News from our members
Calling All Central Mass Community Cyclists!
Learn Bike Maintenance at High-Performance Leominster Bike Shop
Leominster’s newest shop serving cyclists in central Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire is now bringing the community together with classes in bicycle maintenance.
Tomten boasts a knowledgeable staff, all of them with many years of experience riding, racing and maintaining bikes. They know the makes of bike that riders are looking for, and they know how to keep them rolling at peak performance.
The shop supports area charity rides with mechanic expertise for Bravehearts and the Tully Lake Triathalon. Tomten annually supports PanMass Challenge riders with donations.
The name of the shop has an intriguing origin. Tomtens are part of Swedish folklore…small mythical creatures with long white beards and funny hats and shoes. They are industrious helpers taking care of chores and keeping everything neat and tidy.
Tomten Biketown opens its doors at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Group rides are posted on the Facebook page, as are other events and promotions. A short cyber-hop to Instagram will reward cyclists with stories and feature articles on the subject of their favorite pastime.
Riders anxious to join in with the maintenance classes can contact Tomten Biketown at 978.840.3221 and at .
Leominster AIS team members fight hunger, support community causes
As Reported by the Sentinel & Enterprise
The meal-packing event was held in conjunction with AIS’s annual sales meeting, which brings national sales leaders together at AIS’s headquarters each December. This was the third year that AIS participated in the Combat Hunger event, and the second year AIS devoted a portion of the annual meeting to packing meals for people served by the United Way of North Central Massachusetts.
“As a board member of UWNCM, my eyes are continually opened to how so many community members are struggling to make ends meet. We’re proud to partner with the United Way and support the work they do to help local families in need,” AIS President and CEO Bruce Platzman said.
According to 2019 statistics compiled by the Worcester County Food Bank in Massachusetts, one in 12 people and one in nine children face food insecurity in the region. The USDA’s 2019 Household Food Insecurity Report states that more than 37 million people in the U.S. struggle with hunger and live in poverty.
In addition to being part of the United Way Combat Hunger initiative, AIS supports the UWNCM’s Partnering for Literacy program, with seven AIS employees volunteering in the program.
Partnering for Literacy was established in 2017 with a focus on academic mentoring to support the United Way’s Early Childhood Initiative. School administrators and teachers work hand-in-hand with the academic mentors who are assigned to one or two mentees and then work with these students throughout the year to help improve their reading and socialization skills.
The Leominster Public Schools became the first community partner, and AIS became the first corporate partner. AIS continues to be instrumental in volunteer engagement and program success.
AIS supports a number of other local organizations. This past holiday season, AIS spearheaded a toy donation drive for Team Thiago. Thiago Molinari is a friend of AIS and a leukemia survivor. He and his family organize local charity events and toy drives for children who are battling life-threatening illnesses. The toys were donated to children who are receiving treatment at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
Some of the other non-profit organizations that AIS supports include Make-A-Wish™ of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the American Red Cross, Catie’s Closet and the Worcester Animal Rescue League.
In 2019, AIS received the Boston Business Journal’s Corporate Citizenship Award for its work in supporting charitable organizations and community causes.
AIS, headquartered in Leominster, is a leading manufacturer of commercial office furniture and boasts one of the most impressive stories of growth and success in the furniture industry. Founded in 1989, the company is known for offering market-relevant, feature-rich product lines that entice designers and support the diverse needs of end-users while offering exceptional value.
AIS has permanent showrooms at its Leominster headquarters and also in Chicago, New York City and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.ais-inc.com.
Workers Credit Union Announces Plan for Fitchburg Operations Center
HQ expansion project includes critical operations and branch in Fitchburg
The Main Street Fitchburg facility will continue to be a hub of activity housing Workers’ mortgage division, operations department, training staff, and full-service branch. Over the past few years Workers has upgraded the building with energy efficiencies, renovations and structural repairs to make it a pleasant and safe environment for its staff.
“Workers Credit Union continues to demonstrate a solid collaborative partnership with the City of Fitchburg and the region,” said Mayor Steven DiNatale. “The Fitchburg Operations Center exemplifies the ever changing banking model and Workers’ ability to evolve and meet the needs of its customers.”
Workers Credit Union has experienced unprecedented growth and is preparing for its future with the opening of a new headquarters in Littleton. The Fitchburg and Littleton locations will allow the credit union to consolidate operations, which are now spread across five locations, to just two.
“Our commitment to the Fitchburg community goes beyond our physical location,” said Workers Credit Union CEO Doug Petersen. “We will remain steadfast in our support of local organizations, events and nonprofits that improve the quality of life in Fitchburg and the surrounding area. We have many employees and thousands of members who call Fitchburg home so this location will remain an integral part of our operational network.”
The expansion office space will allow the credit union to accommodate its rapid growth well into the future while freeing space in the Fitchburg office for operational departments to expand. Workers has owned the Fitchburg building since 1979.
Workers Credit Union, home of the $3 million GiveBack program, is headquartered in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. With assets of $1.8 billion, the credit union serves over 103,000 members from 15 offices in Athol, Chelmsford, Fitchburg, Gardner, Groton, Lancaster, Leominster, Lunenburg, Orange, Townsend, Westford and Workers Online at www.workerscu.com.
America’s Historian DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN to speak at Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley, MA.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author to appear Sunday March 15, 2020
Ms. Kearns Goodwin’s seventh book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, was published in September 2018 to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller. A culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career of studying the American presidents focusing on Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our everyday lives.
The Bull Run Speakers Series is aimed at bringing educational, culturally significant and inspiring speakers to Central Massachusetts. Past speakers include environmentalist Marion Stoddart, Parkland school shooting survivor and co-Founder of March for our Lives David Hogg, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carl Bernstein.
Goodwin’s career as a presidential historian and author was inspired when as a 24-year-old graduate
student at Harvard she was selected to join the White House Fellows, one of America’s most prestigious
programs for leadership and public service. Goodwin worked with Johnson in the White House and later
assisted him in the writing of his memoirs. She then wrote Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, which became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It will be re-released in Spring 2019, with a new foreword highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs that have stood the test of time.
Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys was adapted into an award-winning five-part television miniseries. Her memoir Wait Till Next Year is the heartwarming story of growing up loving her family and baseball. Her sixth book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, won the Carnegie Medal and is being developed into a film.
Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln served as the basis for Steven
Spielberg’s hit film Lincoln and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for
American History, and the Lincoln Leadership Prize.
Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, Goodwin is frequently seen in
documentaries including Ken Burns’ The History of Baseball and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; and
on news and cable networks, and shows including Meet The Press and The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert. She played herself as a teacher on The Simpsons and a historian on American Horror Story.
Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a doctorate degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency.
Goodwin lives in Massachusetts. She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker
room in 1979, and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team.
WGBH is the media partner for The Bull Run Speaker Series.
For sponsorship opportunities please contact:
Alison Tocci, Bull Run Restaurant:
Doors open at 10:00 A.M. for seating and brunch.
Program begins at 12 Noon.
Tickets available at https://tickets.bullrunrestaurant.com/doriskearnsgoodwin/
Fitchburg Public Library presents Harry Potter Book Night
Join us at Fitchburg Public Library in the Garden Room to celebrate Harry Potter Book Night on Feb. 6, 2020, from 6 to 7:30pm. This year’s theme is the Triwizard Tournament. Witches, wizards and Muggles from around the world are invited to take part in a tournament of their own, competing in enchanting games, making magical crafts and testing their skills with an array of activities. Excellent for fans ages 6 and up.
This is a free program. Free parking is available in the lot at the corner of Boulder Drive and Newton Place. For information about this or other Library programs call 978-829-1780 or visit our website: www.FitchburgPublicLibrary.org.
NEADS Works to Prevent Service Dog Fraud in MA through Support of House Bill 3657
Fake and poorly trained “service dogs” – you’ve probably seen them in airports and grocery stores, on public transportation, in restaurants and hotels – can interfere with the life-saving work that legitimate Service Dogs perform for their human partners.
NEADS is committed to doing everything it can to help our working Service Dog teams navigate the world without worry. That means educating the public about what it takes to create a legitimate Service Dog and advocating to stop this epidemic of Service Dog fraud.
Here in Massachusetts, we’re doing our part through our support of H3657, An Act relative to the misrepresentation of a service animal, filed by Representative Kimberly Ferguson. We are currently requesting signatures for a petition in support of this bill.
We believe H3657 is important because it will discourage pet owners from identifying their dogs as service dogs in order to obtain special status by presenting the dog as a Service Dog or Service Dog in Training, thus allowing them to obtain the rights and privileges afforded disabled persons accompanied by Service Dogs, but unavailable to people and their pets. Plus, businesses will be better prepared to protect the public and legitimate Service Dog teams from aggressive, untrained, poorly trained and/or unsound pet dogs. Removing untrained dogs from public venues will help restore the credibility and safety of highly trained Service Dogs and their disabled partners.
If you have questions about the issue and/or the House Bill, please contact us for an interview or additional information.