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8/6/2019 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