Heads Up Hampden

13/02/2024

The Select Board wants to kill beavers. Beavers cannot be trapped and transported into other municipalities, therefore they must be killed.

Usually beavers are killed via body grip trapping. When an animal passes through a body grip trap, two rotating jaws close on the animal's neck or chest, catching it in a body hold, usually causes the beaver to drown. Alternatively a leg hold trap is sometimes used, which grabs the beavers leg and pulls it under water.

This may happen as soon as mid-spring. Normally beavers are killed by the hundreds, in a cull like this.

13/02/2024

In the Feb 12 2024 Select Board meeting we learned that the town is being billed every month for a the premium service with CivicPlus, and we are not receiving it. Worse even, the company is now charging our lowly town, past due interest.

The town gets it's rudimentary website (www.hampdenma.gov) through Civic Plus, as does most of the municipalities in Massachusetts. Because of this billing snafu, the town is considering looking at other solutions for the future.

13/02/2024

Hampden-Wilbraham Reg. School District
Hampden Schools
Closed Tomorrow

12/02/2024

WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA
320 PM EST Mon Feb 12 2024..WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED for the following areas:
Eastern Franklin MA-Northern Worcester MA-Western Hampden MA-Eastern Hampshire MA-Eastern Hampden MA-Northern Middlesex MA-
Including the cities of Greenfield, Orange, Barre, Fitchburg, Blandford, Amherst, Northampton, Springfield, Westfield, and Ayer
320 PM EST Mon Feb 12 2024..WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TUESDAY TO 1 AM EST WEDNESDAY.....WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...
* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches.
* WHERE...Western, north central, and interior northeast
Massachusetts.
* WHEN...From 1 AM Tuesday to 1 AM EST Wednesday.
* IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions during the morning and evening commute.

07/02/2024

Congratulations Alli Bond, Hampden’s newest cemetery commissioner. She will be filling a vacant seat.

31/01/2024

VolUnteer!

31/01/2024

The position of Town Administrator was established by a 2018 Town Meeting vote which authorized the position in beginning in July 2018.

The Town Administrator is appointed by the three-member Select Board.

On January 29, 2024, the Select Board voted for their next Town Administrator.

The Town Administrator is responsible for the following tasks and responsibilities:

Serves as Chief Administrative Officer and agent of the Board of Selectmen

Serves as the Town’s HR Director

Serves as Chief Procurement Officer

Serves as Director of Financial Management Team

Oversees and reports on claims against the town

Prepares and coordinates Annual & Special Town Meeting Warrants

Oversees and manages operations/services under Selectmen's authority

31/01/2024

Those prices are less than the big box markets in S'field. Get them while they're cold!

26/01/2024

24/01/2024

This isn't a one time thing. This is a recurring issue. Is Hampden getting the short end of the stick because it requires so few buses and pays so little in the grand scheme of things, because we're a small town?

Local parents are looking for answers after two incidents involving school buses, including one catching fire earlier this month.

24/01/2024

Tell me about a better baker in Hampden. That’s right. There isn’t one!

23/01/2024

The select board seemed shocked to learn that a single employee is opening the residents up to massive financial data loss, all because one lone wolf doesn't trust technology, the interwebs, third party companies, or their firewalls. She is playing Russian roulette with Collector's Office data stored on a thumb drive that is shuttled around from place to place.

23/01/2024

WTAF people! The Town needs to cut this out ASAP. The board of selectmen seemed equally shocked by this revelation. Is our info less valuable than a new computer or two for some employees tucked into a dark corner somewhere.... employees who don't see the problem with this all?

23/01/2024

Life & Death in Hampden

22/01/2024

Bus 32 broke down again. Engine smoking and overheating... kids evacuated... again. Same exact place too... Bayberry.

22/01/2024

HAMPDEN HISTORY

Did you know....

One result of the decline in the mill was the late-nineteenth-century development of Hampden's so-called "Widow's Alley," that is, the string of houses between 438 Main Street and 340 Main Street, so-called when out-migration prompted by the mill closings together with the demographic consequences of Civil War produced a neighborhood comprising an unusual number of single women. Several of these women took in young boys, wards of the state who became a significant part of Hampden's population in the early twentieth century.

22/01/2024

HAMPDEN HISTORY

Did you know....

One result of the decline in the mill was the late-nineteenth-century development of Hampden's so-called "Widow's Alley," that is, the string of houses between 438 Main Street and 340 Main Street, so-called when out-migration prompted by the mill closings together with the demographic consequences of Civil War produced a neighborhood comprising an unusual number of single women. Several of these women took in young boys, wards of the state who became a significant part of Hampden's population in the early twentieth century.

22/01/2024

https://www.westernmassnews.com/2024/01/21/wilbraham-police-identify-suspect-involved-saturday-night-shooting-officer-stable-condition/?outputType=amp

In developing news out of Wilbraham, a police officer was shot on Saturday evening on Old Carriage Road.

21/01/2024

Goat Rock is a natural geological feature occurring at the southern terminus of the Wilbraham Mountain range. It rises in a steep ascent to a height of approximately 650 feet. The length and width of the promontory are both about 200 yards. The substantial base of Goat Rock appears to be schist with a deep layer of quartz crowning the top. It can be accessed from the east by a hiking trail with a gradual ascent or from the west by a near vertical climb. From the surnmit, the town of East Longmeadow and the Berkshire foothills are visible. The view to the northwest is blocked by trees but would probably include a view of the Holyoke range.

Goat Rock stands as a guardian to the natural gateway to the valley that comprises Hampden Village. This gateway made possible the western entrance to Hampden, providing a link to the neighboring towns of East Longmeadow and Springfield, Massachusetts to the west and northwest and Somers Connecticut to the south. Without this natural outlet, trade and communication would have required a long and arduous journey over rough mountain terrain. Without this opening, the mills could not have developed along the Scantic and the development of the town as an industrial community would not have taken place nor would there have been a convenient outlet for distribution of agricultural products. Hampden has never had state highways, train service, trolley service, and only briefly (c. 1942 to 1960's) bus service. This important opening made it possible for Hampden to develop as a town.

Goat Rock received it's name c. 1750 when William King's goats roamed the slopes of Wilbraham Mountain. One day a goat fell off the mountain and became wedged in the rocks where it died, thus providing the name for the spot where it met it's demise. "Goat Rock Casino", a locally well known and notorious roadhouse in the Prohibition era took it's name from the rocks as did the "Goat Rock Gift Shop" which closed m 2001. Currently, "Goat Rock Farm" on Chapin Road carries on the name.

Goat Rock is a centuries old gathering spot for picnics, outings, hiking, camp-outs, an occasional religious service and at least one late twentieth century wedding. To this day it remains a popular spot for young couples and is part of a well used system of hiking trails. It provides an excellent "lookout" to Connecticut on the south and west to the Berkshire foothills

Edwin Oakley, an African American and his Native American wife Elthera (Babcock) lived at the base of Goat Rock in 1855 with their four children and Edwin's mother. Andrew Whalen was also living with Mr. Oakley. Lewis Whalen is listed in the 1850 Census as working as a farm laborer for Edwin Oakley. Both of the Whalens were African American. It would appear that Mr. Oakley was a moderately successful farmer. Perhaps he acted as the "gatekeeper" to the village, guiding heavy wagons through the narrow pass between Goat Rock on the north and Point of Rocks to the south. The house is not shown in the 1870 Atlas. Many of the Oakleys are buried in Old Cemetery, Hampden in recently identified graves.

20/01/2024

18/01/2024

LIVE NOW: The 3 finalists for the Town Administrator are being interviewed starting today at 3pm. ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88194303072?pwd=MEo1TlBESC93VTFBNFRxdi9aaEc2dz09

18/01/2024

https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/crews-help-remove-driver-after-propane-truck-rollover-in-hampden/

One person was injured after a propane truck rolled over in Hampden.

18/01/2024

18/01/2024

In the area of 170 Scantic Road, a FSi propane truck has rolled over at the end of a driveway. Scantic Road between S Monson and Thresher is closed. Homes closest to the crash site have been evacuated out of an abundance of caution. Mass Department of Fire Services rehab unit has been dispatched. Wilbraham Fire Department providing mutual aid.