January 2025

ABRHS whiz kids on GBH’s High School Quiz Show

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS) has a team that will be competing in Season 16 of GBH’s High School Quiz Show, and a strategy for winning the academic tournament for Massachusetts high school students. I interviewed three of four members of the ABRHS team last week along with…

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School Committee Update: December 19, 2024 and January 16, 2025 Meetings

January 25, 2025

by Diane Baum

School Committee approves Sustainability Policy The School Committee voted unanimously at their January 16 business meeting to approve a revised environmental Sustainability Policy. The updated policy strengthens the District’s commitment to renewable energy technologies and energy and resource conservation. The District will provide annual reports documenting greenhouse gas…

Filming begins in Acton on Pointing Fingers, murder mystery and love story with autism theme

January 25, 2025

by Franny Osman

“Magical.” That is how Acton’s Michael Bergmann described the first week of filming Pointing Fingers, the movie his son Dan Bergmann wrote and stars in. Michael, an experienced film maker, is directing the movie, and his wife, sculptor Meredith Bergmann, is director of photography. The first shoot happened…

Town Manager updates residents at Java with John

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Acton Town Manager John Mangiaratti gave town updates at his monthly Java with John meeting at the Acton Senior Center. Here are the key takeaways from the meeting: The second half of the meeting focused on specific town initiatives and resident concerns. Finally, the meeting concluded with a…

Full house at the Annual Martin Luther King Day Breakfast

January 25, 2025

by Alissa Nicol

Despite a storm the night before, which dropped almost six inches of snow on Acton, and frigid winds Monday morning, January 20, there was a full house for the 23rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Breakfast, hosted by Na’aseh, Congregation Beth Elohim’s Social Action Committee. Na’aseh…

“Do good, seek justice, and walk humbly with God”

January 25, 2025

by Matthew Liebman

The annual Martin Luther King breakfast at Congregation Beth Elohim in Acton is reported in a separate article in this issue, by Alissa Nicol. In this article, Matthew Liebman gives more details of the lessons shared by invited speaker Colette Phillips and Rabbi David at the event. In…

Candid Camera in the wild: an interview with Rebecca Harvey

January 25, 2025

by Tom Wolf

Rebecca Harvey has captured hundreds of wild animals in Acton. Wait, I mean captured on video – on her trail cameras. Trust me, no animals were harmed in pursuit of her hobby. I sat down with Rebecca on Saturday, Jan. 11 to learn more about her trail camera…

The Bulletin Board

January 25, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

The Acton Exchange team is pleased to announce that calendar events will now be shared in our online calendar. Going forward, we hope organizations will learn how to enter their own events into the calendar. Write to calendar@actonexchange.org for more details. Volunteer opportunities (Please send your volunteer opportunities…

AB girls rally late, but fall to Fontbonne Academy, 63-52

January 25, 2025

by James Conboy

Jan. 17, Acton Boxborough High School gym: Trailing by more than 20 points in the first half, the AB Revolution cut the deficit to ten points in the fourth quarter, prompting Fontbonne Coach Maura Spignesi to call a time out. But in the end, the local squad couldn’t…

Steals, fast breaks power Revs rout, 74-51

January 25, 2025

by James Conboy

Jan.14, Acton-Boxborough High School gym: An explosive third quarter for the Revolution offense, combined with a tenacious defense, stretched a 36-32 halftime lead to 65-35 after three quarters, as the AB boys downed their Dual-County League rival Wayland Warriors, 74-51. Desmond Flumo’s many steals resulted in uncontested layups,…

Acton apartments sold for $13M to Needham firm

January 25, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

RCMA Properties, a property management firm owned by a Needham family, has recently acquired six apartment buildings located in Acton, in a $13 million transaction. The acquisitions include the Assabet Garden Apartments and the Nagog Gardens Apartments. The Assabet Garden Apartments, a 30-unit complex situated on 3.9 acres,…

Obituary: Earl Mitchell Gogan

January 25, 2025

by Family

GOGAN, Earl Mitchell, of Sudbury, passed away on January 8, 2025. He died after an accidental fall near his home. He was 67. Earl, known as “Mitch,” was the son of the late Robert and Virginia M. Gogan. He is survived by his brother Robert Gogan Jr. and…

Acton celebrates its new EV fast chargers

January 17, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

On January 16, about thirty people braved the cold to enjoy hot drinks and snacks at a celebration of Acton’s first electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers, located at Veterans Field at the corner of Great Rd. and Main St. Karen Root Watkins, a volunteer with Energize Acton, a…

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Select Board Notes: January 13, 2025

January 17, 2025

by Tom Beals

Opening remarks A resident appreciated the presence of the Finance Committee (FinCom) at the opening of the January 13, 2025 Select Board meeting, and praised the FinCom for their listening session at the Memorial library. She recounted the steep increase in her properties’ appraised value and said that…

Fire Station Deployment Pilot Program to Start in February

January 17, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

Town Manager John Mangiaratti and Fire Chief Anita Arnum report that the Acton Fire Department will be launching a fire station deployment pilot program starting in February. The Town of Acton used state grant funds to contract with the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at…

Treasure hunt book includes clues in Acton

January 17, 2025

by Kim Kastens

In the 1980’s, readers became obsessed with a picture book, Masquerade, in which the text and illustrations concealed clues to the location of a golden treasure that the author had hidden somewhere in Great Britain. Masquerade spawned a whole genre of book-based treasure hunts, with clues based in…

A graph showing age and gender distribution in Acton.

BACKGROUNDER: Acton’s changing population

January 17, 2025

by Greg Jarboe

Population and population growth impact many aspects of life in Acton, from school population, to traffic density, to drinking water demand, to viability of the Town Meeting form of governance. To provide a context for these and other issues, the Acton Exchange offers this backgrounder, digging into who…

The Bulletin Board

January 17, 2025

by The Acton Exchange Team

The Acton Exchange team is pleased to announce that calendar events will now be shared in our online calendar. Going forward, we hope organizations will learn how to enter their own events into the calendar. Write to calendar@actonexchange.org for more details. We are still ironing out the kinks.…

Gardner Field playground adds sculpture and Little Free Library

January 10, 2025

by Jeff Brown

Gardner Field in West Acton center is now home to a new Little Free Library. Installed in mid-December, it is full of books and ready for the neighborhood to stop by and browse. The playground at Gardner Field was completed and dedicated last summer, but there were details…

Hanukkah menorah lights up Acton Center

January 10, 2025

by Miriam Lezak

On New Year’s day, which was also the eighth (and last) night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, around 100 people came out on a chilly evening to sing songs, eat donuts and latkes, and watch as all eight lights on the 9-foot tall menorah in front of…