Mailed free to requesting homes in East Brookfield, West Brookfield, North Brookfield, Brookfield, Leicester and Spencer Vol. 34, No. 39 Complimentary to homes by request ONLINE: WWW.SPENCERNEWLEADER.COM ‘Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.’ Friday, September 24, 2010 Ancestry, history mark Quaboag 350th Cheers and HOMECOMING questions WEEKEND HELD IN WEST BROOKFIELD greet SC BY GUS STEEVES NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER job votes WEST BROOKFIELD — As might be expected, this past weekend’s events cele- brating the 350th anniversary of the Quaboag Plantation’s founding was loaded with interesting juxtapositions. FEDERAL FUNDS Among them: A man clad in 17th-centu- ry woolen garb awaiting his turn at the portable toilet. A trio of Native USED AT SCHOOLS Americans in deerskins and beads talk- ing to a woman in a homemade bicycle- BY DAVID DORE wheelchair. A Mormon family honoring NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER the Puritan forefather who probably SPENCER — Half a dozen years after she would have condemned them. Police offi- retired, former West Main Street School cers bearing modern pistols walking by a Principal A. Marie McDevitt’s request to display of archaic matchlock and flint- increase the number of working hours for Gus Steeves photos lock muskets. aides in kindergarten classrooms has finally “To find your immigrant grandfather is The Millett clan — from left, Donald, Donna and Daniel — came from Mesa, Ariz., to represent their been granted. quite exciting,” said Donna Millett of ancestor, the Rev. Thomas Millett, West Brookfield’s second minister. But the Sept. 14 vote Mesa, Ariz. “I wish I could find mine.” by the Spencer-East She was referring to her husband’s fam- Brookfield Regional ily, which traces its ancestry back 10 gen- and the arrival of Europeans sparked a about life on the edges of the colony, how School Committee erations to the Rev. Thomas Millett, one of period of tension, kidnappings and skir- they used various weapons, and more. spurred teachers at the earliest settlers of West Brookfield. mishes between the two cultures that Ryan said they chose that unit because some of the district’s Back in 1998, Donald Millett visited the exploded in King Philip’s War in 1675. Church “was the first to really take the other schools to won- area, connecting with relatives in Orange, According to event chairman Bill fight to the Indians” about 1670. der if similar moves who told helped him identify the pastor’s Jankins, organizers specifically wanted to “Any of these small towns, if you look could be made (or lay- land on Foster Hill Road. Although the do something different from the battle into it, it’s amazing how far back they go,” offs reversed) in their home is long gone, Don Millett put up a reenactments that marked the 300th Ryan said. When asked why he’s a re-enac- buildings. historical marker anyway. anniversary in 1960. tor, he said, “Just for the love of history.… Superintendent of Much more recently,he said, members of “This year, we didn’t want any of that All of it, no one particular thing.” Schools Ralph Hicks West Brookfield’s historical society saw turmoil and conflict, so we chose a recon- Ryan and most of his peers tend to direct recommended three Ralph Hicks the marker and contacted him to see if his ciliation,” Jankins said. detailed questions to one particular group staff changes to the family would be willing to return to repre- On Saturday morning, representatives member — Steven Eames, because he is a board, all of which were approved: making sent the Millett clan in the Quaboag 350 of the founding families and Native tribes professor of history at Mount Ida College. five part-time kindergarten aides at Maple events, and they agreed. signed a “peace treaty” in an emotion- At that moment, Eames was talking to a Street School full-time, and making a part- “It’s wonderful for people to come laden ceremony. Most of the roughly 30 group of visitors about the development of time Grade 4 teacher at East Brookfield together and find their roots,” Donald Indians participating claim descent from muskets, from the earliest matchlocks Elementary School and the part-time nurse Millett added, either King Philip himself or his father, (which actually used a long wick to ignite at Maple Street full-time. Such discovery was essentially the point Jankins said. the gunpowder) to the more accurate flint- The money for these moves would come behind the five-year planning process for Even with reconciliation, re-enactor locks preferred by the colonists. Eames from the $608,327 the district got from the the series of events commemorating the Mark Ryan noted the Native folks tended noted the colonial Americans and federal Education Jobs Fund — a $10 billion 350th anniversary of the initial European not to visit the 17th-century colonial camp- Europeans had very different attitudes fund designed to prevent teacher layoffs. The settlement of Quaboag Plantation, which site he was part of at one end of the West toward both war and their weapons. The grant is good for two years, according to later split into the four Brookfield towns, Brookfield Common. There, several people former needed more accuracy because Business Manager Roger Pontbriand. Warren and New Braintree. At that time, — mostly men — representing “Benjamin they were facing Indians in the forest, Hicks said he had reservations about mak- this region was heavily forested and home Church’s Company” were clad in earth- to scattered villages of Nipmuc Indians, toned homemade garb, talking to visitors Turn To QUABOAG, page A18 Turn To VOTE, page A18 ELECTION 2010 Wesley takes GOP 6th Worcester goes Durant’s way primary for Congress PLEASE SEE ELECTION RESULTS PAGE 3 BESTS JAYNES, WILL RUN AGAINST ALICEA WILL TAKE ON NEAL IN NOV. BY RYAN GRANNAN-DOLL BY RICH HOSFORD The Massachusetts NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER STONEBRIDGE PRESS STAFF WRITER Second District seat SPENCER — Let the general election campaign for the 6th represents 41 cities The votes are in, Worcester district state representative seat begin. and towns in the Republican Peter Durant, a Spencer selectman, bested and Thomas Wesley western and central has beaten fellow Southbridge Republican Michael Jaynes in the Tuesday,Sept. part of the state, 14 primary election. He won by a 2-1 margin. Durant will face Republican Dr. Jay S. including Fleitman in the state incumbent state representative Geraldo Alicea (D-Charlton) Southbridge, in the Tuesday, Nov. 2 general election. The district covers primary held Sturbridge, Tuesday, Sept. 14. Southbridge, Charlton, East Brookfield, the eastern half of Thomas Wesley Brimfield, Holland, Spencer and a precinct in Oxford. The race was Charlton, Spencer and called when Wesley Durant took a humble tone last Tuesday night after learn- Wales. ing he had defeated Jaynes. garnered 55 percent of votes John Cooper, of Brimfield, in the state. Locally, Wesley “We were cautiously optimistic. I think any race is always was holding signs with his a challenge. You are never 100 percent sure,” said Durant. “I beat Fleitman 254-159 in family outside of the Southbridge, 205-150 in want to thank my volunteers. They did a fantastic job.” Brimfield polls. Cooper said Jaynes said he was surprised, after reviewing the results, Sturbridge and 112-99 in traditionally he has been Brimfield. especially in Charlton, where Durant beat Jaynes by a 4-1 “non-political,” and that this margin. Wesley will face 11-term race marked the first time he incumbent Richard Neal (D- “I don’t know where the numbers went wrong there. went beyond casting a ballot. Charlton was a big surprise to me. I expected to win,” he said. Springfield) in the general “I see the country being election in November. Neal David Dore photo Despite the disappointment, Jaynes, who had advocated for was uncontested in the Allen Guyan of Spencer casts his ballot in the McCourt Social Hall at Turn To WESLEY, page A13 Turn To DURANT, page A18 Democratic primary. Memorial Town Hall during the Sept. 14 primary. INSIDE THE NEW LEADER ON PAGE A3 ON PAGE A9 Calendar......................B5 Police Logs ................A12 Classroom Corner.......A6-7 Sports ....................A9-10 Teen’s Death Rams defense Obituaries ....................B2 Viewpoint.....................A8 changes law leads to victory Our Towns....................B4 2 SPENCER NEW LEADER • Friday, September 24, 2010 Spencer bus issues lead to changes ROUTE BROUGHT BACK TEMPORARILY, MAY BECOME PERMANENT BY DAVID DORE Brookfield Regional School Committee meet- cials to be “very conservative” in budget the elementary schools after 8:30 a.m., when NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER ing. increases for the 2010-11 school year, Hicks class starts — a situation Hicks called “very SPENCER — Eliminating two school bus It featured seven parents and grandparents explained, the district looked for places to unacceptable.” On the first day of school, he routes to save $100,000 led to overcrowding, relating their experiences with the reworked trim. He told the school board last month he said, one bus had 76 children trying to board, children spending more than a hour on buses bus routes, primarily Bus A and Bus M. They noticed that there were “a lot of empty seats” while another had just 26. and the relocation of bus stops to locations included a bus stop on Pleasant Street (Route on three buses, so he decided to eliminate two “We’re going to try to balance that out as that are not safe, upset Spencer parents said 31) with 15 pupils moved across the street to routes. An additional route was cut a year best we can,” the superintendent said. last week. the parking lot of Arlron Restaurant, which ago.