Autumn at the G.A.R. Park
WINCHENDON
HOLY WEEK
HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS FROM HOLY WEEK IN WINCHENDON MASSACHUSETTS
FOUR CHURCHES GATHERED ON PALM SUNDAY FOR A PRAYER WALK UP CENTRAL ST. IN WINCHENDON.
TWO OF OUR COUNCIL PASTORS FATHER GREG AND PASTOR JASON
THE GATHERING AT THE FLAGPOLE. WE PRAYED FOR OUR COMMUNITY IN ENGLISH, HEBREW, SPANISH, POLISH AND FRENCH.
ON EASTER SUNDAY THREE CHURCHES GATHERED AT THE OLDEST CHURCH IN TOWN (NOW OWNED BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY) FOR AN EASTER SUNRISE SERVICE.
JON BAUVER AND PATRICK CORTIS, MEMBERS OF OUR COUNCIL, WHO RUN THE WORSHIP ROOM HOUSE OF PRAYER IN WINCHENDON, LED US ALL IN WORSHIP.
IN SPITE OF THE RAIN WE GATHERED OUTSIDE FOR THE SUNRISE.
THE DAY ENDED WITH A FAMILY GATHERING AT MY SON JOE’S HOUSE.
HOW WAS YOUR HOLY WEEK SPENT?
OUR NEIGHBOR’S KITCHEN, 30 YEARS
Last night, I had the opportunity to attend the thirtieth anniversary of OUR NEIGHBORS KITCHEN, at the Winchendon Church of the Unity. The Kitchen has been running continuously for thirty years. The Church of the Unity has hosted all those years and was joined about a decade ago by The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Winchendon, who now hosts every 1st and 3rd Thursday.
The Kitchen is a place people can go if they need food or fellowship.
It was a wonderful night. It was a night of wonderful food and fellowship. Thank you to Jill Sackett for the personal invite to our Church staff!
SURVEY
I visited town hall the other day. I needed to renew Snug’s dog license and to check in with the Planning Commission to see if our building project was even viable.
Snug’s dog license was a quick matter. He just had a rabies shot in the fall, so he is good through next year. After the town clerk’s office I stopped over to see Nicole Roberts at the planning commission and I spent about twenty minutes telling her about our plans.
The Vicarage sits on two pieces of property which my father acquired at different times in the 1970’s. The property we are planning on building the cottage on has plenty of frontage and set back so the building project is a go, but on further inspection it was discovered that the main house of the Vicarage, while grandfathered in, is not actually a buildable lot any longer. It is short by three feet of being buildable.
The advice is to have the lots surveyed so we can build on the empty lot and then give some frontage to the main lot so that also become buildable so we can add a garage or something in the future.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS FEBRUARY 2026
On Saturday February 28, the Beals Memorial Library, in Winchendon Massachusetts, began to host a series of conversations around community and what that looks like. We call it Bridging Ideas and Building Futures
From 10-12 last Saturday thirty eight people gathered around tables to share what community is to them. This was an intergenerational / cross community gathering. We had middle schoolers represented and senior citizens; people of faith and atheists; factory workers, truck drivers pastors, consultants and even a nuclear physicist.
Thirty eight people doing small group work at tables. Thirty eight people sharing thoughts and findings in a community circle.
We began by sharing what the word community means. We continued by asking what makes a community vibrant. Our third question was How do individuals thrive with a community.
Now those findings are being compiled into a report that will lead to our next conversation on March 28…What kind of a community do we want to be?
the executive committee met afterwards and based on the comments of attendees we are moving the next conversation to a larger venue. I am excited to see what comes of these conversations. In a world so filled with division it is so hope inducing to see diverse individuals coming together to converse in a healthy and cooperative way.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO BUILD COMMUNITY WHERE YOU LIVE?
SNOW BANKS 2026
The snow banks in town are epic after this last blizzard.
2026 has been a true old fashioned New England winter. Here’s hoping for a bit of a thaw this weekend!
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE WHERE YOU LIVE?
WINCHENDON SKIES FEB. 9, 2026
A WINTERY EVENING IN FEBRUARY. WINCHENDON MA 2026.
DAWN AFTER THE STORM
Here are some pictures from the aftermath, in northern Massachusetts, of winter storm Fern.
My Weather app says we got 27 inches. It feels more like 18 inches to me.
WHATS IT LIKE WHERE YOU LIVE?
AND THE TREE LIT!
Last night was Winchendon’s annual tree lighting sponsored by our town’s Parks& Rec department.
Santa came. And the tree was lit!
Santa led Christmas songs with the kids.
And lots of our church folk came out.
Trinity and Genesis.
Melanie and Daniella and Abigail.
Tracy and Adam and David
Ben and Lydia and Naomi.
Gabe and Andrew and Aaliyah.
Then me!
I missed pictures with Savannah and her family and Shaina and her family. All told it was a great event.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR CHRISTMAS NEIGHBORHOOD THIS WEEKEND?
THE IMPORTANCE OF JOINING IN
I feel like our little community is experiencing and internal revolution.
We are a pretty eclectic town.
It has been very easy to allow our differences to create silos between the agencies that make up our larger community.
While there was a time when we let those difference keep us in our separate corners, I feel that is beginning to change.
As a community, we are not giving up our differences, after all our differences are what make us unique. They are the things that actually give us collective power. But, we are realizing that if we are truly to succeed in the face of all the challenges of our immediate future we must focus not on our differences but our similarities grounded in shared experience.
I believe God is pleased by the work our community is doing. I am waiting with baited breath to see what happens next in our little town.
