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The Bedford Citizen - Community-supported news for Bedford, Massachusetts since 2012

The Bedford Citizen (https://www.thebedfordcitizen.org/)

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Online Learning to Begin for Bedford Public School Students

By Mike Rosenberg | 17 hours ago

The Bedford Public Schools, closed by state order until at least May 4 to slow the spread of Covid-19, this week forays into a new universe: “required engagement with online learning.”

In a letter to student households Friday, School Superintendent Jon Sills wrote that the remote experience will be guided by a recent collaborative vision statement. This includes “providing meaningful work, promoting choice, flexibility, creativity, and engagement; nurturing connections with students; and “factoring in the anxiety and other conditions that the crisis is imposing on students, educators, and their families.”

Related: Bedford’s Young Drummer’s March Cheers Residents

Bedford’s Young Drummer’s March Cheers Residents

Late last week and on Saturday morning, Bedford residents were cheered by the sight and sound of a Young Drummer marching through Bedford neighborhoods.

A member of Lexington’s William Diamond Junior Fife and Drum Corps for the past four and a half years, the Young Drummer has been interested in drumming since he was four-years-old.

His interest in fife and drum music aligned with an early passion for history after watching the Colonial re-enactors gather on Bedford Common before they marched off to Willson Park during Bedford’s annual Pole Capping ceremony.

Town of Bedford Update on COVID-19 ~ Sunday, 29 March 2020

Editor’s Note: In addition to the count of Bedford’s active cases, today’s message covers online education and Chromebook pick-up, scheduled for Monday, March 30, at JGMS

Click this link (in the full story) to read the Town’s update for Sunday, March 29, 2020

Bedford VA Medical Center Temporarily Closes Outpatient Clinics ~ Effective Monday, March 30, 2020

Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Springs Road has announced that all its Community-Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), will close temporarily effective Monday, March 30, 2020, due to COVID-19.

All CBOC providers and staff have been converted to virtual care at this time and Veterans are recommended to use telehealth–either phone or video–for their scheduled appointments.

More Headlines

Letter to the Editor: Thank You to Bedford’s Covid-19 Emergency Management Team
Town of Bedford Update on COVID-19 ~ Saturday, 28 March 2020
Select Board Addresses Covid-19 Focused Agenda, Remotely via Zoom

Community News

  • A Bright Note in Today’s News ~ Peeps Diorama Contest Going Online ~ Entry Photos Due April 8

    Pam Aghababian, Teen Services Librarian (and official Peeps-master) at the Bedford Free Public Library  tells The Citizen that the 10th Annual Peeps Diorama contest is “going virtual.” If you submitted an entry before the Library closed, you do not need to re-submit. The Library has your information and your pictures. Deadline for submitting your entry is April 8.  You will be able to view the entries and vote for your favorite on the Library website.  Winners will be announced on April 15.

  • When You Can’t Get to the Library . . . The Library Comes to You

    There isn’t anything that can quite take the place of a real, walk-in visit to the Bedford Free Public Library,  BUT – there are a host of online services available to you at home during this time when the physical Library is closed.

All Community News

Government

  • Safe Shopping Tips Amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak – Bedford Board of Health, 27 March 2020

    On March 23, 2020 Governor Baker released an additional Order allowing COVID-19 Essential Services to continue to operate. A Stay-At-Home Advisory was also issued, urging residents within the State of Massachusetts to stay home as much as possible, and limit unnecessary time spent out in public. Grocery stores, pharmacies and specific retail establishments are included in the list of Essential Services that remain in operation. While residents are limiting time spent in public, some establishments cannot be avoided so many people are wondering how to practice safe shopping during the COVID-19 outbreak. There are many ways that YOU can help limit the spread within Bedford by taking the following steps if you have to go to the grocery store or pharmacy:

  • Town of Bedford Update on COVID-19 ~ Friday, 27 March 2020

    Editor’s Note ~ In today’s message: Current active cases, prepping Chromebooks for distribution, mental health services available through the Town, and a Food Bank update.

All Government

Schools

  • Middlesex Community College awards a Pair of Marie Ryder Beacon of Hope Scholarships

    Among the 11 Middlesex Community College Foundation scholarships awarded at the Nesmith House in Lowell on March 5, two were conferred in honor of recently retired Professor of Nursing Marie Ryder, a long-time Bedford resident. The Marie Ryder Beacon of Hope Scholarship was awarded to nursing students Jaime Breingan of Billerica and Alhassan Musah of Lowell. MCC’s Nursing Department established the scholarship to honor Ryder’s retirement, after serving as an MCC Nursing Professor for 40 years. Ryder presented the scholarships with Dr. Sandra Shapiro, MCC’s Director of Nurse Education.

  • Choosing Superintendent-Elect Philip Conrad

    The superintendent-elect of the Bedford Public Schools began his career as an art teacher, has led two Essex County high schools and is a member of the state education department’s Kaleidoscope Collective cohort. Wednesday afternoon the School Committee unanimously voted to offer the position to Andover High School Principal Philip Conrad, effective July 1. Later that afternoon Conrad accepted, and soon discussions will begin on a contract. The appointment culminates a months-long process to succeed Superintendent Jon Sills, who is retiring.

All Schools

Extra, Extra!

  • Self-Guided Trail Walks Offered by Bedford’s Trails Committee

    The Bedford Trails Committee has been encouraged by Sarah Stanton’s, Bedford Town Manager, recommendation (during this age of social distancing) to exercise by walking our trails. Therefore, the Bedford Trails Committee is introducing a new approach—we'll provide the description, map & directions, and you can take the trail walk at your convenience and your own pace. This trail walk is to the new Davis Road Boardwalk ~ Click this link for a scalable map and full information. As shown in the attachment, you can drive over to Winterberry Way and Carlisle Rd./Rt. 225, park on Winterberry Way and take a 2.5 mile, 1.5-hour walk (or make it a trail run).

  • People Doing Good Things in the Face of a Pandemic

    It’s often that through adversity that the best of brought out in the people around us and this pandemic that has hit our home of Bedford, MA has done just that in some of the Town's young people. As the country was hit hard with school and store closings, layoffs, social limitations, illness, uncertainty, and fear. Many young people would be huddled at home online talking with their friends and lamenting their losses, especially Seniors who feel robbed of their final months of milestone events and all the Senoiritis they can get away with, but not Sylvia Wolk and Cole Parks of Bedford High School. Wolk and Parks have rallied many others to jump on board with their mission of making protective face shields and N95 face masks for healthcare workers that are in short supply.

More Extra, Extra!

Features

  • Freshman, Ending: Closed Without Closure

    I stood in my room, Sheahan Hall 207, for what I never thought would be my last time living there. The previous week was filled with hard-core studying for mid-terms, work-study, and sneaking in a meal or two here and there. I looked around at my bags all packed up, most of my belongings inside, worried that the college would end up closing and I would leave much-needed clothing behind.

  • Callahan’s Karate Holds Virtual Online Belt Graduation Ceremony

    Amidst all the disruption, Callahan's Karate held a virtual online belt graduation ceremony and hosted a drive-through, no-contact belt pick up. Instructors cheered for the students as they pulled up to the karate school. Another instructor with gloves on placed the belt onto our DIY social distant belt delivery device to allow the students to still receive their new belt!

All Features

Life Events

  • Life Events ~ March 11, 2020 ~ Humphrey-Hargreaves Wedding ~ John Citrano’s New Job

    Congratulations to the happy couple and a local resident on a new work opportunity: Humphrey-Hargreaves Wedding Janet and Eric Humphrey of Bedford announce the wedding of their daughter, Ellen Humphrey to Michael Hargreaves, son of Janet and Derek Hargreaves of Beverley, East Yorkshire, UK. The couple was married by Justice of the Peace Stoddard Melhado on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at The Barn at Gibbet Hill in Groton, Massachusetts, with the reception following at the same location.

  • Life Events ~ February 28, 2020 ~ Michael McAllister

    Congratulations to a local resident recently honored at work: Local resident Michael McAllister has been named as the new Director of Human Capital for Belmont Public Schools. He is currently serving as the principal of the Chenery Middle School in Belmont.  In an interview McAllister had with the Belmontonian he reflected on his 20 years in the Belmont schools as well as the opportunities to learn and grow in this new position. McAllister grew up in Bedford and after graduating from Bedford High School in 1995, he attended Northeastern University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

More Life Events

Obituaries

  • An Obituary: Frank N. Scimone

    Frank N. Scimone owner and operator of Frank Scimone Farm on Old Bedford Road in Concord passed away on March 26, 2020. Born when Emerson was a Cottage Hospital for our towns, Mr. Scimone is the last of his generation to operate the farm begun by his parents.  A graduate of Wentworth Institute of Technology, Mr. Scimone was steadfastly devoted to the family farm.

  • An Obituary: Frank W. Martines, Sr.

    Frank W. Martines, Sr.  passed away on March 25, 2020. Mr. Martines grew up in Bedford and ran Blue Ribbon Dairy with his family.

All Deaths

Sports

  • Alli Lua Completes the ‘MS Climb to the Top’ Vertical 5k in 17.1 Minutes

    Alli Lua who teaches second grade at the Davis School in Bedford has hidden powers. In just 17.1 minutes (!) she climbed to the top of 200 Clarendon Street, previously known as the John Hancock Tower, on Saturday, March 7.

  • Four Bedford Soccer Players Experience Portugal Through Soccer

    It was the trip of a lifetime for four Bedford Soccer players who play for Soccer Club’s East Elite Blue Team, the FC Stars. Carter Rauch, Christian Hill, Eshan Pandey, all 8th graders at JGMS and Ansh Aggarwal, a 9th grader at BHS departed Boston on Friday, February 14, and began their 9-day journey to Lisbon, Portugal.

All Sports

Calendar Highlights

  • Bedford Food Pantry Details & New Hours ~ Updated 03.24.2020
  • Many events are being cancelled due to Covid-19. When in doubt please consult the hosting organization.
  • Annual Town Meeting • POSTPONED

Letters to the Editor

  • Letter to the Editor: Recent Bedford Election with National Significance

    Bedford’s Town Election on March 14 turned out to have unexpected national significance. Not only was Bopha Malone the first minority candidate to win election to Bedford’s Select Board (as far as anyone seems to know) it has also been discovered that she was only the second Cambodian American woman in the entire country ever to win election to public office. This is clearly a big win for Cambodians everywhere, but especially in the eyes of young Cambodian American women.

  • Letter to the Editor: The Two-Week Difference ~ Update from Gazzaniga

    I write to you safe and sound from my home in Bedford, having returned safely from a three-week business trip to Gazzaniga, Italy on January 31, a day on which the first two cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in a couple who had flown into the country through the same airport through which I was departing. The Italian Prime Minister declared an emergency that day, immediately suspended all flights to and from China, and began screening everyone arriving in Italy via airplane. Within 26 days, that couple and a friend were discharged from the hospital, but by then there were 397 additional infected people, 12 of whom had died. Thus began the exponential explosion which continues to this day in Italy.

All Letters

All Stories

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