A gift

By MEJones

Longtime Benjamin Hill Pool Committee member Butch Farrar donated 2,000 No. 2 pencils with the recreation area's logo on them to the Ayer-Shirley Regional School District on behalf of the committee. Shown here with School District Superintendent and newly minted town resident Carl Mock, who accepted the gift for the schools, Farrar shared some history of the recreation area, including his own involvement, which dates back to his childhood. A privately owned ski area many years ago, Benjamin Hill also had tennis courts in the not-so-distant past. Today, it's a valued town resource, with a swimming pool; a pool house that was recently rebuilt with volunteer labor and many donated materials from area individuals and businesses; a playground; tube-sliding hill; and outdoor skating rink. The pencils will be distributed at the middle school and at the Lura A. White Elementary School.