A large presence on the Web
By Lindsay Sauvageau JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT

Welcome to 2007, where the information superhighway is paved with Web sites like MySpace, facebook, eBay and YouTube, sites where a person can find almost anything on almost anything. From movies to profiles to vintage maps, from antique restaurant placemats to weathered postcards, these Web sites have enabled users to create little corners of their towns and their neighborhoods online.

Right now there are a multitude of Web sites specifically created for Westminster and Ashburnham and affiliated organizations. Right now, Westminster and Ashburnham both have town Web sites listed online (www. ashburnham-ma.gov and www.westminster ma.org.) The Westminster Fire Department has its own Web site (www.westminster ma.org/fire.htm) as does the Ashburnham Department (www. ashburnham-ma.gov/safety/fire). There is a Web site for the Steven's Memorial Library in Ashburnham (www.ashburnham-ma.gov/library) and

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the Forbush Memorial Library in Westminster (www. westminster-ma.org/library.)

There are Web sites for businesses and groups in these areas as well, like the Wachusett Brewing Company (www.wachusettbrew.com) and The Wachusett Village Inn (www.wachusettvillageinn. com). Even locals have up their own sites, searchable through Google, like the Rattler Homepage (members.aol. com/APowelson) created by the Rattlesnakes Rattlesnakes are in their second year at Webelos den in Westminster and eager to become Boy Scouts.

On the popular networking Web site Myspace.com, a person can find a number of Ashburnham and Westminster natives, students and even a special interest group here and there. On Myspace, in 15 seconds you can find 1, 860 references to Westminster, Massachusetts, many of which are the profiles of Westminster natives. For Ashburnham, there are 156 references. When searching for students and alumnae from area schools, there are 509 Cushing Academy students and alumnae and 864 Oakmont Regional High School students and alumnae. Myspace even gives users the options of creating their own special interest networking groups like two created for past and present staff at Camp Split Rock in Ashburnham. Camp Split Rock is a Cub Scout day camp and their two group sites contain a total of 25 members.

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On Facebook.com, another popular networking site for high school and college students there are 343 students and alumnae listed for Oakmont, 38 for Cushing Academy. There are even a few local groups listed, on specifically for Westminster, MA residents with 181 members and a group called Lovers of the Cushing Academy Summer Session with 146 members.

On eBay, the popular online auction and shopping Web site, one can find a multitude of community items, from maps to postcards. There are currently 46 items listed on eBay with references There is everything from a CD entitled, Early Vital Records of Worcester County with town information for Ashburnham and Westminster.

There is a digital aerial photograph of Ashburnham available, an antique town map with the town's description from 1874 reprinted by Maps to Treasure, Inc. and even an old black and white postcard, sent in 1913, of the Steven's Memorial Library.

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There are also a few items on eBay from Westminster, the most notable of which are a placemat from The Old Mill Restaurant in Westminster from the 1950s and an old milk bottle from Brookside Farms in Westminster.

And of course, the most interactive and visual of all the Web sites, YouTube.com has plenty of movie madness for locals. There are video clips from live concerts like the Mass Metal Magazine's benefit show for St. Jude's that took place in Westminster and a performance by the local band No Trigger playing at the American Legion in Ashburnham in 2004. YouTube also has a few special videos, such as a video tribute to Westminster native, Army 1st Lt. Ryan Jones called a "Fallen Soldier Remembered." Jones was killed in a roadside explosion in Baghdad on May 1, 2007. There is also a video of the five-alarm fire at Tru-Value Hardware in Ashburnham in January of 2004.

There is a lot to be learned on the Internet about how much a hometown means to people and Westminster and Ashburnham are no different. Whether someone is a town official, a student, a business owner or a mother of three, there is a place for them to represent the town they love on the information superhighway.