Advancing the social, educational, civic and economic interest of the village and it’s inhabitants

Green tip for Leeds

by Amy Stamm

This is the season to compost your winter’s dryer lint and start hanging your laundry outside to save energy and reduce your bills. You can purchase rotating clothes lines at Florence Hardware or build your own. Let’s see all of those cloth napkins, tablecloths, sheets, and clothes blowing in the wind this spring! It’s a great way to benefit the environment and your wallet at the same time!

Award Winning Facility

Caring for our seniors is important work whether done at home, out in the neighborhood, or in a care facility,  The LCA and Linda Manor are reaching out to the community inviting you to share some time and something you like to do with the seniors who are convalescing in this excellent facility. Linda Manor won the coveted Gold Award from the American Health Association this year. Only 17 facilities nationwide have earned that distinction!

I spent several hours this summer visiting with a friend at Linda Manor. Walking down the halls, I was consistently met with smiles and greetings from the nursing, therapy, and service staff. The atmosphere was both relaxed and efficient. A distinct effort is made to make families and friends feel welcome and patients comfortable. Linda Manor would love to have volunteers from Leeds. They are looking for people to call bingo, take residents outside for walks, and next spring hope to create a garden.

If you can share an hour or so of your time with the folks at Linda Manor, I encourage you to contact:
Pam Hamberg, Activities Director phamberg@bhs1.org

Fourth Annual Hotel Bridge Bike Ride

For the fourth year in a row riders came out and enjoyed a scenic bike ride through Western MA towns which began in Leeds and ended in Leeds.  All routes traveled over the historic Hotel Bridge where riders saw a freshly painted thank you sign.  We thanked them for taking part in the fundraising efforts and riding a 10, 25, or 50 mile route on their bikes.  In return they went home with an awesome Tshirt with our Leeds Hotel Bridge graphic designed by Heidi Stevens. About 55 riders, age 8 through 72 took part in the event.  The weather was perfect for biking, cool and no rain!  At the top of a long climb about 13 miles into the ride, cyclists laughed and chatted as they were greeted by Bob Riddle who had snacks and drinks ready.  Back at Chartpack more volunteers worked registration tables checking in and out riders. Thank you Stephy Cho, Deb Jacobs, Alisa Klein, Amy Stamm, and Sue Carbin. Registration was well organized by the set up crew of Joel Emrick, David Rondina, and Tom Silliman. Photographing the smiles all day was Joel Emerick with a camera ready at every turn!

Riders who braved the hilly 50 mile route were greeted by George Merriam at the Conway covered bridge with much needed snacks. A big thank you to Alisa Klein for her expertise in advertising our ride, although we had many returning riders, she got the word out and new faces were riding too!  Justin O’Connor made online pre-registration available so sign ups were quick and easy the morning of the ride. All in all, the event was successful, riders had fun, there were no injuries, and a profit was made toward restoring the Leeds Hotel bridge.  Our next step will be to meet with DPW to get an update on the progress of restoration plans.  Thank you to all who came out and to sponsors…Stop & Shop, River Valley Market, Walmart, Staples, B.J.s, and Joe’s Garage.