Armchair quarterback moves on

As 2013 comes to a close, after almost 10 years, time to bid adieu

Andres Caamano
Senior News Editor/NIE Director


With a few items on my plate to potentially write about the day before we all welcome 2014, I found myself on Tuesday going back and forth about whether to comment further about the recently uncovered $505,000 shortfall in Templeton, or to chime in about Templeton’s town coordinator, Jeffrey Ritter, deciding to move on to take the town administrator position in Sterling, or even, perhaps, about how a New Hampshire court's recent verdict on a case involving Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School principal, Nicholas DeSimone.

Among those three, I figure it would be best to begin with the most recent news, as Ritter announced at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting that he would resign from his Templeton post, so that he may soon begin working in Sterling.

Why that story? Because like Ritter, I will be moving on — from The Gardner News — with my last day being tomorrow.


In regard to my pending departure, over the last two weeks, I’ve sought to spread the word in person, by phone, or by e-mail to the many people of Gardner and the surrounding towns who I have come to know through this column and The Gardner News. Even after spreading the news directly to about 40 to 50 people, each day I come across at least one person who is hearing about it for the first time, after which they graciously wish me well and thank me for what the newspaper has been able to accomplish during my almost 10 years working in the 309 Central St. office.

I can still remember as if it was yesterday sitting in The Gardner News’ conference room during an interview with Publisher Alberta Saffell Bell, thinking to myself: “I’ll be here for a year or a year and a half, after which I’ll move on.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly a year; more like three weeks short of a decade.

For those of us who have been unfortunate enough to be mired in working environments where one is not appreciated, the easiest explanation for why I did a 53-mile commute from my home each and every day to Gardner, it largely came down to being appreciated, for which I first and foremost must thank Mrs. Bell.

During my time at The Gardner News, great relationships have been forged with current staff members including receptionist Mary Butler, production staff member Nancy Landry and part-time writer Omer Cormier. Others who have spent time at The Gardner News who served it well and were great to work with included Jeff Alexander, Ed Bilodeau, David Colbert, Patrick Culkeen, Joanna Derzius, Ottar Draugsvold, Stacie Galang, Chris Garofalo, Livia Gershon, Shawn Ilinitch, Karen Johnson, Alyssa Montalbano, Cindy Reith, and Nate Walsh.

Outside of The Gardner News building, others who proved very helpful in achieving my goals each and every day over these years — while also being very easy to work with — included teachers Brian Beaudoin, Heather Boylan, Alan Dernalowicz, Mike Fontaine, William Hulette, Mark Kobel, Lynn Murray, Mark Nevard, and Brian Snell; retired teachers Kerry Bettez, Mike Fitzgerald and Ruth Suyenaga; retired administrator and Winchendon selectman Jackson Blair; former selectman Maggie Whitney; administrator Chris Nosel; WCRN’s Chris Thompson; former principal Angelo Garofalo; Rev. Gary Heikkila; MWCC’s Fagan Forhan and Janice O’Connor; former state representative Brian Knuuttila, former Mahar superintendent Mike Baldassarre; former Narragansett superintendent Stephen Hemman; and former Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce president Mike Ellis.

I’m hoping that many of you who I have crossed paths with over the years will continue to work closely with my successor, John Vincent, assisting The Gardner News to forge ahead, serving as a top-notch community newspaper.

Now, getting back to the Ritter story, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Ritter would be leaving soon upon it being learned that he was offered the Sterling position in early December. Ritter, though, refused to say anything further for the next few weeks, as reporter Stephen Landry, among others, communicated with Ritter’s office more than a half dozen times for comment. He, however, remained silent until Monday night’s announcement.

It’s not that surprising that Ritter opted to stay quiet in recent weeks, especially in the midst Templeton’s recently discovered $505,000 budget hole, which came on the heels of having already had its residents approve a $620,000 override a few months earlier. Knowing that he had previously signed off on the 2013 fiscal budget, it’s not a far stretch to question whether bringing more attention to the matter could have impacted his Sterling offer.

Knowing Templeton’s long history of using free cash to fill their annual budget holes, my future suggestion to voters is that they should elect a Board of Selectman candidate who has no connections to those troubled budgets. In this case, the words made famous by philosopher and poet George Santayana can be taken to heart: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” So it will be up to the voters whether they will want to choose to steer clear of anyone on the Jan. 14 ballot with a history of being recalled.

Last week, in trying to maintain a little balance by reading some opposing views regarding the town government, I  delved into Pauly’s Templeton Watch blog. On the blog, there was a post that at first glance I thought was from Templeton accountant Fred Aponte. In reply after the column printed, Aponte cited that he had not posted the information himself.

At first, I was concerned that the information posted was bogus or at least erroneous, but Aponte later noted that the information was sent by him to the selectmen by e-mail, and from there was posted by someone else.

To no surprise, the topic of the $505,000 shortfall has become a hot topic in the town, and it will only increase in severity as time passes while town departments suffer through its current hiring freeze.

It took not even a month to see how that freeze would impact town departments, as a minimal request Monday night by a Cemetery Commission chairman to hire a temporary worker, out of concern that the current staff levels could delay funerals and burials, was denied because of the impending lack of funding,

On the last topic referenced earlier, while some in the community were hoping that I would “sharpen my pencil,” about the recent crash in New Hampshire by Monty Tech principal Nicholas DeSimone and the legal result whereby DeSimone will remain in his current position, I will punt that to my successor to decide whether it’s something he’s willing to chew on.

(Andres Caamano is the Senior News Editor/NIE Director at The Gardner News. He can be reached at