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T HE C HRONICLE OF S TURBRIDGE C OUNTRY L IVING S TURBRIDGE T IMES THE MAGAZINE  J UNE  , 2011

Podunk Remembered

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T HE  C HRONICLE OF  S TURBRIDGE C OUNTRY  L IVING 

STURBRIDGETIMES

THE

MAGAZINE

 J UNE  , 2011

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8 T HE C HRONICLE OF  S TURBRIDGE  C OUNTRY L IVING THE STURBRIDGETIMESMAGAZINE

for final acceptance. The Sturbridge Trail Com-

mittee and the RTMPSC under the guidance of 

the Towns Trail Advisor, Erin Jacque and the

Town Planner, Jean Bubon, will be overseeing this

Recreation Trails master plan development

process.

The vision of many Sturbridge residents, when

 we first voted to accept the Community Preserva-

tion Act, of protecting key open space parcels, pro-

 viding recreational opportunities and for

improving our quality of life is now taking another

Continued from page 5Master Plan forTrails

R EGION 

Podunk!Oh,

whydidn’tchasayso?

THAT

 When people who were not raised in or near the

Brookfields want to describe someone as coming

from an obscure backwater, they might say, “He’s

from Podunk.” What they are saying is the prove-

nance of the person in question is, “Nowheresville.”

Newcomers to our fair region are always surprised

to find that there really is a Podunk. Natives might be

surprised to know that there are a number of otherPodunks. There are at least 15 areas that have those

two syllables as a designation. Like ours, none of 

them seem to be the name of an official political unit.

It was not for want of trying, however. In 1793,

the district was large enough that Josiah Hobbs and

other citizens petitioned the Town of Brookfield to

be allowed to form a separate town. Their reason was

the distance from Podunk to the Meeting House in

Brookfield Center. Keep in mind, this was in the

days before the automobile and it was a trek even withold dobbin hitched to the wagon. A trip to Worces-

ter must have seemed an epic journey.

The request was denied and never made again.

That did not mean that Podunk died when turned

down. Podunk lived on as a community. If you drive

down the road named for the area, at number 750

 you come to a building that is the ember of Podunk.

The old building has the shape of a small church,

 which, as a chapel, it was. That is no small thing, but

it was more than that.It all goes back to 1812. Four miles from the cen-

ter of East Brookfield a church building was erected.

B Y R ICHARD MURPHY 

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9T HE C HRONICLE OF  S TURBRIDGE  C OUNTRY L IVING  THE STURBRIDGETIMESMAGAZINE

“Uh-huh,”says Cecil emphatically. He’s from the Podunk that borders E. Nosepickle. Way way out.

 The Chapel in Podunk.

This building was the hub of activity 

in Podunk, developing as a social cen-

ter as well place of worship. As time

  went on, no one sect monopolized

the meetinghouse. The late Louis

Roy, M.D., historian of the Brook-

fields, reports that on successive Sun-

days in July of 1878, Methodist,Congregationalists and Baptists used

the chapel.

 What happens to wooden build-

ings? Too often they burn down. So

did the Podunk building in 1881.

The people proved themselves a com-

munity and set to rebuilding. Not

only did the residents work together

but the rest of East Brookfield and

surrounding towns pitched in. On

donated land, at the current location,

The Union Chapel was dedicated

November 15, 1882. The same shar-

ing of services by the surrounding

Protestant denominations was con-

tinued with trustees from the

churches and one from Podunk. The

building was called Union Chapel

and was a more substantial structure

than its predecessor.

Like the older building, UnionChapel was also the center of the

community. It continued to be so

 well into the 20th Century. What

  was it like to grow up in Podunk?

The Sturbridge Times was lucky to be

able to speak to a daughter of that

community.

Not too many years ago, if you

drove south on the Podunk Road,

  you could see beautiful Durham

Oxen grazing. They belonged to the

 venerable Podunk family, the Tread-

 wells. The family and oxen are gone,

but the spirit of Podunk remains with

  Judy Lavergne whose maiden name

 was Treadwell.

 When we spoke with her, the af-

fection in her voice for her homeland

  was near palpable. She told of the

Chapel as being the headquarters of 

the Podunk Community Center. The

parents of a bunch of families in the

area had it as sort of a club. They held

suppers and pet shows and big Hal-

loween and Christmas parties. There

 was 4-H for the kids. Everyone would

go to Square Dancing on Saturdays.

Talk about a more innocent age.

The main use of the chapel may have been as a community center, but

it still was a place of worship. To keep

its standing under the law, it had to

hold a religious service once a year,

 which it did.

  After going to college, Judy ran

away from home and Podunk, sort of.

She took a teaching job in Meriden,

Connecticut because the pay was bet-ter than here in the Bay State. It was

$5,700 and she thought she was rich.

 Judy would come back and her wed-

ding reception was held in the Chapel

in 1971. Then, she went on to a career

teaching for over three decades at

Burgess Elementary School. Home has

been on the New Boston Road in Stur-

bridge. She affirms that the old civic

feeling is gone in Podunk.

© 2011 SturbridgeTimes photo by Richard Murphy

Continued on following page

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10 T HE C HRONICLE OF  S TURBRIDGE  C OUNTRY L IVING THE STURBRIDGETIMESMAGAZINE

 Judy said the chapel became a Ma-

sonic Temple in the late 70s or early 

80s. When you go by the building

now, there are no signs of occupancy.

Though it appears a bit forlorn, it is

not derelict. It would be wonderful if 

it could have a new life. With the ab-

sence of a real community spirit, that

does not appear likely.

Bob Briere from Sturbridge reports

that in the early 60s, the idea of mak-

ing Podunk the capital of the Com-

monwealth was floated. The rationaleis that Podunk is about as central as

 you can get in Massachusetts. All in

all, it appears that in the great scheme

of things, the thought lasted a histori-

cal nanosecond.

But Bob Briere related a fact about

our Podunk that the other Podunks

cannot claim. Podunk, Mass was al-

luded to in the musical, Damn Yan-

kees, by the greatest theatrical

impresario of his day, George M.

Cohan, a North Brookfielder. Take

that, Podunk, Indiana!

  As companies increasingly turn

their attention to the environmental

impact of doing business, they are

learning that sustainable practices

help reduce costs and increase effi-

ciency. An effective sustainability plan

not only assesses how to reduce car-

bon emissions, conserve water and

minimize waste to landfills, but also

fosters employee investment in a "go

green" culture and lifestyle at home.One area where many companies

are directly reducing their environ-

mental impact is through the man-

agement of their supply chain.

 Working with their suppliers, compa-

nies can reduce excess packaging and

 waste by insisting products be shipped

in multi-packs or reusable containers.

For example, Lockheed Martin hasachieved cost savings through a new 

program with Staples by purchasing

green products, including recycled

paper, which has saved nearly 9,000

trees in one year alone.

Some companies are creating a “go

green” culture by taking steps to

achieve the U.S. Green Building

Council's Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design (LEED) certi-

fication, purchasing renewable energy 

credits and setting up "green zones,"

 where employees commit to reducing

their energy use. LEED certified build-

ings help reduce energy costs and effi-

ciency and reinforce a company's

commitment to sustainability.Supporting environmental educa-

tion programs and initiatives of envi-

ronmental organizations helps

employees to get involved in environ-

mental initiatives outside of the com-

pany and learn more about how they 

can support sustainability efforts. Lock-

heed Martin supports environmental

education as part of its overall science,technology, engineering and math out-

reach efforts. Its engineers lead class-

room events using environmental

science lesson plans and the company 

sponsors National Environmental Ed-

ucation Week that precedes Earth Day.

Dr. David Constable, corporate

 vice president of energy, environment,

safety and health for Lockheed Mar-

tin, suggests that companies consider

the following when developing sus-

tainable business processes:

1. Set ambitious but reasonable goals to

reduce environmental impacts.

Identify areas where the company 

can reduce carbon emissions, con-serve water and reduce waste through

recycling. These initiatives often result

in significant cost savings for compa-

nies that execute them properly.

2. Develop employee programs and incen-

tives to encourage participation in sustain-

ability initiatives.

Offer employees who make an EN-

ERGY STAR pledge a worthwhile in-centive. Disseminate information

about how they can reduce energy use

at home and in the office.

3. Consolidate data servers and IT opera-

tions where possible.

Reducing the number of data

servers ultimately lowers electricity 

use, frees up office space and results

in significant cost savings.

4. Identify projects that will help to re-

duce the use of natural resources and dis-

posal of waste to landfills.

Implementing a comprehensive re-

cycling program is a simple, cost-effi-

cient way to reduce waste going to

the landfill.

Effective corporate sustainability 

practices equal responsible business

practices. Minimizing carbon emis-

sions, reducing waste to landfill and

conserving water are not only envi-

ronmental imperatives

Continued from previous page

It’s ourPodunk

G REEN L IVING 

Corporate sustainability good for the environment and bottom line