in Boston tak- 62-55. ing place on Jan. 22, trol.” Until the conference Uxbridge was led by local town managers sharpshooting Ryan Birthday in a box and administrators hope meeting, towns must plan to budget accord- Morais and his five to receive an increase in 3-pointers en route to Page A10 local funding and aid ingly with what they project to receive. From 21 points, 4 rebounds from the state. and 3 steals, and “We plan on appropri- a broad view of the gen- eral agenda, economic Josh Callinan, who ately balancing the bud- also totaled 21 points SPORTS get, so we can contin- growth, infrastructure development, and ade- and had 12 rebounds. ue to provide the same Southbridge was led level of services to the quately supporting the concerns and requests by Jared Figueroa’s residents,” said Douglas 19 points and Carlos Town Administrator of town departments are the priorities. Jon Gouin photos Escalara-Gomez, who Michael Guzinski. posted 11 points. “The town is definitely Last year, Douglas Uxbridge’s Josh Callinan fights to put back a rebound for two of his 21 points during a breakout performance that under an extreme bud- faced unfunded man- helped lead Uxbridge to a 62-55 win over Southbridge on get strain. Over the past Read SPARTANS, page A12 Friday, Jan. 15. Smothering eight years, the state Please Read PREVIEW, page A14 defense helps Northbridge girls’ basketball roll Great expectations: NHS preps students for future over Bartlett, 37-14 BY GREG BARLOW which they think is inter- Academy, Health school while they are still to provide students with NEWS CORRESPONDENT Page A11 esting to explore. Sciences Academy and in high school. It’s hard an education path that NORTHBRIDGE — For the second year run- Justice Academy. to do. If we can expose interests them. They’re Northbridge High School ning, Northbridge offers “Primarily, I want the them to opportunities designed to give students Contact the encourages its students its students six career- students to have guid- out there, we’ve done our a compressive advantage to start looking ahead. As based academy pro- ance and vision,” said job.” when applying for a spe- Tribune editor a freshman, students can grams — AP Academy, head of the Business Considering students’ cific major at colleges at aminor@ choose a field of study Business Academy, Academy at Northbridge goals and objectives, and universities. stonebridgepress.com (very similar to a col- Communications Susan Palmer. “They Palmer first initiated lege-style curriculum) in Academy, Engineering need to look beyond high the academy programs Please Read NHS, page A14 2 • Friday, January 22, 2016 BLACKSTONE VALLEY TRIBUNE WCS breaking ground on $17.9M expansion project million has been raised of the $17.9 million needed for the campaign. Reaching the $14.9 million goal in just eight months has allowed WCS to save over $1.65 million through a design- build contract. An additional $4.5 million in savings is being realized through the shared construction cost of building both facilities at the same time. A 3:1 matching campaign gift oppor- tunity from a group of anony- mous WCS donors of up to $2 WHITINSVILLE — the increase in enrollment. In million remains in effect until room for a new parking lot, as Advancement Adam Meyer at Whitinsville Christian School addition, the high quality of our April 1, 2016. well as to relocate the school ameyer@whitinsvillechristian. (WCS) has recently completed performing arts and athletics Headmaster Lance Engbers playground, which currently org or 508- 234-8211 ext. 3261. the first phase of a capital cam- programs has prompted us as a recently stated, “The success of occupies the footprint of the The mission of Whitinsville paign to construct an athletic school to examine the current this campaign in a relatively new facilities. A playground Christian School is to nurture field house and a performing space we have, and to move for- short period of time is a truly designer has been retained to the academic, spiritual, person- arts center, embarking on a new ward decisively, strategically, bold statement of support for incorporate creative/imagi- al, social, creative and physi- phase of growth in enrollment and swiftly with a plan to con- high quality Christian educa- native play areas and include cal development of students, in and an expansion of program struct facilities that match the tion that is God-centered and activities to utilize gross motor cooperation with their parents, offerings. Construction is set to strength of these outstanding student focused. These addi- skills, all within a natural envi- for Christ-like service in God’s begin this spring. programs.” tions to the current campus will ronment using natural materi- world. Director of Admissions Ben The capital campaign estab- provide an exemplary environ- als. The ADA accessible play- Gibbons says of the campaign, lished to fund the expansion ment for flourishing programs. ground will also have “Since 2011, our Stepping Stone and propel the school forward What a blessing from God.” a multi-function stage Preschool program has grown is called “Rise Up & Build.” Initial design work was area to enhance oppor- exponentially, and as each The inspiration for the name performed by Dixon-Salo tunities for imaginative pre-school class moves to the is found in the Bible story Architects Incorporated, and play. TRIBUNE next grade level the result is from Nehemiah 2, in which the the construction firm of JM For more informa- an overall rise in student popu- prophet Nehemiah challenges Coull Inc. has been selected tion about Whitinsville lation. Our goal is to reach 700 his people to rebuild the walls of to complete the project.

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