Update on Community Garden in Ashland

TASTY NETWORKING SESSION - The Bellingham Business Association will hold a “Taste of Bellingham’’ networking meeting Nov. 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Jefferson at Bellingham apartments at 151 North Main St. The evening will showcase dishes from several local restaurants and provide a setting for informal conversations. The cost is $15, with proceeds benefiting the association’s scholarship fund. Individuals and business owners wishing to attend should reserve their spots by contacting Sue Grady at 508-966-4716 or e-mailing contact@bellinghambusinessassociation.org by Wednesday. - Rachel Lebeaux

STUDENTS ON PATRIOTS SHOW - Dover-Sherborn High School will send 25 athletes and media students to Foxborough on Tuesday to tape a segment of “Totally Patriots,’’ which airs on WSBK-TV (Channel 38) before New England Patriots football games. The students will be interviewing a New England player at the Patriots Hall of Fame in Gillette Stadium, with the segment scheduled for broadcast at 10 a.m. Nov. 22. Dover-Sherborn athletic director Heath Rollins said this is the first time that his school has been asked to participate in the show. - Kathleen Moore

OPEN HOUSE AT LARRY’S PLACE - The Southern Middlesex Opportunity Council has announced plans to mark Veterans Day by holding an open house at Larry’s Place, a residential facility for formerly homeless veterans recovering from substance abuse. In 2007, SMOC filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit that accused 15 town officials and citizens of conspiring to discriminate against the social-service agency’s clients, many of whom are poor, disabled, or fighting drug or alcohol addictions. The lawsuit said an Internet-fueled campaign created a hostile atmosphere in Framingham that encouraged town officials to illegally stall SMOC’s plans to open Larry’s Place and expand Sage House, a home for recovering drug addicts and their families. Town officials and other defendants have denied the allegations, and the case is working its way through the courts. According to SMOC’s director of housing operations, Darlene Assencoa Mazurek, Larry’s Place has already accepted about 10 residents, and she said she expects the program to be at its capacity of 19 residents within a few months. It is slated to open early next month, once work on the building is completed. SMOC announced last week that the open house at Larry’s Place, 90 Lincoln St., will be held Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. - Matt Rocheleau

CLUB PLANS CRAFT FAIR - The Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club will hold its 36th annual craft fair on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School, 147 Pond St. The fair will host more than 70 crafters featuring handmade items for every budget. Admission is $3, free for children up to age 12. Part of the proceeds will benefit local organizations. For more details, e-mail craftfair@franklinnewcomers.com or go online to www.franklinnewcomers.com.

A TRIBUTE TO WAR DEAD - If you pass through town this week, you can expect to see white placards placed on telephone poles to commemorate the military personnel from the United States and its allies who have been killed since Memorial Day. Bobby Blair, a former commander of Holliston’s American Legion Post 47, has been making the signs and hanging them biannually for six years. He made more than 400 placards for Wednesday’s observance of Veterans Day, and said it’s only the second time the number of troops killed in Afghanistan outnumbers those killed in Iraq. The placards are nearly double the number he made for his Memorial Day tribute in May. Blair named his project Roads of Honor and Streets of Sorrow, and estimates the placards span about 7 miles. He has heard from relatives of those who died, including a grandmother who lives in Ireland. “It’s probably the last time these guys get honored besides their burials,’’ said Blair. Volunteers from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and the community help hang the signs, Blair said. - Megan McKee

VETERANS DINNER WEDNESDAY - A free dinner for local veterans is planned for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The event, cosponsored by the Council on Aging and the Veterans Celebration Committee, will feature a slide show, games, and plenty of camaraderie for vets of all ages, organizers said. Please RSVP by calling the Senior Center at 509-497-9730. - Megan McKee

GRAND FINALE FOR EDUCATION FUND - This year’s main fund-raising drive for the Medfield Coalition for Public Education culminates Friday with a concert at the Kingsbury Club on Ice House Road. In past years, the nonprofit coalition held an annual benefit auction, but this fall has reached out to community members in a fund-raising campaign called Entertaining for Education. Approximately 30 Medfield families have organized events, ranging from birthday and cocktail parties at home to movie nights at a cinema, that included donations to the coalition, which supports special programs in the local schools. Diana Mileszko, the group’s treasurer and host coordinator, said about $25,000 was raised by Entertaining for Education events last month. Last year, the organization’s auction generated $75,000. “With the economy, we had to scale back a bit,’’ Mileszko said of the change in strategy. Tickets for the final event, which starts at 8 p.m. Friday, are $25. Two rock bands, comprising primarily Medfield musicians, are scheduled to perform during the evening, and appetizers and a cash bar will be available. To purchase tickets in advance, call Allen Bonde at 508-359-4580 or Andy Spencer at 508-359-9864. - James O’Brien

A SON’S PRESENTATION ON WWII - The Medway Historical Society will host a presentation called “Letters From Europe: My Father in WWII’’ Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at 223 Main St. Rob Gregg will talk about his father, who in 1941 was drafted into the army at age 26 and deployed to Normandy and Paris. He sent hundreds of letters to his wife and son back home before returning to the United States in 1947. Gregg will share his family’s story, using original photos and quotes from his father’s letters, and discuss the postwar years and his work on this project. For more information, visit www.medwayhistoricalsociety.org.

BIDS ON CEMETERY MAINTENANCE - The town could shave off more than $70,000 from its annual cemetery maintenance budget if it switches to one of the private contractors who bid for the job late last month. Town Administrator Louis J. Celozzi said Milford currently spends $143,186 to have employees maintain and operate the Purchase Street and Vernon Grove cemeteries, a figure that would drop to around $71,000 if the lowest bidder takes over the work. Celozzi, the town’s chief procurement officer, said the three bids opened Oct. 29 will be sent to the Vernon Grove Trustees, the town’s Finance Committee, and the Board of Selectmen for further consideration. Pro-Turf Landscaping of Essex filed the lowest bid, while the Westborough-based Rosado & Sons Inc. came in at $76,200, and Mendon-based Swift’s Creative Landscape Inc. offered to handle the work for $198,500. Celozzi said a vendor could take over the project when lawn maintenance at the cemeteries resumes in the spring. - Kathleen Moore

NEW LIBRARY DIRECTOR - The Millis Public Library has a new director. Tricia Perry, who has been filling in as its interim director since July, will step into the role vacated by Linda Stetson, who left to head Natick’s Morse Institute Library. Perry has headed the library’s children and youth services department since 2006, and its trustees said her innovative and imaginative programming for both children and adults has been a major factor in a rise in popularity and community participation. The library, at 25 Auburn Road, will host a reception to celebrate Perry’s appointment next Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m.

LEARNING FROM VETERANS - In honor of Veterans Day, eighth-graders from the John F. Kennedy Middle School will share a breakfast tomorrow morning with 40 veterans from local towns, including Natick, Ashland, Framingham, and Holliston. The event, funded through a state Department of Veterans Services grant, enables the students to interview veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The youths have prepared a list of questions, and will sit at a table with a few of their classmates and a veteran. The breakfast is part of a series of efforts in Natick to honor and learn from veterans, including the Veterans Oral History Project and a photo gallery of Natick veterans on display at the Morse Institute Library. All of the veterans participating tomorrow have made recordings with the oral history project. - Megan McKee

COMMUNITY LEAGUE FUND-RAISER - The Norfolk Community League offers a night of shopping and fun on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Primavera restaurant, 20 Pleasant St. in Millis. Among vendors selling items during the league’s fund-raising event will be Bibsy, Be Dazzled, Jems by Jules, Pampered Chef, Silpada, Lia Sophia, the Pink Poppy, Nantucket Bodyworks, Harvest Moo, Boden, Trappings of Wellesley, Entertaining at Home, Village Arts and Flowers, Arbonne, Bonnie Tragakis Stationery, Tupperware, Jan’s Jewels, Usborne Books, 5 Sisters, Snapdragons Jewelry, Nauts, and Newton Street Designs. Tickets are $20, and can be reserved at www.norfolkcommunityleague.org; a limited number will be available at the door. For more information, e-mail Sarah Logie at selogie@gmail.com or Lindsey Wallrapp at lindseywallrapp@yahoo.com. - Michele Morgan Bolton

DELIVERIES FROM LIBRARY - The Plainville Public Library and the Plainville Senior Center are coordinating outreach services to deliver books and CDs to homebound residents or seniors with limited transportation. Items can be delivered to individual homes or the senior center. Registration forms for the program are available at the library and Senior Center, or online at www.plainvillepubliclibrary.org. The next scheduled delivery date is Dec. 3. For details, call library director Melissa Campbell at 508-695-1784. - Michele Morgan Bolton

WALK THROUGH HISTORY - The final walking tour of the season by the Friends of Upton State Forest is scheduled for next Sunday. “Land, History and Stone Structures’’ will feature guides Bill Taylor and Cathy Taylor, who will focus on stone walls, fence viewing, and the history of a parcel of town-owned land known as the Stefans Farm property. Also, Marcella Stasa, chairwoman of the town’s Land Stewardship Committee, will offer an update on the community garden started last spring on the Stefans property. The Hiking Through History series, among the events celebrating the town’s 275th anniversary, will resume in the spring, Stasa said, with future installments to include the Peppercorn Hill conservation area. The walk Sunday departs from the Stefans land parking lot on Mechanic Street at 1 p.m., with registration for the free outing starting at 12:45 p.m. For details, visit www.friendsofuptonstateforest.org, or call Stasa at 508-529-3709.

EDUCATIONAL FUNDS - Wrentham Elementary Schools Trust Inc. raised more than $4,000 during its recent Celebration for Education Evening at the historic Proctor Mansion Inn. The group uses the proceeds of its fund-raising events to help Wrentham teachers pay for curriculum-enrichment programs that are not covered by the school district’s operating budget. Nearly 70 guests attended the evening, which featured food and door prizes provided by local businesses. The trust was established in 2007 to support educational excellence in the Wrentham schools, and has awarded more than $14,000 in grants. Since the beginning of this year, the trust has offered the program “Eyes on Owls’’ to local third- and fourth-graders, and hosted a presentation at the elementary school by native Wampanoag. For more details, visit www.wrenthamwest.org.