WENDELL – The Wendell Free Library is hosting a small weaving exhibit celebrating the life of Dvora Cohen, who died Jan. 11 at age 67.
Cohen was a master weaver who studied at the Hill Institute in Northampton, and she widely participated in craft fairs in the Pioneer Valley. The exhibit, which can be viewed through mid-October, also displays creations by Shawn Jarrett and Adele Smith-Penniman to complement Cohen’s work.
According to her obituary, Cohen was born in the Bronx, N.Y., on Oct. 7, 1953. She attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York City and Mount Vernon High School, where her father was a wood shop teacher. It was in high school that she was introduced to costume making and started a lifelong love of fabric and clothing making. This led to a career as a handweaver and craftsperson, selling her work locally as well as in Boston, New York City, and Baltimore. She began selling her work in the early 70s. She also wrote a knitting column for the West County News.
The Wendell Free Library is at 7 Depot Road, across from the town common, and is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Masks are required in and around the building. Send an email to asmithpen@gmail.com for more information.
ORANGE – William David Oddy Ashenden, of Orange, recently graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in Economics/Mathematics.
Ashenden’s plans to attend the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics in Spain in the fall of 2021.
ORANGE – The Selectboard has voted unanimously to borrow money for a new grit collection system as well as other improvements at the Orange Wastewater Treatment Facility.
Chief Operator Edward Billiel Jr. explained the state Department of Environmental Protection issued the plant a notice of non-compliance because the grit collection system has been inoperable since 2017. He said the replacement work went out to bid and July 23 and R.H. White Companies, Inc. in Auburn. Billiel said the company will soon visit Orange and conduct site work. The money, he said, pays for the equipment, site work, and installation.
Billiel said the other improvements include a new screening system that removes flushed debris such as rags and wipes. He said he once found a pair of jeans in a screen system. Billiel also said the other work includes a new roof and new windows and doors for the plant, as well as electrical work.
ORANGE – A 9th anniversary event previously scheduled for Sept. 4 has been postponed due to health safety concerns with the COVID-19 delta variant.
“Like a hurricane coming back in a swirl pattern this delta COVID variant is ripping across the country and it’s just not the right time for NQTA to be having an event of this nature,” NQTA President Bobby Curley said.