STURBRIDGE TIMESsturbridgetimes.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ST-0917.… · By Richard Morchoe NEXT PAGE Dan Kovalik probably never thought that he would have written

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TO EVERYTHING, THERE IS A SEASON

As a teacher, it is almost impossible to not bekeenly aware of the seasons; of the year,

and of life. Only moments ago, I was chattingwith a high school student of mine as he mannedthe register of a local supermarket. He and Iboth were somewhat lamenting the fact that an-other school year was about to begin… again.“The summer went by so fast!” he said as hechecked my groceries. (And I used to think thatfeeling was something only old guys like me had.) Indeed, the summer has passed quickly, and

here we are in September, already. I do havegreat memories of some of the miracles of justbeing alive this summer, simply from the won-derful times I have had with my family. Since thebeginning of summer, I have, several times, heldmy first great grandchild in my arms, and havetalked to her about how beautiful she is and whata great family she has. (We will have many moresuch chats in the future.) I have also spent timewith all of my twelve grandchildren, includingour barely one-year old granddaughter, and havewatched them celebrate so much, from birthdaysto junior high and high school graduations; fromfirst steps, to their first days of college life. In-deed, I have been truly blessed in this life. Turn,turn, turn.Last week, at this writing, my 93-year-old

mom visited us, and she also got to hold our newgreat granddaughter and have five, count ‘em,FIVE generation pictures taken. Wow! She, andmost of our family, also spent a day at HamptonBeach with us, and I watched her, barefooted,walking among the waves on the shore, with ourkids and grandkids, and enjoying the feeling ofthe surf and sand, every bit as much as they. “atime for every purpose under the heaven.”Very recently, also, my wife and I celebrated

our anniversary. We have now marked 45 yearsof that wonderful woman putting up with me.(Talk about miracles.) Today, just before I wentto the store and chatted with that student ofmine, Lorna and I returned from a day trip tothe White Mountains of New Hampshire in my1970 VW Beetle, where we had a celebratorypicnic at the base of Cannon Mountain. Truth-fully, there’s something about a slow ride, in an

antique car, to a beautiful place with your bestfriend of many years that is just absolutely sub-lime. (Don’t forget George’s golden rule. For ahappy life, every couple MUST own a wicker pic-nic basket, and use it at least once a summer.)I think that a lesson this old teacher has learned

this summer is something my mom taught me afew years ago. During one of our visits she men-

tioned that she felt that age wasn’t a big deal, andthat she has never been upset about whatever ageshe is. She told me that she knows life here doesn’tgo on forever, and then she said: “and that’s okay.”Mom, I totally agree, and wish you a happy fall.“To every thing there is a season,” Turn, Turn,Turn.


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Dan Kovalik probably never thought thathe would have written The Plot To

Scapegoat Russia the way he did. Not that hebelieved the Central Intelligence Agency wasbeyond any skullduggery in promoting foreignadventures. Indeed, he has spent years observ-ing the agency’s antics in Latin America.Mr. Kovalik must be surprised by the fact

that the only man we can pin our hopes on tostop the march to conflict, if not nuclear waris Donald Trump. Trump, being a reactionaryplutocrat is the type of person Kovalik wouldnormally have nothing but disdain for. It can’t be anything he is too happy about.

Dan Kovalik is an old-school lefty. He cut histeeth protesting U.S. involvement south of theborder, traveling to Nicaragua in 1988 to op-pose the Contras. There may a social programhe’s against, but that is hard to imagine. TheTrump agenda must gall him.Except for one aspect.Donald Trump was suggesting in his cam-

paign utterances that it may not be a bad ideato actually try and get along with Russia. Hesuggested as well that maybe we did not havethe solution to the Syrian imbroglio.In that one aspect at least, Donald stood

head and shoulders above the competition. How did we get to a point in history where

a progressive activist could see Donald Trumpas preferable to the Democrat’s standardbearer? It’s a long story and in no way travelsa straight line.He spends much of the book discussing his

activities in Latin America. Kovalik identifieswith the Sandinistas and opposes United Fruit(i.e. Chiquita Brands International) Companyand their pervasive and destructive influencein Guatemala going back to the 1954 coup.His account takes the side of the poor and in-digenous peoples. At first, I thought his narra-tive dwelt a little bit too much on the past. Itdoes become obvious that he sees U.S. policy

as continuing from the past into the presentand all cut from the same cloth.In his coverage of the Cold War between

NATO and the Soviets he is also somewhatkind to the memory of the Eastern Bloc. Notthat there is not sufficient blame to go around.When he does get to the subject of the

book’s title, the author is on solid ground. Hisdetail of the decline and fall of the SovietUnion and the role of people from the West inlooting the corpse, as well as the continuing de-monization of the Putin regime is worth theprice of the book for the uninformed. Thatwould be most Americans. One-hundred thirty-two pages in, he begins

the story of how we started on the road to thenew cold war and though he does not say it,the origins of 911. “Another momentous and arguably disas-

trous, Cold War maneuver of the US was itssupport for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan,which at the time shared a 1000-mile-long bor-der with the Soviet Union.”

Without our support for what turned outto include many fanatical Islamic extremists,including Bin Laden, the Soviet Unionwould probably still have had a lot on itshands, but would have had been better ableto manage any changes necessary. Our support for the Mujahideen insured,

like for us in Vietnam, that the Soviets couldnever defeat the enemy. It would be a slowbleed and would fatally weaken the U.S.S.R.Things had to change and they did. The

Reagan Administration and Mikhail Gor-bachev came to a modus vivendi. On Page111 the author quotes the LA Times,“In early February 1990, US leaders made

the Soviets an offer. According to transcriptsof meetings in Moscow on Feb. 9th then-Secretary of State James Baker suggestedthat in exchange for cooperation, US couldmake ‘iron-clad guarantees’ that NATOwould not expand “one inch eastward.” Lessthan a week later, Soviet President Mikhail

BOOKREVIEWThe Plot to Scapegoat RussiaBy Dan KovalikSkyhorse Publishing, 2017Paperback, 240 pagesISBN-10: 151073032XISBN-13: 978-1510730328List: $18.99 Amazon: $12.78

Red Scare Redux

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Gorbachev agreed to begin reunification talks.No formal deal was struck, but from all the ev-idence, the quid pro quo was clear: Gorbachevacceded to Germany’s western alignment andthe U.S. would limit NATO’s expansion.”Kovalik notes the promise was quickly bro-

ken and most of the old Warsaw Pact are nowNATO members. The expansion continueswith the U.S. trying to enlist former Soviet Re-publics. It is hard to argue that the world is bet-ter for NATO enlargement.Chapter 7 CLINTON MEDDLES IN

RUSSIA WITH DISASTROUS CONSE-QUENCES gives an account of the machina-tions of Bill Clinton’s presidency vis-a-vis theYeltsin regime. He did not do us proud.Yeltsin was essentially our stooge until he knewhe could not continue. This led to Putin whosebig sin is not being our patsy. Chapter 11 THE US EXPANDS AS RUS-

SIA CONTRACTS: BROKEN PROMISESAND HUMILIATION explores the project toextend our influence at the expense of Russia.None of it is anything we can brag about, butthe worst bit is our Ambassador Pyatt and As-sistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland de-ciding the fate of the Ukrainian governmentafter we had helped riot out an elected, if cor-rupt, president. The pair were recorded doing

just that and the heavy-handed discussion isrightly attacked by Kovalik. He does not men-tion that the recording went “viral.” *Mr. Kovalik eventually reaches the reality

show of the recent American election. The de-sire to blame the Russians for the inept cam-

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Red Scarepaign of Hillary Clinton is explored atlength as are the commonsense pronounce-ments of The Donald. Suggesting that we not bug the Russkies

and maybe overthrowing Syria was not agenius level idea appealed to a populationthat was tired of wars without result. ThePutin is the devil campaign left somethingto be desired with many including an old so-cialist like the author.Post-election, Trump has not lived up to

his better nature. Kovalik notes on page170 that “it is never clear what Trump istruly thinking or intending.” This is trueand whether it is a good strategy or evidenceof a scattered mind is a matter for debate.Trump was quick in throwing some tokenbombs at a Syrian air base after a supposedchemical attack. Since the book has been published, the

new president has not bombed NorthKorea. He worked out an agreement withPutin for a ceasefire in South West Syriathat is holding and cannot make the neo-cons in or out of his government happy, sowe live in hope.In his short book, Dan Kovalik covers a

lot of ground. The continuing demoniza-tion of a nuclear power makes his book animportant resource for anyone who wants tounderstand what is going on.Some of the author’s views are a bit one

sided. His favoritism of the now Soviet An-cien Regime can seem a bit overboard. It isat odds with your reviewer’s memory of thebrutal repression of the 1956 HungarianUprising, and certainly the Gulag Archipel-ago by Solzhenitsyn. Still, his account ofthe anti-Russian hysteria is well sourced withample footnotes. Unfortunately, with themedia’s parroting of the hostile narrative,from NPR to The New York Times, do notexpect him to get glowing reviews.

*The recording is still extant and one canhear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV9J6sxCs5k . After listeningyou may be forgiven for wondering if Staterecruits at clown colleges. n

“It isnever clearwhat Trumpis thinkingor intending.”

DAN KOVALIKAuthor


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At every troop meeting, Girl Scouts prom-ise to make the world a better place, andSturbridge’s Girl Scout Troop is helping tomake the world a better place for Stur-bridge’s senior citizens.The local troop has built and is stocking a

“Little Free Pantry” outside the Senior Cen-ter, which the girls and others fill with foodand other things made available for anyoneon an as needed basis..The 9-year-olds led the project, which in-

volved a variety of challenges and experi-ences designed to meet specific Girl Scoutgoals, said Dave Reed, who is one of thetroop leaders.Troop member Kendall Nickl said she

loved being part of the project.“I like the feeling of doing something nice

for the town,” she said. “And I liked when wegot to build it.”The project was not all new for the troop

members, most of whom have been togethersince they were Daisies, which is the first levelof Girl Scouts. “One of the other projects we did was a

Little Free Library, which is at the CedarLake Recreation playground,” Reed said.Every year, each Girl Scout troop chooses

a community-service project. The girls wereunanimous that they wanted to have a LittleFree Pantry be this year’s project, Reed said. “As soon as we brought the idea up, the

girls immediately loved it, and right awaythey got all these ideas of what they wantedto do,” Reed said.The first question that needed to be an-

swered was where to put the Pantry.“The girls figured the Senior Center was

the best place in town, because there mightbe a need there,” Reed said. The Pantry isnot limited to senior citizens — anyone maygo to the Pantry, see if it contains any itemsthey may need, and take the items. Anyone,too, can donate.Once the planning got under way, the girls

realized the project would require more thanjust building the Pantry and installing it.There was also getting permission and per-

The Little Free Pantry — a big enterprise for Girl ScoutsOURNEIGHBORS

By Elisa Krochmalnyckyj

Ella Reed reaches into The Little Free Pantry she and her Girl Scout troop constructed and installed at the Sturbridge Senior Center.© 2017 Sturbridge Times photo by Elisa Krochmalnyckyj

NEXT PAGE


mits.The girls also knew that, in keep-

ing with the Girl Scout goal of hav-ing the project be done primarily by

the the Girl Scouts, not the leaders,they’d have to do all the legworkthemselves.“Even with brownie-level girls,

which this troop is, we try to make it

as much as we can girl-led, be-cause that’s part of the goal ofGirl Scouts — to become lead-ers,” Reed said.The project was educational,

not only because of the productitself, but because of the experi-ence it gave the girls, Reed said.The girls had to get permissionfrom the Senior Center, the townmanager, building inspector,Board of Health, and Board ofSelectmen.“This was great because at the

same time, we showed the girlshow town government works,”Reed said.Before they went to the Board

of Selectmen, the girls finalized aproposal and requested to speakat the next meeting.“It was their project — 9 years

old or not, they were the onesdoing the talking,” Reed said.“They did great.”Yes, they did, said Priscilla

Dumas, vice chair of the Boardof Selectmen. “The girls came in, and they

were excellent,” Dumas said.“They had selected speakers, andeach had something to say. Theywere so cute. It was great to see.”Dumas was impressed on

many levels.“Not only was it a philan-

thropic gesture, but a learningtool for the children,” she said.“From a government standpoint,it can show you that you can’t justdo what you want — theylearned ‘these are the steps I haveto follow,’ and they followed themand achieved their goal.”For Kendall, speaking to the

Board of Selectmen was the bestpart of project — for a variety ofreasons, she said.“I got to be on television!” she

said, referring to her appearanceat the Board of Selectmen meet-ing, which airs on the town’scable station. “It was awesome.”When all of the permits and

permissions were in place, workcould begin, Reed said.“Once we had all that, it was a

matter of building, which they allloved,” he said. “We taught thempower-tool safety and how toconstruct a box.”Peter Iott, of Steadfast Fence,

who is one of the troop member’sdads, put up the fencepost onwhich the Little Pantry sits.Then came filling the Pantry,

which also took brainstorming,because the Board of Healthasked that the food items be non-perishable, Reed said.“The girls started with differ-

ent soups and canned vegetables— some of them picked low-sodium vegetables — and withsoap, lotion, things like that,” hesaid. Like the other Girl Scouts,

Kendall had put some thoughtinto which item she wanted todonate to the Pantry.“Canned vegetables,” she said.

“I wanted to something healthybecause I thought that the SeniorCenter wanted healthy choices.”Much to her surprise, the next

time she went back to the Pantry,the vegetables she put in weregone.“I was so happy that the peo-

ple liked the things I had,” shesaid.Senior Center Director

Melissa Beauchemin said she isgrateful the girls chose the SeniorCenter as the site for the LittleFree Pantry. It didn’t take long forpeople to use it.“We had a senior who needed

toothpaste, and she went and gotit,” Beauchemin said. “Anothersenior came in, on behalf of afriend who is proud, and tooksome groceries — some staples— to give her friend. It’s awe-some.”Beauchemin expects the once

it has been up for a few months,

Girls Scouts’ Little Free Pantry

� ��

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FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Girl Scoutsthe Little Free Pantry will have evenmore activity, both with people givingand people taking.“I think as it catches on and more

people become aware, it will becomemore and more popular,” she said.Beauchemin remembers how good

she felt when she received the phonecall asking if it would be okay for theGirl Scouts to put the Little Free Pantryat the Senior Center. She is often filledwith gratitude at her job.“I am amazed at all the goodness

that comes forth,” she said. “Truly.Being part of this Senior Center, we arethe beneficiary of much, much good-ness.”Since the Pantry opened in mid-July,

the troop has been making sure it isrunning well and is full.“We’ve been keeping eye on it,”

Reed said. “People are putting things inas well as taking things out. It’s alreadybeen restocked with things that weren’tfrom us.”The troop will continue to check the

Pantry regularly.“It’s easy enough, since we are in the

habit of checking the Little Free Li-brary as well,” he said. “Now we justgo from one to the other.”The best part, at least for Reed, is

that the project espouses all that theGirl Scout organization embraces.“This taught them that no matter

what their age, they can be leaders inthe community, and that no matterwhat their age, they can make a differ-ence,” he said. “We want this to bewhat they build on in life.” n


MEDICALNEWSHARRINGTON HEALTHCAREfrom

M O N T H L Y M E D I C A L I N S I G H T SF R O M A R O TAT I N G T E A M O F L O C A L M E D I C A L P R O F E S S I O N A L SF 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

By Yasser Rehman, MDDr. Rehman is a member of the Hematology/Oncology Dept. atThe Cancer Center at Harrington Hospital. He is Board Certifiedin Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology and a memberof the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Prostate Cancer — diagnosis, discussion and decisionProstate cancer is the most com-

mon of the visceral cancers, thosehaving to do with the soft internal or-gans of the body. It is estimated thatthere will be 170,000 new cases ofprostate cancer in the United Statesand around 26,000 deaths in this yearalone. It is second only to lung andnon-melanoma skin cancer as theleading cause of cancer deaths andcancer respectively among USA men.Although this is a serious and com-mon disease, data reveals that mostmen do not die of prostate cancer. Most prostate cancers are adeno-

carcinomas, that is, they start within mucous-formingglands and spread out from there. Some of thesecancers are aggressive and grow quickly but mostgrow quite slowly.Screening for prostate cancer involves digital rec-

tal exam and prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels.Professional organizations tend to vary in their rec-ommendations as to whether or not PSA screeningsshould be routinely done. Some have guidelineswhile others suggest it should be left to the physicianand patient to discuss. Risk factors for prostate cancerinclude family history, African ancestry or advancingage. About 5 to 10 percent of all prostate cancers di-agnosed are hereditary, meaning that an increasedrisk for the disease runs in the family. Family historyis the strongest risk factor for prostate cancer.Current treatment options for prostate cancer in-

clude surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy orwatchful waiting until the disease progresses. Somemen choose to delay treatment until symptomsprogress; others might choose a treatment regimenbased on the side effects that accompany the recom-

mended treatment or their comorbidities, or addi-tional conditions. It is important for patients to dis-cuss these options with their health care provider atthe time of diagnosis. It is generally recommended to follow patients

with active surveillance who have a low risk of dis-ease as indicated by a PSA of less than 10 and aGleason score of less than 7. A Gleason score isbased on a biopsy-based test that helps to determinehow aggressively the prostate cancer is likely to be-have both in how quickly it grows and how likely itis to spread outside of the gland.A recently published study in the New England

Journal of Medicine ¹ has concluded that there wasno survival difference in clinically localized prostatecancer (meaning the cancer is completely containedwithin the prostate gland and hasn't spread any-where else in the body) in terms of what treatmentmodality is chosen up front. Over eighty-two thou-sand men ages 50 to 69 participated in the study. Al-most 2,600 were noted to be clinically localized and

almost 1,600 agreed to participate andwere divided equally in the radiation, sur-gery and active surveillance alone arm.Patients were followed for ten years andthe results were:1) Prostate cancer specific mortality

remained low in all three groups;2) There was no difference in death

rates from prostate cancer nor was therea difference in the death rates from anyof the three modalities;3) There was increased incidence of

symptoms and disease progression in theobservation alone arm compared to theother two modalities.

There continues to be debate about whether menshould have their PSA checked routinely. Early de-tection causes over treatment leading to increasedtreatment side effects, anxiety and over expenditure.A cutoff PSA value of 4ng/ml has been recom-mended for further testing as the risk of false positivetesting is high in values below this value. There is consensus, however, that patients with

aggressive, advanced or symptomatic prostate cancershould be treated. Currently, the treatment optionsfor advanced prostate cancer include surgery, radia-tion therapy, and medical treatment which rangefrom hormonal agents to chemotherapy, im-munotherapy and radioisotopes.My recommendation would be that patients dis-

cuss the many treatment options with the specialistswho can help them make an informed decisionabout their disease.

1 Hamdy F, Donovan J, Lane A, et al.10-year outcomes aftermonitoring, surgery, or radiotherapy for localized prostate can-cer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2016. DOI10.1056/NEJMoa1606220


Sturbridge Cultural Councilseeking proposals for funding

55 Sayles Street, Southbridge, MA 01550Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Phone: 508-764-2400harringtonhospital.org

The Cancer Center at Harrington provides treatment foroncologic and hematologic disease. Our services include:

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Meet Our Providers

Medical Director Christopher Seidler, M.D. is a board-certified medical oncologist and hematologist who earned his medical degree atRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, NJ. He has more than 20 yearsexperience in cancer care.

Yasser Rehman, M.D. is a board certifiedmedical oncologist and hematologist whocompleted his internship and residency atMount Sinai School of Medicine, VA MedicalCenter, Bronx, N.Y. and a fellowship in oncology and hematology at Boston Medical Center.

Donna Kentley, PA earned her Master ofScience degree and Physician AssistantCertificate from Northeastern University,Bouve College of Pharmacy and HealthSciences in Boston, MA.

(Left to Right Dr. Rehman, Dr. Seidlerand Donna Kentley, PA

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Arts and HumanitiesSturbridge Area

The Sturbridge Cultural Council isseeking proposals for community-

oriented arts, humanities, and scienceprograms. Grants will be accepted be-tween September 1 and October 16,2017. According to Council spokesperson

Ed Cornely, these grants can supporta variety of artistic projects and activ-ities in Sturbridge -- including exhibits,festivals, workshops, lectures. fieldtrips, short-term artist residencies, orperformances in schools. The Sturbridge Cultural Council is

part of a network of 329 Local Cul-tural Councils serving all 351 citiesand towns in the Commonwealth.The LCC Program is the largest grass-roots cultural funding network in thenation, supporting thousands of com-munity-based projects in the arts, sci-ences and humanities every year. Thestate legislature provides an annual ap-propriation to the Massachusetts Cul-tural Council, a state agency, whichthen allocates funds to each commu-nity. Last year, the Sturbridge Cultural

Council distributed about $4,600_ingrants. Previously funded projects in-clude: concerts, adult art workshops,

children’s programs, lectures, choralgroups, a drumming circle, and muchmore. For local guidelines and complete

information on the Sturbridge Cul-tural Council, contact Linda Fried-mann Chair] at 774-200-0127 or sendemail [email protected]. Application forms and more infor-mation about the Local CulturalCouncil Program are available onlineat www.mass-culture.org.

Proposalswill be accepted

betweenSeptember 1

and October 16for

Community-OrientedArts, Humanities

and Scienceprograms


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Lots in storeat our area’s favorite(locally-owned!)department store By Elisa Krochmalnyckyj

Look behind the Fall Festival tentsale, farmers’ market, and Halloweenfestivities, and beyond everything elsein Klem’s all-you’ll-ever-need depart-ment store. You’ll see a third-generation busi-

ness owner striving to balance thethings that Klem’s has always been,with the things it needs to become tostay alive — Jessica Bettencourt, whotook over the business from her fatherin 2011. So far, so good.“The big-box stores aren’t doing the

things we are doing,” Bettencourt said.“They don’t have staff who care aboutthe business. They don’t have eventslike the doggie Halloween costumecontest. They don’t have informationalseminars.”While she takes nothing for granted,

Bettencourt is confident that the thingsthat have set Klem’s apart since hergrandfather started the business in1947 are the things that will continueto keep the business thriving.“For us, it’s about being a better re-

source for our customers and givingthem things they could never get from

Amazon and the big-box stores,”she said.That includes individual help

and ever-changing merchandisethat reflect customers’ preferences— this year it’s Vera Bradley bagsand Hallmark Gold Crown greet-ing cards.It also includes the store’s events,

which range from car shows andfarmers’ markets to “DockDogs”and photos with Santa — thingsthat have become part of the com-munity’s culture.

Fall FunOne of Klem’s most popular

and surprisingly fun traditions is theFall Festival, always held the week-end after Labor Day — this yearSept. 8, 9 and 10. For many, the FallFestival is the unofficial end of sum-mer.

“It’s one of the nicest events of theyear,” Bettencourt said. “The star ofthe event, kind of, is the tent sale.”The fall tent sale is like the spring

tent sale: All sorts of end-of-seasonand other clearance items from everyone of Klem’s departments — fromlawnmowers to summer clothes —are put out in the tents at a discountFriday at noon.Another of the event’s popularity

is that kids are occupied while parentsshop. There’s a bounce house, freecotton candy and snow cones, alongwith the ever-present free popcorn.The diversion for the kids is key,

because the festival is not for the faintof heart, — especially in the shoearea, which is a popular destination.“That’s one of the craziest parts

of the tents,” Bettencourt said, ex-plaining that footwear items that arestill there Saturday morning are re-

THESHOPPINGNEWS Klems!

Jessica Bettencourt, president of Klem’s.

© 2017 Sturbridge Times photo by Elisa Krochmalnyckyj


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duced again, and then further re-duced for Sunday.“It’s not unusual for people to end

up with pair of brand-name shoesthat originally retailed at $100 for$20,” she said.Next on the fall calendar is the

dog-costume contest, traditionallyheld the Saturday before Halloween.It’s something to see, Bettencourtsaid.“We get at least 70 or 80 dogs in

costume,” she said. “Some peopleeven dress up with their dog —sometimes whole families dress up!It’s a huge amount of fun.”Over the years, Bettencourt has

seen just about every costume imag-inable.“One year there were dogs in

scuba suits with divers, and anotheryear those same dogs came in asCoors Light beer cans,” she re-counted. “We had a woman come inin full Gothic dress with a blackGreat Dane dressed up as a dragonwith a big dragon tail.”There are trophies and doggie gift

baskets for the scariest, funniest, andmost original costumes. After thecontest, all dogs, costumes or not, areinvited to trick-or-treat.“Dogs can legitimately go trick-or-

treating,” Bettencourt said. “Eachdepartment had a different kind ofdog treat and the dogs go from de-partment to department.”For Klem’s, the end of the doggie-

costume contest is the unofficial be-ginning of another season — Klem’sholiday season, which by then is al-most in full swing.“By October, Hallmark already

has its next round of ornaments —that’s new for us this year,” she said.Klem’s something-old/some-

thing-new philosophy will be preva-lent, with all of the traditionalcustomers’ favorites mixed in withsome new wares.“We’ve done a lot more gift items

in the store,” Bettencourt said. “Westarted carrying Vera Bradley thisyear, and Willow Tree angels, andthings like that.” Carla Schirm, who lives in Stur-

bridge with her husband and twoteenage sons, has been shopping atKlem’s since when her boys were lit-tle.“I found it when I was looking for

a real toy department,” she said. “Iused to take them on an excursion toKlem’s to buy them a toy.”It helped that Klem’s had a

Thomas the Train department.“That was a real treat then to get

a piece for the Thomas the Trainset,” she said. “And you have to get abag of popcorn on the way out!”Shopping at Klem’s so different

than shopping other places or online,Schirm said.“It feels more like a family place,”

she said. “It’s not corporate. It’s muchmore customer-friendly.”Over the years Schirm has also

headed to Klem’s for things like boysclothes, garden supplies, paint — andonce, a chain saw. That got her somecurious looks, she said.“When I told them what I was

looking for, they were laughing,” shesaid. “I am sure they were thinking ‘Iwonder what she wants that for!’ Butthey were helpful and gracious. Theywere laughing, but they were kind.”Schirm also learned that the pets

from Klem’s are healthy.“We lost one of the hamsters we

got there once,” she said. “It was inthe car and got lost somewhere be-tween our beach cottage in Con-necticut and here.”A week later, the Schirms found

the hamster in their garage. “It was blazing hot that week, and

the car was parked outside,” she said.“We have no idea how it survivedand got into the garage. Those thingsare sturdy!”Bettencourt’s grandfather John

Klem opened Klem’s in 1949 as afour-tractor dealership. Klem’s hasbeen expanding since — to includeAgway, a greenhouse, and AceHardware. In 2004, a 20,000-square-foot expansion was built.Part of staying contemporary is

knowing when to let go of some ofthe past, Bettencourt said. Some-times, that can be painful.“We made the very difficult deci-

sion last summer to stop selling agri-cultural tractors,” she said. “Theywere just not selling, and we realizedwe couldn’t continue to do so.” Bettencourt explained that Klem’s

continues to sell small-engine tractorsand lawnmowers. Then she sighed,and reiterated how hard it was to fi-

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By Elisa KrochmalnyckyjThere’s strength in numbers.And, for the Sturbridge Sole Mates walking

group, there’s fun, friendship and exercise. “We’re safe, we’re motivated, we’re meeting

people and we’re making friends,” said founderRebecca Landry. “I used to have to make myselfwalk. Now I am looking forward to posting whereI’m going each day and seeing who will join me!”Sole Mates was born of an unsettling incident

Landry experienced while walking alone at West-ville Dam in the middle of the afternoon — anexperience she posted on Facebook as a warningto other walkers.Almost immediately, the post was flooded with

similar stories and shared apprehension aboutwalking anywhere alone.“All these ladies posted ‘That happened to a

friend of mine,’ or ’That’s why I am scared towalk,’ or ‘That’s why I don’t walk,’” Landry said.Surprised by the volume of responses, Landry

followed up with another post, this one asking ifthere was any interest in joining forces, and form-ing a Facebook group where walkers could postwhere they’re walking and invite others to jointhem.

Again, almost immediately, the post wasflooded with a profusion of “I’m in,” “Goodidea,” and “I’d be up for that!” responses. TheSturbridge Sole Mates group was formed. Withina few days, over 100 people had joined.“Everyone has a different schedule — some

walk in the morning, some in the afternoon,”Landry said. “Some want to go fast, some want togo slow. Some have pets, some have children. Soyou post where you want to go, what your level is,and how far you want to walk. Of all these people,there is bound to be someone who has the sameschedule, and you buddy up.”The incident that spurred the group occurred

one afternoon in late July, when Landry was walk-ing at Westville, along the road that runs parallelto the river.“I was just walking — I think it is absolutely

gorgeous there —and a woman passed by in hercar and yelled out to me ‘Do you know that manthat is behind you?’” Landry recounted. Because Landry had always considered herself

an aware walker, she was surprised to hear therewas anyone anywhere near her.“I had one ear bud in my ear, but I always leave

the other ear bud out to listen for traffic and carsand to just keep my wits about me,” she said.But when she turned around, she saw what

the woman was talking about.“There was a man in his truck traveling

slowly, at a snail’s pace, directly behind me,” shesaid. “As I was walking, he was following me. Hewas driving so slowly I couldn’t hear him.”Landry crossed the road to talk to the woman

who had stopped to warn her, and to tell thewoman that she had no idea who the man was,or that he was even there.As she did, the man stopped his truck and got

out.“He didn’t do anything, he didn’t say any-

thing,” Landry said. “He just stood by his truckand watched us. It was weird.”The woman offered to follow Landry back to

her car, but Landry declined.“I said ‘I see him and I’m aware of him, so

I’ll be fine,” she said, adding that it was about4:00 in the afternoon, and there were otherwalkers around.Once she she got back to the parking lot, she

sat in her car and waited for the man to driveout.“I said to myself ‘I am going to get the make,

model, and color of that truck because the guyis weird,’” she said. “So I sat there and I waitedfor him.’”Within a few minutes, the truck came out of

the trail, and Landry wrote down the informa-tion. She brought it to the Sturbridge Police De-partment.After that, she posted the warning on the

Sturbridge MA Community Facebook page tolet other people know to be aware. Because she’slived in Sturbridge for less than a year and does-n’t know too many people, Landry figured Face-book was the best way give a wake-up call toothers who, like her, wouldn’t think twice aboutgoing tor a walk at 4:00 in the afternoon.“I posted on the Sturbridge Community

page, just to let people know what this guy wasdriving, and to just be on the watch-out,” shesaid. “He might be harmless, I don’t know, butit was just creepy.”Landry, 37 who moved to Sturbridge from

New Orleans just about a year ago, didn’t likethe idea that people are afraid to take advantageof all the parks and trails Sturbridge has just be-cause of incidents like the one she experienced.“I thought ‘wait, hold up,’” she said. “I love

Cautious Walkers find their ‘Sole Mates’FOR FUN, FRIENDSHIP & EXERCISE!


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doing this. I love going for walks inthe afternoon. It is so beautiful atWestville. There is no reason Ishouldn’t be enjoying all these thingsSturbridge has given us because ofone or two creeps, and neithershould anyone else.”Landry has lost count of how

many Soul Mates have buddied upand walked together since the groupformed. They’ve walked in a varietyof places, which is especially fun forLandry, who loves learning aboutthe area.“I just went to the trails at Old

Sturbridge Village, and I’d neverbeen out there,” she said. “I’m ex-ploring the community at the sametime. We are walking and gabbingaway and laughing and it is a goodtime. For someone who doesn’tknow anybody, what a better way tomake friends. And we’re doingsomething healthy.”Dena Caron, of Sturbridge, said

she has been following Landry’sposts and the Sole Mates Facebookpage since the beginning. What re-ally her ’s attention when she sawLandry’s post about the incident atWestville — is the fact that Landrytook a scary experience and turnedit into something positive.“The fact that after it happened,

she didn’t just go on Facebook andbash somebody,” Caron said. “Shewasn’t complaining, she just shared

her concern and did something tochange the situation and try to pre-vent it from happening again.”Caron said that based on what

she’s seen on the Facebook post, shewouldn’t be surprised if the groupbranches out for walkers in othertowns.“I’ve seen posts from people who

say ‘I walk but not in Sturbridge —does anyone want to walk in EastBrookfield?’” she said. “I wouldn’tbe surprised if chapters, for lack ofa better word, would spawn off fromthis. How great is that?”Once her schedule frees up,

Caron plans on walking with theSole Mates. She said she can’t waitto walk with Landry.“I haven’t met her, but you can

tell by what she’s posted that she’spositive, and empowering and hos-pitable,” Caron said. “So is thegroup. It’s a happy group — and thename is adorable.”To be part of the group, inter-

ested walkers can go to the Stur-bridge Sole Mates Facebook pageand send a join request.Landry said she never dreamed

what would come of a simple Face-book post.“I am so blessed and so over-

whelmed at the support the commu-nity has given me,” she said. “I havenever been happier than living herein Sturbridge.” n


r MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL s

BY RICHARD MORCHOE

QUABOAG NOIR

LEGALBRIEF

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.

As a species, we humans are capable ofmaking absurd yet true statements. For

example, someone of most any age may be ca-pable of saying something like, “My dad ormom is the best dad or mom in the world.”Given the number of parents that have ever ex-isted, the statement is neither provable norprobable. Yet for the person making the claim,it is true. For them, the father or mother pos-sesses a set of qualities so loved, that no onecould replace them.Up on Long Hill, we yield to no one in our

capacity to be absurd, but we also aver thatWest Brookfield is the world’s best town to livein and as far as our humble existence goes, thatis an absolute fact.In truth, I have no proof that my town is

anything special. Other venues have many ofthe same virtues and West Brookfield may pos-sess certain inadequacies. Still, I love livinghere.Our town has all the services one expects.

The police force is competent and the fire de-partment is staffed by civic minded volunteers.The Merriam-Gilbert Library has the bookswe need or want, and if it doesn’t, can getthem. If we don’t mention other departments,it’s because there are not an overwhelmingnumber of complaints. There must be some,as nothing runs perfectly. We’ve just neverheard them.Our Wednesday farmers market in summer

is a pleasure. After the market, there are con-

certs on our common. Not much really hap-pens, though. That’s the wonderful thing about this

town, it’s quiet. Some might say boring, butI prefer tranquil. No matter, we have all weneed and can go farther afield if more is de-sired. One can voyage to East Brookfield ifThai food is wanted. Heck, if there is a han-kering for something exotic such as sushi, wecan descend to Sturbridge. Fried clams wehave here.So, life is perfect on the banks of the

Quaboag River. Unfortunately, sooner orlater, something will come along to upset thereverie of living in an exurban idyll.In 2000, in our neighboring town, a young

lady, Molly Bish, disappeared. The event af-fected all of us in West Brookfield. The bodywas recovered in 2003. It is doubtful thatanyone of us in either town has forgotten it,or ever will.Yet life goes on and though what hap-

pened is always with us, better days return.It has been a good summer. We’ve had

our share of rain, but there have also beenglorious days of sun. Gardens are full of veg-etables and flowers.But all of a sudden, it’s getting dark.On August 9th, it was reported in several

news outlets, including nationally, that two“miniature Norwegian goats” * only fourmonths old were found killed. According toThe Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Their

There are several different kinds of bank-ruptcies. Most people looking to file a

personal bankruptcy figure a Chapter sevenis better than a Chapter thirteen. Most people declare Chapter seven be-

cause it is quick and easy. You file your peti-tion and a few months later, your credit carddebt is gone. Chapter thirteen however,makes you pay creditors all of your extra in-come every month for up to five years. Sowhy would anyone do a Chapter thirteen? First off, Chapter thirteen is the only op-

tion for keeping your house if you are be-hind on your mortgage. The money you payevery month can go toward paying themortgage arrearages until you are current.In a Chapter seven, you don’t have to payanyone, but you lose your house if you arebehind on your mortgage.Secondly, you don’t have to give up any

of your valuable assets. As long as you payenough to equal the value of the assets, youget to keep them after the bankruptcy isover. In a Chapter seven, the governmentwill liquidate anything you own that is notdeemed a necessity and will use the moneyto pay your creditors. So if you want to keepyour fishing boat, you have to buy it back ina Chapter thirteen.The third reason you might have to de-

clare a Chapter thirteen is that you maketoo much money. Unless you have some ex-traordinary household expenses, you are notallowed to declare Chapter seven bank-ruptcy if your income is above the medianincome for your household size. Of course there is another reason to de-

clare Chapter thirteen. Some folks, as pooras they might be, just want to do what theyfigure is the right thing, which is to pay backas much as they can, even if it is only pen-nies on the dollar.

BANKRUPTCY


necks were broken, and there’s no question itwas intentional,” Sgt. Matthew Letendre said,adding that the animals were left in a placewhere the children in the family could havefound them.”The T&G also noted that the owner had

found them two hours before the police werenotified and had attempted to conceal the scenefrom the children. Masslive would report on August 10th that

the goats “were found deliberately and grue-somely posed outside the basement door oftheir Ridge Road family's home.” This was inan article with news of another killing of a goatin our neighboring town of North Brookfield.My first thought was that some young people

had been reading a little too much H.P. Love-craft horror, but I decided to ask someone whohas been looking into some strange occurrences.Elise Soper has been investigating the mys-

terious deaths of men who over more than adecade have drowned in similar circumstancesin the Boston area. Elise seems to be one of thefew noticing the obvious parallels. In the July,2016 issue of this magazine, we looked into herwork. If you are interested in what too few are,you can visit her CryptidAntiquarian blog.Elise answered me below.“Well, my thoughts are these: Killing animals

in general is naturally often a precursor to killinghumans. Posing the animals in such a mannerindicates to me that the killer is looking for at-tention and the thrill of horrifying people rather

than just the thrill of the kill. The fact the posedanimals were all specifically baby goats feels rel-evant to me. Goats are of course often used insacrifice and the devil is often pictured withgoat features.”Elise make sense and that’s a problem. Who

wants to think a resident of the area has such adark mind?I asked her if she had an idea of the age and

she guessed teens. That too sounds reasonableas an older person would have gone on to big-ger and badder acts.I spoke with Sgt. Letendre and there has

been no break as of yet. That the goats werenot visible from the street is a factor that mighthelp the investigation.On the off chance that someone from the

greater Sturbridge region has any information,you can call the officer at (508) 867-1405.This is in no way comparable to the events

of 2000-2003. Still, that someone among us iscapable of such a dark crime and may growinto something worse is at best unpleasant tocontemplate. *All news outlets might have gotten this

wrong. There is a breed of goats known as NigerianDwarf , but a google search could find no “minia-ture Norwegian goats.” n

“Sooner or later something will comealong to upset thereverie of living in anexurban idyll.”


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generation.“The old adage is the first generation starts the

business, the second builds it — and the third killsit,” she said. “I am that dreaded third generation— and I don’t want to be dreaded.”Some of Bettencourt’s fondest childhood

memories are at Klem’s. “I remember this building when I was 5, and I

am going to be 46 this year,” she said. “I started

nally stop stocking farm tractors.“My grandfather started as a four-tractor dealer-

ship,” she said. “And one of my father’s favoritethings in the world was to sell a tractor to somebody.But sometimes what your heart wants to do is notgood for business.” Bettencourt is well on her way to being in the 12

percent of businesses who make it through the third

FROM PAGE 13 working as a cashier when I was in my teens. I’veworked on the floor, I’ve worked ordering from differ-ent departments, in receiving. I’ve loaded trucks. I’vedone almost everything here.”Is the fourth generation ready to take over Klem’s?“I have two girls. One of them is 12 and one is 17,”

Bettencourt said. “The 12-year-old helps at events. The17-year-old works as a cashier. She’s looking at colleges.Wether or not they continue remains to be seen.” n

ethyl acetate have been used. This solvent processcan be done either via a “direct” method or “in-direct” method. Typically, if a process is notnamed for a decaffeinated coffee, it has beentreated by either the direct or indirect solventmethods. It is estimated that up to 70% of all cof-fee is decaffeinated with the help of solvents.In the direct–solvent based process, the beans

are steamed for about 30 minutes to open theirpores. They are then repeatedly rinsed with a sol-vent for about 10 hours to remove the caffeine.The caffeine-laden solvent is then drained awayand the beans are steamed again to remove anyresidual solvent. Most of the time the solvent ofchoice in this method is ethyl acetate, and theprocess if often referred to as “the natural decaf-feination method” or “the Ethyl acetate method.” In the indirect-solvent method, the coffee beans

are soaked in near boiling water for several hours,which extracts the caffeine and some flavor ele-ments and oils from the beans. The water is thenseparated and transferred to another tank wherethe beans are washed for about 10 hours in sol-

Many people enjoy drinking coffee, and somewant to limit their caffeine intake. For those

people, decaffeinated (decaf) coffee is a great alter-native. Yes, there is caffeine in decaf. Depending onthe brand, decaf coffee can range between 3 to12mg per 8 ounces. In the United States, federalregulations require that to label coffee as “decaf-feinated” that coffee must have had its caffeine levelreduced by no less than 97.5 percent. There aremany ways to remove caffeine from coffee beans,and all include: water, solvents or carbon dioxideand all occur when the beans are in their green state,prior to being roasted.Decaffeinated processes generally falls under two

methods: solvent-based or non-solvent based. Solvent Based Decaffeinated Process:Solvent based processes involve the caffeine being

removed from the beans with the help of a chemicalsolvent. Early decaffeination processes included a listof toxic solvents such as benzene, trichloroethylene(TCE), dichloromethane and even chloroform,however, more recently, methylene chloride and

vent. The molecules of the chemical solvent selectivelybond with the molecules of caffeine and the resultingmixture is then heated to evaporate the solvent andcaffeine. Lastly, the beans are reintroduced to the liq-uid to reabsorb most of the coffee oils and flavor ele-ments. This method is very popular in Europe,especially in Germany, and primarily uses methylenechloride as solvent. It is often referred to as “KVWmethod” (short for Kaffee Veredelugs Werk), “the Eu-ropean method,” “methylene chloride method,” or“Euro Prep.”Non-Solvent Based Decaffeinated Process:Water-based decaffeinated process, also known as

Swiss Water Process, SWP Method, Activated Char-coal Decaffeination or Dihydro-oxide Process, is achemical-free, water decaffeination process pioneeredin Switzerland in 1933 and developed as a commer-cially viable method of decaffeination by Coffex S.A.in 1980. In 1988, the Swiss Water Method was intro-duced to the market and its facility is based near Van-couver, British Columbia, Canada. The Swiss WaterCompany’s decaffeination facility is certified organic

Klem’s

‘How is my coffee decaffeinated?’By Elvis DyerOwner/RosterSturbridge Coffee RoastersSouthbridge and Dudley

PAGE 23


PETQ&AWITH KATHY MENARD

Q.My dog is one-year old and very friendlywith both people and other dogs but he doesone thing that I hope you can explain to me.He plays with other dogs but there is one dogthat he always lays down and rolls over whenhe is around. For some reason this makes theother dog mad and he growls at my dog.Why does my dog keep doing this when itmakes the other dog mad?A. There are many reasons why this couldbe happening, but the bottom line is your dogis showing submissive behavior to the otherdog. He's trying to tell the other dog that he'snot a threat and recognizes the other dog is"the boss" over him. In normal dog interac-tions if something happened between the twodogs that caused the other dog to pull rankon your dog, the other dog dominating yourdog should end once your dog submits. If theother dog continues to growl standing overyour dog he is being a bully. If this happensoften when they get together I, personally,would either try to find a different playmateor both you and the other dog's owner shouldseek professional guidance or you run the riskof the other dog actually biting/harmingyour dog.Q. My dog keeps getting diarrhea. I thinkhe's eating something he shouldn't when he'soutside. What should I do?A. Contact your veterinarian. There are

Submissive behavior, GI problems, more

many reasons this may be happening. He maybe ingesting something outside or he may haveparasites or something else. The best bet is toschedule an appointment with your vet in caseit is something that needs treatment. In the in-terim, supervise him when he is outside anddoublecheck what plants/shrubs you have andwhether or not they are poisonous.Q. My boyfriend and I are having a disagree-ment over whether or not it is safe to tie a dogout in the yard. What is your opinion?

A. If your dog is of the toy size I would neverleave him tied out alone without being veryclose by. I know of several instances where coy-otes tried to steal a small dog off a run attachedto the front of the house. If you do tie themout you need to make sure they have shade andwater. If your dog is apt to climb onto the doghouse I would not leave him unsupervised as hecan wrap around the dog house, climb onto it,jump off the other side and hang himself (thishappened when I was dog officer in my town).We also rescued a small dog tied out in its frontyard that decided to jump off the owner'sstonewall to chase someone and also hung itself(but survived as we heard the barking and wereclose enough to get there in time). If you needto tie your dog out my advice would be, if pos-sible, to do it in the backyard and only whensomeone is home. Dogs tied out in the frontyard very often bark at and try to chase peo-ple/animals going by.

Kathy Menard has been a dog trainer for over 35years and is certified through the CertificationCouncil for Professional Dog Trainers. She hastrained under three world-renowned Schutzhundtrainers for 14 years and has competed in theAmerican Kennel Club and the sport ofSchutzhund, earning over 15 titles. Kathy is theowner of Compatible Canine in Fiskdale, MA.


STURBRIDGE

ROASTERS

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

Environmentally-friendly lawn maintenance“It is critical to educate the general public that the dark-

est green turf, which many people strive for, is not in factthe healthiest turf. A medium green turf with moderategrowth rate will have the deepest root system with lessthatching, reduced disease and insect problems and in-creased tolerance to environmental stresses such as heatdrought, cold and wear.” – Dr. James Board, Prof. Emer-itus, Texas A&M University, Author of the text Turfgrass: Science and culture.

Lawns: If you love them or hate them (like Ido), the fall is the best time for lawn care. Manyof us want to have at least one less mowing ofour lawns during the summer; some of us havea growing concern of what lawns do to our en-vironment. Having a lush green lawn has be-come a “suburban” trend in recent years ofusing more fertilizers and pesticides. Advertisinghas convinced many home owners that 5 stepfertilizer/pesticide programs are a necessary partof lawn maintenance. Instead, please considersome simple steps to a healthy low maintenance,and ecologically more diverse lawn, that reducesthe amount of fertilizer and pesticide use. I offerthis up, also inconsideration of the damage ourlawns suffered from last year’s drought, and itsrecovery from this year’s plentiful rainfall.• Starting this fall, have your lawn aerated -

Aeration breaks down thatch and helps the lawnto breath. You can rent an aeration machine orhave a landscaper do it for you.• Overseed – After core aeration over-seed

your lawn by broadcasting a good quality seedmixture, many of the seed will fall into the tinyholes left behind by the aeration machine. • Top-dress with compost – If you have an

established lawn where the soil seems too sandyand just doesn’t seem to hold water or the soil ismore clay and hard providing top dressing ofgood quality compost will make a world of dif-ference. Spread 2 yards of compost per 5 thou-sand square feet of lawn (approx. 30’ x 160’)raking it out as evenly as you can to a depth ofabout ½”. Some garden centers sell compost inbulk and some even have a spreader you canrent.• Fertilize – Most lawns will do just fine with

fertilizing just once per year, in early September.If a second application is needed apply after thefirst cut in the spring. I recommend you considerusing “phosphorus free lawn fertilizer” to helpkeep unnecessary phosphorus out of our lakesand streams. Phosphorus is the key trigger tolake quality degradation according to our Con-servation Commission.• Know your soil PH – The PH of the soil

(acidity level) for lawns should be close to 6.5.Most soils in our area are too acidic. If yourlawns soil has a PH of 5.5 or less weeds will growgreat but grass will not. Further you can spendlots of money on weed and feed, etc. and grassstill won’t grow great. Soil testing kits can be pur-chased at garden shops or you can send a sampleof your soil to the UMASS Soil testing Lab ( for

an order form go to: www.umass.edu/plsoils/soiltest, modest cost) the results fromUMass will tell you what the pH is and exactlyhow much lime you need to adjust to a pH of6.5. The test will also inform you of fertilizerneeds and your soil organic matter (compost).Lime can be added at any time of the year, butin the fall, should be done before the end of Oc-tober, so it can infiltrate into the soil before itfreezes.• De-thatch in the spring – Removing thatch

helps your lawn breath and allows for new shootsto fill in open spaces. Give your lawn a good rak-ing with a flexible tooth rake in early spring, orhire a landscaper to power rake your lawn. Savethe pile of dead clippings as a nice carbon sourcefor your compost pile.• Mow High – Set your mower at 2 ½ to 3

inches. Mow high and weekly to keep your lawnhealthy. Higher grass will shade out weedspecies.• Skip the water and let it go dormant – If

you don’t water your lawn during the summermonths it will naturally go dormant in the heatof the summer. As rains return it will green rightback up in the fall. An added boost is that Japan-ese beetles will look somewhere else- to a nice,lush, over fertilized and over watered lawn – tolay their eggs.• Fighting weeds – By following these low

maintenance lawn practices your lawn will growPAGE 23


Get out of your fitness rutCrawl, jump or walk backwards!

HEALTH&FITNESSBy Julie GerrishPERSONAL TRAINERJULIE GERRISH FITNESS, STURBRIDGE

sturbridge’s fitness expert

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Are you stuck in a fitness rut,doing the same workout all the

time because you just don’t knowwhat else to do or you’re afraid ofhurting yourself if you try somethingnew? Snap out of it! Not only is thisjust plain boring, it develops a limitedphysique and could actually causeyou to hurt yourself. Exercising the same muscles over

and over puts too much stress on cer-tain muscle groups and allows othermuscle groups to atrophy from lackof use, putting you at risk of injury.“By doing the same workout, you areflirting with overuse and chronicbreakdown of muscle, tendon orbone. Too much of the same repeti-tive activity or stress on the body willnot allow adequate recovery” saidDr. Michael Jonesco, a sports medi-cine expert from Ohio State Univer-sity’s Wexner Medical Center, in aMay 2016 Huffington Post article. Here are some great movement

patterns you can add to your workoutroutine to get your body in peakphysical condition:

Moving laterally and back-wards: We live in a forward-facingworld, and we do most of our dailymotions always facing forward. Mostof us never think about moving side-ways or backwards, but doing so isgood for our body and our minds,working different muscles while chal-lenging our coordination and bal-ance. Try setting up cones andshuffling sideways and running back-wards from cone to cone in a safearea with no obstacles you can tripover. Start slowly at first. You can alsotry a crossover pattern or high kneesin different directions. An agility lad-der can help with many different lat-eral and backwards patterns.Another idea: put a mini band (per-

formbetter.com) around your lowerlegs and do resisted band walks side-ways and backwards.

Crawling: This is one of the mostbasic developmental movement pat-terns. Babies get their entire bodiesstrong crawling, and yet as adults welose the ability to get down on thefloor and move around on our handsand knees. This challenging full-body exercise has many variations:

forward, backward, sideways, withstraight legs, etc. Practice with yourknees on the floor at first, and thenlift the knees up for a greater chal-lenge. For more ideas on crawling,look at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjFb40DwwLs

Jumping and hopping: Haveyou done much jumping since youwere a kid? Now that you’re older,jumping is great for strengtheningbone density and muscle while im-proving balance, coordination, agilityand endurance. Practicing jumpingskills can help you run faster in that5K and help prevent injury in thatpick-up soccer game. It’s still fun, too!

Start with a very low step, drivethrough the heels and make sureyou start and land softly in the samesquat position. Or try jumpingrope, which is a relatively low-im-pact introduction to jumping thatgets your heart rate up. Remember, we are constantly

doing the same repetitive and pos-sibly degenerative movements overand over each day: sitting, slumpingover our phone or computer, alwaysmoving forwards, and standing forprolonged periods. Exercise should“undo” some of these repetitivepatterns, so think outside the box,be creative and get moving!



healthy and naturally crowd out weeds. You canpull a few dandelions individually if they botheryou without having to spray a herbicide over theentire lawn, or apply dry chemical as the 5 stepprograms often require, whether the weeds arepresent or not. The best part of this, in followingthese steps to a healthy lawn you will be protect-ing groundwater, reducing pesticide exposureand saving money.And one last benefit of “less lawn”: It was

noted this past early summer of the gypsy mothcaterpillar collapse. However, in areas wherethere was mostly large lawns and pavement, thecollapse of the gypsy moth was not so complete.The Reason? Simple, the bacteria and fungi re-sponsible for the collapse grow best in woody leafdebris and litter, like in a natural forest setting orlarger mulched bed area. Lawns and parking lotislands not so much. The more “natural” outyards become, the better for us all. n

Tom Chamberland is the Tree Warden for the Town of Stur-bridge and a Certified Arborist. He enjoys caring for plants thatgrow in his yard and welcomes reader suggestions for future ar-ticles. Email him at: [email protected]

by both OCIA and Aurora Certified Organic andthey are also certified Kosher by the Kosher Over-seers Association. Swiss Water Process uses the ele-ments of water, temperature and time and does notdirectly or indirectly add chemicals to extract thecaffeine. This process relies on solubility and osmosisto decaffeinate coffee beans. This method is almostexclusively used for decaffeination of organic coffee. The green beans are cleaned and hydrated with

pure, local water to prepare them for caffeine ex-traction. An internally developed Green Coffee Ex-tract (GCE) is introduced to the beans and caffeineremoval begins. Caffeine ventures out on its own,away from the coffee beans into the GCE until theratio of soluble compounds in the GCE to the com-pounds in the coffee reach the point of equilibrium.Caffeine and GCE flow continuously through ourproprietary carbon filters until all the caffeine istrapped and separated from the GCE. Then theGCE is refreshed so that it can be used again andagain to remove more caffeine. The process and caffeine levels in each batch de-

caffeinating is monitored for hours; monitoring time,gauge temperature controls, and the levels on theGCE flow. The result is decaffeination without a

massive loss of flavor and 99.9% caffeine-free coffee.The carbon dioxide decaffeinated process, also

known as CO2 (or Carbon Dioxide) Method, Liq-uid Carbon Dioxide Method, Supercritical CarbonDioxide Method is the most recent method. It wasdeveloped by Kurt Zosel, a scientist of the MaxPlank Institute, and uses liquid CO2 in place ofchemical solvents. It acts selectively on the caffeine,releasing the alkaloid and nothing else. In the CO2decaffeination process, water soaked coffee beansare placed in a stainless-steel container (the extrac-tion vessel). The extractor is then sealed and liquidCO2 is forced into the coffee at pressures of 1,000pounds per square inch to extract the caffeine. TheCO2 acts as the solvent to dissolve and draw the caf-feine from the coffee beans, leaving the larger-mol-ecule flavor components behind. The caffeine ladenCO2 is then transferred to another container (theabsorption chamber). Then, the pressure is releasedand the CO2 returns to its gaseous state, leaving thecaffeine behind. The caffeine free CO2 gas ispumped back into a pressurized container for reuse.Because of the high cost associated with this process,it is used primarily to decaffeinate large quantitiesof commercial-grade, less-exotic coffee found in gro-cery stores. n

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Yard Decaffeinated coffeeFROM PAGE 18 FROM PAGE 18


Hello Friends! We have been very fortunate weather wise this year with all the rain we have had! Especially in contrast to the drought conditions we experienced last summer! As summer winds down and people return from vaca-tions and get back to “real life” now is a great time to start tackling some of your landscape to do list.! Whether you just want to schedule a maintenance visit, you have a small pro-ject in mind or if you have bigger ambitions for recreat-ing your outdoor living space please give us a call to dis-cuss how we can help you this season. Please don’t hesitate to re-fer us to your friends and family. As always, thanks so much for the continued sup-port over the past 12 years! We couldn’t do it without you!

Here’s to a great Fall! AJ!

AJ Comerford President

Green Boys Landscapes Inc. | 774.230.2940 | www.greenboyslandscapes.com

Pergola & Irregular Bluestone Patio

Trimming & Pruning-Neaten up a season (or more) worth of growth

Turf Care-Mid August –Mid Sep-tember is the best time of the year for lawn work. This year was par-ticularly tough on lawns. Things like Core Aeration and Overseeding are key to maintaining a healthy lawn. Now is also a great time to redo your lawn or repair trouble areas. Seeding and Hydroseeding will THRIVE this time of year

Plants & Beds-Now is a great time to renovate or install new planting beds. Replace any plants that have struggled, remove over-grown plants or add a new bed to that empty space you always wanted to do something with

Brush Cleanup-Late summer is also a great time to cleanup areas that get overgrown. Lots of clients have areas on the perimeter of their property or in specific areas that have been neglected and have become overgrown or simply need

to be cleaned up & cut back. Fall Cleanups-Be sure to get on

the Fall Cleanup schedule early if you have not already done so. We sell out every single year and do several hundred cleanups each fall! If you are unsure if you are on the schedule then please call/email to confirm.

Lakeside Retaining Walls-Fall is the perfect time to replace failing lakeside retaining walls as many area lakes are lowered in the fall. We can help guide you through the process and get approval from the Conservation Commission for the project. (a requirement for lakeside walls and other projects within the 100’ buffer zone of lakes and wetlands)

Larger Landscape Projects-Start planning now even if you plan on doing it next season. Proper planning is KEY for any large land-scape or hardscape investment

5% off projects of $600 & up if

booked before the end of August

Late Summer & Fall 2017 Landscape To Do

AJ!

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