Category Archives: Profiles- published news articles of businesses and individuals

Finding my balance

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Blueberries and homemade granola

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports nonfiction authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Let’s get in touch.

The past thirty or so years have offered me challenges I never dreamed of. I no longer take for granted the ability to walk. “You never know what you’ve lost till it’s gone,” became my reality at age thirty-seven.

The years since then have taken me on a healing journey that has restored substantial movement to my right arm and let, and has profoundly changed who I am. Healing has come, slower than I hoped for, but it has come on many levels.

As I approach old age (reaching 70 hit hard!) I grew increasingly concerned that any more healing was past, and that the possibility of future increase in function was gone . . . .

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Vietnam in the Early 1960’s From a Serviceman’s Perspective

This interview is part of the Bellingham/Mendon Veteran’s Oral History Project, taped at the ABMI Studios in Bellingham, MA. Coordinator and interviewer is Marjorie Turner Hollman.

I’m grateful for each veteran who has been willing to share his or her experiences. MTH

http://tinyurl.com/kjbkorr

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Joe DiPietro reflects on being a first generation immigrant, teaching and more

Joe DiPietroJoe DiPietro has been a fixture in the Bellingham, MA educational program for as long as many of us can remember. He was the superintendent of Bellingham Schools his last five years in the school system, and before that he taught high school, was a guidance director and spent twenty-five years as elementary school principal of South School Elementary, Pinecrest, Keough, the old South School and Assumption School when it was under the purview of the Bellingham School Department. [As told to Marjorie Turner Hollman] Continue reading

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Ambler recalls a time when addresses weren’t necessary

Lee G. Ambler was Bellingham’s town counsel for forty-five years. He was instrumental in obtaining for the town the land on Blackstone Street where  the town high school, library, fire department, and senior center are located. He was born and grew up in Bellingham and returned after college and law school to open a law practice and raise a family with his wife, neuropathologist Dr. Mary Ambler. Continue reading

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There’s no Place like Home

Barbara Eldredge Eltzroth has lived in Bellingham her entire life. She and her brothers grew up directly across from the First Baptist church in the center of town at the corner of 126 and 140. In those days almost anything they might need was within walking distance of their house.

 I don’t think I did much exciting growing up, sitting on our front porch and watching the army trucks go by on Saturday mornings. Continue reading

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Harpin Recalls Adventurous, Mischievous Times

Courtesy Bellingham Bulletin by Marjorie Turner Hollman

Roland Harpin cropped head shotRoland Harpin was born and raised in Bellingham, and other than his military service and ten years in California, he has lived in this area his whole life.He now lives in Blackstone and has been a home builder, architectural designer, inventor, and entrepreneur. Semi-retired, he is working on his latest business venture, ProSaver Cards, which offer discounts on services from hundreds of area merchants.He sat down in his office in Hopedale recently to talk about growing up in Bellingham. [As told to Marjorie Turner Hollman]

Poirier Street in South Bellingham, where I lived from 1951, was a dead-end street. The cul de sac was added later, along with more houses. Just through the woods at the end of the street is a brook, part of the Peter’s River. We had plenty of fun there, playing with frogs and snakes. Continue reading

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Jeanne Kempton remembers Bellingham

Jeanne Thayer Kempton has lived in Bellingham her whole life. Many people know Jeanne from her days as the secretary at Clara Macy School Elementary School. On top of her secretarial duties she also played the piano for school functions. She started getting involved in elections as a clerk, back in 1949. These days you’ll see Jeanne working at the polls on election days, or playing the piano for weeknight services at the First Baptist Church. [As told to Marjorie Turner Hollman]

I was born in the house right next door to where I live now in Bellingham. My grandfather owned the Thayer General store—the building that is still right across from the police station in the center of town. The [present day] nail salon was the horse barn. Continue reading

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Kathryn Whiting: Growing up with a mother who loved all of her children

Many people in Bellingham know Kathryn Whiting and her husband George from when they ran for many years Country Charm, a hair dressing salon on South Main Street. George was born in Bellingham while Kathryn moved here from New York when she was six months old. Both Kathryn and George grew up here in Bellingham, met in high school, married and raised a family here. Kathryn spoke to Marjorie Turner Hollman about her mother who was widowed when Kathryn was six years old, and the challenging life her mother led as a single parent.12-4-27 George, kathryn

My father had a successful upholstery business in New York City and met my mother there, where she was a registered nurse. My father was from the Boston area and took sick when I was just a tiny baby. Because of his illness he lost his business in New York. They came back here to Bellingham when I was six months old. Continue reading

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Ida Hood Parker—Electricity Comes to Bellingham, and Simple Stories of Farm Life

Ida Hood Parker has lived nearly her whole life in Bellingham. She has lost two beloved husbands, seen many changes, and is still ready to make new friends. She shared some stories with Marjorie of growing up in Bellingham and has clearly retained her sense of humor. The following is an edited version of the conversation Ida and Marjorie had in Ida’s home.

The day electricity came to town here in Bellingham everyone else but me was in school, so I stood alone on the front steps as they put the poles in on South Main Street (where I lived), one pole after the other. I was five years old. The workers had to trim so many trees to get the wires through. Continue reading

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I Remember…The Bellingham 1938 Hurricane

I remember when Bellingham…went through the 1938 hurricane.

George and Kathryn Whiting still live in the house where George was born in South Bellingham, Massachusetts. George recently spoke with me about the effects of the ’38 hurricane on his family’s chicken farm. MTH

Back then we didn’t have weather reports like we do now. We heard radio reports of a storm that was coming up the coast, but that’s all; we’d never heard of hurricanes.

My cousins, who were visiting, wanted to see the ocean when it was rough so my father drove them down to Narragansett Pier. When the surf became violent they left, and had to detour over downed trees and wires to get home. Continue reading

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