COMMUNITY NOTES

Hike planned this weekend

A Midstate Trail Hike will be held on Sunday, Oct. 14. Hikers should meet at noon in Westminster at Stone Hill Road/Narrows Road. This hike will pass through the land that is being proposed for protection at the November 2007 Special Town Meeting.

The Schenck Farm Preservation Project includes acquiring 60 acres of forest land for passive recreation and protecting 46 acres of agricultural land through the state's Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program.

For information, call Jeanne Gilleney-Decenzo at (508) 852-6882 or Robert Juckins at (508) 829-0901.

Society to hold program on gas stations, garages

The first meeting of the Westminster Historical Society's new season will feature a program on "Gas Stations, Garages and Autobody Shops" in Westminster. The meeting will be on Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m. at 110 Main St.

Ever since the invention of the automobile businesses have been established all over the country on fixing them or providing the gasoline to run them.In Westminster there were dozens of businesses that serviced cars, many of them located on Route 2 from the Gardner line to the Fitchburg line. Some operating during the 1950s included Basha's Friendly Mobile Service Station, Burtt's Garage, Gil's Service Station, Phillips Auto Sales, Andy's Auto Wrecking Service, the Westminster Garage, and Tuominen's Auto Body. There were also many farms in town which had their own gas pumps to service their farm vehicles.

The Historical Society is seeking information about all of these businesses and would also like to have photos of them. They will be included in the History of Westminster covering the years 1959 through 2008. The Society will publish this History in time for the town's 250th anniversary in 2009.

If anyone has information but is unable to attend this meeting, please call Betsy Hannula at (978) 874-0430. This meeting is open to the public and refreshments will be served after a short business meeting.

Library seeks veterans, volunteers for special program

The Forbush Memorial Library, located at 118 Main St., would like to honor those who served with a special Veterans Day program in November. The library plans to coordinate interviews with veterans and participating local high school students in October.

The interviews will be recorded and the questions, pre-arranged. With the participants' permission, the library would like to add the recordings to its local history collection and present the final versions for their Veterans Day Program in November. Any veteran interested in sharing their experiences are asked to contact the director of the library at (978) 874-7416.