The Friends of the Acton Council on Aging proudly announce that the Honoring Excellence program will host Holocaust Survivor, Author and Public Speaker Janet Singer Applefield. Janet wrote a memoir about her experience as a Jewish child in Poland, surviving by taking on the identity of a deceased Catholic girl and hiding in plain sight with the aid of strangers. Her father, weighing just 110 pounds, survived the Theresienstadt camp-ghetto and reunited with his daughter. He transcribed Janet’s recollections of her years of survival, which served as the basis for her memoir. Refreshments will be served following the program. At

Meeting Room, Acton Memorial Library, 486 Main Street, Acton, MA, 01720 Great Decisions is America's largest discussion program on world affairs. The program model involves reading the Great Decisions Briefing Book and meeting in a Discussion Group to discuss the most critical global issues facing America today. This months topic will be on Artificial Intelligence. A short article is available from the Great Decisions briefing book. Please read it ahead of the meeting. It is available in the library. The AI revolution is the leading edge of a larger high-tech revolution which promises to transform the world. Experts argue that international

Register for the Zoom link here. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the most storied events of the Holocaust, yet previous accounts of which have almost entirely focused on its male participants. In "The Girl Bandits of the Warsaw Ghetto: The True Story of Five Courageous Young Women Who Sparked an Uprising", Holocaust historian Elizabeth Hyman introduces five young, courageous Polish Jewish women—known as “the girls” by the leadership of the resistance and “bandits” by their Nazi oppressors—who were central to the Jewish resistance as fighters, commanders, couriers, and smugglers. Join us as Elizabeth shares this extraordinary, important, and

Great Decisions is America's largest discussion program on world affairs. The program model involves reading the Great Decisions Briefing Book and meeting in a Discussion Group to discuss the most critical global issues facing America today. This months topic will be on TBD. A short article is available from the Great Decisions briefing book. Please read it ahead of the meeting. It is available in the library. Reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available upon request by emailing library@actonma.gov.

“Hockomock” in Algonquin means "land where spirits dwell” and is a revered Wampanoag sacred site, and later a “Devil’s Swamp” for English settlers. Join Dan Boudillion and Bettina Abe for a 2-mile hike at Hockomock Swamp, a Massachusetts Wildlife Management Area in Raynham, Mass. There is much lore surrounding the history of Hockomock Swamp, beginning in the 1600s. The area is the largest freshwater swamp in the state and is known for sightings of floating orbs of light, ghostly voices, and phantom drums linked to its past as an ancient burial ground and a natural fortress during King Phillip’s War.

The book Path of Souls: the Native American Death Journey gives evidence of shamanic soul travel to the Milky Way in mound cultures.  Are there traces of such structures and travel in Nashobah?  Yes. Nashobah historian, Dan Boudillion, will explore local structures that mirror the arrangements identified by Gregory Little in the book and which may have been used for similar purposes. Friends of Pine Hawk events are free but for talks like this registration is encouraged at https://tinyurl.com/2025-Pinehawk.