Caucuses bring new faces
By Caitlyn Kelleher and Nicole Boucher JOURNAL REPORTERS

John Fairbanks

Very few new faces were nominated at the Westminster or Ashburnham Town Caucuses that were held separately on Monday, Feb. 25, to ensure people are set to run in the upcoming town elections.

The new faces included Margaret Whitney, Donald "Jeff" Lawrence and William Nolan III nominated in Ashburnham, while Hee-Shee "Jim" Eagle and Patricia Glover were the new names nominated in Westminster.

Whitney had previously announced her intention of challenging Board of Selectmen incumbent Mark H. Carlisle for his seat.

Ashburnham's annual Town Caucus was held at Oakmont Regional High School.

Lawrence was nominated to run for the position of Town Meeting moderator, which is a one-year position. The position that is being vacated by David Uminski, who is now the principal of Oakmont Regional High School

Lawrence retired from Oakmont in June after more than 30 years of service.

Nolan was nominated to seek a position on the Planning Board. Incumbent Robert MacLeod had previously announced he was not going to seek re-election.

Magret Whiney

Incumbents were nominated to seek reelection to many of the other offices on the upcoming ballot. Those include Patrick A. Durkee for the Board of Health, Margaret P. Donovan and Theloise W. Ferrell for the Library Board of Trustees, and Richard M. Ahlin for the Municipal Light Board.

In Westminster, Eagle was nominated for one of two seats on the Forbush Memorial Library Board of Trustees.

Eagle described himself as a "hammer and nails" type of guy, who has served as a trustee for his West Fitchburg church for a numbers of years. He said his retirement is allowing him to give back to his community after years of working nights.

"This is my town. I've been here for 34 years," he said.

Incumbent Cynthia Hastings-Brutvan had previously announced she was not seeking re-election because family responsibilities.

Incumbent Juliette Y. Bedard was nominated to seek re-election for her three-year seat.

Glover, who was appointed last month to the Board of Health to fill the position vacated by Daniel Ervin in November, was nominate to seek election for the one-year term that would finish off Ervin's expected term. Munroe was nominated to seek reelection for his seat on the board, which is a three-year term.

Andrew Hurtel was nominated to seek a position on the Cemetery Commission after incumbent Munroe was nominated to seek re-election, but Hurtel did not accept the nomination.

No one sought the nomination to challenge Board of Selectmen incumbent John Fairbanks, who is seeking re-election.

"I've got another three years in me," said Fairbanks. "I think my experience provides some balance."

Fairbanks has served the town on either the Board of Selectmen or Advisory Board for more than 10 years.

Melody Gallant was nominated to seek re-election as the town's treasurer-collector, one night before the voters at Special Town Meeting rejected a proposal to change the position from elected to appointed.

Other incumbents that were nominated to seek re-election included Steven L. Couture as a constable, Brenda M. Rufiange for the Housing Authority, James A. Walker for the Hager Park Commission, Darlene Boucher to the

Board of Assessors, Denise MacAloney as town clerk and John Bowen as the town moderator, as well as Marie N. Auger and Claude J. LeBlanc for respective terms on the Planning Board.