Ashburnham Library Wins $20,000 Federal Grant for Food Literacy Program
Stevens Memorial Library has been provisionally awarded a $20,000 federal grant to launch a new food-literacy program, the library's most concrete funding news this cycle, even as Town Hall is seeking volunteers to fill multiple open board seats across town.
TOWN HALL
The town posted a vacancy notice Monday for a number of boards and committees whose seats remain unfilled and will stay open until qualified residents step forward. The full list of openings is available on the town's civic-alerts page at https://www.ashburnham-ma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?aid=73. Any resident interested in serving should check the list and contact Town Hall during business hours — Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Residents with in-person Town Hall business should also plan around the Juneteenth holiday: offices will be closed this Thursday, June 18. Normal hours resume Monday, June 22.
The town's 2025 Annual Water Quality Consumer Confidence Report is now available for public review. In addition, the seasonal outdoor-watering conservation schedule remains active through September 30, as it has been since May 1.
COMMUNITY & ARTS
Stevens Memorial Library has been provisionally awarded a $20,000 federal Library Services and Technology Act grant administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The program, titled "At the Table: Food Literacy from the Ground Up," will fund library programming and resources aimed at helping Ashburnham residents build practical, lifelong food-literacy skills. Library Director Jess Mynes leads the Stevens Memorial Library, which serves a community of more than 6,000 and has identified food literacy as a direct community need in its FY26–29 strategic planning process.
Also this Thursday, June 18, the Ashburnham Recreation Committee is sponsoring a free outdoor concert at Winchester Park beginning at 6:30 p.m. The concert and the Town Hall closure fall on the same day, so residents heading to the park that evening will want to handle any municipal business beforehand or wait until the following week.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS
No new coverage from Patch, MetroWest Daily News, or The Boston Globe in this cycle.
COMING UP
- **Thursday, June 18**: Town Hall closed for Juneteenth; regular Monday–Thursday hours resume June 22. - **Thursday, June 18**: Outdoor concert at Winchester Park, 6:30 p.m., sponsored by the Ashburnham Recreation Committee.