The Holliston Public Library now subscribes to Career Cruising, an easy to use career planning system which patrons can access from the library and which Holliston residents can also access from home, using their library card number.

Patrons can assess their interests, skills, abilities and learning styles to help find appropriate careers, explore hundreds of occupation profiles, watch interviews with people employed in each occupation, create professional-looking resumes, and search for jobs. In addition, Career Cruising includes detailed information on thousands of colleges, graduate and vocational schools and financial aid programs.

For more information about Career Cruising, go to the Holliston Public Library's Web site or call 508-429-0617.

Updated: Kampersal Named to Mudville BBC Hall of Fame

Shouts of "Huzzah" echoed from Mudville to Braggville last Saturday night, with the announcement that Kerry "Arial" Kampersal has been elected to the Mudville Base Ball Club Hall of Fame.

The announcement was made at the Saturday evening Mudville Yearbook Dinner at La Cantina in Framingham. Club members were unanimous in their support for Kerry, an original member of the club, and the world leader in Massachusetts Rules of 1858 pitching wins.

Kerry was cited for his superior play, superb jokes, and his ability to sedate an insomnia suffering teammate through heavy doses of chocolate milk. His plaque will join that of former teammate Doug Bloomquist in Casey's rafters, closer to the stars than we mere mortals should dream.

HOLLISTON LIONS REACH OUT AND READ

"Reading is the silver bullet.  If kids can read, they can go anywhere and do anything."

Those are the words of Holliston Lions Club member Andy Porter. And he knows what he's talking about.

For 12 years, Porter has led the Lions in their effort to provide new books for children during the holiday season. This year, as Chairman of the Lions Reach Out and Read committee, he is once again demonstrating true commitment for a most worthy cause.

Reach Out and Read is a program dedicated to providing new books to hospitalized children aged 3-7 who can't go home for the holidays.  When Porter was asked to become involved, he couldn't say no.

"We use to give the books to Head Start," said Porter. "Then in 2007, they said they no longer needed them. But I was hooked. The idea of helping kids who needed a pick-me-up, who would get gifts at the holidays and learn to read was too much to give up.

"I learned about Reach Out and Read from Fox 25.  In 1998, we collected 200 books, last year 965. We have donated over 7000 books in 12 years," Porter said.

Anyone interested in donating books should contact Porter at 429-4754 or at totf@aol.com. Inexpensive books are welcome, but all donated books must be new. All books must be collected by December 12, 2010.

After 12 years, it's obvious that Porter maintains enthusiasm for his task.

"I love the trip the week before Christmas when we deliver the books and see the volunteer's faces," he said. "They are always appreciative and emotional. They know they can count on the Holliston Lions every year. My dream is to collect so many books that we need more than one car to deliver them."

SANTA BRINGS MUSIC TO SCHOOL 

The Holliston Lions Club is cooking up their annual Breakfast with Santa, to be held on Sunday, December 5 from 8-11:30 a.n. at the Placentino/Miller School cafetorium.

The event features performances by various musical groups of the Holliston Public Schools. The Lions are whipping up their family favorites of homemade (make that school-made) pancakes with blueberries or chocolate chips, sausage, and choice of breakfast beverage.

Tickets are $7 each, $5 for children 12 and under. They are available at the door.

As always, Santa will be present, with photos available for $5.

Proceeds from this event will be used to support various Holliston Lions charities, including the Holliston Music and Arts Parents Association.

There's no need to contact the American Civil Liberties Union, as this is not a school-sponsored event.

GRIER NO LONGER JUST A FACE IN THE CROWD

In 1984, he was just a face in the crowd.  Now, he is a respected veteran of the National Hockey League, who recently appeared in his 1000^th league game.

Mike Grier, formerly of Holliston, achieved that milestone on November 3 when his Buffalo Sabres hosted the Boston Bruins in a 5-2 loss. Grier has been an NHL regular since first donning an Edmonton Oilers' sweater for the 1996-97 season. He has also played for the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks, having scored 157 NHL goals coming in to this season. 

Grier is known as a fine defensive forward, and is excellent killing penalties. Prior to joining the NHL, he was a voracious body checker for Jack Parker at Boston University where they won the NCAA Division 1 championship in 1995. He attended St. Sebastian's High School in Needham.

But before that, he roamed the hallways of the Holliston Middle School, and was there in 1984 when Sports Illustrated featured him in their Faces in the Crowd segment.

Grier, whose father Bobby worked for the New England Patriots in various coaching and scouting capacities, will return to the area when the Sabres visit the Bruins on December 7.

TIME TO STROLL AGAIN IN HOLLISTON

It was 1957, and The Diamonds sang a song for the ages:

Come, let's stroll

Stroll across the floor

Come, let's stroll

Stroll across the floor

Now turn around baby

Let's stroll once more

Ah, yes, those young and innocent days. They will be returning to Holliston this Saturday with the annual Downtown Stroll, sponsored by the Holliston Business Association.

Association President John Drohan and Holliston merchants have once again prepared a fun-packed day, where town residents can take in the smells, tastes, and sounds of our friendly burg, while greeting old friends.

Running from 3-7 p.m., the HBA has a busy schedule planned, featuring:

3:30  p.m.  - Magic Mike

4:00 p.m. - Santa Arrives

4-6p.m. - The Sounds of Jim Cormier

4:15, 4:45, 5:15 p.m. - Prana Center Performs

4:30, 5:30 p.m. - Holiday Bells

4:30-6 p.m. - The Balloon Man

6:00 p.m. - The Steeple Pilots

The Strolling Carolers will also be featured throughout the evening.

Official Stroll passport stamps are available from many local merchants offering the possibility of winning $25 gift certificates to participating businesses.

We provide the following youtube link as a tease for those who might like a preview of The Sounds of Jim Cormier: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1eK8hfSLY0

LIONS CLUB ANNOUNCES "WINNIN' ON THE GREEN" RAFFLE

The Holliston Lions Club is pleased to announce the "Winnin' of the Green $10,000 Raffle," to be held March 12, 2011 at the Medway VFW.

Committee Chairman Steve O'Pesos (commonly known as Steve Apesos when not wearing his Lucky Charms leprechaun outfit), has indicated that tickets are $100 per couple, which includes a wonderful buffet dinner, delightful Lions companionship, and the opportunity to win $10,000. Sorry, they do tell the I.R.S.

The $10,000 Raffle is a major fund raising event for the Lions Club. All monies raised by the Lions Clubs are used to support local, state, national and international charities.

For additional information, or to obtain tickets, contact Steve at 429-8470 or steveapesos@aol.com.

The Holliston High School Class of 2005 is sending a shout out to all class members, to let them know of the big get-together being planned.

This mini 5^th year reunion will be held on Friday, Nov. 26 at Doc's in Milford.  Beginning at 8 p.m., it will be the first formal meeting of the class since that wonderful day in June 2005 when they said good bye to Holliston High School, and hello to the world.

For further information, contact Sarah Shannahan at sarah.shannahan@gmail.com.

CLASS OF 2000 HOLDING 10-YEAR REUNION ON NOV. 26

The Class of 2000 will hold its 10-year reunion on Friday, Nov. 26 from 8-12 p.m. at the MJ O'Connor's (27 Columbus Avenue, Boston). Tickets are $32 per person if purchased online and $40 at the door.

Tickets include two drink markers and food.

Instructions on how to pay online can be found at the Class of 2000 Facebook page. For more information, e-mail htownclassof2000reunion@gmail.com.

'Back to the Future' For HHS Class of 1985

It will be "Back to the Future" for the Holliston High School Class of 1985, who will be holding their 25^th reunion on Friday, November 26^th at 7 PM at the Adirondack Club in Franklin. 

Those wishing to attend should contact Nancy Perpall Leary at nancy.leary@commonmoves.com, to reserve their spot.

"Back to the Future," the iconic film starring Michael J. Fox, debuted one month following the graduation of this class. It is not known whether Marty or George McFly will attend the reunion, but it is rumored that Biff will be in attendance.

IN THE BEGINNING: A FOOTBALL FLASHBACK TO 1973

It was football like Holliston had never known.

The team was known as the Big Red Machine, and in the early 1970s on autumn Saturdays, it would descend onto the yet-to-be-named Kamitian Field like a scarlet wave, flooding the sidelines with a sea of players and intimidating their Tri-Valley League opponents by their numbers and reputation.

Their coach, a sunburst of positive energy, had created a program that was the envy of Eastern Massachusetts, and in those pre-high school Super Bowl days, when state champions were determined by ratings rather than games, his teams were consistently at the top.

But 1973 was a different year for Tom Caito and his Panthers. The Machine had seized on two occasions, dropping a non-league game to Milford to open the campaign, before being stunned by Millis in the eighth game of the season. And Caito was justifiably concerned about their Thanksgiving opponent, who was new to the Tri-Valley League, and boasting a 5-1-1 record.

Under Caito, Holliston had never lost on Thanksgiving, having once tied Uxbridge, while rolling off victories over Boston Trade and Bellingham. But Westwood provided the Panthers with what Caito acknowledged as their toughest Thanksgiving opponent ever.

"We really didn't know what to expect from Westwood," Jerry Joyce, a senior cornerback, running back, and special teams' player on the 1973 squad recently said. "We knew they were a bigger school than us, but we had never played them before."

Holliston Acting Police Chief Keith Edison, the nose tackle on that team agrees.

"The Westwood team to us was very unknown. We had opened the season with a real heartbreaking loss to Milford that ended a very long (20-game) win streak. But from there, we went through the Tri-Valley League pretty simply.  Unfortunately, the week before the Westwood game, we lost to Millis, and it knocked us out of first place. It brought us into the Westwood game needing to defeat them, and needing Medway to defeat Millis, in order to retain our status as champions of the Tri-Valley League."

"We had lost two games coming into the last game of the year," said Joyce, "and it was really deflating for us as a class because we had never lost a game before.  The Thanksgiving game for us was kind of anti-climatic, because we really had had high hopes of remaining undefeated."

And so it was, on the 10th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, that the Holliston-Westwood Thanksgiving football rivalry was born. And in that first game, Westwood took advantage of Panther turnovers, and survived a late Holliston surge to win 6-0.

"The day went as badly as it could for us," said Edison, "and Millis defeated Medway, so it just wasn't going to happen for us in any event."

"My memory is that we were very stagnant on offence," said Joyce.  "Defensively, we played well, like we had done all year long.  But offensively, we just couldn't get anything going." 

"It was a while ago for high school football," added Edison. "The game was played much differently than it is played today. It was very much a run-dominated era of football, especially in the Tri-Valley League, but Westwood had much more of a passing attack than we had ever experienced before. Not that they did it a lot, but much more than anybody else had.

"For us, the Westwood game was nothing about a rivalry, just that a new team was in town. However, they arrived a very competitive team, a very good team."

And in so being, a tremendous rivalry was born.