Sturbridge 7-27-07 (Page 1) - Southbridge Evening News

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14 STURBRIDGE VILLAGER • Friday, June 10, 2011 SPORTS Patriots Day for Burncoat in win over Warriors WORCESTER — The Tantasqua baseball team traveled to Burncoat High on June 3 for a first round tilt in Central Mass. Division 1 district tournament action. The No. 11 Warriors were looking to upset the sixth seeded Patriots, but it wasn’t in the cards. Burncoat (13-7) pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, scored twice in the bottom half of the frame, and ran away with an 11-4 victory. Tantasqua’s season ended with a record of 11-10. Nick Champeau of Tantasqua swings away at a pitch vs. Burncoat. Nick Ethier photos Tantasqua’s Kyle Lavallee (8) stands in the batter’s box and awaits the first pitch of the game during the Warriors’ first round district game with Burncoat. Eric Proulx of Tantasqua releases a first inning pitch. Tantasqua shortstop Lee Murphy (12) forces a Burncoat player out at the bag after a flip from the second baseman. HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK May 27 Tantasqua 10, Northbridge 7 — Aaron Rice (three goals, two assists), Alex Lucas (three goals), Conor Fabrycki (two goals), and Kyle Haghighi (one goal, three assists) powered the Warriors boys’ lacrosse team past the Rams. Colby Donohue scored three goals for Northbridge, while Ryan Day added two more. Tantasqua 3, Doherty 2 — Despite losing the No. 1 and 2 singles matches, the visiting Warriors boys’ tennis team outlasted Doherty. Connor Munnis won at No. 3 singles for Tantasqua (12- 5), while both doubles teams (Tom Cloutier and Matt Proulx at No. 1, Ryan Chevalier and Will Jones at No. 2) were also victorious. Tantasqua 4, Doherty 1, Longmeadow 5, Tantasqua 0 Register for Chelsea and Alijah Frazier Charity Golf Tournament OXFORD — The fourth annual Chelsea and Alijah Frazier’s Charity Golf Tournament will be held with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. on June 26 at the Pine Ridge Golf Course off Route 56 in Oxford. The cost is $100 per person or $400 per team with four players per team. A $100 deposit from each team is required. The cutoff date to sign up is June 14. Please contact Raymond Snow at (508) 765-5608 or (774) 452-5474. This is an 18-hole best ball tournament. The fee includes a shared cart with player assignments. There will be big prizes and cash rewards for closest to the pin, longest drive, Las Vegas hole, and a 50/50 raffle. A full buffet will be served. There will be other raffles, putting strings and prizes as well. Tee box sponsorship signs are available for a $50 donation. All proceeds will benefit the Alijah Frazier’s Trust Fund. Legacy for Children Memorial Golf Tournament at Pine Ridge On August 7, 2010, while vacationing with his family in New York City, Dave Powell was taken from the life he loved living and the family he cared so deeply about by a massive heart — The Warriors girls’ tennis team hosted two matches, going 1-1 on the day. Emily King (No. 1 singles), Nicole Cormier (No. 2 singles), the tandem of Sam Robinson and Ivonne Welchell (No. 1 doubles), and the duo of Lee Anne Wentzell and Narissa Tremblay (No. 2 doubles) won their matches for Tantasqua vs. Doherty. SPORTS BRIEFS May 28 Tantasqua 5, Auburn 0 — The visiting Warriors girls’ tennis team closed its regular season with a shutout. Emily King, Nicole Cormier, and Ashley Mason won singles matches, while the teams of Ivonne Welchell plus Sam Robinson and Jen Ertel plus Caroline Switchenko for Tantasqua (12-7). attack. In his death, Dave left behind his own “Legacy” in the form of his lovely wife Judi and three very young children (Chloe 9, Tyler 6 and Emme 18 months). Dave was a very active individual in his community. He adored coaching children and passing on his knowledge, love for sports, and pride in his community. He was an avid golfer and soccer player and for those of us that knew him best, a true competitor. Dave was a big family man and treasured the moments he spent with them. To keep Dave’s legacy strong, we have initiated the first “Legacy for Children” Memorial Golf Tournament in Dave’s honor benefiting Dave and Judi’s children. The benefit of helping David’s children is priceless: teaching children about the kindness of their community and motivating them to learn about their world is one of the best ways they can learn about themselves and develop their interests, leading to a bright future. By helping his children through our fundraising memorial, you are not just helping them, but also investing in the long-term future of your community. A healthy, educated and well-adjusted child is the most valuable asset in any neighborhood. The Memorial Golf outing will be hosted at Dave’s home course, Pine Ridge Country Club in Oxford on Friday, Sept. 16. At the conclusion of the golf outing, there will be a dinner and a silent auction. All proceeds from this event will support a scholarship fund for Dave’s three children. Please view our web page for event details at http://www.anthem4urcause.com. Please feel free to contact or email Tracy Rapose (Silent Auction Chair) and college friends of Dave’s at (774) 452-6558 or trapose@leapfrog.com. May 28 Tantasqua 3, Auburn 2 — The host Warriors boys’ tennis team captured a close victory over the Rockets, finishing their regular season at 13-5. Robbie Warren (No. 1) and Connor Munnis (No. 3) won singles matches for Tantasqua, while the No. 1 doubles team of Tom Cloutier and Matt Proulx were also victorious. Tantasqua girls’ tennis wins, boys lose in districts GIRLS’ LAX TEAM ADVANCES TO DIS- TRICT SEMIS Both of the Tantasqua tennis teams advanced to the Central Mass. Division 1 district tournament after successful regular seasons, and both began their postseason trek on June 3. The girls’ team was able to defeat Shepherd Hill 4-1, while the boys fell to Wachusett 5-0. For the girls, Emily King, Nicole Cormier, and Ashley Mason all won their singles matches. The No. 1 doubles team of Caroline Switchenko and Jen Ertel were also victorious. Meanwhile, the boys’ team finished its season at 16-5 after losing to the Mountaineers. Robbie Warren (No. 1 singles), Tyler Allen (No. 2 singles), Connor Munnis (No. 3 singles), the duo of Tom Cloutier and Matt Proulx (No. 1 doubles), and the team of Ryan Chevalier and Dillon Gaudet (No. 2 doubles) competed for the Warriors. Over on the lacrosse field, the Tantasqua girls hosted Oakmont in district competition and won 18-9. Jessica Farland had five goals and four assists, Melissa Frio added four goals and two assists, Jessica Frio contributed with three goals, and Cassidy Robert chipped in with two goals and an assist. The Warriors will next face top seeded Westborough in the district semifinals.
Friday, June 10, 2011 • STURBRIDGE VILLAGER 15 Storms shut down roads, damage homes TORNADO continued from page 1 aged, he said, as were Sturbridge Auto Body and Sturbridge Service Center on Route 131. The auto body center lost part of the western side of its building, while the roof came off part of Sturbridge Service Center. WHDH-TV in Boston reported an overhead traffic sign on Interstate 84 was felled, just missing a passing vehicle. Ford and Town Administrator Shaun Suhoski toured the Main Street area around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. At the scene, Ford said there was “quite a swath of damage down through here behind the Publick House, where something touched down here.” It was about half a mile wide and “at least a mile long,” he said. Fallen tree limbs and utility poles closed Willard Road and Main Street from Farquhar Road to Hall Road Wednesday night. A couple of vehicles were crushed underneath trees and wires. People worked to cut trees and poles so Main Street could reopen, but they quickly scattered a little before 7 p.m. after there was a report of another tornado touching down in Palmer and heading east toward Sturbridge. There were no deaths or injuries immediately reported, Ford said, “just bumps and bruises.” In Charlton, Town Administrator Robin Craver said that was true of her town as well. Although there were numerous downed trees and some mild house damage, Charlton largely escaped significant damage. According to Old Sturbridge hygiene kits, blankets, baby supplies and other things in the near future, but said the site could particularly use supplies of bug repellant, sunscreen, calamine lotion and ice packs for people working with the downed trees. He said several local stores are sending donations and he has a deal with an Oxford kennel to take in stray animals (including large ones, which will go to Tufts Vet Hospital in Grafton). The site’s open 8-10 a.m. and 2-6 p.m. daily for now, but those hours can extend if necessary. Preble’s site is not set up to accept monetary donations — those should go to the United Way or Red Cross, but must be specifically labeled for tornado relief, otherwise they’ll just end up in the general funds. Some towns also have designated accounts for emergency aid — Brimfield, for example, has the Harding Fund. McNitt said the United Way Village officials, there were reports that a tornado touched down in a remote field at the museum, near the outskirts of the property. No visitors, staff or animals were hurt, and no museum buildings or exhibits were damaged. They said the facility would be closed Thursday, June 2 because of power outages in town that delayed the cleanup of downed trees and debris both at and around OSV. It was scheduled to reopen Friday, June 3. A Sturbridge Service Center worker said he heard a “real loud noise, and then stuff started flying everywhere. You could hear it coming behind the swamp. It sounded like a freight train coming through, and leaves started swirling.” For Dan and Jan Bryant of Hampton, N.H., who were house-sitting for their daughter on Charlton Street, events gave them a very close call. When the tornado approached, Jan Bryant was actually on the phone with her daughter, sitting in a living room chair. They took shelter in the basement, and once the twister had passed, they found a large branch had torn through the roof right above her chair. “I would have been hit by that tree if I hadn’t moved,” she said. “… Every room is a disaster.” Dan Bryant agreed. “That came so fast, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “We had been talking to her and I told her things were OK. Then it hit. … I don’t know what the kids are going to do. They can’t live here. I hope her insurance is all paid up.” In fact, the Bryants’ house had several branches jutting into various rooms. But other structures in the neighborhood looked to be in far worse shape, with significant parts has already begun collecting cash to turn into gift cards for use primarily at local supermarkets — it now has 420 of them, and will hand them out to people showing ID at their office (155 Main St., Southbridge). “Today’s the first day people have come in looking for groceries because they’re getting power back,” said Gina Lynch, who’s coordinating aid in Brimfield. She’s working out of the 1st Congregational Church and is already getting 100-200 volunteers a day excluding those clearing brush or serving with the National Guard and the Mass. Emergency Management Agency. “We’re doing meals all day long,” she added. “We have a lot of families who have nothing. Their houses are completely gone.” That raises an issue local real estate agent Jean Sullivan’s trying to address — connecting the displaced with new homes, both short- and long-term. She said she’s reaching out to other realtors and property owners who of their roofs missing, windows blown out, very big trees atop them, and various household items strewn across the street. One place — fortunately, it looked to have been a shed, not a house — was crushed, but even the surrounding forest on either side of the street was simply destroyed. Yet James Blash observed, laconically, “It could have been worse.” When the storm hit, Blash had been pulling his motorcycle into a safe place. “I was trying to open the door to let him into the basement,” said his sister, Andrea Blash. “… We had been watching the Weather Channel. I lived in Florida during the hurricanes of 2004 and I told the girls it’s so unlikely it’ll touch down in downtown Southbridge. Then it did.” Her family has been trying to turn their seven acres into a farm, with some vegetables, chickens, turkeys and rabbits. The animals reacted to the disaster with total aplomb, running around the tree branches sprawling across the Blashs’ backyard pecking for grubs happily. Andrea, meanwhile, was both trying to keep the children all near while attempting to reach the insurance company, tears in her eyes. LaRochelle said the majority of people who visited the temporary shelter opened at the Southbridge Community Center Wednesday night would have some relative to spend the night with, but he went to arrange for either hotel rooms or space at Tantasqua for the rest. For that day, at least, re-entering properties in the damaged zone would pose a “terrible risk. The front of a building might look reasonably well, but the back is about to fall down.” Website dubs region ‘Tornado Alley’ of the East Service put last week’s twister at F3 “or higher,” and one resident of Charlton Street described it as “a low one, low and fat.” He didn’t give his name, but noted he’d never seen one before except on TV. “I could see it swirling, and I heard something just like a train — a roaring,” he said. “It just missed my house. [From the window] I saw trees snapping and told my wife we had to go to the cellar.” According to Mass. Emergency Management Agency representative Bruce Augusti, who toured Southbridge’s destroyed zones with Town Manager Christopher Clark, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray Thursday, storm damage will easily be “in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” That figure is comparable to the estimates for the 1953 storm, when inflation is considered, Heidorn wrote. It cost about $52 million, which would be around $424 million in today’s dollars, according to the “Measuring Worth” website. “I’m sure we’ll meet the federal threshold,” Murray said, adding that the tour was the start of an assessment process by which towns will get a percentage to reimburse their costs. “Private insurance will drive the lion’s share of this.” One site for which damages are already fairly well estimated is the airport. Manager James Latour said that he experienced a hit of $1.5 to $2 million, excluding the damage to individual planes, and would take “years” to rebuild. On Thursday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration closed the property to road access while it evaluated the site’s safety for aircraft use. It passed — the field itself is intact and Latour said it would be usable in a have vacant apartments and houses they’d be willing to open to the newly homeless, plus people who might have extra bedrooms. For some, insurance is likely to be an issue, and McNitt said the state’s “pretty concerned” about the potential for fraudulent contractors victimizing people. The latter have already been reported in the area. That’s why it has its insurance and consumer affairs hotline, and McNitt said she’d look into linking the state’s contractor licensing database to the Chamber’s website to help make checking a contractor’s legitimacy easier. But, she noted that won’t help with out-of-state contractors, and several are already working the region (most of them legitimate). Owners should always ask for a contractor’s license number and write it down; the real ones will have it, and that information will likely be necessary to get state or federal reimbursement. There’s also a pair of Facebook web pages dedicated to the effort. Dubbed “Tornado Aide,” they aim to identify needs and coordinate local contractors’ responses. At present, though, the Federal Emergency Management Agency “is still in the assessment phase. It’s not been declared a federal emergency yet,” McNitt said. “… There’s an active conversation going on with the feds,” with locals and the state pushing them, among other things, to expand their definition of “tree belt removal” to include funding for backyards. At this point, she added, debris clearing alone in Brimfield has been estimated at $8-10 million, and “even with a 75/25 split,” that will amount to a huge hit to local budgets. Southbridge Councilor Steven Lazo said his town is working with Casella and the local Board of Health to allow the landfill to accept the construction debris from tornado-hit towns. The landfill currently accepts small quantities of that, but the last site assignment aimed to gradually reduce such debris as it increases municipal solid waste. He also noted that towns need to have their highest elected officials declare a state of emergency to become eligible for FEMA/MEMA aid when that is approved. That’s a process that takes time, but homeowners can start making repairs early, provided they take photos of the original state of their homes. McNitt said such decrees typically cover a designated time period, so owners need to keep detailed receipts of what they do to get aid, which will likely come in the form of low-interest (1-2 percent) loans. Local banks and credit unions are also “looking to be a resource” for such aid, McNitt said. “The word that needs to get out is that you’re not going to get free money — it’s a loan,” Preble emphasized. “If your insurance covers [a low amount] and the cost is [higher], it’ll cover the gap.” Likewise, psychological recovery takes time, and the emergency effort needs volunteers capable of conducting mental health assessment, especially ones experienced in working with trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some people have already started showing signs of the latter, Preble said, and he is particularly concerned about this weekend. Weather forecasts are already predicting we’ll see conditions very similar to those that spawned the tornado, and those conditions — say, thunderstorms — might trigger people even if no tornadoes happen. G.B. Wells Center Director “It’s unusual for us because we don’t see [tornadoes],” he observed. “Give us a snowstorm and we’ll show the rest of the country how to deal with it. I see what the people in Tornado Alley have been dealing with, and this is nothing compared to that. I’m in awe of that.” He was referring to the recent catastrophic destruction in Joplin, Mo., and places in the southern states. Scientists warn such events are quite likely to become more common, severe and unpredictable as the world’s climate warms over the next century. In this week’s case, the governor formally declared a state of emergency and mobilized 1,000 National Guardsmen to aid local police, fire and other emergency crews. Nineteen communities were most seriously hit by several lines of tornadoes — one ran more-or-less right down Route 20, another largely Don Brechner agreed, noting, “We need to start making room for [PTSD symptoms] to happen.” According to HelpGuide.org’s page on the subject, PTSD “can affect those who personally experience the catastrophe, those who witness it, and those who pick up the pieces afterwards, including emergency workers and law enforcement officers. It can even occur in the friends or family members of those who went through the actual trauma.” “PTSD develops differently from person to person,” it states. “While the symptoms of PTSD most commonly develop in the hours or days following the traumatic event, it can sometimes take weeks, months, or even years before they appear.” Those symptoms are, essentially, exaggerated versions of very normal reactions to stress that appear after the stress has passed or triggered by events similar to the original event. Among the most common are irritability, sleep disturbances, emotional numbness, various forms of repeatedly reliving the event (nightmares, flashbacks, distress, intrusive memories), avoiding common life activities and places, survivor’s guilt, depression, and selfmedication with drugs or alcohol. Similar symptoms are often seen among children, but they can also express PTSD in unique ways, such as intense fear of separation from parents, losing previously-learned skills, play or art expressing traumatic themes, and new phobias that seem unrelated. Although the Bridge of Central Mass. has a trauma response team, “My worry is that piece is not well coordinated,” Jennifer Reed said. Such services do exist locally, including the Wells Center, Harrington Hospital, various private counselors and a few people like Preble, who are trained disaster responders. Some of them can visit people at home. The state will be providing various kinds of aid at three “One-Stop Shops” in the tornado-affected region: Springfield, Palmer and the local site, the Department of Transitional Assistance’s office at 1 North St., Southbridge. There, storm victims can get food, housing and clothing assistance of various kinds, with special services for those who are disabled in various ways. Among other things, the agency is seeking funding sources, too. “People are in shock that it happened, and we’re just looking to help in whatever way we can to help people survive this,” said DTA- along the Route 9 corridor, and a third materialized in the Route 2 area. About an hour after the tornado raged through Southbridge, police warned people to take shelter for a second one, reported to have winds of 140 mph, that was about 15 minutes away. But that twister either went elsewhere or dissipated before arrival. According to National Grid, as of 11:20 p.m. Wednesday night, 528 homes out of the 8,112 in Southbridge remained without power, while 1,943 out of 4,714 homes in Sturbridge were dark. In Charlton, 288 homes out of 5,450 were without power. Along with Sturbridge, Brimfield, Holland and Wales were hit quite hard, as each and every home in Holland (1,492) and Wales (1,004) was reported to be without power Wednesday night, while 1,129 out of 1,772 homes in Brimfield were dark. ‘We’re just looking to help in whatever way we can’ RESPONSE continued from page 1 STORM continued from page 1 few days, once he can clear it. The storm left several planes flipped over in the middle of the tarmac, two blown off into the nearby marsh, and most of the hangars destroyed. Pieces and insulation from those buildings were scattered all over the place, with large sheets of mangled aluminum in the nearby bushes outside the field’s fence. Yet, three planes north of the Airport Diner were still sitting serenely, tied down and entirely untouched by the violence that collapsed a hangar on top of another plane not even 100 yards away. The diner itself will be able to reopen after fairly minor repairs, Latour said. The damaged planes, however, are “not salvageable.” He said he had been able to reach some of the owners by Thursday afternoon. “I’ve seen storms, but never anything on this scale,” he said while looking over the swath of destruction visible downhill in both directions. He said the radar station at Bradley International Airport “called and forewarned us, but it was only a matter of minutes.” The Weather Doctor site, however, notes that most of Massachusetts never got warnings in 1953. “The Buffalo, N.Y., office warned western New York residents of the possibility for a tornado, but the official forecast released from the Boston office did not mention the threat, based in part on the rarity of Massachusetts tornadoes, and perhaps partly on the potential psychological impact on those residing in the area,” Heidorn stated. “Tornado forecasting for public warnings was only in its first full year of implementation, and some result[ed] in panic in other regions of the country.” Gus Steeves can be reached at 508-909-4135 or by e-mail at gus@stonebridgepress.com. David Dore photos STURBRIDGE — A tree fell onto this car that was on Route 131, not far from Sturbridge Auto Body. Southbridge Director Roxanne Miller. “We’re looking to bring together all the state agencies. … We’ll keep it set up as long as it’s needed, and that includes working seven days a week.” That’s likely to be true of all providers for a while, anyway. Various participants noted the rebuilding process after such events typically winds down gradually, but how long it’ll take is unpredictable. Contact List For Tornado Needs • South County Chamber of Commerce: 508-347-2761, overall coordination, volunteering, businesses wanting to offer aid, etc. • Volunteer coordinators in specific towns: - Southbridge: Peter Preble, 508-864-8095; - Sturbridge: Sue Waters, 774-402-4387; - Brimfield: Gina Lynch, 508-932-1312; Contact if you want to help or donate cash or supplies. • State Insurance & Consumer Affairs Hotline: 617-521-7777, for any questions about home/damage insurance, contractor scams, etc. • Department of Transitional Assistance, Southbridge, 508-765-2400; Palmer, 800-323-3123; Both are providing “One-Stop Shops” for various state agencies/services. • Church World Service: 413-583-8355, can train volunteers and has sources of loans for rebuilding. • Harrington Psychiatric Services: 508-765-3035, 24/7 emergency mental health care; can visit homes and connect to other services. • United Way: 508-765-5491, various kinds of aid, including gift cards for food. • G.B. Wells Center: 508-765- 9167, long-term counseling and trauma care. • Red Cross Disaster Services: 508-595-3700, help with food, shelter, health concerns, bulk supply distribution, etc. • Moms Club of Sturbridge/Brimfield: Jessica, 508-330-7454. • Moms Club of Southbridge/Charlton: Jennifer, 774-289-0014, can connect people with babysitting and play-dates. • Catholic Charities: 508- 765-5936, get or donate clothing, food and other needs. • Have vacant housing available for the displaced? Jean Sullivan, 508-454-6699. • Need volunteers to help clear brush? Mohegan Council Boy Scouts, Jay Garee, 508-752-3769, ext. 26.
Page 1 and 2: Vol. V, No. 23 ONLINE: WWW.STURBRID
Page 3 and 4: BY KEVIN FLANDERS VILLAGER STAFF WR
Page 5 and 6: Friday, June 10, 2011 • STURBRIDG
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Page 29 and 30: JUNE 08, 2011 ☎ TOWN-TO-TOWN CLAS

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