Shrewsbury remembers 9/11
‘Westborough for Life!’ draws in the community Westborough | 17
Shrewsbury | 14
Work continues on ‘Gonkplex’ at ARHS northborough | 25
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Vol. 49 | No. 37 | September 15, 2023
Food, families and fun at annual Applefest Street Fair
Residents provide feedback on library repair project
By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor
PHOTO/MAUREEN SULLIVAN
Flippo the Clown entertains the kids during the open house on Sept. 9.
By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor WESTBOROUGH – Amid the fun and games at Westborough Public Library’s annual open house on Sept. 8, visitors shared their vision of what they would like to see at the facility. Movable reading nooks for children? A bathroom just for children? A teen space in another part of the library? Charging stations? Study space? More study space? In the community room, a full house took part in a focus group and feedback session. Library | 6
NORTHBOROUGH – On Saturday, Sept. 9, the smell of kettle popcorn hung heavy in the air. You could smell it from one end of Blake Street to the other, and you could see big bags of it being carried by customers. Popcorn was not the only morsel offered at Applefest’s annual street fair – pizza, hot dogs, sausages, ice cream and candy were also on hand for hungry patrons. In addition to the food, there were plenty of activities offered by vendors. America’s Best Defense martial arts studios offered visitors the chance to split boards with their bare hands, though the boards were not made of real wood. Close by, the Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School’s Aztechs robotics team demonstrated its competition robot. It also had a remote-controlled convertible that children could ride, under the supervision of Applefest | 14
Logan Emmons of Hopkinton brushes a dinosaur’s teeth during the annual Applefest Street Fair.
Shrewsbury schools welcome homeless students By Evan Walsh Reporter SHREWSBURY – After homeless families were placed in Shrewsbury over the spring and summer, Superintendent Joe Sawyer and Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Christian Girardi gave the School Committee an update on Sept. 6 on the influx
of homeless students in the school system. There are roughly 80 families currently residing in lodging facilities in town. “All Shrewsbury Public School students are our students, regardless of where they live in town or how long they have been here,” Sawyer reiterated multiple times during the meeting. “Whether you’re a
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Homeless students | 6
PHOTO/MAUREEN SULLIVAN