Meredith was born in western Massachusetts in 1932 and came to Groton at age 5 with his large family. They lived on Kemp Street quite fittingly because they were related to the Kemps and another Groton family, the Boutelles. His family owned the general store in West Groton village called the Red & White where he worked as a high school student. A graduate of UMass Amherst, he later earned a Master’s Degree at Fitchburg State. Meredith first worked in insurance, with carpentry always his second job and hobby. He eventually became a teacher and guidance counselor at Lunenburg High School. A resident of West Groton for nearly ninety years, Meredith had a deep knowledge of the area and related detailed stories of its general store, post office, library, railroad station, Leatherboard Factory, Thompson’s Mill, Squannacook Hall, the fire station, and Christian Union Church.

The Nashua and Squannacook Rivers are described along with sports and civic events and local people such as Police Chief Elliott B. Clark, George Webber, Winthrop Sherwin, and the Shepley brothers. His description of the downed trees and resulting lumber harvesting after the Hurricane of 1938 is detailed. He was married to Jean Forbes for 67 years. An intelligent and affable man, he enjoyed the nature and bird songs around his home. Meredith died on February 9, 2022.

Additional info: His longtime home was 31 Kemp Street. His family also had lived in a house near St. James Church.

Camilla has lived in Groton for over sixty years, raising four children here with her husband, Arthur. She was head teacher at the former Groton kindergarten, now the Community School, before teaching kindergarten in the Pepperell Public School system. She has volunteered with the Groton Music Association, The Groton League of Women Voters as president, Indian Hill Music, where she was a founding member and past president, The Groton Garden Club Board, and the Board of Groton Neighbors, where she was a founding member.

Doug Brown was the archivist and woodworking shop teacher at Groton School for 50 years, 1970-2020. Doug was born in 1939 in Fitchburg and then moved to Shirley when he was 10. After attending Groton School from 1957 to 1961, Doug completed his bachelor’s studies at Harvard University. He started his apprenticeship in restoring and building organs, harpsichords, and pianos in Boston. With a love for teaching and woodworking, Doug accepted the shop teacher position at Groton School in 1970. Doug reinvented the shop program to teach students to build furniture from scratch, not from pre-made material, and work with students at all levels.

In this candid interview, Doug also talked about the history of Groton School’s transformation from a male-only school in 1884 to a school that fully embraces diversity and inclusion today. As an archivist, he oversaw the archives and published two books about two impactful Headmasters, Endicott Peabody and Jack Crocker.

Doug lived in a Groton School faculty house, the former William Amory Gardner estate (demolished in 2016), for over 40 years. He and his wife bought their current home at 20 Westbrook Ln, Groton, MA 01450, in 2012.

Charlotte (Ray Brown) Carkin was interviewed on June 30, 2023. Charlotte and her husband, Norman Richard Carkin Sr., settled in West Groton near Pepperell and Townsend in 1953. The family of seven had many fond memories of activities that West Groton offers like the Squannacook swimming hole in the P. Bertozzi Wildlife Management, Firemen’s Muster on Labor Days, the firetruck and EMT parade from the Groton (Senior) Center to Hollingsworth & Vose field, the Boy Scout annual garage sales, swimming lessons behind the West Groton Water Treatment plant, etc. The interview touched upon the tension between West Groton and Groton Center as West Groton was a self-sufficient unit with its own school, library, fire station, church, grocery store, etc. She served on the Council on Aging and is an active member of the Christian Union Church in West Groton. Pushing 90 years old, she and her close friend, Carole Clark, still enjoy square dancing and bowling together.

Earl Carter was widely recognized in Groton as one of a handful of experts on the town’s history. During his many decades living in the community, he has amassed the most extensive collection of Groton historical artifacts which are stored and displayed in a barn on his property at 8 Lone Lane. In addition to his general knowledge of Groton history, Mr. Carter had an unparalleled knowledge of the Lost Lake community. He spent most of his summers as a youth in one of the early “camps” created by a Boston-based development company which sold undeveloped plots of land around Lost Lake to city people attracted to Groton for the trees and fishing. In this interview, Earl shares his intimate knowledge of the early days of Lost Lake and gives us a tour of his favorite artifacts from his museum collection. At the conclusion of the interview, Earl shows a revolutionary war-era cannon that he has lovingly restored using 200-year-old timbers found at the bottom of a swamp in Boston wetlands.

Margaret (Fitzpatrick) Connolly was born in Boston in 1927 and raised in Pepperell. Margaret moved to Groton after marrying James Connolly. The Connollys lived and raised their four children in West Groton, where they enjoyed the tight-knit community. At the time, the neighborhood had many amenities, including a school, library, store, factories that provided employment, and community events like the Labor Day Firemen’s Muster, which she discusses in the interview.

Margaret’s first job was as a telephone operator in Ayer for Fort Devens during World War II. She describes downtown Ayer and the railroad bringing soldiers to the Fort. Later, she would work for the Public Spirit newspaper in Ayer as a typesetter. She was also an election worker for many years during the Groton elections. Her husband Jim was first a volunteer firefighter and then a Fire Chief from 1982 to 1994. Margaret resided at Nashoba Park in Ayer during the interview but has since moved to Raynham, Massachusetts.

Louise (Cutchins) Gaskins was born on June 2, 1930, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Louise graduated with a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University in 1951. Her major was in Chemistry with a minor in Mathematics. She and her husband, Leonard Gaskins, met in Chicago in 1951 and married in 1953. They have three children: Eric G. Gaskins, Pamela E. Gaskins, and Donna E. Gaskins. Before settling into Groton, in 1966, they had moved around military bases stateside and in Germany. In her own words, “She, Leonard, and the kids grew up together.”

Louise was a teacher, a guidance counselor, and principal at Ayer Public School for 26 years, from 1965 to 1991. She has been active in the League of Women Voters, Democratic Town Committee, Massachusetts Teacher Association, Red Cross, Groton Neighbors, Groton Center, Unitarian Church, elections, etc. Louise recalled many significant events in this interview. For example, the Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954; the secret integrated basketball game between North Carolina Central University and Duke University in 1944; attending her college reunion; her behind-the-scenes approach to handling racism; and finally, the need of supporting diversity in Groton.

Louise Gaskins lived at 35 Boston Rd, Groton, MA., from 1966 to 2021. She currently lives in the RiverCourt Residences, Groton, MA.

Robert (Bob) Standing Hargraves was a Republican member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the First Middlesex from 1995 to 2011. He was the town moderator (1967-1973) and a selectman for Groton (1972-1976, 1982-1994). Bob was born in Winchester, MA, on Oct 14, 1936. After graduating from the University of Maine at Orono with the class of 1958 in Math Education, Bob taught at Groton High School for five years and then was a principal of the North Middlesex Regional Junior/Senior High School for ten years. Bob and his wife, Ellen Truitt Hargraves, raised three children, Carolyn (Hargraves) Cassidy, Patricia (Hargraves) Lannon, and Robert Truitt Hargraves in Groton. Robert and Ellen have lived at 21 Temple Dr., Groton, MA, since 1964.

In this interview, Bob recalled the effort to ban earth (gravel) mining in Groton permanently to support the environment, the landfill that destroyed the wetlands behind the Prescott building, the cap of the Nod Road Landfill, the spectrum of opinions in the Massachusetts legislature, the support for motorcycle helmet laws, the proposal for private schools to pay property taxes for noncontiguous properties, the stories of Mayo Darling, Chief of Police for Groton, the grand opening of the Four Corners Chinese Restaurant, and more.

Betty Irelan was interviewed on July 14, 2023. She was born and grew up in Fitchburg, MA. She felt that teaching and being a nurse were the only vocations available to her, so she chose nursing, receiving both a BS degree and her RN in a program that totaled 4 1/2 years including summers. She met her husband Al skiing and developed a love of the outdoors and traveling. After their marriage, they lived first in Cambridge, then Lexington. Betty has lived in the same house in Groton since 1968. She did volunteer work at Devens for the Red Cross blood drives and was a member of the League of Women Voters. In 1970-71, She was the liaison to the school committee that was searching for a new school site and building for the high/middle school. Betty was one of the founding members of the Groton Center for the Arts and founded the Parent/Advisory Council at Roche back in the 70’s. In 1980, Betty started full-time work in the school district as the Nursing Coordinator.

That was the end of her volunteer days. At the high school she wrote a health curriculum and taught it, a required 1/2-year course for all 10th graders, managed all the district’s nursing duties, and ran an alcohol education peer program called “Project B.A.S.E.” This was a statewide funded program that had HS trained peers going into the 4th grade to talk to the kids about alcohol use/abuse. Betty has two children Lisa and Peter, and 2 grandchildren.

Alice came to Groton from Fitchburg as a 17-year-old high school graduate in 1943 for a job as a telephone operator at Ayer during World War II. Living at the Groton Inn with other single women, her work helped the war effort. Later, after marriage and children, Alice worked at the Groton center post office, which was in the Brick Store that now houses the Natural Market. Her two careers brought her into contact with everyone in Groton. She relates her enjoyment of living in Groton through two marriages, raising three children, and participating in civic, church, and social activities. Alice remembers coworkers, stores, and businesses in Groton and West Groton. At age 93, Alice now lives at Nashoba Park in Ayer.

Peter and Claire Macy came to Groton in 1972 and moved into their home at 716 Martin Pond Road in 1973. Since Peter retired from military service in 1960, he has been an owner of a travel business agency, a trail leader on Appalachian trails for kids, a columnist for several local newspapers, and an author of several children’s books. Claire was a licensed pediatric nurse practitioner, a past staff at the preschool at First Parish, which is now the Groton Community School at 110 Boston Road, Groton, a founding member of Groton Center of Arts and Groton Neighbors, and a member of the League of Women Voters. They raised two daughters, Jem and Caitlin, in Groton and had many great memories of building a sailboat, horseback riding, hiking, and skating on Baddacook Pond.

In this interview, Peter and Claire talked about many significant changes in town, including population growth from 5,000 to almost 12,000 today, changes in town government, the family’s donation of 14 acres of wetlands and an upland knoll to the Groton Conservation Trust, the old Groton Inn, the shift of political party compositions, the Squannacook River Runners club, etc. In addition, they shared their thoughts about future changes like diversity, affordable housing, and increasing voting participation.

Margaret (Peggy) Johnson McWade was born in Poughkeepsie, New York and lived in Waltham
before coming to Groton with her husband Gordon (Tiny) and their two children. Peg trained as
a fine arts painter before earning Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and taught in universities
and public school systems in several positions. Peggy’s riding brought them to Groton to find
land and a barn and riding trails. Their active life included much skiing, thanks to Gordon being
a member of the 10th Mountain Division during World War II. In Groton, the children were active
in 4H and the Pony Club although they attended school in Lincoln, MA when Peggy taught
there. Peggy discusses her volunteering with several non-profits, her interests in conservation
and local arts. She recounts trips to the Himalayas, Australia, China, Japan, Chile and the
Cotswolds. Her thoughts about what is positive in Groton and concerns for the future finishes
our chat under the trees at the Groton Public Library.

Bud Robertson was born in Groton (Lowell Hospital) and has lived in town most of his life. He grew up in West Groton and remained in town even as he built a successful career in finance at various well-known enterprises outside Groton. Bud’s civic involvement has contributed significantly to town government, serving on the Finance Committee as the town became larger and more suburban. Bud’s conversation is filled with interesting anecdotes reflecting his numerous interactions with a broad cross-section of Groton residents.

Iris (Kamaros) Staub was born on March 27, 1937, in Enfield, Connecticut. She had two years of college at Westbrook College in Portland, Maine, followed by 12 months of a program at Mary Hitchcock Hospital in Handover, NH. She and her husband, Dr. Richard Staub, met in Boston while she worked as a “lab tech,” in Boston and he earned his medical training from Tufts University. Iris and Richard spent a couple of years in New York City while he completed his residency at Bronx Municipal Hospital and then another two years at the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana, for public health. They arrived in Pepperell in 1967 and then settled in Groton in 1969. Dr. Richard Staub was a pediatrician in Groton for 38 years and treated children in nearby towns. Iris and Richard Staub have lived in 22 Orchard Lane, Groton, MA, since 1969 and raised three children.

Iris feels fortunate to have been a young mother in the 1960’s and 1970’s where she could send her three children to school (learning in an “open classroom”) then devoting time to volunteering or participating in the many groups and activities that existed in Groton at that time. She also was impressed by the commitment of many locals to the betterment of the community. She mentions: The League of Women Voters, the Parent Teacher Association, Nashua River Watershed Association, food cooperatives, the hospital auxiliary, the Groton Garden Club, Indian Hill Music, Groton Center for the Arts and Sargisson Beach. Notable citizens: Barbara Cooney, Barbara Stromstad, Irene Buck, Susan Randazzo, Marion Stoddart, Pat Camp, Carlene and Bob Owens, Margaret Anderson and Harvey Sargisson. Iris thinks the level of involvement has dissipated because so many mothers are now in the workforce. She feels that current political issues are also much more polarising although the League had wrestled with divisive issues like abortion and regional education in the past. She is pleased that some groups like the Garden Club can still work towards a common goal without differing political views taking over.

Her concerns about the future of Groton right now are the possibility of Groton Hill Music causing disruptions in town particularly for traffic which already seems heavier every year.

Summing up her “halcyon” family years in Groton, Iris said a perfect day was taking the kids to Johnson’s Ice Cream then to Sargisson Beach to wash off the ice cream and swim. Later Dr. Straub would take the children home while Iris would stop at Forcino’s (Groton Country Butcher and Deli today) for hamburgers to cook at home. Bedtime followed for her happy Groton family.

Marion Stoddart was born to Atlee and Ruth Jackson on May 26, 1928, in Reno, Nevada. She is an activist and community leader best known for her work in cleaning and restoring the Nashua River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Since she and her husband Hugh Franklin Stoddart moved to Groton in 1962, she has mobilized the community to promote many environmental causes.

In this interview, Marion talked about how she brought people, legislation, and organizations from surrounding towns together to improve water quality and protect water and land along the Nashua River. The League of Women Voters and tennis tournaments played important roles in this initiative. Marion recounted her meetings with Rosemary Forbes Kerry, Andre C. Reggio, William Pickman Wharton, Emile Benton MacKaye, Barbara Deering Danielson, Marion Danielson Campbell, Donald Crocker, Devens military commanders, and many more. At the age of 93, she continues to promote land and water protection and stay active in climate change education causes.

Nancy (Monk) Stoops was born in 1926 in Waltham, MA. Her family moved to 29 Champney St., Groton, in 1928. Over the years, Nancy returned and lived in this house three different times.

She attended Boutwell Elementary School and graduated from Groton High School in 1944. She attended Antioch College where she met Donald John Stoops. They were married in Chicago in 1947 and raised eight children together.

Nancy was a determined student. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Atlantic Union College’s Adult Degree Program in 1954/1955 and her Law degree from the New England School of Law in 1988, at age 62. She passed the bar exam in Washington State at age 70 and worked for the State of Washington until age 81. She was an advocate for equal worker compensation.

Nancy moved back to Groton in 2008. She and her neighbor, Lois Young, took frequent walks in town and recounted many stories. This inspired Lois to create the Groton Memories project.
The interview with Nancy and her daughter, Marji McMillan, reflected on the town’s changes since the late 1920s.

On March 25, 2022, at the age of 95, Nancy passed away peacefully at her daughter Martha’s home in Maine.

Dave Woods and wife Patricia are presently residing at his family’s 1924 bungalow on Hollis Street. After attending Groton public schools, he graduated from Tufts University and had a career with Eastman Kodak that sent him to three different states. His family entered Groton history in 1636 with the arrival of Samuel Woods. He remembers a quiet and happy upbringing in Groton with his busy father Frank, a carpenter and builder and his mother Kay, a registered nurse. A barnyard full of animals kept him company – Chubby the horse, Snow Babe the dog, Donald/Donna the duck, pigs and a nasty ram. Dave talks about going to school, the buildings and teachers and the classmates from his 1957 graduating class. He and his friends kept busy with baseball, basketball, swimming and Scouts and looked up to his Scoutmasters including Amos Lawrence Stevenson and Roy Johnson. The Congregational Church and Groton’s first female minister Rev. Margaret Johnstone provided group activities and guidance to the youth. Police Chiefs Elliot Clark and Mayo Darling kept an eye on all of them. He stayed out of trouble summers working at Kimball’s ice cream in Westford, pitching hay to the dairy cows, buying strawberries from local farmers for the ice cream and selling at the windows. He misses the old days of the elm tree lined Main Street with the few stores and restaurants but appreciates the Town’s better sidewalks and roads. Traffic is up and long commutes are the norm for all the newcomers he notes and he wishes more business would come and stay in town. But he is doubtful about the benefit of great increases in new housing thinking it will change the character of the town.