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Vol. 51 | No. 31 | August 1, 2025
Maj. John Travers proud of U.S. Army service, Shrewsbury community
Future funding uncertain for Northborough firefighters By Shealagh Sullivan Reporter NORTHBOROUGH – Last year, the Northborough Fire Department was awarded $2.8 million in grant funds through FEMA’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. Now, the department is grappling with how to keep the eight firefighters it hired with the funds. When Northborough accepted the grant, town staff recommended that money be put aside in a stabilization account to save money for when the grant expires after three years. A proposal for a $400,000 special stabilization fund was voted down in
Shrewsbury set to welcome new halal Chinese restaurant
shrewsbury | 3
Celebrate 250th anniversary of the American Revolution
Northborough | 8 WHS psychologist departs after six years
SAFER | 4
Could Westborough’s rotary look like Kelley Square?
John Travers speaks at a Veterans Day event. (Photo/Evan Walsh)
By Adri Pray Reporter
By Evan Walsh Managing Editor
WESTBOROUGH – What’s one more rotary redesign to consider? The consulting team on the Downtown Improvement Project presented a fifth alternative rotary proposal at the Select Board’s July 22 meeting that would transform the center circle into a peanut-like shape that would convert the five-legged intersection into a singlelane roundabout to “remove ambiguity” from the area. The peanut design keeps the southern Milk Street artery as a one-way road, but drivers wouldn’t be able to enter the roundabout and would instead only be able to take a right at West Main Street.
SHREWSBURY – John Travers always knew he wanted to join the Armed Forces. When he was a 7-year-old, Travers watched the Army-Navy football game with his father. In fourth grade, he asked to visit the United States Military Academy at West Point. His father was in the National Guard, and his uncle was a pilot who would sometimes fly over Travers’ house in a helicopter. So, Travers did everything he could to get involved, including writing a letter to the powers that be at West Point. Only a seventh-grader at the time, his efforts were quickly rejected; the U.S. Army kindly asked him to wait until he was slightly older to apply.
Rotary | 6
Westborough | 16
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Still enthusiastic about the prospect of West Point a decade later, Travers was accepted to the academy and graduated in 1982. From there, he started an impressive military career that eventually brought him to Shrewsbury, where he now serves as the Master of Ceremonies on Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and practically every patriotic event. “When you look at our New Englandstyle government, where we still have Town Hall meetings and we still debate — this experiment in democracy is still, 250 years later, flourishing. It’s just neat to see people in Shrewsbury come out and show their patriotism. Shrewsbury is such a special community … you kind of get to feel that vibe again, that appreciation, that love of country,” said Travers.
Fourth-inning rally lifts Post 397 over Quincy
shrewsbury | 24
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Travers | 13
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