History in the Brookfields

The past is present in Quaboag Valley towns, thanks to local volunteers

December 18, 2005|Jan Shepherd, Globe Correspondent

BROOKFIELD -- Poking around small-town New England inevitably yields engaging stories from the past. These relics of history often are overlooked in textbooks or overshadowed by more famous and populous cities and towns. The keepers of the records and local lore are the volunteer historical societies and commissions who struggle to preserve and share the history with their townsfolk, travelers, and future generations.

That's certainly the case in the Brookfields, a cluster of four rural towns in the Quaboag (KWAY-bog) Valley's rolling uplands about 65 miles west of Boston. With Route 9 the main byway through the region, travelers give a wave and keep going to destinations east, west, and south of here, such as Worcester, Sturbridge, Amherst, Northampton, or the Berkshires.

But spending a day in the area recently proved there is more there than meets the eye thanks to the guidance of Ron Couture, chairman of Brookfield's Historical Commission, and Dick Rossman, his counterpart in West Brookfield, who love talking about their corner of the world.

The towns stage several joint community events, including a Holiday Open House on the first Saturday and White Christmas & Tree Lighting on the first Sunday of December, Maple Days in March in the Brookfields, Daffodil Day in May, the Asparagus & Flower Heritage Festival in West Brookfield, summer concerts at the Helen Shackley Bandstand, a July 3 bonfire and concert on West Brookfield Common, and an Apple Country Fair on Brookfield Common on Columbus Day weekend.

In any season, it's fun exploring Routes 9, 148, 67, and their side roads. Rock House Reservation offers hikes, walks around historic towns and cemeteries, and recreation at area ponds and lakes. In spring, the Quaboag Historical Society plans to open a museum in a restored railroad station in West Brookfield to provide another stop for history buffs. The rural landscapes -- 10,000 acres here belong to the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife -- inspire artists, among them Couture, who paints outdoors and shows his work and that of other regional artists at Riverbend Gallery in Brookfield.

The ancient past is represented at sites such as the Rock House and the Flats that belonged to Algonquin tribes, among them Nipmuc and Quaboag. The Trustees of Reservations Rock House is named for a geological formation used for winter shelter by Native Americans, while the Flats, also known as the Plains of Podunk, were summer grounds.