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summer, so I guess this column will be that ‘once’,unless I have a chance to get back there before fall.The place is the beautiful granite breakwater

extending out across the harbor in Rockland,Maine. My extended family and I have beengoing there, to fish, and to just enjoy the rockyMaine coast since I was a young child. In fact,some of them have been going there since my fa-ther was a child. Somehow, the granite neverseems to age, or change. That could be part of itsattraction, for me.I was at the breakwater due to the kind gen-

erosity of my dear wife, who actually suggestedthat I go there while she attended to some impor-tant family business ‘inland’, in that great state inwhich we both grew up. I do appreciate Lornavery much, and am truly thankful that she had theidea for my short solo trek to the coast. Now,enough of the introductions. The first day of my little excursion I arrived in

Rockland, took my rod, my bait, a lunch, and mycamp chair, and walked out to about the halfwaypoint on the nearly mile long, ancient breakwater.It was so foggy that I could not see the lighthouseat the end, and could barely see the water. Asmooth layer of sea smoke hovered over the small,rippling waves on that very calm June morning,and I proceeded to set up my fishing spot in thisoverwhelmingly peaceful place. I was quite alone,and somehow surrounded by the sea, the scents,the soft breeze, and the calls of the gulls and lonelyblasts from the lighthouse fog horn. It was, simply,

magnificent.I sat in my chair, baited my hook, and cast out

onto the harbor side of the rocks. I was not anx-ious about hooking the mackerel I was accus-tomed to catching here, other years. It would benice if I did, but I love this spot, with or withoutthe fish. That was a good thing, as I caught nonethat day. Suddenly, and somewhat sickeningly, I heard a

faint, metallic, slipping-scraping sound, as if some-thing had just fallen into a crack between the hugegranite pieces. That is because something had justfallen into a crack between the huge granitepieces. I immediately felt in my pocket for mybrand new iPhone, and was relieved beyond beliefthat it was still there. (Lorna would not have beenquite so amicable when I returned to her side, if Ihad returned without that phone.) You see, overthe years, we have come to realize that what thebreakwater takes, the breakwater keeps. The twoor three inch wide crevices between the stones arewide enough to accept many sacrifices to theocean, and are happy to do so. Those graniteblocks, weighing many tons each, are there to stay,no matter how many phones may slip down be-tween them. What I had heard, tinkling, lightly scraping,

making its way down, a yard or two, to a nearlyeternal spot between the stones, was my favorite,like-new, sporting knife. It was, or is, dependingon how you feel about something that is lost for-ever but still exists, a beautiful, steel blade with a

Once again, a few weeks ago, I had the won-derful good fortune of spending a day, (or

two) depending on how much I think you need toknow, at my favorite spot in the entire world. Iseem to write about this place at least once each

...so, what’s between the rocks?

The granite breakwaterin the harbor at Rockland, Maine.

My favorite spotin the world


very smooth, polished wooden handle, and it wasa thing that just felt ‘right’ when held in your hand.I had, only moments before, decided to ‘fish or cutbait’ and pulled the small knife from its sheath onmy belt, to cut the bait and then get to the fishingpart. My line was in the water, I had settled backin my canvas chair, and then I heard that sickeningsound. Tank-tink-scrape-tink, as my knife left me,as surely, and as ‘for forever’ as if it had left theplanet. The loss did not affect the fishing at all. Ihad another knife. As I eventually gave up on the idea of actually

catching anything that day, I packed up my gearand headed back off the rocks. One of the veryfew other people out on the breakwater stoppedand asked if I used bait, jigs or lures to fish. I toldhim that I had used them all, one year or another.The problem was, in fishing, and in life, it really

doesn’t matter what you use for bait, when there’snothing there to catch. Stepping over all of the cracks between those

very old stones, I began to wonder just what reallymight be between them all. Surely, the knives, andline, and hand reels, hooks, bobbers, and morehooks, and lures, and more lines upon lines andhooks upon rusty hooks, and sinkers of other am-ateur fishers, were there. Indeed, the hand lines Ihad used as a child, some fifty years ago, and hadlet slip out of my hands were, surely, still there, andso were whatever small things my dad might havelost while fishing with his aunt, some thirty yearsbefore that.I continued to wonder, as I walked back to

shore, about time, and the record of change, cap-tured in the things we own, and use. Surely thebreakwater was now in possession of lost things

from many generations, from cell phones, paper-back books, small radios, sunglasses of styles longforgotten, faded Coppertone containers, cassettetapes, zippo lighters, maybe even a few 45 rpmrecords from some 50’s teen parties, and morethan a few fishing knives. Someday mankind may dismantle this great

monument to his past efforts to keep the sea fromdestroying this harbor town. I wish I could be thereif they do, but I actually hope that they never do.If it happens, they will find a cache of wonders, ina many-layered record of sunny or foggy familyfishing days since the very start of its constructionin 1881. And they may even find my knife. Fornow that knife belongs to the breakwater, the bestfisher of all, for it catches all.(Note: You may have your own spot where memories are

kept by the sea. If not, I will gladly share mine with you.)


BOOKREVIEW REVIEWED BY RICHARD MORCHOE

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the LusitaniaBy Erik LarsonCrown, 2015Hardcover, 448 pages List: $28.00 Amazon: $15.40

The sinking of RMS Lusitania and a look at Winston Churchill

Just over a hundred years ago a great shipsank off the coast of Ireland during a brutalwar. In and of itself, that should not have beena major historical event. Many vessels wouldbe sunk during that conflict, yet the torpedoingof RMS Lusitania generatedthe most controversy and is soeven today.There are many reasons for

that, maybe the biggest one iswrong. If you went to schoolin this country in the 50s or60s, it was easy to come awaywith the impression that thesinking of the ocean liner wasthe casus belli that led ourcountry to fight Germany inthe First World War. As a his-tory nerd, I knew there wereothers, but the timeline had es-caped my awareness. Setting things straight for me

was journalist Erik Larson in hisbook, Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.According to the author, “I always had the impres-sion, shared I suspect by many, that the sinking im-mediately drove President Woodrow Wilson todeclare war on Germany, when in fact Americadid not enter World War I for another two years-half the span of the entire war.”That's a nice bit of information for those of us

with historical myopia, but it is hardly the wholebook or even the most important aspect. I hadnot read anything by Erik Larson, and though thatdoes not make one's life an empty desert, I havebeen missing out. An author of several books, theman knows how to spin a yarn.I have a personal reason for reading Last

Wake. Much of my family comes from nearwhere the sinking took place. The Lusitaniawent down just off the Old Head of Kinsale, apeninsula jutting out into the sea in SouthernIreland. Some of my relatives still farm in thearea. Ireland is an old country and it is not the

biggest event to have happened in the region.Kinsale has suffered invasions and massacresand battles. The town itself celebrates itsSpanish connection far more than the Lusita-nia. That said, the demise of the Cunard Liner

is not forgotten.As I was reading the book, it seemed Mr.

Larson displayed a tad of Anglophilia. Noth-ing wrong with that. England is the mommycountry, from where we get some useful ideassuch as trial by jury and habeas corpus. The author referred to the harbor officially

called Cobh as Queenstown, the name given itby the occupying British. It seemed he was fa-voring the Empire's cause.Except, that is probably more your reviewer's

paranoia. Later in the book he would note somepossible skullduggery by the Admiralty. He gives an account of the failure of to pro-

vide support for the liner as it approached Ire-land. There are lapses and incompetencies inwartime and that may have been all that it was.Or it may have been a bit more sinister, as leav-ing in the lurch a ship that carried not only pas-sengers, but valuable military cargo.Larson notes that a letter Churchill had sent

to the head of the Board of Trade, hoping for

shipping along the coasts, he wrote, “For our partwe want the traffic-the more the better; and if itgets in some trouble, better still.” Was Winstonhoping for a disaster?The captain, William Thomas Turner was

born to go to sea. He knew histrade and did his best to sail theship safely and was at his postuntil nothing else could bedone. If anyone was not toblame, it was him. No matter,Churchill relentlessly tried topin the blame on him.World War II may have

been his finest hour, but WorldWar I, when you add in Gal-lipoli, was not a great fouryears for Winston. Larson's book is not all

about the politics and militarypolicy. He takes you from be-fore the ship sails, to the board-ing to cast off and on to the

ocean all the way to the fatal encounter with theGerman submarine. The author goes with youon the sub, U-20 to feel the primitive conditionsof what was high tech back then.Shipboard life is not scanted and it is almost

as if we are traveling with them. PassengerGertrude Adams wrote of it, “There were somany on ship that it really was like living in atown. One saw fresh people every day & neverknew who they were.”There were many interesting voyagers, not the

least Theodate Pope and her platonic travelingcompanion, Edwin Friend. They were both lead-ing lights in American Spiritualism. Pope wouldsurvive. Her friend was not so lucky and shewould have nightmares of searching for him. Shenever found him but her spiritualist set claimedto have been visited by him on occasion.Larson's bio says he is a journalist and not a

historian. Dead Wake is an entertaining read, buta student of history would have no reason toscorn it.


It's 89 degrees in the shade in mid-July, out-side my office as I write this, and, lookingonline, it seems my little piece of heaven iscooler than most places around Southern NewEngland on this day.

Two facts: First, hiking/walking is still by far the most

popular outdoor pastime, and second, summeris when most of our hiking trails see most oftheir traffic. Any time you leave the road be-hind and go exploring, it's a good idea to haveat least some clue about what could go wrongand how to avoid it. I've written before on theten essentials to carry on any hike. But the heat of high summer in many ways

mimics the cold of deep winter: It's easier toget yourself in trouble in extreme heat or cold.One bad backcountry decision can make youawfully uncomfortable. Two can kill you.Yeah, I know I sound alarmist sometimes, buthyperthermia (heat exhaustion/heat stroke)and thunderstorms in summer can be everybit as real and dangerous as hypothermia andsnow are in winter. Why not pay attention andbe safe and comfortable while you are havingfun?

Some hints for safe hiking:Get up early! Summer mornings are an ab-

solutely magical time for a hike (or, for that

Safe summer hikingin and around SturbridgeBy Tom Chamberland,Park Ranger andAssociate Member of Sturbridge Trails Committee

CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE


matter, a bike ride or paddle outing).The world is quieter and, most im-portant, cooler early in the morning.Most people have a set distance theywant to hike in a day. Summer daysare so long that if you start at firstlight (or even before with a headlamp)you can get in your three, five or even10 miles before the heat really builds.If you are climbing a hill, it's a won-derful bonus to get going early and beon top to watch the sunrise.Sunset hiking can be nice, too, but

the day's heat sometimes lingers intothe dusk and you'd better be preparedfor night hiking if your journey takeslonger than you initially thought.One note about hiking at dawn

and dusk on hot summer days: Mos-

quitoes tend to be more active then,so be prepared with repellent orbug-proof clothing. This isn't a badidea even if you are hiking mid-day.Deer flies can be annoying and alonger hike might take you intomosquito time.Another important tip for enjoy-

ing summer hiking is to choose yourroute with the sun and heat inmind. Trails that cross open, rockyledges can be ovens on a summer af-ternoon, while trails that followflowing brooks in the shady forestcan seem 20 degrees cooler than theambient air temperature (and youcan always splash in the water tocool off).The most important tips for safe

summer hiking are the same ones

property. This ¾ mileloop trail is designed togive first time hikersand mt bike riders abrief trail experiencebefore venturing out onthe multiple miles ofsingle track trail on theLeadmine Mt property.

Monthly trail volun-teer work days are al-ways held on the thirdSaturday of the month,8 am to noon. Hostedby the Friends of Stur-bridge Trails for up-dates, current eventinformation and morevisit our site:http://www.sturbrid-getrails. org/index.html

or Like us on Facebook:

www. facebook. com/pages /Friends-of-Stur-bridge-Trails

or

Email Tom Cham-berland at [email protected] n

you hear on the evening news:Human beings are passive solarcollectors, so if you want to staycomfortable, cover up whenyou're in the sun with light-col-ored, lightweight clothing. Anddrink lots of plain water, not sug-ary drinks with caffeine. Even ifyou have a means of purifying it,water sources along the trail areoften unreliable in summer, somake sure you carry plenty.One more safety tip: Don't go

out on open ledges if you hearthunder or see storm clouds.That's just common sense. Sum-mer hiking is meant to be fun, sodo it safely!Life isn't a spectator sport. Get

out and enjoy!

Third Saturday volunteer Trail Day:

August 15th is ourthird Saturday of themonth trail day. Pleasecome and help BoyScout Troop 161 finishthe last 600’ section ofthe Gate Way trail. 8:30AM, 10 Shattuck Rd.The gateway trail is thefirst all new ST-2 singletrack trail to be built onthe Leadmine MT

Summer hiking in and around SturbridgeCONTINUED FROM PREVOUS PAGE


CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

By Stephanie RichardsWhen Dan Thompson heard about geo-

caching from a friend’s girlfriend, he was a bitskeptical at first. The idea of a treasure huntto locate something in a geographical areawasn’t that intriguing for a guy who used to de-scribe himself as a bit of an introvert with lim-ited interest in the outdoors.Today, the Brimfield elementary school teacher

hikes, bikes and kayaks to find geocaches from allover and is close to reaching a milestone of 4,000finds. You could say he got hooked on cache.The word geocaching was created from

GEO (geography) and Caching, which refersto the process of hiding a cache. In hiking andcamping, the latter term refers to a hidingplace for concealing and preserving provisions.“Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasurehunting game using Global Positioning System(GPS)-enabled devices. Participants navigateto a specific set of GPS coordinates and thenattempt to find the geocache (container) hid-den at that location.” (geocaching.com)There are currently 2,667,134 geocaches

around the world. Thompson likes to describeit as “a year round Easter Egg Hunt that is sillyfun” and open to anyone who has a smart-phone with a GPS. “The phone is great forsatellite imagery in urban areas. I also use aGarmin Dakota 10 handheld GPS for thewoods as it is more accurate, but really asmartphone is all you need,” he said. “Thereare really three groups of people involved ingeocaching. The retired community partici-pates in it as a way to get out and keep active.

Outdoorsmen like it because they can be out-side. Finally, families/groups of people enjoyit, as it is something they can do together out-side that doesn’t really cost anything. I havethree children and we take our bikes out andfind discoveries.”Thompson led Alexandra McNitt, Execu-

tive Director of the Central Mass SouthChamber, and me on our first geocache ad-venture one recent afternoon. To begin, youdownload a free app on geocache.com andcreate a user name and password. To go outto explore, you log in, click on “seek and findcaches” and put in your town or zip code. Amap comes up with all the possible geocachesin the area. Once you select one, another mappinpoints where you are and highlights a lineto the geocache location. You zoom in and

out as needed and follow the line, paying atten-tion to your direction and surroundings, such asroadways and landmarks. Sometimes other geo-cachers put in hints to help you along. Once youare in close proximity, you put away your smart-phone or GPS and start looking. We located afew geocaches in Sturbridge, including “TheAdmiral” and Quinebaug Falls.” There are various types of caches beginning

with a traditional cache, which is very straight-forward. Thompson said others are like Sudokupuzzles where you fill in the blank spaces usingsome coordinates to build upon. For example,you may be led to a tombstone where the coor-dinate is the last number on the end. A multi-cache is where one clue leads you to the nextone. An Earth cache is the most ground friendlyand very intricate, such as based on tides andthe way they flow. Some geocaches are created around a theme.

Thompson noted a couple of examples includ-ing one in Hartford based on all 32 NFL Teamsand another on Cape Cod where every townhas a cache. He personally created a geocachetitled ‘Where in Brimfield is Carmen Sandiego?’“When I was in Virginia, I saw a cache seriesbased on it, so I set up 39 caches in the BrimfieldState Forest. They are built on a pyramid where

First Central Mass Geofest 2015On the Map in August


This year I proudly celebrate my 30th anniver-sary with Savers Bank which made me reflect

on how much things have changed since 1985. Ifyou remember using a pay phone, rejoicing when theBerlin Wall came down or before "I'll Google it" wasa form of research, you already know what I mean.Convenience, technology and responding to con-sumer demand have driven many changes within theworld of banking as well.In 1985, checks were the main access to accounts;

debit cards existed but usage didn't take off until laterin the decade. Today, nationally over 47 billion trans-actions are conducted on debit cards each year andapproximately 19 billion checks are deposited. Ofthose checks deposited approximately 17 percent are

conducted electronically, including over 115 mil-lion checks deposited nationally by consumersusing mobile deposit. If you have yet to use mobile deposit you may

have questions about how it works. Generally youlet your bank know you want to use the service.Then from your mobile banking app you take apicture of the front and back of the check andclick deposit. While there are some restrictions,most people find they can deposit all of theirchecks this way. Another question bankers are often asked is

about the safety of getting your statements deliv-ered electronically instead of paper; e-Statements.The delivery of your e-Statements is very secure.

Reflecting on 30 years of community bankingYour bank protects it with the same security as youraccount information. In contrast, if you have apaper statement, your name, address, balance andpayments information is contained within themailbox. And, most consumers do not have a lock-ing mailbox. While some consumers are reluctantto make the change, once they do, we hear themtalking about how much easier it is. In particularthey like that they get their statements sooner andhave a built in filing system.This is a large departure from 1985 when most

community banks operated on paper. I remembergetting my first office computer - it pretty much tookup the entire desk. During those 30 years, communitybanks found ways to work with the challenges that

INSIDE BANKING

P RO F E S S I ONA L ADV I C EF ROM A LOCA LBANK I NG EX E CUT I V EF O R R E AD E R S O FTH E STU R B R I D G E T IM E S MAGAZ I N E

By JOSEPH CODERREPRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

SAVERS BANK


Charlton Planning Board deliberatesSunSet City Plan

WORCESTER SUPERIORCOURTCASE CONTINUES THISMONTH

By Stephanie RichardsA decision on the proposed SunSet City Mo-

tocross/Campground site plan application maybe coming in the near future as the CharltonPlanning Board is in post-public hearing deliber-ation on the project. Meanwhile, a case related tothe proposal will continue to be heard in Worces-ter County Superior Court on August 6.Five public hearing sessions have been held

over the last six months by the Charlton PlanningBoard to discuss civil engineering, traffic and noiseanalysis related to the project, Town Planner AlanGordon said. “We are now in the deliberationphase. The Board will brainstorm findings, factsand conditions. There will be no further publiccomment,” Gordon said at a Charlton PlanningBoard meeting last month. Discussion is set tocontinue at a meeting on August 12.The SunSet City Recreational and Motocross

Park is a campground and recreational motocrosspark that is proposed to sit on 23 acres of land offBrookfield Road in Charlton. Once home to Sun-set Hill Farm, the heavily wooded property is nearthe Sturbridge town line, just off Ladd Road. Theproject is part of a development by SunSet CityInc., which is owned by Charlton residents RussellG. Jennings, Brent Sellew and Brant Jennings. There have been some changes to the site plan,

including reduction of the number of campsitesfrom 150 to 90 and the addition of water and elec-tric hook up for 35. There will also now be a bath-house that includes toilets, sinks and showers onsite. Russell Jennings said the starting line has beenmoved farther south closer to the Mass Pike. “Theconfiguration of the track is such now that the dirtbikes will be going away from Brookfield Roadwhere there are residential properties,” he said.The project has supporters and proponents, in-

cluding a group known as Residents Against Noiseand Traffic (RANT). Potential noise issues havebeen a point of contention. Regulations by theMassachusetts Department of Environmental Pro-tection (MassDEP) permit a maximum increase of10 decibels over ambient sound.At last month’s meeting, Gordon highlighted

several recommended conditions for permittingthat address noise as outlined in a memo fromChristopher Menge of Harris Miller Miller &Hanson, Charlton’s sound consulting engineer.The first is for SunSet City to create a noise emis-sions testing area near the entrance of the park forconducting testing by trained staff. Secondly, it rec-ommends noise abatement structures, such asberms, walls or buildings, to be included in the de-sign of the perimeter of the track. These structures

faced consumers such as during the real estate crunchin 1990 and then again in the recent recession.In 1985, most families didn't have convenient

access to a professional investment advisor. Nowconsumers can rely on their local bank for all oftheir short and long term financial planning needs.Investment services help people plan for collegeand retirement as well as deal with life changessuch as a 401k left behind when changing jobs.Technology has brought several forward facing

changes to banking but behind the scenes regula-tory changes have been just as fast moving. Yourlocal banks constantly work to implement severalupdates to laws and increase security measures toprotect your accounts and personal information.Some of these you see, such as the annual mailingof your institution’s privacy policy or periodicallyhaving to change your online banking password. Changes in the last 30 years have also provided

more access or protection for consumers. This in-cludes doubling the amount of your check depositmade available next day, from $100 to $200. Alsothe consolidation of the federal reserve systemchanged the term "local" check from being thosein most parts of New England to those nationwide.As many local banks make your deposits availablesooner than required, check with your about spe-cific hold policies. Another key change was the in-crease to insurance provided by the FederalDeposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from$100,000 to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, foreach ownership category. Again check with yourlocal bank as many banks offer additional insur-ance, such as Share Insurance Fund (SIF).Of course if you can relate to this article, you

probably also remember several banks that havecome and gone in the last 30 years. At one pointit seemed some institutions were putting up signswith their new name every year. In fact, in 1985there were over 13,000 FDIC insured banks in theUS. Today there are approximately 6,400.However, as I think about the last 30 years, I

am most proud of what hasn't changed. I grewup locally and being a part of a group of institu-tions that still put our communities first mattersmost. Look around at community events, see whosponsors the local little league teams and who sup-ports our local non-profits. Your communitybanks know what being a neighbor is all about. Some statistics are from the 2013 Federal Reserve Pay-

ments Study. n



GeocachingCONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

you find 24, then you can lookfor the next eight and so on. Car-men is the last find,” he said. “Itook my sixth grade class to dothe cache–there are so many ed-ucational benefits. You learnthings like relative distance, to-pography, use of a website andnavigation.”Caches are always contained

in something that protects themfrom the outdoor elements, suchas a big or small plastic con-tainer. Each includes paper andpencil, where you log in youruser name and the date found.Some include items like keychains or McDonald toys. Many include atrackable tag. “A trackable ID tag can come inmany forms, such as dog tags or coins. It’sabout $2 to get a standard trackable code or$10 for a coin. Since the latter is a lot more,many people purchase one and send out aproxy in its place, such as a color print,”Thompson said. “Once you find a trackable,you go online and log the number in to seewhere it has traveled. The goal is to put it inanother cache. I picked up one last weekendon Cape Cod and found out it originated inAlaska.”

The Central Mass South Chamber and theSturbridge Tourism Association want tospread the word and fun about geocaching andare sponsoring the first C-Mass Geofest in Au-gust. The idea for the event originated in thetourism committee for the chamber by BeckyPlimpton, Joshua Hyde Library Director. “Wehave the Harvest Festival in the fall, RestaurantWeek in the spring, and wanted to figure outanchor events for summer and winter. We heldthe initial meeting with three local geocacherenthusiasts– Dan along with his brother Chrisand Scott Garrand. They have been helping toorganize the event and their assistance has

been invaluable,” said McNitt. “Thisis a very family-friendly event designedso you don’t have to spend any moneydoing it. We decided to plan enoughactivities so that people will want tostay in the area, eat here, and maybestay one or two nights. We alreadyhave bookings at hotels for the event.” C-MASS Geofest 2015 includes

five days of geocaching and social andfun activities from August 19-23. Ac-tivities include gatherings at Teddy G’sand Hyland Orchard as well as aCache In, Trash Out event, where youpick up trash or do trail maintenance.The main event will be held from 1 to6 p.m., Saturday, August 22, on thefields at Bethlehem Lutheran Church

in Sturbridge. It will include a workshop titled“ Geocaching 101,” children’s activities, puz-zles, wildlife and recycling demos, music,games, and refreshments (cash only). “Thereare over 300 geocaches in Sturbridge and thesurrounding area. Some are in highly accessi-ble places and others are quite challenging,”McNitt said. “We know we have physical land-scape assets to make this really fun. We hopearea businesses will capitalize on this and makeit a great experience for those coming to townas well as for those that live here.”For more information or to sign up, go to

www.C-MASSGeo fest.org. For general infor-mation , go to www.geocaching.com. On Face-book search “Geocaching” n

Alexandra McNitt, Executive Director of the Central Mass South Chamber, and Dan Thompson, log a geocache find in the Sturbridge area.

© 2015 Sturbridge Times photo by Stephanie Richards


CVS continues work onplacing Sturbridge store

SunSet City


would act as noise barriers. “We arenot telling the developers what to do,but asking them to design more interms of noise mitigation items,”Gordon said.The final recommendation, if a

building permit is approved, butprior to the operational permit, is forsound level testing to be conducted“under realistic worst-case operatingconditions to ensure that the facilitywill be able to operate within theMassDEP noise policy limits.” Jen-nings said they brought up the ideaof a half shell design at the startingline in a working meeting with thetown’s sound consultant initially, butwere told that was over planning.“Now the sound consultant is takingeverything from a worst-case sce-nario and overanalyzing things,”Jennings said. “We do not believe weare going to be over (noise limits), but

know if we are that we would have tomitigate. The bottom line is we willconform with Massachusetts’ law andthe guidelines that already exist,knowing we have to answer to theDEP.”Meanwhile, an Administrative

Civil Action case filed in April byRonald and Virginia Charette, abut-ters to the site, against the Town ofCharlton and SunSet City, Inc. washeard in Worcester County SuperiorCourt on July 14. The matter washeld under advisement and will con-tinue on August 6. It seeks a joint mo-tion from SunSet City and the Townof Charlton to dismiss the ZoningBoard of Appeals (ZBA) vote thatmotocross is an allowed use in anagricultural zone area, Charette said.It also seeks to overturn Zoning En-forcement Officer (ZEO) CurtisMeskus’ January 5 opinion that mo-

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

By Stephanie RichardsCVS Pharmacy continues to

write a prescription for a futurestore in Sturbridge, going beforethe Design Review Committee(DRC) last month with an archi-tectural design and signage pro-posal for a pharmacy at thecurrent site of Bentley Pub II onMain Street.The proposal includes demol-

ishing the current building, whichsits on 1.6 acres, and constructinga 11,870 square foot buildingwith intermediate level mezza-nine for storage, according toBrian Dundon, site civil engineerwith RJO'Connell & Associates.The main entrance to the storewould be on Fairground Roadand include a drive throughpharmacy window. Parkingwould be located in the back ofthe building and include 57spaces with an additional 19shared with the Sturbridge HostHotel and Conference Center,Dundon said. Extensive landscaping would

also be included as part of theproject. The building would beset back 25 feet from the roadand include landscaping withtrees and shrubs. Ten-foot land-scape strips would also be de-signed on the sides of thebuilding.In 2013, CVS pursued plans

to build a store at the old HollandRoad Mill site (corner of HollandRoad and Route 20). The pro-posal needed a waiver to a bufferrequirement, which was notgranted by the ConservationCommission, and CVS did notpursue that location further. Thecurrent site proposal doesn’t haveany conservation issues. “Wewant a CVS store open in Stur-bridge in 2017 and are commit-ted to getting a deal done here,”

said Mark Bettenhausen, VicePresident, Real Estate Develop-ment at T.M. Crowley & Associ-ates, Inc., the developer for theproject. “The design is a slightlysmaller store based on site plansand set backs.”The land is currently zoned

commercial, but the demolitionof the building could be a pointof contention. It falls under Stur-bridge’s Demolition Delay Bylaw(section 2.30) which was enactedin order to preserve and protect“significant” buildings which “re-flect distinctive features of the ar-chitectural, historical or culturalhistory of the Town and to limitthe detrimental effect of demoli-tion on the character of theTown.”CVS representatives will have

to appear before the SturbridgeHistorical Commission to get ap-proval for a demolition permitfrom the Building Inspector.Dundon said the existing buildingfootprint is about 8 to 9,000square feet, doesn’t meet code re-quirements and has a deterio-rated interior. “We did look at it(using the current building), but itis too small and not feasible toreuse,” he said. The bylaw has four criteria for

determining if a building is “sig-nificant” and “preferably pre-served.” One of the criteriacenters on if a building is “impor-tantly associated with one ormore historic persons or events,or with the broad architectural,cultural, political, economic orsocial history of the Town or theCommonwealth.” According to the Massachu-

setts Cultural Resource Informa-tion System (MACRIS) website,the building was the SouthWorcester Agricultural Society



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Community rallies around 16-year-old Nick Yarter

Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Yarter looks atlife through a different lens since May 9.It’s one that sees the big picture, and recog-nizes the reality of each day. As he says, “Notevery day has to be good, but there is some-thing good in every day.”While at a friend’s house, Nick dove into

a very shallow pool and the result was lifechanging. He suffered a spinal cord injury and

total paralysis from the chest down. He wastransported to Baystate Medical Center inSpringfield. “I got a phone call and was toldNicholas was being transported to Baystate. Iwas not aware of his condition, only that hedove into a shallow pool and had lost con-sciousness for a brief period of time,” saidLaura Hunter, Nick’s mom. “I assumed it wasroutine to have him checked at the ER.When I arrived and was told he had fracturedhis spine and was paralyzed from the chest

down, I was devastated.”Fear immediately overcame Nick. “I was

scared because I couldn't move and didn'tknow if I would ever be able to again,” theTantasqua High School student said. “I havefound out that life can change in a matter ofseconds. When you get hurt and go throughsomething like this, you must be optimisticand try to work hard to get better. Otherwise,it is not worth your time or that of the thera-pists or doctors. I am trying to work hard toget better.”The term “YarterStrong” emerged in the

midst of this difficult circumstance and hasbeen a staple ever since the accident. Thefamily is very involved with the SturbridgeLittle League, which created YarterStrong t-shirts. “Honestly, we're not exactly sure howit started - I think using ‘Strong’ has becomevery common during times of tragedy andYarterStrong just naturally developed,”Laura said.Nick spent 13 days in the Pediatric ICU

at Baystate, after which his parents decidedto transfer him to Shepherd Center in At-lanta. The Center specializes in medicaltreatment, research and rehabilitation forpeople with spinal cord and/or brain injury.For the last few months, the Sturbridge

family has been coping with a “new normal.”Laura and her husband, David Yarter, havebeen stretching their time traveling back andforth to Atlanta, while also caring for their

By Stephanie Richards


CONTINUED ON FOLLOWING PAGE

other two children; Alex, 13 and Benjamin,11 years old. “Laura has stayed in Georgiaabout 90 percent of the time and has takenon the lion’s share of this. We just take it day-by-day and then week-by-week. We have afantastic support structure with our family,friends and the community. People havedone everything from drop off lasagna to givethe kids rides to baseball games. There is noway to thank everyone…it is very humbling,”David said. “Our employers – I work forStanley Black and Decker and Laura worksfor Bay Path University–have also allowed usto take care of our family. But there doescome a time when we need to go back towork.”The care Nick has received at Shepherd

Center has been phenomenal, Laura said.“Shepherd is really aggressive in their ap-proach. At first Nicholas was in ICU and ateam of doctors and therapists looked at thebaseline to see what his body had gonethrough and the limitations at the time,” shesaid. “When he was moved from ICU to theadolescent unit, he started therapy the nextday; there was not a lot of time to sit and wal-low. Although he was on a ventilator to

breath, therapists showed him how to getaround with it, eat, etc. As he was able to domore, they evaluated his progress and gavehim more challenging physical or occupationaltherapy. That turned into strength training and

conditioning and recreational therapy with apeer group. In between, an education coun-selor has helped him finish up his sophomoreyear of high school.”


Through their aggressive approach,Nick has improved tremendously. “Ithink the occupational therapy hashelped me the most. I have learned toeat, get dressed, and get in and out of acar and bed,” Nick said. “I also go onsomething called a Tilt Table, which is aflat table where I am strapped in by myshoulder, waist and legs. It allows me tostand up, so my blood pressure can adaptto when I stand again. I also get func-tional electrical stimulation in my armsand legs, which helps to reform the com-munication between my brain and mus-

cles and tones my muscles to keep themin shape.”His physical condition has improved

enough that Nick now gets around in awheelchair. “I’m also staring to writeagain with some adaptive technologyfrom Shepherd. There are certain thingsI can and can’t do, but what I can do I tryto do well,” he said. “I’m grateful to myparents for making the decision to moveme to Shepherd instead of somewherecloser to home.”As part of his stay at Shepherd, Nick

has also gone on some ‘field trips.’ Hehas visited the Savannah College of Art

and Design to learn abouttheir programs. “I want to bean architect. Even thoughthe school didn’t have whatI was looking for, I did get totalk with a student who wasat Shepherd before. He isusing Dragon software,where you talk and the com-puter types what you say,”Nick said. “He was alsolooking at a program whereyou can use eye movementto navigate a computer.There is really cool technol-ogy out there.”David said he is proud of

his son’s attitude and unfail-ing desire to become

stronger each day. “I’mproud of Nicholas’ tenacityto get through difficulty andlearn about his injury andthose of others. There is acommunity to support eachother here,” he said. “Froma dad’s perspective, this is anightmare that no father an-ticipates. My job is to pro-tect my kids and not havethem go through pain. I’velearned Nick is incrediblystrong and have seen himmature since the accident.He doesn’t worry about lit-tle things and looks more atthe big picture.”

CONTINUED FROM PREVOUS PAGE

Laura Hunter and Nick Yarter, with their 16-year-old son, Nick, outside ShepherdCenter in Atlanta, GA.

© 2015 Courtesy photo

Nick Yarter

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Medical costs have been overwhelming forthe family. “The financial impact started rightaway. Unfortunately, insurance has its own lim-itations. Nick had to take a mediflight jet fromHanscom Air Force Base to Atlanta and it was-n’t covered by insurance. Our home will needmodification to accommodate equipment andsupplies, and we may need a different vehiclefor Nick,” Laura said. “As we move through thedifferent phases of recovery, a lot of needswon’t be covered by insurance. The support inthe community has been incredible...in theSturbridge community, through Nick’s friendsin the other Tantasqua towns as well as long-time friends. There is no way to properly thankeveryone.”To help the family with expenses in the spe-

cial care for Nick, a GoFundMe account(www.gofundme.com/YarterStrong) was cre-ated. In one month, over $32,000 has beenraised. A trust has also been set up in Nick’sname, the Nicholas H. Yarter Trust. Donationscan be sent to:

Nicholas H. Yarter Trust, c/o Attorney LisaHunter-Mason, 31 Appleton Road, Auburn,MA 01501.Next month, a special event is also planned

“The Wild Side of Hypnosis - To Benefit theNicholas H. Yarter Trust” featuring HypnotistDan Candell. The event, which may includemusic, light refreshments and a silent auction,will be held from 5:45 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday,September 12 at Tantasqua High School. Tick-ets are $20 and can be purchased at Teddy G’sRestaurant in Sturbridge or by email at [email protected]. “Proceeds from the eventwill go directly to cover the cost of some of theequipment, devices and supplies Nick will needwhen he gets home,” Laura said.At press time, Nick was expected to move to

the outpatient program at Shepherd. If all goeswell, he hopes to be headed back to Massachu-setts the week of August 17. It will be enoughtime for him to reconnect with family andfriends before starting his junior year at Tanta-squa High School. “Part of the reason I want togo home quickly is to have time to spend withfriends, the baseball community, and other whohave supported me,” he said. “I want to thankthe people that have stuck with me; sending methings like text messages in the morning withwords of encouragement. I want to thank thempersonally and give them a hug.”Nick also has some advice for his peers. “I

would tell others to think twice before you dosomething risky or dangerous; you really don’tknow what is going to happen,” he said. “I usedto get frustrated a lot, but now little things thatuse to frustrate me don’t even matter. You haveto look at the big picture of what’s happening.”To keep family and friends informed about

Nick’s progress, the family created a blog.“Laura really owns the blog, I’m just a characterin it. Initially, we discussed what the blog wouldbe about….just an update or showing all thebruises and bad days, issues, and what Lauraand I were feeling. We decided to be transpar-ent and put everything out there,” David said.“We purposely made that decision so that whenNick was having a bad day, he might get encour-agement from someone other than us, like afriend or a teacher.”

For updated information on Nick, goto the blog at yarterstrong.blogspot.com or fol-low updates on Facebook under “YarterStrong”

Nick YarterCONTINUED FROM PREVOUS PAGE


It sits on 29 acres in a tree-lined property,which is quiet and picturesque. There is asense of peace in the serene surroundings thatbeckons a calmness from the chaos of life. Asyou enter the screened in porch of the building,you are greeted by Tinkerbell, who loves the at-tention, while other cats sit unbothered by yourpresence or run away in different directions.A sanctuary setting is exactly what the

mother-daughter team of Barbara Horn andRachael Max were looking for when they de-cided to open an animal shelter in Brimfield.The property, located at 180 Sturbridge Road,already had a 1,200 square foot existing homethat was ideal for a shelter. “It was built as anartist studio so it had no walls. It was perfect forus as we wanted a cage free environment,” saidHorn, who is from northern California andworked for Lockheed Martin for 30 years.“Rachael went to Brandeis University andwanted to come back. I wanted a diversionfrom the city after retirement.”There also was a need for a shelter in the

Brimfield area to help deal with a stray cat pop-ulation. “When looking for a property to settleon, we considered where other shelters were al-ready established and which communitiesneeded us. Mom fell in love with the commu-nity here and was attracted to the small townfeel,” said Max, who volunteered at the Hu-mane Society of Huron Valley and Mosaic Fe-line Refuge while pursuing graduate studies inbiology at the University of Michigan.Opened in 2012, Here Today Adopted To-

morrow Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit, allvolunteer organization focusing on reducingthe number of homeless animals in Brimfield

and surrounding communities. It provides carefor adoptable cats in a cage free setting and fos-ter homes for adoptable dogs, cats and kittens.In addition, it adopts out barn cats, which can-not be placed in home situations. Overseen by a Board of Directors, the Sanc-

tuary’s service area includes Brimfield, Hol-land, Palmer, Monson, Southbridge,Sturbridge, Wales and Warren. “There was nobylaw for an Animal Shelter in Brimfield at thetime, so we had to work to get one passed. Itwent before Brimfield residents at the 2011Town Meeting and passed. Everyone has beenwonderful and very supportive,” said Horn,who used to breed golden retrievers and fos-tered dogs for seven years with CARE, a rescuein Santa Clara County, CA.The two decided to take a trip to Best

Friends Animal Society in Utah, which runs thelargest sanctuary for homeless pets and is oneof the nation' s biggest animal rescue organi-zations. “We attended a one-week long inten-sive workshop and learned about no cageenvironments,” Max said “It taught us every-thing from how to establish a non-profit to vet-erinary basics to marketing and fundraising.” Getting things initially off the ground was a

lot of work. “Everything was done by Rachaeland I. We had nothing to start with and usedconnections of friends who knew what to do.Rachael is also a grant writer and that hashelped us get resources,” Horn said. “What isunique about the Sanctuary is that it is cagefree for cats and we are a no kill shelter. Weonly take cats that can be adopted and are re-ally limited to about 20 at one time. We aresmall enough to give them the time and atten-tion they need; some need more lap time. Todate, a few dogs and about 150 cats have beenadopted.”As soon as the Sanctuary opened, it was evi-

dent they were in the right location. “We startedgetting phone calls as soon as we opened; it was

obvious there was a need here,” Max said. “Peo-ple bring us stray cats while others drop off theirown pet as they are overwhelmed with their cur-rent situation and just can’t take care of themanymore. We also get cats after their ownerpasses away.”About 50 volunteers now assist in keeping the

place running, some working a regular scheduleat the Sanctuary while others help specificallywith fundraising events. A number of commu-nity organizations also provide volunteers in-cluding The Center of Hope and the BoyScouts.The fact that the Sanctuary is a no kill shelter

and each animal has a home no matter what at-tracted volunteer William Flack of Fiskdale. Hespends a couple days a week volunteering at theSanctuary. “I was a pastry chef for six years buthave always loved animals. I grew up on multiplefarms in upstate New York and animals andtheir care have always been interesting to me,”said Flack, who is now studying to be a veteri-nary assistant at Quinsigamond CommunityCollege. “I do everything from cleaning up to

animal sanctuaryHere Today...

AdoptedTomorrow

BY STEPHANIE RICHARDS

Tinkerbell is one of several cats awaiting adoptionat Here Today ... Adopted Tomorrow in Brimfield.

© 2015 Sturbridge Times photos by Stephanie Richards



How to get the most out of your summer workouts

HEALTH&FITNESS

By Julie GerrishPERSONAL TRIANERJULIE GERRISH FITNESS, STURBRIDGE

Summer is upon us, and it's time to takeyour workouts outside. Exercising outside

does your body a lot of good above and be-yond all the benefits of a consistent exerciseprogram. Studies show that taking your work-out outside lightens your mood and makes youfeel happier. Outdoor workouts are fun, and ifyou're enjoying yourself you're more likely toexercise longer, harder and more often. Exercising outside brings you closer to na-

ture, which has a calming effect on the body.In safe amounts and with sunscreen, sunshineis beneficial too—sun exposure helps our bod-ies create vitamin D3, which is important tomaintain bone health and metabolic function.Exposure to the sun during the day can helpyou sleep better at night as well as boost ourimmunity and increase the production of feel-good endorphins. Also, exercising outside is cheaper than

going to the gym, and you can expose yourbody to many different exercises and sportsthat challenge and work the body in differentand complex ways, which is much better for usthan jumping on the elliptical. Your body also

has to work harder to stay cool in hotter temper-atures, which makes it burn more calories and runmore efficiently. Because of this, make sure todrink plenty of water and stay adequately hy-drated. There are so many options for exercising out-

side. If you like running, change things up by try-ing a trail or beach run, go to the track for some

quick sprints or some fast-paced bleacher runs toget your heart rate up. Embrace nature by goingfor a hike, rock climbing or testing out a ropescourse at a nearby adventure park (The Adven-ture Park at Storrs, CT, storrsadventurepark.com). You can take up a new sport you'venever tried before, like ultimate frisbee, volleyballor sailing. Try an obstacle course race like theSpartan sprint in Barre August 29 and 30 (spar-tan.com) or try an outdoor boot camp class likethe one I teach at Tantasqua High School in thesummer. Now is a great time to challenge your-self !You can exercise anywhere outside, with very

little equipment. A playground has lots of dif-ferent things that will give you a great full-bodyworkout: for example, you can do push ups andsquats with a bench, do pull-ups on a railing, andbalance exercises on a beam. With a little creativity, you can get a great

workout for the mind and body outside that willgive you health benefits to last throughout theyear. Make the most of our New England sum-mer by taking your workout outside as much asyou can!


Update onSunset City

tocross is an allowed use in an agricultural zonearea. The Charettes’ had previously appealed

Meskus’ opinion to the ZBA, but it was upheldby a 1-3 vote (required unanimous approval tooverturn). ZBA member Leonard Cardinal wasnot allowed to vote because he was recognizedas an abutter and Chairman Frank Lombardicast the vote to uphold the decision. “Our caseis based on an incorrect interpretation thatLenny Cardinal is an abutter and could not votefor that reason. In fact, Mr. Cardinal lives wellbeyond the 300-foot abutter threshold and hasa right to vote,” Charette said. “Our hope is thatthe judge will remand the issue back to the townZBA.”Jennings disagrees and said he and the other

developers believe it is a “frivolous lawsuit” for acouple of reasons. “We presented an abutters’list to the town when we filed the project and therule is that you notify more people rather thanless. We included Lenny Cardinal on the list be-cause he lives directly across the street from acontiguous part of the property. For example,people from the campground may be hiking orwalking trails, so the area of disturbance may bedifferent from the project area. Ron submittedthat same abutters’ list when he appealed to theZBA. So on one hand he (Cardinal) is an abutterand on another hand he isn’t,” Jennings said.“Secondly, we believe with clarity that motocrossis a fit for an agricultural zone area. Finally, thereis no permit issued to date and you don’t usuallyappeal an opinion. That is really strange in it-self.”The judge requested that all parties be pres-

ent when the case is in court again this month,including the Town of Charlton Attorney whowas not present before. “The judge asked for athree-way conversation between the Town, Sun-set City, Inc. and us,” Charette said. “I believehe understood the importance of zoning proce-dure and vote. This process has restored my faithin the judicial process – that it is fair – as it shouldbe for all sides.”Last month, Sturbridge resident David Bar-

nicle also spoke at the town’s Board of Select-man (BOS) meeting about the project andconcerns with its development. Barnicle lives onLadd Road, which is proposed to be used as an

emergency access road to the campground andmotocross track. Sturbridge BOS Chair MaryBlanchard said board members raised concernsat the meeting about use of the road and itsability to handle higher traffic or various typesof emergency vehicles. The road has sufferedsome damage on the side allegedly from log-ging trucks. The BOS directed Town Admin-istrator Leon Gaumond Jr. to draft a letter tothe Charlton Planning Board outlining con-cerns about the use of Ladd Road and onceagain request copies of correspondence for theproject. Earlier this year, the BOS sent a letterto the Charlton Planning Board requesting in-formation updates about the development buthas not received anything, Blanchard said.If the project is approved to move forward,

it will next go before the Charlton ConservationCommission and then the Board of Health. Iffinal approval is given by all appropriate enti-ties, Jennings said he anticipates construction tostart some time in 2016. “We are being patientwith the process and hope it moves along…weare looking for a fair shake and for all parties tofollow the law in their procedures. That’s all wecan ask for,” he said. n


“We are being patientwith the process andhope it moves along ...we are looking for a fairshake and for all partiesto follow the law in theirprocedures.”Charlton resident, Russell G. Jennings,

partner, SunSet City, Inc.


r MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL s

BY RICHARD MORCHOE

THE LAW AND THE PROFITS

The longer you wait to retire, the moremoney you’re going to get from Social Se-

curity, as long as you live long enough to get it.Full retirement age is the age at which you get

100 percent of the social security benefit you’veaccrued during your decades of work. WhileCongress could change the retirement age at anytime, it currently stands at anywhere from 66 to67 years old, depending on when you were born.(If you were born in 1954, your full retirementage is 66. If you were born in 1960, you have towait to 67.)But if you want to get the benefit early, you

can apply any time after you reach age 62. Thedrawback, of course, is that you’re only going toget a fraction of what you would get if you hadwaited until you reached full retirement. In fact,if you apply right at 62, you’re only going to get75 percent of your full benefit.Conversely, if you wait to apply for your ben-

efits until after full retirement, you’re going toget a whole lot more than 100 percent, up to 132percent more if you wait to 70. There is no fur-ther increase after that.The crucial question then, in social security

as in life itself, is when are you going to die. Ifyou plan on dying young, you’ll be better off tak-ing social security at 62. If you plan on dyingold, you’re going to spend many years openingthose discounted checks and wishing you waiteduntil you reached 70. You probably plan on hanging around as long

as you possibly can. So hold off on applying forsocial security as long as you can possibly can aswell. Then in your old age, there might just beenough money to go out and buy a little sushieach month.

LEGALBRIEF

WHEN SHOULD YOU TAKE

SOCIAL SECURITY?

M O N T H L Y L E G A L A D V I C E

F O R R E A D E R S O F

T H E S T U R B R I D G E T I M E S M A G A Z I N E

STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY

ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.

Copyright law protects artists from havingtheir work used for free. It is an under-

standable safeguard for creative people. It isnot, however, supposed to last forever. Even-tually, music or literature and other workspass into what is known as the Public Domainand anyone can use or copy them. Unfortunately, Mickey Mouse disagreed

with that. Minnie probably did as well. Theirempire, the huge corporation known as TheWalt Disney Company, wanted to keep Mick,Min and other properties of the eponymousfounder Walt, from passing into the public do-main. In 1998, with others, Disney pushed to get

rights extended according to the copyright of-fice circular from 50 years to the “life of theauthor plus 70 years and for works of corpo-rate authorship to 120 years after creation or95 years after publication, whichever endpointis earlier.” Bill Clinton signed what is knownas the Sonny Bono Copyright Term ExtensionAct into law.Winnie the Pooh et al are safe within the

good old Disney stable as well as many othercharacters.Well you say so what? How do we as

American people suffer because a corporationgets to keep properties they have arguablydone good things with?

What the copyright extension displays isthe American system of crony capitalism.Disney is a huge entity, but it is not thebiggest player in the American economy, yetMickey and some other corporations easilygamed the system.One hopes no one is naive enough to be-

lieve the citizenry rose up to demand thattheir elected representatives save cartooncharacters from the vicissitudes of the freemarket. We can safely assume that no cam-paign funds were harmed as our solonsserved the national interest.Crony Capitalism is hardly limited to the

frivolous aspects of American culture. Ittranspires that the same legislature thathanded over intellectual property policy isabout to give away far more to powerful in-terests that dwarf the might of Disney.Congress recently debated a bill without

disclosing what was in it. The Trans PacificPartnership or TPP is a vast proposal cov-ering many aspects of trade, from digitalcommunications to agricultural policy. It isCrony Capitalism raised to a power.It's difficult to criticize because it's a se-

cret to all but a few and they're not talkingbecause they can't. Politico's Michael Wes-sel, as a cleared advisor, has got to see it, but

ADJACENT PAGE —>


can't say much. He notes, “The governmenthas created a perfect Catch 22: The law pro-hibits us from talking about the specifics ofwhat we’ve seen, allowing the president to crit-icize us for not being specific.”As mentioned above, this is a bill encom-

passing many areas of the economy. Like most,some aspects interest me more than others. Asan organic gardener, I have always avoidedGMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) seed.We do our best not to eat food grown fromGMO sources. You may think me some goofygranola and that may be true. Still, peopleshould have the right to know what they areeating.In America, support has been growing for

the labeling of GMO foods. Some states havelaws to that effect and more are likely to. Thetrade agreement could short-circuit that, givingauthority to international bodies. This ishardly surprising as the chief agricultural ne-

gotiator for the US is the former Monsantolobbyist, Islam Siddique. Monsanto is thechief purveyor of GMO seed in this country. Now, even if GMO seeds are not harmful

in and of themselves, why is there such astruggle to keep them from being labeled?Should not we great unwashed at least havethe right to our informed folly?Being an average man, I do my best to be

informed, but when it comes to science, thereis only so much the layperson can know. Itcomes down to who do you trust. That'swhat we do in elections. From the results ofmost presidential contests, we tend to dis-agree within a few percentage points. In2008 Obama was elected with a healthy 53%to 46%. Good, but not a coronation. Hemade a campaign promise in 2007 to requirethe labeling of genetically modified foods.Like presidents going back to the beginningof the Republic, he did not keep his word andis now full on for TPP.Clearly, the 600 corporate advisors who

have input into the agreement are havingtheir way with the country's economy. Thecitizenry will not be consulted. The merechange of chief executive will mean little.Bush would have done the same thing andClinton pushed NAFTA.Maybe Bernie Sanders or Jim Webb

would be different, but they are not going toget elected.We have referred the question to our offi-

cial think tank, The Long Hill Institute forthe Study of Political Theater. We taskedthem to find a reform to obviate the powerof the few in economic matters. Alas, theycould come up with nothing. As they opinedbefore in this publication, there is no philoso-phers stone of government. They did note,the longer a nation lasts, more is centralizedin the hands of a few. Their final conclusion,everything eventually reduces to its absurd.Maybe it's just my paranoia, but it is im-

possible for me to disagree with Lily Tomlin,“No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keepup.” n

“The government has created a perfect

Catch 22: The law prohibits usfrom talking about thespecifics of what we’veseen, allowing the president to criticize usfor not being specific.”


Here Today ... Adopted Tomorrow

CVS store in Sturbridge on historic site

petting and playing with the cats. You reallylearn to read a cat’s signals.”Here Today Adopted Tomorrow Sanctuary

has an extensive Trap- Neuter-Return (TNR)program to deal with feral overpopulation is-sues and targets areas in Brimfield and Palmer.The program has serviced about 400 cats todate. “We have seen an impact with less com-plaint calls. The goal is to not have any morehomeless pets,” said Max, who also has takenclasses through the National Wildlife Rehabili-tators Association. One of the organization’s major expenses is

for veterinary bills, which have been as muchas $30,000. Local vet clinics have been gener-ous in giving discounts for services, includingPost Road Veterinary Hospital in Charlton andCanterbury Tails Veterinary Clinic in Ware.“We don’t have a vet on premises and that costdoesn’t include medicine and discounts givenby providers. We give our own shots and put inour own microchips,” Max said.

Since the organization does not receive anyfunding from the town or other area govern-ments, fundraising plays a major role in keep-ing it operational. Several business partnershelp defer costs through donations of food orother items, such as Petco in Hadley andNoah’s Ark Pet Shop and Compatible Canine,both in Sturbridge. The non-profit also par-ticipates in Amazon’s Fundico program whereone percent of every purchase is received.“We also have a Memorial Garden wherestones can be purchased in memory of a petthat also raises funds. The shed in it was anEagle Scout project,” Horn said. “Most ofour money is raised at a table at the BrimfieldAntique Market.”As a part of its ongoing fundraising efforts,

the Sanctuary is sponsoring its Third AnnualTails on the Trail Dog Walk. As a part of thisyear’s event, they are adding the First Annual5K Race. The event will be held on Saturday,September 19 at the Sanctuary grounds, lo-cated at 180 Sturbridge Road, Brimfield. The

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 registration fee is $35 for the 5K race or $25for the walk and incudes a free t-shirt. Partic-ipants can also get sponsors as an additionalway to support Here Today Adopted Tomor-row. A number of raffles and giveaways willbe part of the event as well as an appearanceby Toto the Tornado Kitten. Donations are also accepted on a regular

basis to assist with daily operations. Itemsneeded include cat beds, toys, scent clay catlitter and scratching posts as well as cleaningsupplies such as paper towels, dish soap, trashbags, bleach and vinegar. Office supplies arealso welcome, including stamps, envelopesand file folders or gift cars for Walmart andStaples.Here Today Adopted Tomorrow Sanctuary is open

from 5 to 7 p.m., Mondays, 1 to 4 p.m., Thursdays,and 1 to 4 p.m., Saturdays or by appointment. Formore information or to register for the Tails on theTrail event, call 413.324.8224 or go to heretoday-sanctuary.org. On Facebook search “Here TodayAdopted Tomorrow Sanctuary” n

Hall on the site of the former Sturbridge Fair-grounds and Horse Racing Track. It is all thatremains of the fairgrounds property and wasused as an exhibition hall from 1868 to about1940. If the Sturbridge Historical Commission de-

termines the building is significant, a publichearing would be held after which it has 14 daysto determine if it should be preferably pre-served. If so, it could be subject to a six-monthdemolition delay period. “I expect CVS repre-sentatives will file with the Sturbridge HistoricalCommission at the same time they do with thePlanning Board,” Sturbridge Town PlannerJean Bubon said. “They can proceed with a siteplan, but can’t get a demolition permit untilthey go through proceedings with the Stur-bridge Historical Commission.” The Sturbridge DRC requested some addi-

tional information about construction of theproject including visuals of landscape plantingsand possible use of light fixtures outlined in theCommercial Tourist District Plan. Additional re-quests included exploration of other possiblebuilding colors (dark beige proposed), the use offalse windows on the front façade, and an alter-nate location for the propane tank. Committee

members also asked for a list of similar size anddesigned stores within an hour distance to pos-sibly visit. The CVS architectural design and sig-

nage proposal will come back before the Stur-bridge DRC at 1:30 p.m. on August 11. n


Above, the South Worcester County Agricultural Society Hall on the site of the former Sturbridge Fairgrounds andHorse Racing Track (now site of Sturbridge Host Hotel). It was used as an exhibition hall from 1868 to 1940. (BobArnold photo). In 1972, the exhibition hall at 362 Main Street, Sturbridge. (Sturbridge Historical Commission). And theproperty today, site of Bentley’s Pub II. The property may become a CVS Pharmacy. (Stubridge Times photo).


PETS Q&AWITH KATHY MENARD

Playful or aggressive? How to tell

Q. I own a 65 pound lab/pit mix 10 monthold male dog. He gets really excited when hesees other dogs and I have trouble controllinghim. I walk him on a front attach harnesswhich works most of the time, but not whenhe sees other dogs. I don't know how to tell ifhe wants to play or if it is aggression - how doI tell?

A. I recommend you work with a profes-sional to get the behavior under control. At10 months of age he is likely in the terribleteen stage. They often have trouble with self-control, get overly excited, and frequently be-come dog aggressive. If handled properly, thisis just a stage. Until you are able to work witha professional I recommend using a head hal-ter if he is going to be walked around otherdogs - a harness gives him too much freedomand you not enough control.

Q. My dog has developed a habit of barkingat me when he wants to play or get my atten-tion. No matter how much I tell him No!, hecontinues to do it. Any advice?

A. Yes, stop reinforcing the behavior bytelling him No! When he barks for your at-tention, totally ignore him, turning your backon him, or walk away. If he jumps on youwhen you do this, or keeps barking, try walk-ing into another room, without him, and clos-ing the door so he can't even see you. Do thisfor just a minute, then calmly come back out,ignoring him. If the behavior has stopped,you can give him attention. If he starts tobark again, return to the room and close thedoor again. Expect this will probably take 5or 6 times of you having to go into the roombefore he starts to change his behavior, sochoose a time when you aren't rushed andhave the patience.

Q. Can you recommend something for mydog to chew on that is long-lasting?

A. Sure. Elk Antlers, Water Buffalo horns andHimalayan Dog chews, in that order for howlong they last.

Q. My dog loves peanut butter. Is there any-thing wrong with giving it to her?A. I'm glad you asked. I have recently learnedof an ingredient being added to some brandsof peanut butter that could be potentiallydeadly for your dog. The ingredient is Xylitoland can be listed on the label as just "naturalsweetener" or xylitol. While this ingredient isconsidered to have health benefits for humans,it can be fatal for your dog. It is also often foundin sugarless gum.

Once you determine the brand you are usingdoes not contain this ingredient, it should befine given in moderation.

Kathy Menard has been a dog trainer for over 35years and is certified through the Certification Coun-cil for Professional Dog Trainers. She Kathy is theowner of Compatible Canine in Fiskdale. MA.


With each new vintage more and moreAmericans are discovering the joys of

Rosés. By Rosés I mean dry Rosés, not whiteZinfandel or the old sweet style PortugueseRosés. Today’s dry Rosés are just as dry astoday’s dry Red and White wines. Many dry Rosés have attractive fruitiness.

Fruitiness is expressed in the scents and fla-vors of fresh young wines and comes directlyfrom the ripe grapes. A sweet wine may befruity but a fruity wine will not be sweet unlessit has residual sugar. When I write about DryRosés I am writing about wines that are fer-mented out to full dryness. These dry Rosés are usually consumed

within a year of the harvest while all of theirnatural fruity components are most obvious.They are not aged in oak barrels so there areno woody nuances taking the focus off oftheir natural fruit components. Though madefrom red grapes they are made in such a waythat the tannins from the grape skins, pips andstems are not factors in the finished wines. Inessence these Rosés are wines with red fruitscents and flavors in a white wine format.They are refreshing wines to drink with foodsthat call for red wines.The Dry Rosés of 2014 may be the best

group of Rosé wines that I have tasted todate. The category has been very hot over thelast five years and its popularity continues togrow. This growing demand has made thesewines more important to their winemakersand their overall quality has improved. Alsonoteworthy is that we have found some verynice Dry Rosés that are more affordable thanin previous years.The key factor that determines the style of

a dry Rosé wines are the grape types fromwhich they are made. Winemakers make theirRosés from the same red grape varieties thatmake up their red wines. Some are madefrom single grape types and others are blendsof two or more varieties. Occasionally smallamounts of some white grapes make theirway into blended Rosés. In France’s Provence, Rhône and Langue-

doc-Roussillon regions the Rosés are mostoften blends of traditional red Rhône grape

varieties. The best of these blends offer sur-prising complexity and a lovely balance offruit flavors and crisp acidity. Some of themost exciting Rosé wines come from these re-gions.Each important winemaking region offers

Rosé wines from their native grapes. Thus wehave Rosés from Chile made from Car-menére and Rosés from Italy’s Piedmont re-gion made from Nebbiolo. Virtually all of thegrape types that are grown for Red wine pro-duction are made into Rosés.

Here are some of my favorite Rosés of2014. Prices range from $10 to $22...

2014 La Vidaubanaise Rosé, Vin dePays des MauresGrapes: Carignan, Grenache, Cinsault and

Mourvèdre. This lightly-colored effort is theentry level Rosé of top Provence producer LaVidaubanaise. A value-priced Provençal stylewine with refreshing tartness and fruit flavorsof cranberry, pomegranate and strawberry.

2014 Saint Roch Les Vignes Rosé,Côte de ProvenceGrapes: 50% Cinsault and 50%

Grenache. The grapes are from a group oftop estate vineyards in Côte de Provence andthis is their most affordable wine. All fruit isde-stemmed and direct pressed resulting in awine that reflects the brightness and flavorsof Provence is a very drinkable style.

2014 Domaine Aix Rosé, Coteaud’Aix en ProvenceGrapes: Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and

Counoise. Brilliant wine making and blendingusing 30% free run juice via the rosé bleedingmethod and 70% direct pressing. The topblend of Maison Saint Aix, a domainfounded in 1880 with cellars renovated withone sole purpose: producing the best rosé pos-sible. Pale pink in color with soft, ripe summerfruit character and fine deep berry flavorsperfectly balanced with crisp acidity.

2014 Domaine de la FouquetteRosé, Côtes de Provence

Grapes: Organically Certified 65%Grenache, 30% Cinsault and 5% Rolle.Of the 30+ Rosés that we distribute each

year this wine is in the most demand. The Do-maine is nestled into a forested plane in theheart of the Côtes de Provence appellation.Green harvesting by hand in early summerwith no use of chemicals in the vineyard. Oneof our most interesting Rosés with all of thecomplexity and style of the best ProvenceRosés.

2014 Le Grand Balloon Rosé,Touraine Grapes: Sustainable 60% Gamay and 40%

Pinot d’Aunis. Domaine Thierry Delaunayvineyards in Touraine have been cultivated by5 generations of the same family. This Rosé issimilar in style to Pinot Noir Rosé. LovelySalmon color, spicy nose with red currant aro-mas, balanced and lively on the palate.

2014 Domaine Dozon Rosé, Chinon Grapes: Sustainable Cabernet Franc. Laure

Dozen makes her Rosé from old vines plantedon her family’s hillside vineyard of clay andlimestone. Fragrant, weighty and flavorful,completely elegant Chinon Rosé. Watermelonand strawberry aromas, full-bodied CabernetFranc flavors and a clean dry finish.

2014 Chateau Saint Eulalie Rosé, Min-ervoisGrapes: Organic and sustainable 55%

Syrah, 40% Cinsault, 5% Carignan &Grenache. This excellent estate is locatedabove the town of La Livinière which has beendesignated as an official “Grand Cru” of theLanguedoc. A stony soil of clay and limestonein the vineyard is perfect for growing theseRhône grapes. Zesty and flavorful with goodcolor. An adaptable food wine.

2014 Ch. La Genestière Rosé “CuvéeRaphael”, TavelGrapes: Grenache, Cinsault, Clairette,

Syrah and Carignan. Tavel was the first roséwine to be granted France’s AOC appellationstatus and only Rosés may be called Tavel.

WINECONNOISEUR

A stellar vintage for Dry RosésBY PETER SAGANSKY, IMPORTER-EXPORTER, CHARLES RIVER WINE COMPANY


The unique terroir of Tavel make it ideal forgrowing these grapes. Deep nearly red color.A brilliant and concentrated glass of raspber-ries and roses with a characteristic finish ofspicy white pepper. A worthy companion tothe classic southern French cuisine.

2014 Valdinera Chiaro di Luna Rosé,LangheGrapes: Organic Nebbiolo. Located in the heart of Piedmont near the

city of Alba, the Valdinera estate has beenfarmed by the Careglio family for four gener-ations. This is one of our favorite Rosés everyyear and this 2014 is stellar. Pale pink, delicatebouquet, tastes of dried cherries, and a dry,clean, elegant finish.

2014 Fleur Pinot Noir Rosé, NorthCoast, CAGrapes: Pinot Noir. This Rosé seems to get

better with each vintage. Typical Pinot Noirfloral and fruit aromas set the stage for amouthful of fresh strawberry and honeysuckleflavors and a refreshing finish that retains allof its varietal character. A perfect example offruity but dry.

2014 Hendry Rosé, Napa ValleyGrapes: Sustainable Zinfandel, Cabernet

Sauvignon and Primitivo.Another wine full of fruity scents and fla-

vors fermented to dryness. Brilliant pink colorwith bright aromas and flavors of strawberry,stone fruit and citrus. Owner George Hendrycalls it a “screen-porch” wine, made for warm-weather drinking, well-chilled, with simplefoods.

2014 Nuevo Mundo Carmenère Rosé,Maipo Valley, Chile Grapes: Organic Carmenère. This Chilean

Rosé offers up berry scents with raspberries inthe mouth and a slight earthiness common toCarmenère Rosés. It’s refreshingly dry andminerally. Nuevo Mundo wines are CertifiedOrganic and Carbon Neutral.

2014 Calcu Rosé, Colchagua Valley,Chile Grapes: 50% Malbec, 40% Syrah, and

10% Petit Verdot. This vintage’s bouquet isfloral with subtle notes of grapefruit and spice.The palate is clean, crisp and well balanced

with hints of cherry and wild strawberry.

Sturbridge-based importer and distributor PeterSagansky runs Charles River Wine Company. Hiswines are featured at The Winebuyer’s Outlet and atfiner stores and restaurants throughout Massachusetts.


By Richard McGrath, CIC, LIAPRESIDENT & CEO, McGRATH INSURANCE GROUP

INSURANCEGUIDANCE

Keep your personal information safe

We still don’t know the ex-tent of the damage done

by Chinese hackers, who wereable to steal information aboutmore than four million employeesfrom the computers of the U.S.Office of Personnel and Manage-ment. The latest revelation is thatthe theft may have also includedthe Social Security numbers of18 million Americans.That’s still small compared

with the 2013 hack into Target’scomputers, which yielded thedebit and credit card data of 40million customers. In addition,though, the hackers stole ad-dresses, emails and other data ofup to 70 million Target shoppers.These are two of the largest

cyber breaches ever, but smallercybersecurity cases happen everyday, harming millions of Ameri-cans a year.In its 2015 Identity Fraud

Study, Javelin Strategy & Researchreports that $16 billion was stolenfrom 12.7 million U.S. consumersin 2014. That’s a small decreasefrom 2013, when $18 billion wasstolen from 13.1 million victims.The decrease reflects the increas-ing attention cybercrimes are re-ceiving from law enforcementagencies, American businesses andothers.Regardless of the drop, as the

Chinese hacking case demon-strates, identity theft and other cy-bercrimes are still a growingproblem. They are especiallyonerous, because cybercrimes canbe committed from halfwayaround the world.The scope of the problem is

further defined by the ConsumerSentinel database, maintained bythe Federal Trade Commission,which contains 30 categories offraud-related consumer com-plaints. Identity theft ranked firstin 2014 for the 15th year in a row,accounting for 332,646 com-plaints.

Protecting Your IdentityIt is difficult and sometimes

nearly impossible to identify andprosecute hackers, as they areoften located in foreign countries.The best approach is to take stepsto prevent identity theft and othercybercrimes from happening, andto make certain that you’re prop-erly insured in case they do.When you report unusual pur-

chases to your credit card com-pany, they will typically beexcluded from your bill and a newcard will be issued. Additionalprotection is needed, though. Your


homeowner’s insurance may al-ready include identity theft cov-erage, but if it doesn’t, theNational Association of Insur-ance Commissioners estimatesthat it can be added for onlyabout $25 to $60 a year.Coverage may include credit

alerts, account and credit moni-toring, and reimbursement forcosts associated with repairingyour credit history if you are avictim of identity theft. Benefitsare typically limited to $15,000and some policies have de-ductibles of $100 to $500, so askyour insurance agent for a rec-ommendation to ensure that youare getting the best deal.

Preventing Identity TheftInsurance coverage will offer

protection only after the identitytheft takes place. What can youdo to prevent it from happeningin the first place? Javelin suggeststhe following:Secure your mobile devices.

It’s increasingly becoming a mo-bile world. If your smartphoneor tablet is stolen, cybercriminalswill know how to use it to gainaccess to your personal informa-tion. Updating your software as

updates become available canhelp protect your personal infor-mation. Take advantage of anyother security capabilities thatmay be available, such as en-crypting contents and adding theability to delete the contents re-motely if the device is stolen.Try to avoid using wi-fi in a

hotel, airport, coffee shop orother public place, as other userson the same network can easilyhack into your computer.Use strong passwords. Pass-

words are your first line of de-fense against cybercrime.Password managers are availablethat can help you regularly up-date your passwords and ensurethat you have strong passwordsthat are difficult to identify.Use EMV and mobile pay-

ments. The magnetic strips onyour credit and debit cards canmake your personal informationeasily available to criminals.EMV chip cards and mobile pay-ments are more secure and makeit more difficult for your data tobe misused.Monitor suspicious activity. Fi-

nancial service companies, in-cluding credit card issuers andbrokerages, provide customerswith the option of receiving noti-fications of suspicious activity bye-mail or text. Customers canmodify responses to preventbeing notified of activities thatmay appear suspicious, but arenot.Protect yourself appropriately.

After a data breach, the companywhose data was breached shouldoffer you an identity protection orcredit monitoring product de-

signed to protect you against thetypes of crimes you could be ex-posed to as a result of the breach.Be certain that the protection youare being offered is adequate andappropriate.Seek help quickly. Cyber

thieves act quickly, as they knowthat once you discover that yourpersonal information has beencompromised you will take action.The more quickly you respond,the more likely you will be to limitany damage. Quick action also in-creases the likelihood that thecriminals will be caught.

Cyber thieves go after the easi-est targets. The harder you makeit for them to gain access to yourpersonal information, the betteryour chances of protecting your-self. n

Richard A. McGrath, CIC, LIA isPresident and CEO of McGrath Insur-ance Group, Inc. of Sturbridge, Mass.He can be reached at [email protected].

This article is written for informa-tional purposes only and should not beconstrued as providing legal advice.

Try to avoid usingwi-fi in a hotel,airport, coffeeshop or otherpublic place.


Did you notice an abundance of black ants inyour home this time of the year? You might, andthey are a mixed blessing for your yard. For thismonth, a quick primer on ant identification, andtheir benefits and concerns. There are three antscommon in our area the small, red, AlleghenyMound Ant, the Black Field Ant and Black Car-penter Ants. The Allegheny Mound Ant is red-dish brown and about ¼” long, the Black FieldAnt, the most common in our area, is fairly large,¼- ½” long and is often confused with Carpen-ter Ants, but unlike the Carpenter Ant it rarelyinvades homes and does not excavate into struc-tural wood. All types of ants can be consideredbeneficial in the sense that they prey on other in-sects including many pest insects they also feedon the honeydew produced by aphids andleafhoppers which is why they are seen in thecompany of these insects. They also thru theircolonies provide for air and water penetrationinto the soil and help speed up wood decay, re-leasing nutrients into the soil.

Ant ColoniesAnts have a complex social structure, much

like honey bees. They live in colonies consistingof an egg-laying queen, male ants that tend tothe queen, and sterile female workers. The

mounds that these ants build are comparable toincubation chambers with the goal of keepingthe mounds warm for development of the eggs.This is why ant mounds are most commonlyfound in lawns and the cracks of your walkwayswhere they are exposed to sunlight and warmth!As the ant colony grows a queen and workerswill leave to form a new colony, usually in Mayand June in our area.The complexity in mound structure makes

control of mound building ants somewhat diffi-cult. Spraying ant mounds with liquid sprays willnot be very effective as the material does notpenetrate deep into the mound and tunnels. Amore effective way is to apply a dust insecticidewhere the dust particles can adhere to the antsthat then can be tracked into the mound. Re-member to read and follow the directions for ap-plication of insecticide products labeled for antcontrol, be cautious of ground and surface watercontamination and the potential for contact bychildren, pets or wildlife.

Carpenter AntsCarpenter ants are one of the most common

ants found in our area. They are also one of themost difficult to control. Winged carpenter antscan be distinguished from termites by their largersize and shape of their antennae, waist andwings. Besides being objectionable by their pres-ence, carpenter ants damage wood by hollowingit out for nesting. They excavate galleries in woodwhich have a smooth, sandpapered appearance.Wood which has been damaged by carpenterants contains no mud-like material, as is the casewith termites. Shredded fragments of wood, sim-ilar in appearance to coarse sawdust, are ejectedfrom the galleries through preexisting cracks orslits made by the ants. When such accumulationsare found (typically containing dead ants and bitsof insects which the carpenter ants have eaten),it's a good indication that a carpenter ant nest isnearby. Oftentimes, however, the excavated saw-dust remains hidden behind a wall or in someother concealed area.Carpenter ants nest in both moist and dry

wood, but prefer wood which is moist. Conse-quently, the nests are more likely to be found inwood dampened by water leaks, such as aroundsinks, bathtubs, poorly sealed windows/ doorframes, roof leaks and poorly flashed chimneys.Nests are especially common in moist, hollowspaces such as the wall void behind a dishwasher,or in a hollow porch column. When you noticecarpenter ants in trees that is a good sign ofwood decay in the tree. The ants are not dam-aging the tree, but identifying and addressingwhat is causing the tree decay should be consid-ered. Since there often will be no external signsof damage, probing the wood with a screwdriverhelps reveal the excavated galleries. When tap-ping wood, listen for the hollow sound of dam-aged wood. If a nest is nearby, carpenter antsoften will respond by making a “rustling" soundwithin the nest, similar to the crinkling of cello-phane.Carpenter ants actually construct two differ-

ent kinds of nests: parent colonies which, whenmature, contain an egg-laying queen, brood and2000 or more worker ants, and satellite colonieswhich may have large numbers of worker antsbut no queen, eggs or young larvae. The carpen-ter ants inside a home may have originated fromthe parent colony or from one or more satellitenests. For example, the ants may be coming fromthe parent nest located outdoors in a tree stump,landscape timber or woodpile, or from one ormore satellite nests hidden behind a wall in thekitchen or bathroom, or perhaps from wooddampened by a roof leak in the attic. Althoughlarge carpenter ant colonies are capable of caus-ing structural damage, the damage is not nor-mally as serious as that from termites. In somecases, the damage may be relatively insignificant,but this can only be determined by locating andexposing the nest area.The best way to control carpenter ants is to

find and destroy the nests. This is often easiersaid than done. Recent studies have shown thatcarpenter ants follow distinct scent trails betweenthe satellite colonies and the parent nest. Car-penter ants also rely on scent trails to recruit their

Carpenter Ants

YARDWORKSBy Tom Chamberland, ISATom Chamberland is the Tree Warden for the Town of Sturbridge and a Certified Arborist

Caring for what grows in your yard


nest mates to food. With patience and a littleeffort, one can use this trailing behavior dis-played by carpenter ants to locate and elimi-nate the nests. When carpenter ants areobserved, don't spray them; instead, feed theants small dabs of diluted honey placed ontothe back (nonsticky side) of pieces of maskingtape. The best time to do this is late at nightsince this is when carpenter ants are most ac-tive. After the ants have fed on the honey, fol-low them on their journey back to their nest.Be patient-- eventually the ants will disappearbehind a baseboard, cabinet, or into someother concealed location such as the hollowspace (void) within a wall, door casing, or porchcolumn.Treat wall voids and other hidden spaces

where ants are entering by carefully drilling aseries of small (1/8 inch) holes and puffingboric acid (available at most hardware stores)into the suspected nest areas. The boric acidpowder will disperse in the hidden void andcontact and kill the ants. If you suspect the nestis in a wall, drill and treat at least 3-6 feet oneither side of where ants are entering so as tomaximize the chances of contacting the nest.Carpenter ants prefer to travel along wires,pipes and edges. If you suspect the nest loca-tion is in a wall, also treat behind pipe collarsand behind --not in-- the junction box for elec-trical switch plates/receptacles. Never sprayliquids or insert metal-tipped devicesaround electrical outlets. If your carpenter ants are actually nesting

outdoors, and foraging indoors for food and/ormoisture, you may end up following the antsyou have baited with honey out of the houseand into the yard, possibly to a nest located ina stump, or under a log or railroad tie. Oncethe outdoor nest is discovered, treatment canbe performed by covering the nest with a pow-dered insecticide such as carbaryl (Sevin), di-azinon, or chlorpyrifos (Dursban). If outdoornests are suspected, you should also inspectaround the foundation of the building at nightwith a flashlight, especially around doors, and

openings such as where utility pipes and wiresenter the structure.

Carpenter Ant PreventionA number of steps can be taken by home-

owners to reduce the potential for future car-penter ant problems.• Correct roof leaks, plumbing leaks and

other moisture problems which will attract car-penter ants.• Eliminate wood-to-ground contact such as

where landscaping has moved soil or mulch upagainst the wood siding of a home.• Clip back tree limbs and vegetation touch-

ing the roof or siding of the house. Limbs andbranches serve as "bridges" between carpenterants nesting in a dead tree limb and the struc-ture• Seal cracks and openings in the foundation,

especially where utility pipes and wires enterfrom the outside.• Stack firewood away from the foundation

and elevate it off the ground. Never store fire-wood in the garage or other areas of the home,as firewood is a prime nesting area for carpenter

ants.

If you can live with a few ants, that is great,as they are a part of the natural food chain,cycle of life. They provide aphid control andthru their tunnel network allow air and water topenetrate into our soil. One should only controlthem when they become a real nuisance.

Tom Chamberland is the Tree Warden for the Townof Sturbridge and a Certified Arborist. He enjoys caringfor plants that grow in his yard and welcomes reader sug-gestions for future articles. Email him at: [email protected]

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