When the Pandemic Came to Town: Recent Episodes
Mary Christensen
When the Pandemic Came to Town - How a Small New England Town Survived Covid with Kindness and Resilience.
Professor Mary Christensen brings you a series of podcasts, each one geared towards an aspect of how Westborough MA, a small New England town, survived the Covid-19 pandemic with kindness and resilience.
Each episode covers a different group or department and how they handled the pandemic and made the town thrive through the adversity of such a devastating pandemic.
Topics include the 1918 Flu, Town Departments, Education, First Responders, IT, Civic Organizations, Mental Health, Fai
Professor Mary Christensen brings you a series of podcasts, each one geared towards an aspect of how Westborough MA, a small New England town, survived the Covid-19 pandemic with kindness and resilience.
Each episode covers a different group or department and how they handled the pandemic and made the town thrive through the adversity of such a devastating pandemic.
Topics include the 1918 Flu, Town Departments, Education, First Responders, IT, Civic Organizations, Mental Health, Faith Based Groups, and Local Businesses.
This episode focuses on the 1918 Pandemic, the first pandemic to come to town, and how it affected Westborough.
Guests include Professor Ben Realton, Kathy Cavaliere from the Westborough Historical Society, and Anthony Vaver the Local Library Historian.
This episode focuses on how Westborough's Leadership Teams mobilized to keep the Town running during the lockdown.
Guests include Town Clerk Deborah Ledoux, Dr. Alan Erlich, Town Manager Kristi Williams, Kathy Ferrechia, and Mary Ann Burritt.
This episode continues exploring how Town Leaders maintained services during the Pandemic.
Guest include Shelby Marshall, Alan Edinberg, Maureen Amyot, Wendy Mickel, and Lucius & Brian Marks.
This episode will cover the challenges faced by Educators and First Responders.
Guests include Superintendent Amber Bock, Fire Chief Patrick Purcell, Police Chief Jeffrey Lourie, Lt. Michael Daniels, Adish Jain, Alana McCarthy, Kris Allen, and Maloo Gandhi.
This episode will explore the role technology played in solving a great many issues facing the town
Guests include Jon Green of the Westborough Public Schools, Mark Stockman, Information Technology Director for the town, and Karen Henderson of Westborough TV.
This episode explores the importance of community organizations during the pandemic.
Guests include Mary Tabor, Terry Gavin, Kelley Petralia, and Phill Kittredge.
This episode continues to explore the contributions of community organizations to the town during the pandemic.
Guests include Tony Ash, Reene Hatherley, Ruie Dai, David Reynolds, and John Huddy.
This episode will recount mental health professionals' work during the pandemic, and how they and the residents coped.
Guests include Mary Tabor, Elane Trombley, Alma Demanche, Cara Presley, Natalie Star, Dr. Miriam Aframe, and Lucius & Brian Marks
This episode will explore the source of resilience and kindness demonstrated by towns people through the lens of their belief systems.
Guests include Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz, Mynuddin Syed, and Julie Basque.
This episode continues to explore the sources of strength and generosity demonstrated by the people of Westboro, through the lens of belief systems.
Guests include Deacon Washburn, Pastor Taylor & David D’orice, and V. Nagarajan
This episode concludes the examination of faith-based groups that supported their congregations during the pandemic.
Guests include Pastor Jeff Goodrich, Rev. Sue Rem, Rev. Laural Gray, and Sukhmani Kaur.
The last episode demonstrated the effect of the pandemic on people living and working in town.
Guests include Dan Flood, Liz Henriques, Carolyn Spring, and Lucius & Brian Marks.
This episode is in the words of Dr. Mary Christensen.
The research, interviews, and tapings have spanned several years and this has been a fascinating project.