Calendar
Saturday, June 28
Fireworks and Music Festival: 6 to 10 p.m. on the library lawn (Old Bromfield) off Mass Avenue, Harvard (Rain Date: Sunday, June 29). The Music Festival features local Harvard musicians (folk, rock, bluegrass and more) with Hello Ninja, Still River, October Surprise, Bare Hill, Bill & Keith. Food provided by Harvard Lion’s Club, ice cream by Dyland and Pete’s; fireworks at dusk. Contact Steve Miller, sgmharvard1@gmail.com or (978) 456-8852.
Sunday, June 29
Sundays at Fruitlands: 3 p.m., Fruitlands Museum, Prospect Street; Author Richard Higgins brings together Henry David Thoreau’s writings on trees into an insightful program. Free with museum admission.
Tuesday, July 1
Board of Selectmen: 7:30 p.m., Town Hall meeting room.
Town Center Planning Committee: 7:30 p.m., Hildreth House.
Wednesday, July 2
Devens Focus Group: 7:30 p.m., Town Hall meeting room.
Thursday, July 3
Conservation Commission: 7 p.m., Town Hall meeting room.
Friday, July 4
Fourth of July Parade and Field Events: (Rain Date: Saturday, July 5) The Great Harvard Fourth of July Road Race, 5-mile starts 8:45 a.m.; 1-mile Fun Run at 9:45, (www.harvardraces.org); Decorated Kids Bicycle judging on the common, 10:30 a.m. sharp; parade at 11 a.m.; flag-raising ceremony at library lawn, noon; field events begin, 12:15-3 p.m., library lawn (pie-eating contest, duck pond, greased pole, face painter, lollipop walk, candy scramble, three-legged and sack races, egg toss and firemen’s mini-muster.); pond events at town beach, 3-5 p.m. Contact Fourth of July Committee Chairman Kathy Farrell, kathrynfarrell@verizon.net or (978) 456-9533.
Briefs
Greased pole missing
I just found out that the town is missing one of the greased poles. It was not in the garage when the DPW went to set up for fun fair. Can you post a townwide alert that we are missing one of the greased poles? Please ask people to contact me if they have information on the location of the missing greased pole. Kathy Farrell, Fourth of July Committee, (978) 456-9533, kathrynfarrell@verizon.net/
Property inspections
The Board of Assessors wishes to notify Harvard residents that beginning in June and running through September, inspections will be conducted throughout the town. These inspections will be conducted Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. by assessor Angela M. Marrama and assistant assessor Celia Jornet.
Any property owner who has pulled a building permit in the last year and anyone who did not finish work on previous permits can expect a visit from the Assessing Department staff. We will also be conducting cyclical inspections as mandated by the Department of Revenue to ensure accuracy of our assessing records.
If any property owner receives an assessor’s card on their door indicating a visit, please call and set up an appointment as soon as possible. The Assessing Department would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation with this very important matter.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the assessors’ office at (978) 456-4100 or by e-mail at amarrama@harvard.ma.us.
Volunteers needed
The Fourth of July Committee needs a few more volunteers for the parade and field events. Interested in helping judge the bikes, the cars, crowd control? Please contact parade coordinators Piali De at depiali@earthlink.net, (978) 456-8577 or Deb Ferguson at July4th@stillriver.org. Field events are being run by Kathy Farrell. Kathy needs help with set-up, clean-up and at stations like the greased pole, lollipop walk, duck pond and pie-eating contest. Here’s your chance to get involved! Please contact Kathy Farrell at (978) 456-9533 or KathrynFarrell@verizon.net.
Movie Night correction
Family Movie Night Correction: Due to a later than anticipated release of “Spiderwick Chronicles,” it will be shown on July 24, not June 19. The PTO Calendar went to press too late for this correction. We will be posting this and all future Calendar corrections on the PTO Web site at harvardpto.org.
Sarah Watson
scholarship
The Board of Selectmen will again offer financial assistance to second- and third-year college students from trust funds left to the town by Sarah Watson. Applications are available at the selectmen’s office and need to be returned to the trustee by July 1.
Attorney David Taylor, the sole trustee of the Sarah Watson Trust, will be making final decisions on scholarship awards by early summer.
Historical Society
preservation work
The Historical Society’s current project — preserving and painting the Still River Meeting House, a historic landmark in Still River and the society’s headquarters — is getting underway.
The beautiful former Baptist Church houses the society’s collections and is the site of exhibits and events, free to the public, celebrating Harvard’s history. The Historical Society is privately funded by the membership. It isn’t supported by tax dollars.
Restored by the Historical Society several years ago, the building needs painting and exterior work to complete the preservation effort.
Following an appeal to the membership, many generous donations have given a good start to funding the work. To help the society preserve this beautiful building, add your donation to the fund. Mail a check in any amount to Harvard Historical Society, 215 Still River Road, Harvard, MA 01451, or call (978) 456-8285.
