On a bright Saturday morning, Conant Road resident Marianne DiBlasi is scooting around the farmers market, chatting with vendors and customers alike. As president of the Farmers Market Community Hub, DiBlasi makes it her business to find out how the market is doing, and buying herself some of the goods
Caroline Staudt not only talks the talk, but walks (or runs) the walk to help folks in Winchester lower their carbon footprint. It’s obvious the New Meadows Road resident is a runner and sure enough, has run the Boston Marathon several times, but she’s also a volunteer on
Thinking of rescuing a puppy from outside the country? Well, you’re too late. As of Aug. 1, a federal regulation bans dogs from entering the U.S., but local resident Aaron Katz is challenging that rule. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new law, “dogs
Need a video about Winchester? Peter Engeldrum’s your guy. Among the many things he’s done for the community is produce a video series called “This is Winchester!” [Full disclosure: your writer is co-producer]. So far, the series includes one about town meeting and it won a national award
On a cloudy Saturday following a morning rainstorm, Fred Yen walks around the Winchester Farmers Market on the town common, talking to vendors. That’s Fred’s job, and he does it well, according to those vendors. Fred got the idea back in the 80s when he was traveling in
On a damp and sultry Saturday, Hillcrest Parkway resident Bob MacIntosh was standing outside a Cummings Park building, handing out medical equipment on behalf of the Woburn Freemasons. The service started years ago as a way to help folks recovering from injuries, operations and hospital stays. The event is a
Among the most recently arrived Winchester residents is a woman who heard about refugees that had been suddenly sent to a Woburn hotel. Charles Road resident Libby Morley joined a group that just formed this April and quickly recruited her neighbor Jessica O’Hearn to help. CARE stands for Community
Everyone in Winchester who donates used goods to the transfer station’s “swap shop” is a helper among us. And maybe you’re wondering where all that stuff goes if it doesn’t get taken away. Well, there’s a group of about 15 volunteers whose members are there every
Singers gotta sing, right? And when former Winchester Public School Director of Music Lynne Rahmeier retired, she was ready to keep singing. At first she decided that anyone who wanted to sing should come to her living room, but “they had to bring someone I hadn’t met,” she says.
Muraco School fifth graders recently went for an instructive nature walk on the Middlesex Fells Long Pond Trail, led by Winchester Trails guides. This is a longtime tradition, and the volunteers who organize Winchester Trails are helpers among us. Winchester Trails was formed in 1968 at the request of the
So many helpers in Winchester and this week we have a two-fer! Paul Masi and Mann Shoffner lead two different Scout troops in town. Shoffner came by it naturally, as he was an Eagle Scout who helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity. “I had no idea there was
’Tis the season to get vegetable gardens going, and there are 21 plots next to the west side fire station on Lockeland Road. Would you like one? You’ll have to wait a bit, as there are nine residents on the waiting list, and only about two of them get
It’s back! En Ka Fair has been going on strong for 90 years, and this year’s theme is “Hear the Joy.” Residents and non-residents alike eagerly await this event, but does everyone knows what En Ka does with the money it earns? It all goes back to the
Coincidentally in time for Asian American and Pacific Islanders Month, Hilda Wong-Doo agreed to be interviewed by the Winchester News. The long-time resident got involved with the Winchester Cultural District (WCD) during the pandemic, when she innocently suggested to one of its founders that it might be nice to have
Getting to know Winchester folks who do good work for the larger community has been the subject of this column, but this week your reporter talked with a woman who does good work for the entire world. Abby Maxman has been the director of Oxfam America since 2017, after a
