Mailed free to requesting homes in Webster, Dudley and the Oxfords 508-764-4325 PROUD MEDIA SPONSOR OF RELAY FOR LIFE OF THE GREATER SOUTHBRIDGE AREA! Complimentary to homes by request ONLINE: WWW.WEBSTERTIMES.NET Friday, May 18, 2012 THIS WEEK’S QUOTE Voters delay budget decisions at Town Meeting FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS OPPOSE FUTURE MEETING “What worries you masters you.” BY JOY RICHARD moments, the meeting began budget in the hopes of Finamore on not waiting. He waiting was the right option. TIMES STAFF WRITER with 64 voters in attendence. obtaining extra funding. said he felt that local officials He said without the final WEBSTER — After wait- According to Selectman and There is currently an almost had enough time to prepare numbers from the state he Haddon W. Robinson ing to find a quorum earlier temporary Town Moderator $160,000 deficit with what the the budget and that waiting felt it would be wrong to ask this week, voters approved to Deborah Keefe, by law, the town had prepared. for the state would not make residents to vote on some- hold both the municipal and number of residents needed Finance Committee a difference to the final num- thing incomplete. school budgets until June. to hold a meeting was 61. Chairman Mike Finamore bers. “This is the only time I The annual spring Town Town Manager John objected to waiting until a “Why aren’t we ready have ever had to delay the Meeting, which was held on McAuliffe started the meet- future date. He said he felt when we are supposed be?” budget in the last three years INSIDE Monday, May 14, at the ing by asking to move the that enough time had elapsed asked Beresik. “This is what in Webster,” said McAuliffe. Bartlett Jr./Sr. High School two budgets found in articles to vote on what the town had we are paying people for. “It is because it has been that Seniors ................. A5 auditorium, proved to be until Monday, June 11, at 7 prepared and moved to vote Nothing is going to change difficult. We are much closer contentious when it came to p.m., at the high school. He on what had been presented. from here on in [with the this year than last year. Learning .............A6-9 the fiscal 2013 budget. said he thought it would be Committee Vice Chairman state].” Viewpoint ............. A10 After a waiting a few best to wait for the final state Joseph Beresik backed McAuliffe said he believes Turn To BAY PATH page A13 Sports ..................A12 Obituaries ............. B2 Events Calendar ...... B3 Parents spearhead plan Real Estate ........Sect.B Legal Notices ..... Sect.B for allergy awareness LOCAL BY JOY RICHARD TIMES STAFF WRITER DUDLEY — Sometimes the affects of an allergy can mean a simple reaction that doesn’t need immediate attention, but sometimes it becomes a matter of life and death. It is because of severe reac- tions like this that parents of children with life-threaten- ing allergies have come together within the Dudley- Charlton Regional School District to create a guide for schools to use to help these Joy Richard photo Friend for life children stay healthy. Heritage School second graders On Friday, May 11, a small and Charlton residents Camden Page A3 group of the Central Lucht, 8, and Ryan Kossi, 8, Massachsuetts Parents of smile for the camera after pre- Children With Food Allergies senting Dudley-Charlton Regional REGION Support Group gathered at School District Superintendent the regional school district Sean Gilrein with the Central office at Shepherd Hill Massachsuetts Parents of Regional High School to pres- Children With Food Allergies Support Group’s first handbook Courtesy photos Turn To PLANpage A13 on fatal food allergy protocol. Webster resident and nurse Susan Hansen recently traveled to Haiti to lend a small orphanage her medical skills. Helping hands in Haiti WEBSTER WOMAN BRINGS MEDICAL SKILLS TO ORPHANAGE BY JOY RICHARD she visited Haiti. said hopes to bring her TIMES STAFF WRITER Hansen said during an family with her on jour- Farewell to WEBSTER — For interview last week that neys to come. Webster resident and the trip she took to Haiti “It was mind blowing Carl Beane nurse Susan Hansen, the earlier in the year was not what they do have and Page A4 idea of having her life something she had don’t have,” said Hansen. changed by a travel experi- planned. She said it was “I met [the organization] Joy Richard photo ence was not something on something that changed though someone who goes Dudley Middle School eighth graders Devin Pietz, 14, Patrick Foley, 13, her radar — that was, until her for the better. Hansen Turn To HAITI page A13 Joseph Brodeur, 14, Jakub Bzura, 13, and Lucas Spahl, 14, stand for a SPORTS photo on Thursday, May 10. Brodeur holds the Triple F Nation contract folder the group created earlier this month. They are encouraging other students at the middle school to deactivate their Facebook accounts Fire chief presents rebuilding project until the end of the school year. BY JOY RICHARD Tuning out of the TIMES SATFF WRITER DUDLEY — Selectmen look forward to hearing more about a possible social network update to the Dudley Fire Department after a recent PowerPoint presentation. During the Monday, May MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS Rams score win 14 Board of Selectmen meet- Page A12 ing Dudley Fire Chief Dean PLEDGE TO ABANDON FACEBOOK Kochanowski gave his first update to selectmen since FOR NEXT MONTH bringing up the idea of a Courtesy photo possible renovation for the This graphic rendering shows what the Dudley Fire Department BY JOY RICHARD happening at the school this current West Main Street could look like if a possible renovation is put into motion in the com- OPINION TIMES STAFF WRITER month. station earlier in the year. ing years. GET YOUR Kochanowski showcased DUDLEY — Students took Five eighth graders — the plan that he, along with a stand against bullying ear- Patrick Flynn, 13, Devin POINT ACROSS was the right time for the 1960. Kochanowski said the the help of the fire depart- town to start thinking about upper floor and subsequent lier this month by deactivat- Pietz, 14, Joseph Brodeur, 14, PAGE A10-11 ment building committee a possible building renova- renovations were worked on ing their social networking Jakub Bzura, 13, and Lucas and design consultant tion, as the current facility in 1983 by Bay Path Regional accounts after a quick group Spahl, 14 — created the Stephan Mita prepared for is more than 50 years old. Vocational Technical High conversation in the Dudley pledge to abandon the popu- the board. The original bottom floor School. Middle School Guidance lar social networking website During an interview prior and truck bays of the build- “[Before I came on] they Department became the cata- Facebook until the end of the to the meeting, ing were constructed in lyst for the recently founded Kochanowski said he felt it Turn To PROJECT page A14 “Triple F Nation” movement Turn To NETWORK page A13 2 • THE WEBSTER TIMES • Friday, May 18, 2012 www.webstertimes.net DCEF planting seeds of opportunity in district BY AMANDA COLLINS instruction in science and math. Another $600 grant will fund District does. STONEBRIDGE PRESS STAFF WRITER “These have been very helpful in Charlton Middle School’s upcom- After DCEF grant presentations, After months of slashing the the classroom,” said Dudley ing World Fair, where students the School Committee voted unan- budget and axing staff, the Dudley- Middle School teacher Rebecca will exhibit inventions, technolo- imously to open 30 school of Charlton Regional School Patterson, after showing the gy, impacts, food, and resulting choice slots in the district next Committee was overdue for the school committee a video of her from their study of past World year – 15 at and 15 at Charlton good news that came at their students using the machines in the Fairs. Middle School. It was the first time recent meeting. classroom for various math games “It’s given them a taste of the in years that the committee hasn’t Members of the Dudley- and puzzles. world,” said Charlton Middle opened spots at Dudley Middle Charlton Education Foundation Mason Road School also School geography teacher Anna School. (DCEF) and district teachers pre- received three Elmo document Hill. The Dudley-Charlton Regional sented to the School Committee cameras, totaling $2,964, for At Shepherd Hill Regional High School District has taken part of how the organization’s grant fund- kindergarten, first grade and spe- School DCEF grants have funded the school of choice program ing has closed the gap between cial education classes that teach- programs that promote unity since 2005, and currently 104 of what educators need for creative ers said have facilitated in and among the student body and their their students come from other teaching and what they are actual- Sean Gilrein enlivened their classroom presen- family,like the Friends on the Hill, communities, which pay the dis- ly allotted. tations. which allows for increased oppor- trict $5,000 per student. At the In just this school year, the The DCEF’s most recent grant Other funding went to more tunities for STRIVE students to same time, 48 students living in DCEF, a non-profit established in awards funded eight programs at artistic projects, like a $3,092 grant socialize with general education Dudley or Charlton attend other 2008 to fund supplements to the district schools ranging from the for a “visual art studio” at population. A family writing schools through the program. district’s curriculum, awarded elementary to high school level. Heritage School that made possi- evening at the school got families “I think it’s been a welcome more than $12,000 in grants to Some of the recent grants were ble individual art learning sta- together for an evening of sharing addition to the district,” Gilrein schools in Dudley and Charlton, focused on getting higher quality tions to inspire creativity and a memories and writing them down.