By Attorney Henry J. Lane
Lane  Hamer, Whitinsville, MA

For the last 500 years or so, English common law and its progeny, including the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have required that certain contracts be in writing and  signed in order to be binding.  Among the more important contracts that must be signed and in writing are contracts involving the purchase and sale of real estate.

The requirement for such contract to be in writing was clearly intended to insure that there was no misunderstanding concerning the terms and conditions of the agreement, particularly with regard to significant terms such as the purchase price.  The requirement for a signature insured that both parties clearly understood that they had progressed beyond the negotiation stage and that they intended to be bound by the agreement.

A private grief, a public response.

by Christine Anderson

The flip-top diary lay amongst my grandmother’s many trip journals. This one, the tiniest, fit in the palm of my hand. It was so old and –so, so curious. I began to read it and found that with equally small entries, Gram had marked the everyday work and the social times of Hawleyville, Connecticut in 1921, where my grandparents lived for a time after World War I.

In March Gram wrote:

Read Cap’n Warrens Ward. Neal and I went to Hydricks. H’s were here to supper—Made my quilt.—Worked until 5 pm. The next day she noted:  Hawleys went to Red Cross. Bubes here in pm and stayed for supper. Cut out my gingham dress.

All the while, I’m thinking to myself. Why this little diary? Why the notations of shopping trips, and visits back and forth, and endless washing and ironing, the wallpapering of rooms, and men going fishing or to the theater?

by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – The Holy Name Naps girls basketball team state championship bid fell short this past weekend, but it was still an incredible run--especially for a team that is still very young.

The Naps lost to a very good Central Catholic team 53-48 in a hard fought battle.  Webster’s Gigi Guenther finished with 11 points and Oxford’s Malissa Saad had eight points in the loss.

With four of its five starters returning, we certainly could have a repeat performance next season.  The lone starter who will not be returning is Saad, who was a heavy contributor all season.

Gigi had a breakout year for the Naps as a sophomore and there is little doubt she is going to get even better. Second on her team with a 10.1 average, she is the full package.

Lindsay Bond: It’s pretty incredible what Bartlett 2012 graduate Lindsey Bond has already accomplished as a freshman at Anna Maria College.  She has picked up right where she left off in high school and is playing three sports for Anna Maria. After playing significant varsity minutes in both soccer and basketball, Bond is now the starting third baseman on the varsity softball team.

SWCL Boys Hoop All-Stars: Bartlett's Akeem Belnavis and Alex Givins-Perry and Oxford's Donny Freeland and Mike James have all been named first team SWCL boys high school basketball all-stars.

Matt Huberdault (Bartlett), Tyler Barrie (Oxford), Michael "Posey" Rapoza (SH), Tyler Martin (SH), and Justin Terlizzi (SH) were all named to the SWCL boys basketball second team all star squad.

Oxford Booster Club 3 on 3 Tourney: The Oxford Booster club will be holdinga 3 on 3 March Madness Basketball Tournament at Oxford High, March 23rd from 8 am until about 4:00 pm.  This is the tenth year that the Booster club has held this extremely popular event for ages nine years old and up.

Emily Dawidczyk: “The Sweet Assassin” will be about a week behind schedule for outdoor track as she heals from tweaking a hamstring at the New England indoor championships. It’s nothing serious and we doubt it keeps the record-breaking Pirate off the track for very long as she enter the final season of her incredible high school career.

Shepherd Hill girls tennis:The Shepherd Hill girls tennis team opens their season April 8 in Northbridge. With a 14-6 record a year ago, the girls are looking to have another strong season. 

2011-12 View Super team:As we get closer to naming our 2012-13 View From The Sidelines Super team, here is a look back at last year's team!  Emily Dawidczyk (Oxford), Rocco DiStefano (Bartlett), Michelle Williams (Oxford), Meghan Fornaro (Shepherd Hill), Nick Kobel (Bartlett), Kyle McKissick (Shepherd Hill), Stella Worters (Shepherd Hill), Nicole Mangaudis (Oxford), Arthur Hackenson (Bartlett), Lindsay Bond (Bartlett), Nick Lemay (Oxford), and Anthony Wilga (Shepherd Hill).

Oxford/Webster Youth Football and Cheer:
Lastly, we want to pass on this note we received from Krista Lewis, who is The Director Of Fundraising for Oxford/Webster Youth Football and Cheer: “It is almost spring and we are already thinking about football and cheer!  Fundraising has begun, and we are working VERY hard to raise a good amount of money for the league this season! One of the ways we have found to do this is through Liberty Mutual Insurance in Auburn, MA. If you could just take 5 minutes out of your busy lives to help us, it could mean a $2500 grant for our organization!!

Use the link below to become a "fan" of the Liberty Mutual website and page, verify your email address, and then sign up to take the Responsible Sports quiz under the "Parents" link! Every completed quiz earns our organization one point. Each email address may be used only ONCE, and they do audit that, so please only ONE entry per email address.

Once you have completed the quiz, you may enter Oxford Webster as theorganization you wish to credit a point to, choose American Football as the sport of choice, and then you're DONE! It's that simple! I have done it 4 times today already with the emails of all my family members. It's really easy and only takes 5 minutes.”

http://www.responsiblesports.com/parenting/responsible-sport-parenting-guide/quiz

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View From The Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

March madness is finally here and the high schools are getting ready for the spring. Before we spring ahead, let’s wrap up the high school basketball season. If you are keeping score, we (Central Mass.) got shutout at the DCU center on Saturday. Central Mass. High School teams did not win a State Championship in any of the winter sports which are basketball and hockey for both genders. Winning a state championship is great, but it’s not the end all, meaning that we can’t measure a successful season by the standard of a state championship. State Championships in this area during the winter season are very few. Bartlett won a boys’ basketball title in 1979 while Oxford won a girls’ hoop title in the mid nineties.

Eastern Mass. is the best in basketball year in and year out. They proved that again this year as they won five out of six titles at the DCU center on Saturday. The big one, Division 1 boys, was won by Putnam out of Western Mass. in ovetime.Western Mass. sent four teams to the DCU while Central Mass. sent two teams, both were girls’ basketball teams. Western Mass. seems to have an edge on us (Central Mass.), over the past five years and Putnam took home the biggest trophy of them all this winter to give Western Mass. credibility.

Next year the Shepherd Hill boys’ basketball team will compete in Western Mass in basketball. It should be interesting.

There are teams across the Commonwealth that achieved more than a trophy that says state champion. Teams that overcame adversity by practicing life’s important principles are the real winners. We never hear about these teams. Becoming better people during a season is what high school sports is all about. Having fun and being the best you can be are what kids need to do during the grind of a long season. Some coaches are going to say they were disappointed in their season and some will say they overachieved. The latter is the better. Talent, good coaching, and a lot of luck equals a state champion. However, there is nothing like chemistry and "leaving it all out on the gym floor." That, in itself, is the ultimate achievement.

Face it, we are underdogs in these parts. The system doesn’t allow our teams to dominate year in and year out every year. It doesn’t mean we play the game the wrong way. It’s all about cycles and the right fit.

You are going to need a program for the 2013 edition of your New England Patriots. How is the loyalty factor on that team after the Wes Welker trade? And did you think the Kraft family was going to pay Tom Brady market value a month ago? I think we have seen the last Lombardi trophy for this organization. The golden rule is trade up not parallel. That also goes for signings. The hierarchy in Patriot land is a very stubborn group. Aren’t you better off with the devil you know rather than the devil you don’t know if you think both devils are equal? Wes Welker versus Danny Amendola? If Brady had 5-6 years left at peak performance, then maybe Amendola would look like a good trade. Now that Amendola is a Patriot, you can add him to the injury list along with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Welker was the only sure receiver for Brady over the years. Tough as nails. The eastern conference does guarantee the Patriots a running start to the playoffs every year, but then it’s been the same story. Win a playoff game and hope. Watch out for the Miami Dolphins in the east this year.

This is a great time of year for high school sports as the spring sports are in the middle of their too short pre-season. Spring sports get two weeks to prepare and they are doing it indoors. Preparing indoors for an outdoor sport is challenging. There is always great anticipation on how the early April weather will affect the remaining eight weeks of the schedule. There are 77 days of varsity baseball and softball from April 1st to Memorial Day. Each bad weather day shortens the 20 game schedule. It’s tough for teams to hit their stride. Teams have to steal games in early April.Throw strikes and put the ball in play and your team will be there on Memorial Day weekend.

Thanksgiving Day is finally shaping up after a period of disruption this past winter that affected our local football communities, namely Oxford and Auburn.

Tradition has lost its shine in today’s world. While the Bartlett -Southbridge Thanksgiving Day football game still remains as the "grandaddy," going on 93 years in South County, the brand new Oxford-Bay Path Thanksgiving Day football game in 2013 will get a slap on the behind just like a new born baby. Kudos to both the Bay Path and Oxford administrations for getting this one done. Oxford-Bay Path made too much sense after Oxford decided to pull the plug on Auburn after 41 years of playing on turkey day. Please remember that this is an old school opinion. I believe that the Oxford-Auburn holiday game had a lot more chapters in it than 41. So be it. It’s over and as they easily say today, "let’s move on."

There still is no word on who is the home team for this year’s Oxford-Bay Path game, but one thing is for sure, these two schools will play each other on Thanksgiving. Both football programs are rich in tradition and have played each other over the years during the regular season. They opened up their seasons against each other last year in 2012. I am happy to see that Bay Path coach Al Dhembe will get to coach a Bay Path team on Thanksgiving.

Now let me throw in my 2 cents. Imagine the Oxford-Bay Path game on Thanksgiving eve at Nichols College. Talk about a jump start on attracting a crowd. This would be a great shot in the arm for the community. Nichols is empty on Thanksgiving because of the holiday break. What a thrill for the kids who are playing. Both programs will benefit by playing on Vendetti Field, but the real winner will be Nichols if they extend the olive branch in the right way. Community relations go a long way. Institute the Paul Brissette award for the game’s M.V.P. in honor of the founder and first football coach of the Oxford Pirates.This is a win-win for everybody.

Another good move for Thanksgiving is that Sutton and Blackstone-Millville will be competing against each other. Both start their first year of varsity football. This start-up rivalry will be a good one to follow in football.

Shepherd Hill and Tantasqua will be 39 years old this Thanksgiving and Shepherd Hill will face their toughest schedule ever in 39 years. The Rams play at Fitchburg, at Gardner, Leominster, at Grafton, Wachusett, SPM, at Holy Name, and Tantasqua. Weeks 8, 9, and 10 will be determined if the Rams win at least 5 of their first seven games. All those teams are well versed on the double wing offense that the Rams run so successfully. By the way, other than Grafton, what do the other six teams have in common with Shepherd Hill? I have forewarned everybody about this new 2013 playoff format. The players, coaches, and fans lose out on this. Opening Friday night in Fitchburg is not the place you want to be in early September and travelling to Gardner the next week makes away games with nothing in common a real bore. The MIAA and the football committee are dead wrong on this new format. Nothing makes sense. That’s the reason today’s high school athletes are not passionate about Thanksgiving Day rivalries or district titles.

While Shepherd Hill’s 2013 football schedule isn’t a fan favorite or travel friendly, the Bartlett Indians actually caught a break. In order, this is Bartlett’s gig for 2013. At David Prouty, at Millbury, Leicester, Oxford, Northbridge, Blackstone-Millville, at Uxbridge and Southbridge. On paper, I have the Indians winning 5 of their first seven to get them into the playoff picture. What do you think? Leicester and Northbridge are the two teams Bartlett could fall short. Bartlett has three key pieces on the chess board returning in their quarterback and leading rusher along with their fullback.

Oxford’s football schedule finally gets a break after many years of no relief. The Pirates can compete with the folowing in 2013. Uxbridge, Leicester, South, at Bartlett, at North, Millbury, at David Prouty, and Bay Path.

Good Luck to all the local athletes trying out for spring sports on Monday.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

WEBSTER – Greetings sports fans!

We wrote right here in this very column a few weeks ago that an Oxford-Bay Path Thanksgiving football game would make perfect sense and it looks like everyone concurs!

The two neighboring schools have agreed to meet on Thanksgiving morning starting this November in what should take their rivalry to the next level. The only thing that still needed to be determined at press time was the location of this year’s inaugural meeting.

By Ginger Costen

Is it just me or is the planet turning into one big miserably unhappy sink hole? 

We’ve got countries which have hated each other for hundreds - if not thousands - of years who have been trying to destroy their neighbors and themselves in one way or another since Biblical times. 

Global warming and the destruction of the rain forests have changed the Earth’s climate so what used to be a 100-year storm is now happening with every changing season.

The Rev. Janice Ford, Rector
The Church of the Reconciliation (Episcopal)

5 North Main Street, Webster, MA
www.reconciliationweb.org

On Monday, the 11th, I will be heading to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with my family for six days of vacation. I am very excited to be going. I've not spent much time out west, and I know that where we are going is one of the most beautiful places in the country, with some of the very best skiing as well. I used to downhill ski--though not very well--but I stopped about fifteen years ago when I fell and ended up with a slight concussion (that was before an adult wearing a helmet was considered the smart thing to do). So now, here I am, heading to one of the best places in the country for downhill skiing, and I am scared to death to try it again.

It is certainly a good thing for us to be cautious about those things that can hurt us physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. In those instances, fear can be a safe-guard to disaster. After all, God never told anyone to be stupid! However, as we are in the season of Lent, it is good for us to consider the things we fear that will not harm us, but rather represent challenges to us.

by Steev Riccardo

Hello Sports Fans!

Aside from the fact that the local teams didn’t fare all that well at the Clark Tournament, it was still a great experience. Clark University does an excellent job.

The Oxford Pirates actually played pretty well, despite being knocked out in the semi-finals by the Quaboag Cougars.  You have to give them a lot of credit; Quaboag is a great high school basketball team. Some people say they only have two guys, but that is just not the case.  Thomas Jankins and Jake Wisniewski are elite, but the rest of the starting lineup is also very good.