Bank assists Millbury seniors; Donation allows purchase of new van.

Millbury Savings Bank recently donated $5,000 to the Friends of the Millbury Seniors. The donation allowed the organization to purchase a new, larger van to transport elderly and handicapped individuals within Millbury, Sutton, Grafton, Auburn and Worcester.

"The Friends' van program provides a valuable service toward the care and well-being of hundreds of residents in need," said William J. Walsh, Millbury Savings Bank president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement.

The new 14-passenger van will replace an older 10-passenger van, one of three vehicles currently owned and operated by the Friends organization. Each of these vans, in addition to two vans operated by the Worcester Regional Transit Authority, provides transportation to doctor's appointments, shopping trips, and other errands for elderly and handicapped residents of the region.

In 2006, the van program carried nearly 500 area residents on approximately 20,000 one-way rides. The vans also are loaned to church youth groups and other organizations needing transportation for group trips. While Friends receives a state grant covering 80 percent of the new van's cost, the organization must rely on charitable donations to fund the remaining amount.

"We're grateful that Millbury Savings Bank has provided much-needed support for our ride program," said Judith O'Connor, director of the Friends of the Millbury Seniors, in a prepared statement. "This new, larger van actually will help us increase our service to seniors and handicapped individuals in our community for at least the next five years."

Video camp takes five

Grafton Community Television hosted five Grafton youths for its first summer video camp July 9 to 13. The camp was co-sponsored by the Town of Grafton Recreation Department and was held at the public access studios at 296 Providence Road.

"The kids had a great time, and they certainly picked up on how to do things quickly here at the studio, some much faster than most adults," said Grafton Community Television Coordinator Danielle Delucia in a prepared statement.

The camp was patterned after a similar summer camp conducted by Westboro Cable Access. The Grafton campers learned how to run studio and hand-held video cameras and how to edit video. As a group, they completed their own show of movie reviews. This program will be aired on Grafton Community Television Channel 11 in early August.

Grafton Community Television provides programming on three distinct public access channels in Grafton over the Charter Communications...