People - Page 4

Remembering Charlotte Sagoff, advocate for Earth and social justice

August 9, 2025
At their meeting on July 27, the Water Committee of Green Acton welcomed the daughter and granddaughter of Charlotte Sagoff to share memories of their influential foremother. In the 1970s and 1980s, Sagoff campaigned successfully to get industrial pollution from the W.R. Grace facility in Acton cleaned up, and in 1996 she organized the first Acton Earth Day. Charlotte Sagoff’s granddaughter, Amelia Sagoff, moved to Acton four years ago, and is a founding member of Green Acton’s new Biodiversity Committee. She describes her work as “building innovative data products in the healthcare ecosystem.” Charlotte Sagoff’s daughter, Ruth Perry, is an…
Portrait of Sharon Cole

Obituary: Sharon FitzSimons Cole

March 24, 2024
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Sharon FitzSimons Cole, of Acton, passed away at the Care Dimensions Hospice House in Lincoln, March 15, 2024 at the age of 86. Born in Warren, PA to the late Sarah Helen (Gaston) and Ogden FitzSimons. Sharon was the beloved wife of the late Michael Bennett Cole, with…
Marie Beam, new CEO of Acton Discovery Museum

Discovery Museum: Advancing Learning Experiences

March 14, 2024
When Neil Gordon, the long-time CEO of Acton’s Discovery Museum, announced he intended to retire at the end of 2023, the Board of Directors of the children’s museum launched a six-month, intensive search for his replacement. But like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” they found their “heart’s…
Photograph of man with Chinese features, formally dressed.

Obituary: Hongxiang (Harry) Chen 陈鸿祥

March 10, 2024
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Following a more than 15-years battle with frontotemporal dementia, Hongxiang (Harry) Chen 陈鸿祥 of Acton, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on Saturday, January 20th, 2024 at the age of 67. He was born on September 14, 1956 in Fuzhou, China to 陈振亚 Chen…
Fire Chief Anita Arnum

Acton’s Fire Department to the Rescue

February 24, 2024
Fire Chief Anita Arnum and recently appointed Deputy Chief Chris Sammet have amassed 60 years of experience serving the Acton Fire Department. Through those years, they have not only fought fires but have helped people facing a variety of crises, ranging from injuries from a car accident to…
Photo of D K Halley

An Interview with Acton’s New Assistant Town Manager

February 15, 2024
On November 20, 2023, Thomas (Thom) Begin started his new job as Acton’s Assistant Town Manager. He had previously worked in the Framingham School system as Assistant Director of Buildings and Grounds. He achieved a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government in 2006 and a master’s degree…
Photo of Acton 250 presentation and presentors.

A Revolution in the News with Historian Joseph Adelman

February 7, 2024
Looking forward to next year’s 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, the Acton 250 Committee is hosting  a series of lectures by historians, looking back at what the community was like when our nation was born. The third lecture in the series, by Professor Joseph…
A man leans on a wooden rail. Photo credit: Discovery Museum.

Discovery Museum CEO to Retire

December 5, 2023
Many people’s first introduction to Acton is through its Discovery Museum. This year, the children’s museum is on target to have more than 200,000 visitors—90 percent of them from out of town. In addition, approximately 54,000 students will take part in the museum’s hands-on “Traveling Science Workshops,” which…
a group of people standing together

Celebrating Open Space Preservation in Acton

November 20, 2023
Members and friends of the local non-profit Acton Conservation Trust recently gathered to celebrate President Susan Mitchell-Hardt’s lifetime achievement award from Sudbury Valley Trustees. It felt like a reunion of sorts as leaders of conservation efforts in Acton from the past decades, many now retired, returned to celebrate…
A town clerk and a uniformed fire chief with right hands raised as the new chief is sworn in.

Acton has a New Fire Chief

October 30, 2023
Congratulations to Fire Chief Anita Arnum! A swearing in ceremony was held Monday, October 23 at the Public Safety Facility. Chief Arnum’s appointment took effect on October 13, 2023, making her the tenth chief in the department’s history and the first woman to lead the department. Chief Arnum…
A group of people behind a table, on which there are a variety of apple pies

Friends of the Acton Libraries’ Apple Pie Contest

October 30, 2023
The Friends of the Acton Libraries’ second annual Apple Pie Contest drew 7 entries from Acton residents, and winners were announced in the Meeting Room on the first floor of the Memorial Library on Sunday afternoon, October 29. The judging of the pies had taken place the day…
Office entrance of The Minuteman Inn Shelter

Acton’s Minuteman Inn to Shelter 33 Migrant Families

October 23, 2023
On August 8, 2023, Governor Maura Healey declared that a state of emergency exists in Massachusetts due to rapidly rising numbers of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts in need of shelter and services and a severe lack of shelter availability in the state. According to the Governor’s office…

The Walk Against Hate Rally

October 17, 2023
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” With this quotation from Elie Wiesel, Sen. Jamie Eldridge opened the…

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