TOWNSEND — Thousands of people have used the library, participated in Senior Center activities and attended functions and programs at the meeting hall since the complex that houses all three opened five years ago.
Oct. 31, 2009, was a big day for the town. A crowd gathered to see the new building on Dudley Road, a gift to the town from Sterilite Corp.
Half a decade later, a smaller but just as grateful throng attended the anniversary celebration on Tuesday. They stood and sat in October sunlight just outside the meeting hall, where autumn plants contrasted with a white stone covered with a cloth.
“Today we will dedicate a commemorative plaque, a public and permanent recognition and reminder that we are blessed to live and work in a safe, healthy, nurturing town where our neighbors and business community truly care for one another,” said master of ceremonies Jane Jackson.
“A year ago, we said we had to do something,” said Carolyn Sellars, who has been actively supporting the building since before it was built, serving on committees and as president of the Townsend Library Endowment Fund.
She, Jackson and Alice Struthers formed what they call the department of imagination and innovation.
Together with representatives from groups using the library, they looked for a way to thank Sterilite for the gift. They also wanted to make sure that future generations would know why two sections of the buildings are named after Townsend couples.
During the brief ceremony, Library Director Stacy Schuttler and Karin Canfield Moore, director of the Council on Aging, unveiled the stone by the entrance.
The plaque reads, in part, “with heartfelt appreciation from a grateful community, October 31, 2009.”
Inside the Senior Center, a photograph of Nancy and Roy Shepherd is framed with a summary of the many things the couple did to benefit the town. The center is named after them.
The library, named for Richard and Irene Collette, has a photograph of and information about the couple credited with bringing Sterilite to town. A poster-sized display in the entryway of the meeting hall has information about the company and pictures of the factory and opening celebrations.
Funding and installing the commemorative displays and stone took a community effort.
The Friends of the Townsend Seniors paid for the display about the Shepherds.
The Friends of the Townsend Public Library picked up the tab for the Collette display.
In the spring, organizers of the celebration and family members unveiled the plaques in Groton, where Irene Collette and Nancy Shepherd lived. Nancy died in June.
Moving and installing the stone was a group effort, exemplifying Jackson’s acknowledgment of the care that Townsend neighbors and businesses show for each other.
“They knew we didn’t have a lot of money,” Sellars said.
The Townsend Highway Department moved the stone from land between the library and the school. The Cemetery and Parks Department positioned the stone and moved plants. Facilities manager Mark Mercurio helped with moving and installation.
Businesses pitched in, too. Sam Briguglio at Apple Meadow Hardware provided a discount on the bulbs planted near the stone.
Al Birrille, of PeaceDale Monument Co., LLC, gave a discount on cleaning the stone and installing the plaque.
Organizers had a donation vase on hand to raise money to cover the costs of making the plaque itself.
After the unveiling, Hirk Fortin stopped to speak with Al Stone, the chairman of Sterilite.
Fortin was on a library building committee before the present building was planned.
The committee did not have any success moving forward with a new building, he told Stone.
“You guys came along and saved us,” he said.
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