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Meet some special animal friends at the Beals Memorial Library on Thursday, June 27, when Animal Adventures comes to visit. -
The Royalston Shakespeare Theater Company will perform “Much Ado About Nothing” on Friday, June 28. -
Maggie The Clown was at the Quabbin Community Band’s show on June 23. Pictured with her is Genevieve Cummings from Spencer. The band will perform a Fourth of July-themed show on June 20 in Barre.
WINCHENDON – The Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon invites the whole community to take off on an adventure this summer as part of the annual Summer Reading Club, which goes from now through Aug. 9. This free, seven-week celebration of adventure, travel, and exploration is open to all. Throughout the summer, the library will provide a wide range of programs and events for the entire family to enjoy, including storywalks, amazing animals and insects, and much more.
The Summer Reading Club is open to participants of all ages. Register at the library to receive a reading log and take part in the program. Read whatever you would like – books, audiobooks, fanfiction, webtoons, newspapers, or reading to children, all types of reading counts.
Children can complete up to 15 hours or reading and teens can complete up to 18 hours and then play the prize drop to win prizes. Those who complete the full reading log will also earn a chance to win the 2024 Summer Reading Club Grand Prize. Adult participants can read up to 20 hours, and will earn one raffle entry for every two hours of reading for a chance to win prizes. All participants are eligible to receive only one reading log of prizes per person.
Finally, each week during the Summer Reading Club, the library’s dragon mascot, Hardcover, will be playing hide and seek throughout the first floor of the library. Kids who play hide and seek with Hardcover will get to earn a small prize from the dragon’s treasure chest.
There will be a Summer Reading Club kickoff party on Thursday, June 27, at 2 p.m. in the library backyard. Animal Adventures is an exotic animal rescue center that visits libraries, schools, and other functions to educate children about the animals in their care. Participants get to meet some amazing animals, hear fun and interesting stories about them, and enjoy a unique learning experience that’s fun for all. This program is free and open to the public.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit their website at bealslibrary.org.
ROYALSTON – On Friday, June 28, at 7 p.m. in the upstairs of the Royalston Town Hall, 13 the Common, the Royalston Shakespeare Theater Company will present “Much Ado About Nothing.”
The play is a comedy about deceit and communication or lack of. The play marks the 23rd year, minus two years for COVID, when children aged 6-18 have taken on the responsibility of all aspects of theater production – from making sets, designing costumes, learning lines, doing lighting and sound, learning to form a cohesive group, and having a lot of fun.
The free program is sponsored by the Friends of the Phinehas S. Newton Library and began with a Royalton Cultural Council grant to Norah Dooley to rewrite five of Shakespeare’s plays into productions that children could perform in about an hour. From that beginning, the Royalston Shakespeare Theater group, mostly under the supervision of Beth Gospodarek and Maureen Blasco, has continued its run.
Caleb Chase, one of the producers, began as a 6-year-old 23 years ago and has returned for the last three years to help with the workshop. This production is funded in part by a grant from the Royalston Cultural Council, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, the Royalston Academy, the Friends of the Phinehas S. Newton Library, and donations. Refreshments will be served during intermission.
ATHOL –A pancake breakfast and tag sale wll be held on Saturday, June 29, 7-10 a.m. at Athol Congregational Church, Uptown Common, Athol. There will be pancakes, blueberry pancakes, French Toast, sausage, fruit, juice and coffee. Cost is $8 for adults and $3 for children. This event is “all you can eat” and there will be a tag sale featuring collectibles and books.
BARRE – On Sunday, June 30, the Quabbin Community Band will kick off celebrations for the Fourth of July with their theme of Independence Day classics. Performing for the final time this summer on the Nornay Park bandstand in South Barre before moving to the Barre Common, the band has prepared a rousing lineup of patriotic tunes. Included on Sunday’s program will be “The Armed Forces Salute,” “Salute to the G.I.,” “National Emblem March,” “Three Songs of Colonial America,” “The Liberty Bell March,” “America The Beautiful”, the powerful and dramatic “1812 Overture” and the popular closer “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa.
The band is indebted to sponsors this summer, who contributed $500 and above toward the band’s annual budget. Many thanks go to the First Parish Church Committee, Mass Cultural Council, Fidelity Bank, Bull God Lawn Care & Pest Control, Barre Savings Bank Foundation, and Lois Sturtevant. Be sure to save the next seven Sundays for live music by the Quabbin Community Band.
ATHOL – The Friends of the Athol Council on Aging will hold its quarterly meeting on Thursday July 11, at 1 p.m. at the Athol Senior Center. Members are urged to attend and guests are welcome.
ATHOL – The Athol Public Library will be holding a presentation on recycling on Tuesday, July 9, at 6 p.m.
Why should you recycle? What can be recycled, and what cannot? What can you do with all the things that cannot be recycled? The speaker will be Phil Leger, former Athol Health Agent, who also organized the Royalston and Athol recycling programs.
This event is part of the Athol Public Library’s Summer Reading Program, “Read, Renew, Repeat.” There are activities and prizes for readers of every age. Please visit at www.athollibrary.org for more details.
The Massachusetts Statewide Summer Library Program is funded by the Friends of the Athol Public Library, the Massachusetts Library System, the Boston Bruins, and the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. For more information and to register, please contact the library at 978-249-9515 or visit athol.librarycalendar.com.