April 12, 2013 - Southbridge Evening News

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4 SPENCER NEW LEADER • Friday, April 12, 2013 Tantasqua Chef Competition gets sweet with chocolaty treats STURBRIDGE — Chocolate makes almost anything better. That’s something hundreds of people learned — if they didn’t already know it — Sunday, March 24, at the Sturbridge Host Hotel. The ancient Mesoamerican food of the gods was the “secret” ingredient in everything being made by this year’s Tantasqua Chef Competition. Each of the six teams competing involved the chef of an area restaurant and two Tantasqua culinary students. According to Principal Mark Wood, the students chose each other, but worked with a chef by random draw from a hat. “What’s really impressive is that each restaurant donates all the food,” he said, noting they were asked to prepare enough for at least 200 people. Also donated were prizes for the student winners – a complete set of culinary knives from Dexter Russell. According to the school’s Skills USA advisor Ray Vallee, the four official judges gave their award for both entree and dessert to students Cassandra Nelson and Monique LaViolette (working with The Twisted Fork’s chef). The people who attended, however, split their Peoples’ Choice Award ballots between Kyle Libiszewski and Andrew Serrenho (for entrée, working with the Host’s own chef), and Richard Lambert Jr. and Brittny Boudreau (for dessert, working with the Yankee Diner chef). Maren LaBonte and Emma Buck stock the soda table. Gus Steeves photos Lindsey Gravel and Bayley N. (declined to give her full last name) manage the raffle table at the entrance. Principal Mark Wood chats with some of the diners. DON’T BUY TILL YOU SEE US! OUR PRICES ARE BETTER THAN BIG BOX STORES! LG, Maytag, Frigidaire, GE, KitchenAid Packages SAVE$$$ Bad Credit / No Credit - Lease to own appliances & TV’s cheaper than Rent to Own! FREE BIKE HELMET with bike purchase of $200 or more GE HYDROWATER FREE WHITCO HEATERS $1000 VALUE. ... LAST WEEK SEE STORE FOR DETAILS 0% FINANCING FOR 12 MONTHS 140 Main St., Spencer • 508-885-9343 whitcosales.com • whitcobikes.com Special Coupons Available Online HOURS: Daily 10-9 Sun 12-7 Brittny Boudreau checks out the competition’s fare while visiting with friend (and fellow Holland resident) Kyle Libiszewski. Jared Cruz and Sam Silverman get pointers from chef Chris Rovezzi. HUNDREDS OF GRAPHICS TO CHOOSE FROM! We Sell Attention! Visit our showroom Wide selection of the latest styles & colors. We guarantee our embroidery forever! 133R West Main Street Spencer, MA 01562 • 508.344.6056 www.designmythreads.com Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5; Thurs 9-7: Sat 9-5; Closed Sun. Summer Camp Guide To advertise your Summer Camp, please call 508-764-4325 or email newleaderads@ stonebridgepress.com Fueled up by food, twins Sofia and Ava Laferriere of Worcester spent a little while running around the room. P.A.L. of the Week Sponsored by The Muddy Mutt Name: Cadee Breed: DSH Sex: Spayed Female Age: 1 year Cadee is a thin petite girl who was found as a stray. She is a recent addition to the shelter but she appears to be compatible with the other cats. Her absolute favorite time of the day is mealtime (especially that yummy canned food). She is friendly and good natured. With some good meals and a little TLC, Cadee will make some family a wonderful companion. People for Animals League www.people4animals.org Spencer MA • 774-745-8041 The Muddy Mutt Dog Grooming Nails Clipped $5 1 Mechanic Street Spencer, MA 01562 Please call for an appointment at 774-545-0913 10% OFF YOUR FIRST VISIT email: themuddymutt@gmail.com TheHeartOf Massachusetts.com Rich Lambert Jr. slices a piece of his entree. The Spencer New Leader is proud to salute the men and women of our armed forces by featuring one each week in the paper. If you would like us to feature someone you know, all you need to do is submit a photo (by mail or email) and a brief description of his/her service to our Country (active duty, reserves, or Veteran) to june@stonebridgepress.com or mail to June Simakauskas, 25 Elm Street, Southbridge, MA 01550. Deadline for submission for the next issue is Wednesday 5 pm. If you have any questions, please call June at 508-909-4062. God bless and protect our troops. SEE A PHOTO YOU WOULD LIKE TO ORDER? PHOTO REPRINTS AVAILABLE Call Stonebridge Press for details 508-764-4325 or drop us an email at photos@stonebridgepress.com Call Us At 3AM! Call our “Sound Off” line 24 hours a day to get your comments in the paper. We’d Love To Hear From You! (508)909-4078
Friday, April 12, 2013 • SPENCER NEW LEADER 5 Help sought with town’s Arbor Day celebration BY DAVID DORE NEW LEADER STAFF WRITER WEST BROOKFIELD — Tree Warden James DiMaio is looking for people who might want to help with West Brookfield’s annual Arbor Day celebration. The Board of Selectmen has proclaimed April 26, the last Friday of the month, as Arbor Day in West Brookfield. In a press release distributed last week, DiMaio said plans are being “formulated” for a townwide celebration. Among the highlights of the third annual event will be a tree replacement program, which DiMaio told selectmen Tuesday, April 2 would include eight to 10 trees around downtown West Brookfield; a tree planting with elementary school pupils, as has been done in previous years; and what DiMaio called an “Arbor Day Celebration Program with the school children featuring local elected officials, valuing of our community shade trees and forests, and service to the community.” The proclamation from selectmen traces the history of Arbor Day back to J. Sterling Morton, a journalist who became secretary of the Nebraska Territory. He advocated the planting of trees in articles and editorials. The first Arbor Day was held 141 years ago on April 10, 1872, when an estimated 1 million trees were planted in Nebraska. It was declared a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, with Morton’s birthday of April 22 picked as the day to observe it. Other states passed bills in the 1870s to mark Arbor Day. The first nationwide observance was held in schools in 1882. In Massachusetts, Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. “Trees are essential to West Brookfield’s outstanding historical and highly aesthetic setting and landscape,” the press release from DiMaio stated. “Trees also provide for climate control, water quality, and to some extent wildlife habitat. In the last few years, wind, ice, snow, insects, diseases, drought, old age and safety considerations have necessitated removing a number of trees within the community. West Brookfield is committed to replacing these trees with native, diverse trees that will not interfere with An inside look at a hearing-impaired gymnastics class BY SARA NELSON SPECIAL TO THE NEW LEADER Editor’s Note: In an effort to interact more with our local schools, Stonebridge Press has reached out to our area schools to feature content contributed by students with an interest in writing and photography. The following article is written by Tantasqua Junior High School seventh grader Sara Nelson. If you are interested in submitting content from your school for publication in the newspaper, contact Editor Adam Minor at 508-909-4130, or by e-mail at aminor@stonebridgepress.com. STURBRIDGE — Kristen Morrissey enjoys teaching gymnastics, but she loves to teach hearing-impaired gymnasts, especially. I went to observe my coach’s Hearing Impaired Gymnastics class. The following are my observations. Using sign language and lip reading, Kristen communicates well with the hearing impaired children. There was a small group of about 10 students and there were five to six adults helping Kristen work with them. To compare, my gymnastics team of 17 girls requires only one or two adults. On the balance beam, the children appeared to be a bit more wobbly than hearing children. The hearing impaired children definitely seemed to depend on looking at the beam much more. They often looked down at the beam rather than looking straight ahead. The children in the class were assigned stations to practice. When it was time to switch stations, Kristen would turn the lights off and on. While Kristen tells my team in detail what to do during class, she needs to demonstrate and provide visual aids to the hearing impaired class. They did not appear to have any difficulties running or jumping. More of those differences came with the balancing aspects of gymnastics. I sat down with Kristen to get her thoughts on the class. Compared to our class, do you give the deaf children a different set of instructions or pointers when learning new skills? “The way I set up the deaf gymnastics class is with color-coded groups, because it’s so big. Also, since I can’t yell ‘Switch’ out loud, I use the lights to get their attention. When the lights flash they know it’s time to switch stations. Another big difference is explaining skills. Since a lot of gymnastics words, such as ‘cartwheel,’ don’t exist in sign language. I would have to fingerspell them, which is spelling out words with my hands. To make it easier, I wrote the words down on paper and held them up. Eventually they NEWS BRIEFS remembered the positions. When I teach regular gym I can be talking while spotting, but for deaf gymnastics I need to show a lot of things first, because I can’t talk without my hands.” Does their hearing loss seem to affect their ability to balance? For example, do they wobble more on balance beam or doing handstands? “Being deaf does not affect their balance. However, if they are hard of hearing in one ear, and not the other, it does have an effect. It makes balancing a lot harder but not impossible.” Does their hearing loss seem to affect their ability to run or jump? “No. It does not affect their ability to run or jump.” Do you think that being hearing impaired affects people’s ability to do gymnastics and you notice a difference between the deaf class and other classes you teach? “Being deaf does not affect their ability to do gymnastics. I teach them just how I teach regular classes, just with a lot more demonstrating.” utility lines and service, infrastructure, and safety considerations.” DiMaio said most of the trees planted around West Brookfield as part of the tree replacement program were donated. He urged residents, organizations and businesses that want more information or wish to donate a tree or be part of this year’s program to call him at (774) 200-9726. David Dore may be reached at (508) 909-4140, or by email at ddore@stonebridgepress.com. McDONALD HEATING, AIR CONDITIONING & PLUMBING, INC. 1060 Main Street • Leicester, MA 01524 www.McDonaldHVAC.com (508) 892-9436 Provides comfort through energy efficient air conditioning and heat. No ductwork needed! Inquire about rebates and financing. Service Agreements Available • Options for Every Need 24/7 Service Available • Discounted Pricing Payment Plans Available See Website for Details! Take care of your equipment, annual maintenance helps efficiency. Give her something to look forward to! A Great Gift For or any special Graduation, occasion. Birthday, One bracelet, Anniversary, just change Mother’s Day, the clasp! LESTAGE CONVERTIBLE COLLECTION $10 off next new purchase, layaway or repair. Some restrictions apply. 136 Main Street • Spencer, MA 01562 www.cormierspencer.com • 508-885-3385 Leicester town clerk giving some reminders LEICESTER — Leicester Town Clerk Deborah Davis would like to remind Leicester residents the last day to register to vote before the May 7 Annual Town Meeting is Wednesday, April 17. The town clerk’s office will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Also, don’t forget to license your dogs. Owners must bring a valid rabies certificate with them when seeking licenses. The town clerk’s office is open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information, call (508) 892-7011. Restrictions to be put on outdoor water use merely represent good water conservation practice,” said Spencer Utilities and F a c i l i t i e s Superintendent Steven Tyler. “They are easy to comply with and generally should be practiced by everyone all the time whether or not an enforceable water conservation restriction has been imposed.” Anyone violating the bylaw can be punished with a warning for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and $250 for each subsequent offense. A complete copy of the Town of Spencer Article 15 Water Conservation and Restriction Bylaw can be found online at http://tinyurl.com/cmh5jcx. For more information, call the Spencer Utilities and Facilities Office at (508) 885-7525. Trash, Demolition Debris, • Etc. $99 WEEKLY PICK-UP, $70 BI-WEEKLY, QUARTERLY RATE RESIDENTIAL CURBSIDE PICKUP Pick-up Weekly and Bi-Weekly DUMPSTER CONTAINERS We Offer 15, 20 and 30 Yard Dumpsters RELIABLE PROMPT DUMPSTER SERVICES LLC 508-885-2428 Fully Insured, Locally Owned & Operated Please Call For our Money Saving RATES SPENCER — A mandatory water use restriction for Spencer public water supply users, which includes mandatory water use restrictions effective May 1 until Sept. 30, was announced March 30 by the Spencer Water Department. The conservation restriction prohibits the following non-essential outdoor activities from occurring between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.: Irrigation of lawns via automatic sprinkler systems (all types of above and below ground sprinkler systems); washing of vehicles except in a commercial car wash; and washing of exterior building surfaces, parking lots, driveways or sidewalks, except as necessary to apply paint, preservatives, stucco, pavement or cement. The restriction does allow for lawns, gardens and plants to be watered by a handheld hose or bucket any time. The restriction also allows for irrigating newly established lawns and plantings in the months of May and September, and in public parks or recreational fields with automatic sprinklers before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m. The state Department of Environmental Protection requires conservation conditions related to the town’s permitted water withdrawals under the Massachusetts Water Management Act. “The conservation restrictions imposed ✓Paving ✓Excavating ✓Driveways ✓Seal Coating ✓Parking Lots ✓Sub-Divisions Commercial & Residential Our Free Estimates Include Tonnage - So You Know Exactly What you are Getting A Division of Monette Landscaping & Construction Since 1947 RICHARD P. 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April 12, 2013 - Southbridge Evening News

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