As the 2025-26 school year gets underway, Superintendent Michael S. Nelson reminds families, students, and community members to keep safety as their top priority when traveling to and from school.             The Old Rochester Regional School District and Massachusetts Superintendency Union #55 is providing safety tips for students who take the bus to school, along […] Read more »

            This week in Revolutionary War History, let’s discuss what was going on 250 years ago in and around the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Last week was a busy one; a discussion between Philip Schuyler and representatives of the Haudenosaunee would eventually spell the confederation’s doom, standards are implemented for food and bread in […] Read more »

Protein has become America’s nutritional obsession, and protein bars have become a $2 billion/year business.             The World Health Organization and the American National Academy of Medicine recommend that we get 0.8 grams/kg body weight daily. For a 180 lb. person, that would translate to about 65 grams of protein daily. At least 85% of […] Read more »

Ask just about anyone, and they will most-fondly remember particular schoolteachers and principals who went out of their way to know them.             In his decade of administration that followed his 20 classroom years, former Principal Kevin Tavares made it a mission to know each and every student that walked the halls of Old Hammondtown […] Read more »

            I suppose I’ve come to accept the arrival of fall. As I listen to the persistent hum of crickets and a Blue Jay’s distinctive jeer, I feel that familiar shift. I don’t mind the 70s temps, but the early morning dips do seem abrupt. By the calendar, fall doesn’t really happen until September 22, […] Read more »

The recipient of The Wanderer’s Marion Keel Award for 2025 is longtime resident, historian, public servant, and antiquarian Frank McNamee. McNamee was nominated for the award for his many behind-the-scenes contributions to the town and continued preservation of its history.             McNamee graduated from Bridgwater State College with a degree in Marketing and later earned […] Read more »

            The recipients of the Wanderer’s 30th Annual Keel Award for the Town of Rochester are Michelle Kirby and Andres Hammerman, the main drivers behind the effort to preserve the health and water quality of Snows Pond.             Kirby, who is president of the Snows Pond Association, and her husband Andy were nominated in a […] Read more »

This week in Revolutionary War History, let’s discuss what was going on 250 years ago in and around the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay. Last week, supply issues still plagued the Continental Army with no real end in sight, all while an offensive campaign north into Quebec began and King George III signed the “Proclamation […] Read more »

There was a surge in Covid infections this summer, and most predictions are for another in the coming winter. We are also facing flu and RSV outbreaks as surely as the sun rises.             The best defense against respiratory viruses is immunization.             While nothing is guaranteed 100% safe, vaccines offer the best combination of […] Read more »

On a recent sunny Wednesday morning, the members of the Town Coffee Committee, charged with solving all the world’s problems, gathered at the town wharf. The meeting was called to order citing all members present (save one who absconded across the pond to the UK); a quorum was declared.             First order of business (again) […] Read more »