Authors
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Jay Shenk

Jay enjoys both writing articles and working with the underlying technology to produce Community Vine. He has over twenty years in the publishing industry, with companies as diverse as Time Warner Trade Publishing, Little, Brown and Company Publishers, Haights Cross Communications, Sundance Publishing, and Triumph Learning. He is excited about the new era of digital publishing, as it opens up the writing field to a whole new group of talented writers.

Dave Couture

Dave Couture has lived in Westminster since 1997, with his wife, two daughters, a niece, three dogs and three cats (at last count).

Jennifer Shenk

Jen has combined her love of writing, connecting with people in the community, technology, helping in local classrooms and the community (as well as working from home) to publish Community Vine, an electronic magazine for and about Westminster, MA and the surrounding area. Community Vine empowers members of our community to get involved with local efforts to help others.

Jen grew up in Templeton, MA and graduated from Monty Tech and Franklin Pierce College with a BA in graphic design and sociology. She previously worked for Little, Brown and Company Publishers in Waltham, MA but has spent the past 13 years raising 6 kids, living in Westminster and volunteering in town and in Westminster's schools. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Ashburnham Westminster Foundation for Academic Excellence.

Katherine Ransom DVM
Dr. Katherine Ransom and her husband Mark own Wachusett Animal Hospital and Pet Retreat in Westminster. She has been practicing small animal veterinary medicine for 10 years in Massachusetts since graduating from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1999.  In her spare time she enjoys playing with her daughter Sydney and her four legged friends at home.
Jane Clabaugh
Jane (Goble) Clabaugh first came to Ashburnham from Kentucky to "summer" as a toddler in the early 1960's to the family rustic home. This was "pre-Sunset Lake" era. This home, fondly known as "Pot Luck" has been in Jane's family since the 1930's. Jane spent many summer vacations at Pot Luck, In 1990 Jane moved to Ashburnham with her husband and young family (twins Sam and Esther). They began the long (and yet unfinished) project of modernizing Pot Luck to a year round residence (running water, septic, electricity....). In 1992 Jane was hired at the Oakmont/Overlook Middle School as an grade 8 Math Teacher. She loves being part of the wonderful Middle School process, Team 8A and now Team 8 Orange. Jane has newspaper in her blood. Her father Corban Goble was an editor of a small town newspaper and later a professor of Journalism at Western Kentucky University. Jane enjoys submitting articles and photos to the Community Vine on the happenings of the Overlook Middle School community.
Jay and Jennifer Shenk
Jay and Jen have different writing styles and areas of interest, with Jay concentrating on business and politics, and Jen preferring the human interest stories. When they work together on stories Jay usually writes the framework then sends the 'soup starter' to Jen, who adds the details and finishing touches. Ironically, Jay and Jen were married for ten years before they realized that they were both their high school yearbook editors.
Todd Civin

Todd Civin is a warehouse manager by profession and writes for several sports blogs as his after hours hobby. His work can be found on the Bleacher Report and Sports, Then and Now where he shares his insight and passion for the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Breakers of Women's Professional Soccer. Civin also writes about  the heart and soul of sports with stories of inspiration about the athletes that play the game. His top stories can also be found on his own blog at www.thexoxoofsports.blogspot.com. He and his wife, Kate are residents of Winchendon, MA, and parents of five children.

Quinn Tremblay

Quinn Tremblay is a lifelong Westminster resident, 2000 Oakmont Regional High School graduate and 2004 graduate of Franklin Pierce College where she obtained a B.A. in history with a concentration in Secondary Education.

Emily Bergeron
Emily Bergeron has lived in Westminster all her life. She is a 2000 Oakmont Regional High School graduate and 2005 graduate of Franklin Pierce University where she obtained a B.S. in Advertising with a minor in Communications, as well as a 2009 graduate of Fitchburg State College with a M.S. in Applied Communications. Emily previously worked for the United States Tennis Association and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity as the PR person for the Ashburnham house and at the Westminster Food Pantry. She is currently the secretary of the Westminster Democratic Town Committee and has also volunteered on numerous campaigns. Emily loves living in Westminster and enjoys being involved with the town and working with other town residents.
Ryan McDonald
Gregory J. and Theresa Barry
Greg and Theresa Barry attended Arizona State University and graduated from the Herberger College of the Arts with degrees in Art Education.  Both acquired graduate degrees in Education.  Currently both teach Visual Arts at Oakmont Regional High School and collectively have taught in the classroom for over 20 years.
Diane Rogers
Diane Rogers and her husband, Ray, have lived in Westminster since 1972. She raised 2 children here, Stacey and Jarrod, while working for Digital Equipment Corp. in Human Resources for 15 years. She currently works for her son, Jarrod, at his start-up company, Sesh.com of San Diego, CA, helping him fulfill his dream to enable people to surf websites together, to communicate and precisely interact with content in real-time. Diane also enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, Lindsey and Kiley Sutela, as well as being an avid gardener.
Laurie Ellsworth
Linda Landry
Wendy Mooney
Adam Shenk
Adam Shenk is a fifth grader at the Thomas Prince School in Princeton. He plays basketball and baseball and is on the Westminster Gear Bots FIRST Lego League team. He loves snowboarding and also enjoys kayaking and hiking and tries to get as much video game playing time as he can.
Barbara Friedman
Barbara Friedman is a librarian and library consultant, presently serving as the director of Erving Public Library. She received her master’s degree in library science from the University of Wisconsin and worked at Marquette University before moving to Westminster in 1980 to join the staff of the Fitchburg Public Library. She was assistant director in Lunenburg and served as a Westminster library trustee for ten years before becoming the Library Director of the Forbush Memorial Library in 1998.
Joyce Holroyd-McGuire
Joyce Holroyd-McGuire is a life long resident of Westminster. She lives with her husband Ron, daughter Megan, and dog Koda. She is a Psychotherapist with a private practice in Leominster, MA. She enjoys writing as a hobby, theatre, music, and the arts. She is an active member of St. Edward the Confessor Parish and is a volunteer with Westminster's Neighbors Helping Neighbors.
Patricia Glover, MD
Patricia Glover, MD provides wellness and prevention counseling and is the author of the Whole Health 4 U blog. Visit her website for more information. A Westminster resident, Dr. Glover raises all-natural chickens and sells their eggs, as well as greens and other vegetables. She is on Westminster's Board of Health and the Westminster Agricultural Commission, and was involved in setting up the Westminster Farmers' Market. In 2002, she began traveling to Haiti for medical mission trips, which are now coordinated through Mission E4 of Hubbardston. The mission helped to set up a medical clinic and help orphanages.
Keith Harding
Keith Harding is a political activist and host of the locally produced Your Voice show.

This day in history...

This Day in History
  • Mount Saint Helens Erupts (1980)
    Beginning in mid-March 1980, a series of earth tremors and steam explosions at Washington's Mount Saint Helens suggested that the volcano—dormant since 1857—was on the verge of erupting. Then, on May 18, the entire north side of the mountain exploded in a cloud of ash, rock, and fiery gases that collapsed a good part of it and carried debris for many miles. About 60 people were killed, and millions of tons of ash blanketed much of the American northwest. How far did the ash eventually spread? Discuss
  • Muhammad Ali Becomes of Egypt (1805)
    Four years after Ali, an Ottoman army commander, helped drive Napoleon from Ottoman-ruled Egypt, he was named wali—governor—of Egypt. He helped modernize Egypt and attempted to secure its independence. Though unsuccessful, his efforts established his progeny as the rulers of Egypt and Sudan for nearly 150 years and rendered Egypt a de facto independent state. He is thus considered one of the fathers of modern Egypt. How did Ali trick Egypt's Mameluke leaders into walking into a massacre?
  • Junko Tabei Becomes First Woman to Summit Mount Everest (1975)
    Tabei founded a climbing club for women in Japan in 1969 and, by 1972, was a recognized mountain climber. When Japanese newspaper and television companies sponsored an all-female expedition to climb Mount Everest, Tabei was one of the 15 women selected to go. In 1975, after months of training and preparation, the 35-year-old mother of two became the first woman to reach Everest's 29,035-foot (8,850-m) summit. What disaster partway up the slope nearly ended the climb?

Word of the day

Word of the Day
Word of the Day
  • infest
    Definition: (verb) To inhabit or overrun in numbers or quantities large enough to be harmful, threatening, or obnoxious.
    Synonyms: overrun.
    Usage: During the year that followed, Clayton was several times attacked by the great apes which now seemed to continually infest the vicinity of the cabin.
    Discuss